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Travel Forum / Travel Types / Air Travel / July 2008Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4374973.ece From The Times July 22, 2008 Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way Jack Malvern A family setting off on a five-star holiday travelled 2,000 miles out of their way after they were given boarding passes for the wrong flight. Charlie Coray, his wife, Tania, and daughter, Phoebe, 9, were caught in a mix-up at a check-in desk before their week's holiday in the Canary Islands.The family realised the mistake only after the plane landed and the air stewardess announced: “Welcome to Turkey”. An investigation was started after it emerged that the family were given the wrong boarding passes at Cardiff airport for their holiday in Lanzarote. Mrs Coray, 44, a teacher, said: “It was unbelievable. I know they send luggage to the wrong places but not people.” Mr Coray, 47, an engineer, said: “It was about 6.30 in the morning when we arrived at Cardiff airport and we were directed to the check- in desk. We did not realise that more than one flight was being checked in there. We were half-asleep. When we were called to the gate we gave them our boarding passes, got on the plane and fell asleep.” The Corays, from Llanishen, Cardiff, had booked an all-inclusive holiday with First Choice in a five-star hotel. Instead they arrived at Bodrum airport where they had to pay a £10 visa charge per person before boarding a plane back to Cardiff. They have accepted First Choice's offer of a holiday in Ibiza because they could not get a flight to Lanzarote. A spokesman for the handling agents Servisair apologised and said that the staff member who accepted them on to the wrong flight had been suspended pending a hearing. A spokeswoman for First Choice said that an investigation was under way and that the Coray family would be refunded in full for any additional expenses incurred. In article <8e7fdbb9-8cf2-4789-acd9-58a4036805f1@w7g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>, > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4374973.ece > [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > under way and that the Coray family would be refunded in full for any > additional expenses incurred. Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to actually read their boarding passes when they received them. [] > Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to > actually read their boarding passes when they received them. They claimed to have done that, but said that it simply said "Bodrum" and they didn't know it was in Turkey. They knew they were going to Lanzarote, but it's not entirely unbelievable that they thought Bodrum was just the airport 'on Lanzarote' that they were flying to.  Signature(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins David Horne wrote: > [] > > Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Lanzarote, but it's not entirely unbelievable that they thought Bodrum > was just the airport 'on Lanzarote' that they were flying to. Jeez, and you are always nagging on that us Yanks are a bunch of dullards... SignatureBest Greg " I find Greg Morrow lowbrow, witless, and obnoxious. For him to claim that we are some kind of comedy team turns my stomach." - "cybercat" to me on rec.food.cooking > [] >> Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Lanzarote, but it's not entirely unbelievable that they thought Bodrum > was just the airport 'on Lanzarote' that they were flying to. Didn't they check the flight numbers on their tickets with the boarding passes? Come to think of it, the airport trigraph is on both the ticket and boarding pass... SignatureWilliam Black I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach Time for tea. > > [] > >> Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > Didn't they check the flight numbers on their tickets with the boarding > passes? Do you? I don't have a clue what the flight numbers are on flights I take. > Come to think of it, the airport trigraph is on both the ticket and > boarding pass... Indeed it is, but I still don't think it stretches the imagination that they wouldn't check it. A lot of people don't check trigraphs or know much about them. People fly to places all the time, and don't pay attention to them. Lanzarote is ACE, Bodrum is BJV. They are hardly immediately obvious. People must fly to places like Santorini on charter flights all the time and not have a clue about the trigraph. I know it's JTR, but I'm a bit of a geek... :) Signature(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins > People must fly to places like Santorini on charter flights all the time > and not have a clue about the trigraph. I know it's JTR, but I'm a bit > of a geek... :) I'm puzzled as to why the tearing-off-the-boarding-pass