Booking a flight to the wrong city or airport. It's not something that happens too often, but when it does, can be embarrassing and costly. It's what happened to a New York resident who thought that he had booked a trip to Sydney, Australia, only to find himself in Sidney, Montana.
Off by one letter
New York man Kingsley Burnett departed from New York's La Guardia airport on January 26th, believing that he was headed 'down under.' The traveler first landed in Billings, Montana, but thought that this airport transfer was all part of the plan. However, the realization that something was wrong struck once he saw the size of the aircraft that would take him to "Sydney."
As reported by Fox11 Los Angeles, Burnett stated:
"I had to find out for myself that Billings, Montana, would only take me to Sidney, Montana, where there are no kangaroos waiting to welcome Mr Burnett,"
In a post to the site Storyful, Burnett noted that he received help from an American Airlines ticketing agent, who put him on a flight back to New York City "after a night out in Billings."
For the record, the spelling of the two cities is similar with only a one-letter difference: Sydney is the popular Australian city while Sidney is the small city in Northeastern Montana with a little over 6,000 residents. Their IATA codes of the airports might add to the confusion too, as the Australian facility is SYD while the Sidney–Richland Municipal Airport is SDY.
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The other Sydney
This amusing story is just one of several instances of travelers intending to fly to one destination, but mistakenly booking an itinerary for another. The confusion between Sydney, Nova Scotia (Canada) and Sydney, Australia has been a much more common mistake,
In 2002, young British tourists flying from London ended up in Nova Scotia rather than Australia, having purchased their tickets from a travel agent. In August 2009, The Daily Mail reported on a Dutch couple ending up at the same Canadian airport with only Australian dollars in hand. The year after, Italian tourists ended up at the same location - again due to an error made by their travel agency.
Double-check your booking!
Ultimately, it comes down to travelers (or their travel agents) to ensure they're headed to the intended destination. Airport confusion, especially for those who are unsure of proper spelling, or are less educated/experienced in geography and/or air travel can strike in many ways.
Those commenting on our 2022 article noted other potentially confusing scenarios:
- Birmingham, Alabama (BHM) and Birmingham, UK (BHX)
- Grenada in the Caribbean (GND) and Granada in Spain (GRX)
- Portland, Oregon (PDX), and Portland, Maine (PWM)
- London, Ontario (YXU), and London, UK (LHR, LGW, etc.)
- And Lafayette, Indiana (LAF), and Lafayette, Louisiana (LFT)
Of course, it probably wouldn't hurt if airline websites or flight search engines added some prompts or warnings to help customers be extra certain of their booking.
What do you think? Are these booking mistakes too easy to make? Let us know by leaving a comment.
Source: Fox11 Los Angeles