Sweet, home.

[Gob]

A couple booked a dream holiday to Las Vegas, only to discover when they arrived at Birmingham Airport they had mistakenly booked to fly from Birmingham Alabama.



Richella Heekin saved for two years for a surprise £1,200 holiday for boyfriend Ben Marlow's 30th birthday last month.

But the excited couple arrived to find the airline's desk closed.

Staff confirmed the BHM airport code on their tickets meant Birmingham Alabama, not the UK's second city.

The airport code for the British Birmingham is BHX.

"Richella's face has just gone red and she's in tears," said Mr Marlow.

"I was like - we're not going to Vegas then.

"I was more gutted for Richella than myself because it was a surprise."

[Lord Jim]

Gee, you'd have thought the incredibly cheap air fare would have been a dead giveaway...

I could see where maybe they could screw up and book a flight from Birmingham England to Las Vegas New Mexico, but this is really some kind of stupid....

[Joe Guy]

You'd think the Las Vegas arrival time might have been another clue.

[Lord Jim]

Yeah, and they might have noticed that it was only about a three hour flight...

Did they think they were booked on an X-15?

[BoSoxGal]

Oh the poor dear . . . but yes, just a wee bit clueless, no?

[Long Run]

The thing I always wonder about with these stories is why there is a story. The woman made a mistake, it is 100% on her, no one else to blame. Most people would say oops, be sheepishly embarrassed and keep it quiet. Why does she or her boyfriend then publicize the boneheaded mistake? I imagine I am not alone here, in that I make minor and not so minor mistakes on a regular basis, and not one ends up on the news. In this couple's case, is the same airheadedness that was responsible for the error also the same type of thinking that gets their mistake covered by the BBC?

[Joe Guy]

The thing I always wonder about with these stories is why there is a story.

........in this couple's case, is the same airheadedness that was responsible for the error also the same type of thinking that gets their mistake covered by the BBC?

They made it public and are probably hoping for donations because they're victims.

[RayThom]

Can anyone really be that naive? I get a gut feeling this was a totally staged stunt and an outpouring of sympathy for the poor couple will land up with a "Go Fund Me" page.

[Gob]

They made it public and are probably hoping for donations because they're victims.

Nailed it.

Probably hoping the airline will "come to their rescue"

[Gob]

Oh god...

Oakland. Auckland.

Say the words slowly. Carefully. Hear the difference? Good. You learned the easy way.

Michael Lewis found out the hard way.

The 21-year-old Sacramento community college student returned to Los Angeles on Tuesday from a traveler's nightmare--the in-flight realization that he was on the wrong plane--bound for Auckland, New Zealand, about 6,600 miles farther than where he thought he was going--Oakland, Calif.

Blame it on the language; vowels in particular.

On three occasions, according to a spokesman for Air New Zealand, Lewis misunderstood airline staff members who asked him if he was going to Auckland.

Lewis insisted Tuesday evening after returning from New Zealand, courtesy of the airline, that, "They didn't say Auckland . They said Oakland . They talk different."

The trouble began Sunday when Lewis, returning from a three-month vacation in West Germany, arrived at Los Angeles International Airport aboard Air New Zealand's London-to-Auckland flight.

The brief stopover was scheduled so the plane could be cleaned, so all of the approximately 400 passengers left the craft. The majority headed for a lounge reserved for those continuing on to Auckland.

Lewis' ticket called for him to go through customs and then board another airline's flight to Oakland.

But according to Tom Hempel, Air New Zealand's terminal services manager, Lewis followed the group into the lounge, where he was given a transit card for reboarding.

"There were two agents next to the stairways as the passengers disembarked advising 'transit passengers to Auckland' to go to the lounge," Hempel said.

He Heard 'Oakland'

"They announced over the speakers that all passengers to Oakland should wait in the waiting lounge," Lewis insisted Tuesday.

When the plane was ready to continue on, Lewis reboarded with the Auckland-bound passengers. There, Hempel said, Lewis took the seat he had previously used--only to find it occupied by another passenger. An airline staff member intervened and asked Lewis if he was going to Auckland, and Lewis said yes, Hempel said.

Then the staff member asked to see Lewis' ticket receipt, but it was crumpled and unreadable. So he again asked Lewis if he was going to Auckland--and once again, Lewis said yes, Hempel said. As a result, Lewis was allowed to remain on board.

Then, shortly after takeoff, Lewis heard a word that did not sound anything like Oakland: Tahiti.

"I was scared," he recalled.

Killed Time on Tour

Lewis explained his dilemma to a flight attendant and, after telephone negotiations with Auckland, was told that the airline would fly him back to Los Angeles free of charge. But he had to kill a day in Auckland, so he took a tour of the city.

"It's really nice," Lewis said. "Maybe I'll be able to go back for a little longer."

Estimating that he had slept no more than a couple of hours since he began his return from Europe, Lewis blamed the verbal mix-up on fatigue and the fact that he had spoken mostly German while abroad.

"I'm really tired," he said. "But they really do sound similar."

Waiting in Los Angeles for his Tuesday evening flight home, Lewis said he was beginning to see the humor of it all:

"I'm just going to hang out here 'till 9:30 and hope I don't get on the wrong plane."

An internet booking mix-up has left a young English couple holidaying in chilly Sydney, Nova Scotia, instead of on the sun-kissed beaches of the Australian city of the same name.
Emma Nunn, of Sidcup, Kent, and Raoul Christian, of Charlton, south east London, both 19, bought their tickets from an online travel agent for £740 each.

