A man heading to Granada, Spain met with a terrible surprise when his flight ended up on the Caribbean Island of Grenada. Way off, British Airways! From CNN:
U.S. dentist Edward Gamson thought he’d bought tickets from London’s Gatwick Airport to Granada, Spain, for himself and his partner via a British Airways booking agent, but only realized he was actually headed to Grenada in the Caribbean once on board.
That’s sort of like when you accidentally drive the wrong direction on the freeway for a bit before turning around, but this time you’re on a plane for hours and there’s nothing you can do. So how did all of this happen?
The destination country and flight duration hadn’t been listed on his e-tickets, which instead displayed only the city name. Gamson claims the airline refuses to reimburse his first-class tickets and didn’t reroute the travelers to Granada from Grenada. Gamson is now suing British Airways for the cost of the trip, including planned tours in Spain that he and his partner didn’t get to take. (via)
That’s cold-blooded, British Airways. Setting up that type of planned vacation takes some time, so having it all demolished is devastating. It’s not like any of this could have happened before. That’d be crazy!
Remarkably, the same mix-up happened just the week before.
Lamenda Kingdon from Plymouth, UK, had also booked a British Airways flight to Granada, Spain, but found herself on a flight bound for Grenada in the Caribbean.
She’d planned the trip after being diagnosed with cancer.
When notified of the mistake, the BA crew moved Kingdon to first class and sent her back to Gatwick when the flight made a scheduled stop in St. Lucia. (via)
Well, they helped her out (Cancer!), so why not help this couple out? If anything, this is a lesson to always check your ticket and make sure you’re headed to the right place. You could end up on a plane heading for a lawsuit.