staff at the gate didn't spot it. JTR is an odd one. LGW=London Gatwick; LHR=London Heathrow; NCE=Nice etc. Then you get AGP=Malaga - what's *that* all about? Ian > > People must fly to places like Santorini on charter flights all the time > > and not have a clue about the trigraph. I know it's JTR, but I'm a bit > > of a geek... :) > > I'm puzzled as to why the tearing-off-the-boarding-pass staff at the gate > didn't spot it. Spot what? They had a legitimate boarding pass for Bodrum. Boarding the Paris-Manchester FlyBe flight on Saturday, the chap in front handed his boarding card, and the woman swiped it- it didn't work, so she had a look at it, and discovered he was trying to board the Southamptom flight! If it hadn't been for the computer alert, I wonder if he could have innocently gotten on the wrong flight... > JTR is an odd one. LGW=London Gatwick; LHR=London Heathrow; NCE=Nice etc. > Then you get AGP=Malaga - what's *that* all about? Aeropuerto G**** Picasso? :) Quite a few of the Greek islands in that area also begin with J, e.g. JNX and JMK. Signature(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins > > > People must fly to places like Santorini on charter flights all the time > > > and not have a clue about the trigraph. I know it's JTR, but I'm a bit [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > so she had a look at it, and discovered he was trying to board the > Southamptom flight! Rather, he was meant to be flying _to_ Southampton! Signature(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins >> > People must fly to places like Santorini on charter flights all the >> > time [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > Southamptom flight! If it hadn't been for the computer alert, I wonder > if he could have innocently gotten on the wrong flight... Not unless someone tried the opposite, the head count would have been wrong and they'd have to check every one's BCs again. tim Following up to Ian F. > I'm puzzled as to why the tearing-off-the-boarding-pass staff at the gate > didn't spot it. probably once a week somebody is given the wrong paperwork, mostly someone spots it, this was the one case where nobody did. A string of errors, you dont hear the cases where it was spotted. I was once on a plane when some extra passengers arrived, no seats for them, the stewardess noticed they were on wrong plane. As an aside, they were black and accused the staff of doing it on purpose, its possible I suppose, but more likely a chip on shoulder getting bigger by the day case? (no idea what error found them on wrong plane but it should have been spotted before then!). SignatureMike........ remove clothing to email > > People must fly to places like Santorini on charter flights all the time > > and not have a clue about the trigraph. I know it's JTR, but I'm a bit > > of a geek... :) > > I'm puzzled as to why the tearing-off-the-boarding-pass staff at the gate > didn't spot it. I guess they don't look that closely all the time. A few years ago, my partner was en route to Washington DC and managed to get on the wrong plane - there were two flights to DC leaving (I think) LHR at around the same time. To be fair, the airline took the failure of their system very seriously in that case. >> > [] >> >> Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > Do you? I don't have a clue what the flight numbers are on flights I > take. The first thing we do is check that the boarding apses agree with the electronic ticket itinerary. Mind you, flying from India a couple of times makes you check everything as a matter of routine because, well, people make mistakes... SignatureWilliam Black I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach Time for tea. Following up to William Black >> Do you? I don't have a clue what the flight numbers are on flights I >> take. > > The first thing we do is check that the boarding passes agree with the > electronic ticket itinerary. I certainly check for the flight number (and on announcements) on the departure board, its not unusual for two flights to the same place to be listed. SignatureMike........ remove clothing to email >>> > [] >>> >> Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > Mind you, flying from India a couple of times makes you check everything > as a matter of routine because, well, people make mistakes... I think you're in the minority. I got from the desk, through passport control, security and to the final gate without realising the numpty on the desk had given me someone else's (business class) pass. tim >>>> > [] >>>> >> Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > gate without realising the numpty on the desk had given me someone else's > (business class) pass. That's quite possible. On the other hand I fly often enough to be careful, and so far, am grateful that myself, my wife and