Swap an A for an E and end up on wrong side of the Atlantic.

[mikedt]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/t...idaymaker-ends-up-in-Caribbean-not-Spain.html

"

 

[Clementine_3]

That is exactly what I'm sure is going to happen every time I travel. I am not necessarily a nervous traveler but always think, way in the back of my mind, 'what if it's the wrong plane'.

 

[SiempreTuna]

Can't help thinking she should have worked it out when she saw the price of the flights

Besides, I'm sure Grenada was lovely .. Admittedly, no Alhambra but I'm sure there are other places of interest - where those 70 Cuban builders held out for days against 8,000 Rangers and Marines for instance*



* commonly held untruth

 

[lunatic59]

Could be worse, she could have ended up here ...

 

[SiempreTuna]

Had to look that one up: I assumed there must have been a Granada in PA, not a Grenada

But then, I guess the Spaniards never got that far north ..

 

[lunatic59]

There's a Toledo in Ohio, does that count?

 

[SiempreTuna]

A Triumph Toledo? Friend had one of those when I was a lad ..

 

[64MarcoV]

There's a Zwolle in Louisiana as well in the Netherlands. There's a Nederland in Colorado too.

Granada or Grenada ? At least i payed close attention at school to know the difference.

 

[olbriar]

Why does this never happen to me? It would take weeks in the Caribbean before I reported the error.

 

[mikedt]

Can't help thinking she should have worked it out when she saw the price of the flights

Besides, I'm sure Grenada was lovely .. Admittedly, no Alhambra but I'm sure there are other places of interest - where those 70 Cuban builders held out for days against 8,000 Rangers and Marines for instance*



* commonly held untruth

Might not have been much difference in the price. Prices of flights in Europe can be very similar to Transatlantic flights, all depends on the airlines. Not sure if she just booked a flight or if it was a whole holiday package.

I know you just shouldn't be able to walk onto the wrong plane, because boarding checks and passes should ensure that can't happen. But it has happened though. Although I have noticed they do three checks of boarding passes now when you board a plane. Once at the gate where they scan the barcode, another in the jet way or getting on the bus, and yet another one when you actually enter the plane. And they pull stubs off the passes as well.

I've known people get on wrong trains and even done it myself once. In the UK there's no ticket checks when you get on a train, unlike China.

 

[mikedt]

If I didn't know any Chinese, how would I know if my boarding pass actually stated Xilinhot, and not somewhere else entirely different.

 

[SiempreTuna]

I had that exact problem in Tokyo. Somebody had written out the Kanji characters for the place I was going so I spent about 10 minutes standing in front of the train map searching for a man playing golf, a house on a cross and a squashed spider before some kind soul took pity on me, took my cash, bought my ticket and walked me to the train.

You've got to love the Japanese

 

[mikedt]

I had that exact problem in Tokyo. Somebody had written out the Kanji characters for the place I was going so I spent about 10 minutes standing in front of the train map searching for a man playing golf, a house on a cross and a squashed spider before some kind soul took pity on me, took my cash, bought my ticket and walked me to the train.

You've got to love the Japanese

In China they'll be very helpful like the Japanese, and even carry your luggage, but when you get to the train, they expect to be paid. And for god's sakes don't show them you got US dollars or credit cards from an American bank like Chase or BofA, it'll cost you a lot more. Taxi drivers can be terrible for that. Sure it comes from that everyone in China knows that Americans always tip generously and are therefore rich. Whether it's true or not is irrelevant here. In China it's customary not to give any tips at all.

Getting trains and buses in China can be fun if you don't know any Chinese, or at least the characters for your destination. The departure boards are Chinese characters only. You've just got a train or bus number and a supposed time of departure, but if there's any changes, cancellations or things are running late, you might not know what's happening. Airports are not so bad, because departure boards and PA announcements are bi-lingual, so you'll see "BeiJing" rather than just "北京". And you know your flight number and gate so should be OK.

If you see red against your destination and gate, almost certain it's not a good sign.