A couple for a long time wanted to visit the city of Budapest in Hungary. They bought their tickets. On the day of journey, they went to the airport. Stood in line to check-in. While standing in line, they found that they had by mistake purchased tickets to go to Bucharest, Romania.
They had brief consultations/arguments between the two of them. They had only 3 options. 1. Cancel the tickets and go home. 2. Cancel the tickets and buy new tickets to Budapest. 3. Go on with the journey and go to Bucharest (of which they know nothing about.)
They decided to go to Bucharest anyway. They enjoyed their vacation.
Mistakes during holiday planning and travel reservations can happen sometime. Also, people boarding on the wrong flight.
Here is an actual incident. This was pre-911 where security was lax. It was late at night. A guy booked his ticket going to Oakland, California from Los Angeles, California. Actually, the flying time is only 50 minutes from LAX to OAK. The plane went on and on and on. After 4 hours, they started serving dinner. They don’t serve dinner at such a short flight.
The passenger enquired with the flight crew as to what is happening. They said this flight was going to Auckland, New Zealand and now flying over Hawaii.
The passenger misheard Auckland as Oakland.
This brings me to another point. Thank God they changed the name of a city in India – Madras to Chennai. There is a city named Madras in the State of Oregon in USA. Otherwise, we would be seeing a lot of passengers landing in Madras, Oregon, with their Black Label Scotch, 555 cigarettes, Chocolates, Cologne, and Perfume.
Flying on an airplane is ridiculously stupid.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
John Madden
Go Auckland Raiders!
Thanks for your comments John. You and Ken Stabler were great partners. I like both of you.
DeleteI think you have mentioned that Oakland incident sometime before.. Interesting to know about another Madras, will check it out...
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Rajesh.
DeleteWow SG! That's wild. I never had a problem like that on a flight.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Dr. David Dao
Thanks for your comments Dr. Dao. Looks like you did not get enough beating from the airport security.
DeleteLooks strange that people do not check their tickets once they get them or at least before boarding.
ReplyDeleteRegarding boarding an Auckland flight instead of Oakland,Ca, the cost of ticket, the departure from international terminal, immigration etc should have alerted the careless passengers.
Funny such incidents still happen!
Thanks for your comments Mr. KP. It was pre 911. Everything was relax. Will give you one real example. My wife and kids went to india on vacation. I went to see them off. After they boarded the plane I wanted to tell something to my wife. They let me board the plane to talk to her for a few minutes.
DeleteYou are pretty lucky to have cleared security check and also boarded the plane without a ticket. True it was pre 911
DeleteYes, I was lucky. But before 911, there was no security at all at American airports.
DeleteInteresting post....I wonder when they scanned the boarding pass at entry wouldn't they have realized the mistake....
ReplyDeleteBtw this is Dee.... also sometimes unplanned trips are the best trips
DeleteThanks for your comments Dee. It was a time when no one seriously looked at boarding pass. There was no scanning. The gate agent just looked at boarding passes.
DeleteI have heard such bizarre things happening. Recently, here in the domestic circuit, someone boarded a wrong flight, and landed at the unintended destination. He was sent back to the original city, by the airline, and the airline staff at the originating city were subjected to an inquiry as to how that man managed to board the wrong flight.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Pradeep. Even with tight security, such bizarre things do happen.
DeleteInteresting topic. However high or great a person may be, he/she can err at times. Nice.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Sarala.
DeleteDidn't know there is another Madras...
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments ashok. Yup there is one in Oregon State.
DeleteGlad to be here SG sir, thanks to KP sir who introduced me to this wonderful blog space.
ReplyDeleteReally surprised and shocked in equal measure to read the experiences of vacationing all gone wrong, albeit for a nice outcome!
Ha ha here we come.. Madras!
Thanks for your comments Sunita. Welcome to my blog. I am not a Sir. Mr. KP is a sir. I am just an SG for blog only.
DeleteSunita, please visit here as often as possible. Thanks.
I am surprised how his ticket was not checked before boarding.... even before 911 this was a basic check.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments Mr. Haddock. This is America. People are stupid. Anything can happen here.
Delete