all the baggage have, for the past three years or so, turned up on time... SignatureWilliam Black I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach Time for tea. [] > >> Mind you, flying from India a couple of times makes you check everything > >> as a matter of routine because, well, people make mistakes... [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > grateful that myself, my wife and all the baggage have, for the past three > years or so, turned up on time... Things like baggage turning up on time are usually out of your control, so that's luck more than anything else. Signature(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins > [] >> >> Mind you, flying from India a couple of times makes you check [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > Things like baggage turning up on time are usually out of your control, > so that's luck more than anything else. I know. And what's more I know the odds are starting to lengthen... SignatureWilliam Black I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach Time for tea. Following up to William Black > Didn't they check the flight numbers on their tickets with the boarding > passes? > > Come to think of it, the airport trigraph is on both the ticket and > boarding pass... I imagine loads of half asleep fliers dont. I would expect everyone to look at the name above the gate and listen to the announcements, but both could have been called? "We did not realise that more than one flight was being checked in there. We were half-asleep. When we were called to the gate we gave them our boarding passes, got on the plane and fell asleep.²" Swansea airport 6.30 am, there was one check in queue. They assumed only one flight about to leave. So when they heard a flight called they went to the gate? Or were they called by name because they hadnt gone to the (wrong) gate? SignatureMike........ remove clothing to email > it's not entirely unbelievable that they thought Bodrum > was just the airport 'on Lanzarote' that they were flying to. I can see myself blundering into exactly the mistake you described. Of course, I also look at the postings at the gate, the departure board, etc.; but we can also think of cases where the airport doesn't have the city's name in its name and the three-letter code bears at best an obscure relationship to either one. Maybe they figured Senor Bodrum was some luminary of Lanzarote and they'd renamed the airport after him. This is no doubt why both gate agents and flight attendants customarily announce the destination. But then, people pay notoriously little attention to these announcements (especially if they're dead-on-their-feet tired and/or distracted by family travel)? One Delta flight attendant in Atlanta tried to make it stand out, and succeeded: "If your plans for this evening do not take place in San Francisco, you are on the wrong aircraft and this is your last chance to get out." (Don't get me started on the auditory clutter of both concourses and cabins, a combination of mealymouthed standard verbiage; people who seem to be trying to auction something off (and/or lull you to sleep) rather than communicate; and endless-loop PA announcements (most about security) mandated by somebody who thought he was doing some good... all of them, all too often, made over a PA system that a burger joint wouldn't have for its drive-up window. It's a miracle anybody understands any of it. </rant>) The system is fallible. Twice I've been on a plane when it was discovered en route that someone was on board who shouldn't have been. One was an older gent who had stayed on board instead of getting off and making a connection. The airline was quite chagrined at this discovery, since aside from all the reasons you don't want to send somebody's grandpa to the wrong city, it implied that their through-count was wrong and nobody noticed. (Or they forgot to take one -- it would've occurred before I boarded.) The gate agents were, I think, in the clear -- he was supposed to be on that plane, just not to *stay* on it for the second leg; and as for his absence from the other plane, well, no-show passengers are a frequent and unremarkable occurrence; at least in USAmerican domestic travel, they page you a couple of times and unless you've checked luggage before disappearing, or otherwise done something suspicious, somebody gets called from the standby list and that's that. I'm not sure how the other occasion arose, but it resulted in a kid in perhaps his early teens, unaccompanied, going to the wrong airport in the Los Angeles area, one a long way from where he was ticketed to go. My impression was of a poor kid who did not have much experience with air travel. A lot of discussion with the flight crew and pondering of the timetable revealed that he was pretty much out of luck that night for connections. I