Sydney, New South Wales
Location: South-east coast of Australia
Climate: Temperate; average summer temperatures 25C
Population: 4m
Known locally as: Cosmopolitan Gateway to Australia
Problems: Inner-city drugs and crime
Tourist highlights: iconic Sydney Opera House; Sydney Harbour; The Rocks historical area
Beaches: 70, including world-class Bondi and Manly

But after a six-hour flight from London's Heathrow Airport, their flight landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Realising they were in eastern Canada, the couple assumed they were "going the long way" because they had booked at the last minute and would soon be arriving in Sydney, Australia.

Mr Christian described the experience as "really, really confusing".

"We thought 'OK, we are going to wait here and a big plane is going to turn up and take us to Australia'.

"But it did not quite happen that way."

The passengers were asked to board a 25-seater plane.

And after just more than an hour they landed in sleepy Sydney, Cape Breton Island, off the north eastern coast of Canada.

Have your say The former-mining town has a population of just 26,083 and one of the highest unemployment rates in Canada.

Airline officials are arranging for the couple to return to London.

But, in true British fashion, the pair are not ready to write off their summer holiday just yet.

Sydney, Nova Scotia
Location: North-east coast of Canada
Climate: Moderate, with 80 foggy days a year
Population: 26,083
Known locally as: Steel City
Problems: High unemployment
Tourist highlights: Period museums; churches; Two Rivers Wildlife Park
Beaches: 150m-long Mira Gut Beach, 14km miles south of city

"Obviously it is a big disappointment," Ms Nunn conceded.

"But after it sank in we both said 'let's make the most of what we've got around us'."

They said they were enjoying looking at the pick-up trucks, and eating the local lobster.

Airport officials said they had sometimes received luggage destined for Sydney, Australia before - but never people.

Andrea Batten, an employee of Air Canada in Sydney, Nova Scotia, told the Reuters news agency she was dropping off a friend at the airport when a colleague asked: "Can somebody go to the counter and help these people? They think they're in Sydney, Australia."

"They were obviously very surprised," said Ms Batten, who said she had never heard of such an incident in her 13 years of working there.

"They decided they might as well stay for a few days, having come all this way.

"It's going to be a trip to remember."

[Long Run]

Some people should go back to using a travel agent.

And, fwiw, if I'd made the mistake of going to Auckland, I'd try to make that mistake last for a few weeks!

[Lord Jim]

Then, shortly after takeoff, Lewis heard a word that did not sound anything like Oakland: Tahiti.

"I was scared," he recalled.

He thought he was going to Oakland and instead he was going to Tahiti?

He shouldn't have been "scared"...

He should have been elated....

[Gob]

A SOUTH African rugby player was taken on a 300-mile mystery tour of Scotland after a taxi driver misunderstood the requested destination.

Gary Rosewarne had planned to join his team-mates at their hotel in the Wigtownshire village of Port William after flying into Glasgow Airport but the taxi driver took him to the Highland town of Fort William instead.

The 27-year-old Springbok spent eight hours in the cab running up a bill of GBP487.20 after eventually ordering the driver to take him to Port William to join his teammates.

The error unfolded last Friday on the eve of the Seriously Strong Sevens tournament in Wigtown in which his Kentbased team, Aylesford Bulls, were invited to play.

Mr Rosewarne had planned to fly with other squad members from London to Prestwick but because he forgot his passport, which was needed for identification purposes, had to take a separate f light.

The others players arrived safely at their hotel in Port William within three hours of landing in Glasgow.

Lactallis McLelland, the Scottish cheesemaking firm, which was sponsoring the tournament hosted by Newton Stewart rugby club, arranged for a taxi to collect him at Glasgow.

It picked him up at about 7.30pm last Friday. It was only when the player arrived in Fort William and he called his manager to find out where the hotel was that he realised he was in the wrong town.

He told the driver to head for Port William and arrived there at about 3am, despite getting lost on the way and ending up in Dumfries.

After a few hours sleep Mr Rosewarne helped his team to the final of the tournament.

The South African added: "Next time I'm in a Scottish taxi I'll be making sure the driver knows exactly where I'm going from the beginning."

[oldr_n_wsr]

The internet, revealing idiots, one at a time.

[Big RR]

Actually, a good number of years ago, well before 9/11, I was flying back from Washington National to Newark and mistakenly got on a plane to Houston, TX. They took my ticket at the gate (the gates were side by side and directed me toward the gate for the flight to Houston. When they made the final announcement saying it was a flight to Houston (I actually thought the flight attendant was mistaken but luckily asked the person next to me), I had to get off, to the laughs and cracks of the other passengers, and just made the Newark flight (after they pulled my boarding pass (which clearly said Newark) from the Houston flight.

it was a long day, and I often wonder what would have happened if I fell asleep when I boarded and woke up after takeoff.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Sounds like Ralph and Ed going to the Racoon convention. (booomph)

Just remembered this:
Way back when I was a little boy, I went up to the corner of Sheridan Blvd and Jericho turnpike to wait for dad who was coming home from work on the bus. I wait and wait and at least two busses go by and no dad.
I go home and we wait for dad for another hour or so and finally he walks in the door. He fell asleep on the bus and ended up at the Roosevelt field bus depot. No buses running back to mineola so he had to walk those miles (I forget how many) home.