think they ended up calling a cab at company expense for him, and informing the people waiting for him at the intended airport of what had happened. Like all the works of man, the system for making sure everybody is on the right aircraft has flaws, and people's application of it deteriorates over time... --Joe > [] >> Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Lanzarote, but it's not entirely unbelievable that they thought Bodrum > was just the airport 'on Lanzarote' that they were flying to. I worked at a company where there was an important meeting scheduled in Taipei. The VP or marketing and VP of sales were both going. The VP of marketing couldn't find his passport so he couldn't go. The VP of sales was given a boarding pass for a flight to Shanghai and didn't realize the problem until they were airborne. Needless to say, that company is out of business. . > Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to > actually read their boarding passes when they received them. And failed to understand boarding announcement. > . > > > > Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to > > actually read their boarding passes when they received them. > > And failed to understand boarding announcement. They said, Bodrum, Turkey in the announcement? If you didn't have a clue where Bodrum was, you could easily just assume it was 'the airport' for Lanzarote. Signature(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins >> . >> > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > They said, Bodrum, Turkey in the announcement? ... and the boarding pass may have said only BJV, or whatever it is. Cheers, George W Russell Bangalore > . > > > > Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to > > actually read their boarding passes when they received them. > > And failed to understand boarding announcement. Loudspeaker announcements are not always easy to understand. Not as bad in airports as in train stations, though. SignatureMary Loomer Oliver (aka Erilar) You can't reason with someone whose first line of argument is that reason doesn't count. --Isaac Asimov Erilar's Cave Annex: http://www.chibardun.net/~erilarlo Following up to Shawn Hirn > Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to > actually read their boarding passes when they received them. or look at the name above the gate or on the departure board. I suppose if you only travel once a year to a beach you might not recognise it. SignatureMike........ remove clothing to email Waiving the right to remain silent, Shawn Hirn <srhi@comcast.net> said: > Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to > actually read their boarding passes when they received them. They said the were too sleepy... SignatureLarry J. - Remove spamtrap in ALLCAPS to e-mail "A lack of common sense is now considered a disability, with all the privileges that this entails." From The Times July 22, 2008 Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way Jack Malvern A family setting off on a five-star holiday travelled 2,000 miles out of their way after they were given boarding passes for the wrong flight. Charlie Coray, his wife, Tania, and daughter, Phoebe, 9, were caught in a mix-up at a check-in desk before their week's holiday in the Canary Islands.The family realised the mistake only after the plane landed and the air stewardess announced: “Welcome to Turkey”. An investigation was started after it emerged that the family were given the wrong boarding passes at Cardiff airport for their holiday ----------------------- GM replies: And here all along I thought these sorts of cock - ups normally happened only at Manchester, viz...: http://www.airlinequality.com/main/forum.htm http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/malta.htm AIR MALTA review : 22 July 2008 : by M Willis "My friend and I experienced severe delays travelling with this airline via Lat Charter. We travelled from Manchester/Corfu return. The outbound leg was delayed by hours and once on board we were told it was due to cabin crew going sick at the last minute. The return journey was hell. On arrival at check in at 18.00 hrs local time we were greeted with a sign on the desk advising of an approx 6 hour delay. This transpired into excess of 10 hours, finally departing at 4.40am local time. The reasons were explained again on board the aircraft this time being due to technical failure of the aircraft the day before, and in addition having to wait in Corfu for the airport in Venice to open at 06.00am to land for fuel en route to Manchester. In addition to this massive inconvenience there was no meal service on board on either flight, only bacon rolls on offer which had to be paid for. I would not recommend anyone to book a cheap ticket with this airline...." http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/turkish.htm TURKISH AIRLINES review : 15 July 2008 : by A Ahmed "MAN-IST round Trip. The plane hadn't been cleaned properly. Food one of the plus points, was quite good - Turkish on the way there and more standard European food on the way back. There are two choices usually chicken or pasta and whilst all meals are halal, no vegetarian option seems to be offered. The main problem were Turkish Airlines staff. The male stewards were by in large friendly and helpful. The stewardesses however on both flights, were moody, and unapproachable - God help you if you're a muslim woman wearing headscarf though, I was travelling with my mum and sister, the stewardesses seemed to take exception to this and as a result seemed to treat them with contempt and rudeness. This blatant prejudice, has put me off flying with them again. All staff on the flight had a poor grasp of English, speaking with little clarity - announcements were rarely understood. Also they seem to have a problem understanding that some people take milk with their tea, I know its not the done thing in Turkey, but one would assume they are well travelled personnel and should be used to such requests. Turkish Airlines have the equipment and means to be a good airline, but are let down by staff who spoil an otherwise good journey. They are a poor reflection on the Star Alliance, if this is the quality of service they deem satisfactory..." </> SignatureBest Greg " I find Greg Morrow lowbrow, witless, and obnoxious. For him to claim that we are some kind of comedy team turns my stomach." - "cybercat" to me on rec.food.cooking > http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4374973.ece > [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > under way and that the Coray family would be refunded in full for any > additional expenses incurred. Wow! And he was an engineer! :-) SignatureMRDPE http://TheProfessionalEngineer.com >> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4374973.ec >> e [quoted text clipped - 44 lines] > > Wow! And he was an engineer! :-) >http://TheProfessionalEngineer.com >------=_NextPart_000_00F3_01C8EC51.A061F6E0 ><!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> ><HTML><HEAD> ><META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows- 1252"> ><META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16674" name=GENERATOR> ><STYLE></STYLE> ></HEAD> ><BODY bgColor=#ffffff> ><DIV>Chad and Olga Chu-Choo wrote:<BR>> <A >href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4374973. ece">http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/arti >cle4374973.ece</A><BR>> ><BR>> From The Times<BR>> July 22, 2008<BR>> Family is flown 2,000 >miles the wrong way<BR>> Jack Malvern<BR>> <BR>> A family setting off >on a five-star holiday travelled 2,000 miles out<BR>> of their way after they >were given boarding passes for the wrong<BR>> flight.<BR>> <BR>> >Charlie Coray, his wife, Tania, and daughter, Phoebe, 9, were caught<BR>> in >a mix-up at a check-in desk before their week's holiday in the<BR>> Canary >Islands.The family realised the mistake only after the plane<BR>> landed and >the air stewardess announced: “Welcome to Turkey”.<BR>> <BR>> An >investigation was started after it emerged that the family were<BR>> given >the wrong boarding passes at Cardiff airport for their holiday<BR>> in >Lanzarote. Mrs Coray, 44, a teacher, said: “It was unbelievable. I<BR>> know >they send luggage to the wrong places but not people.”<BR>> <BR>> Mr >Coray, 47, an engineer, said: “It was about 6.30 in the morning<BR>> when we >arrived at Cardiff airport and we were directed to the check- <BR>> in desk. >We did not realise that more than one flight was being<BR>> checked in there. >We were half-asleep. When we were called to the gate<BR>> we gave them our >boarding passes, got on the plane and fell asleep.”<BR>> <BR>> The Corays, >from Llanishen, Cardiff, had booked an all-inclusive<BR>> holiday with First >Choice in a five-star hotel. Instead they arrived<BR>> at Bodrum airport >where they had to pay a £10 visa charge per person<BR>> before boarding a >plane back to Cardiff.<BR>> <BR>> They have accepted First Choice's offer >of a holiday in Ibiza because<BR>> they could not get a flight to Lanzarote. >A spokesman for the handling<BR>> agents Servisair apologised and said that >the staff member who<BR>> accepted them on to the wrong flight had been >suspended pending a<BR>> hearing. A spokeswoman for First Choice said that an >investigation was<BR>> under way and that the Coray family would be refunded >in full for any<BR>> additional expenses incurred.<BR></DIV> ><DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT><BR><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>Wow! And he was >an engineer! :-)</STRONG> </FONT><BR><BR>-- <BR>MRDPE<BR><BR><A >href="http://TheProfessionalEngineer.com">http://TheProfessionalEn gineer.com</A><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML> >------=_NextPart_000_00F3_01C8EC51.A061F6E0-- WOW HTML > Wow! And he was an engineer! :-) I woulnd't want to be on that train. Following up to mrtravel >> Wow! And he was an engineer! :-) > > I woulnd't want to be on that train. Train? I note his partner is a teacher! Lets guess destination was Tenerife. It might have said "Reina Sofia" (TFS). "Los Rodeos"(TFN) should be a give away to a teacher. SignatureMike........ remove clothing to email Following up to Mike..... > Lets guess destination was > Tenerife. It might have said "Reina Sofia" (TFS). "Los Rodeos"(TFN) should > be a give away to a teacher. I see it was Cardiff - Lanzarote. I suppose if you are half asleep lanzarote in a welsh accent might sound like anywhere. SignatureMike........ remove clothing to email >Following up to Mike..... > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >I see it was Cardiff - Lanzarote. I suppose if you are half asleep >lanzarote in a welsh accent might sound like anywhere. Llansarotti - of course - near Machynlleth isn't it? Keith (formerly of Bristol UK) now moved to Berlin/nach Berlin umgezogen Following up to Keith Anderson > Llansarotti - of course - near Machynlleth isn't it? LOL boyo SignatureMike........ remove clothing to email > Following up to Mike..... > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > I see it was Cardiff - Lanzarote. I suppose if you are half asleep > lanzarote in a welsh accent might sound like anywhere. Several years back, the German charter airline LTU ran an advert with the blurb "LTU flies you to Teneriffe, Fuertaventura, Lanzarote and other Mediterranean destinations". Shortly afterwards they had to run a hasty rewording saying "Yes, our pilots really do know where the Canary Islands are!" T. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4374973.ece From The Times July 22, 2008 Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way Jack Malvern A family setting off on a five-star holiday travelled 2,000 miles out of their way after they were given boarding passes for the wrong flight. Charlie Coray, his wife, Tania, and daughter, Phoebe, 9, were caught in a mix-up at a check-in desk before their week's holiday in the Canary Islands.The family realised the mistake only after the plane landed and the air stewardess announced: “Welcome to Turkey”. An investigation was started after it emerged that the family were given the wrong boarding passes at Cardiff airport for their holiday in Lanzarote. Mrs Coray, 44, a teacher, said: “It was unbelievable. I know they send luggage to the wrong places but not people.” Mr Coray, 47, an engineer, said: “It was about 6.30 in the morning when we arrived at Cardiff airport and we were directed to the check- in desk. We did not realise that more than one flight was being checked in there. We were half-asleep. When we were called to the gate we gave them our boarding passes, got on the plane and fell asleep.” The Corays, from Llanishen, Cardiff, had booked an all-inclusive holiday with First Choice in a five-star hotel. Instead they arrived at Bodrum airport where they had to pay a £10 visa charge per person before boarding a plane back to Cardiff. They have accepted First Choice's offer of a holiday in Ibiza because they could not get a flight to Lanzarote. A spokesman for the handling agents Servisair apologised and said that the staff member who accepted them on to the wrong flight had been suspended pending a hearing. A spokeswoman for First Choice said that an investigation was under way and that the Coray family would be refunded in full for any additional expenses incurred. I'm interested in how they got checked in in the first place. Whether it's being done using a computer or manually there should be a check that the name on the ticket is the same as a name on the passenger manifest. Even if two families had identical names on the two flights surely one of them would have noticed? >http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article4374973.ece > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >Canary Islands.The family realised the mistake only after the plane >landed and the air stewardess announced: Welcome to Turkey. Where these people in a deep coma from the moment they entered the airport? Or functionally illiterate, dyslexic or some other thing that prevented them from noticing what was printed on the boarding pass, announced on the tannoy, probably listed at the gate etc? I continue to wonder how such people manage to produce children, let alone eat without harming themselves. I thought we Americans had the world lock on bone stupid people who gave up all ability to think/read/reason in some distant past..seems we have competition. Jim P. |
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