Have you accidentally booked the wrong flight?

[Warks]

I haven't but I wonder how far people get with their Sydney bookings before they realise they have accidentally chosen Sydney, Nova Scotia. It annoys me that option even appears when you are booking a flight within Australia. I guess it's just there in the system but there's no way to avoid it popping up as the IATA code is SYD so either way you are going to get both airports pop up.
I wonder what it will be like when the new airport opens.

 

[DC3]

Booked a cheap non changeable flight to Charlotte, North Carolina, instead of Charlestown, South Carolina once

That’s probably Charleston (CHS). I was there in September, picturesque, southern charm, great food.

 

[Bundy Bear]

I did it a few years ago and just phoned Qantas to cancel the booking.
I was booking SYD-BNE and for some reason entered BNE-SYD well Brisbane was home.
Probably happened about 15 years ago.

 

[AuSammy]

I haven't but I wonder how far people get with their Sydney bookings before they realise they have accidentally chosen Sydney, Nova Scotia. It annoys me that option even appears when you are booking a flight within Australia. I guess it's just there in the system but there's no way to avoid it popping up as the IATA code is SYD so either way you are going to get both airports pop up.
I wonder what it will be like when the new airport opens.

There is also a Melbourne in the US that pops up in searches

 

[trooper]

Was deciding between dates while searching on the NZ website. You guessed it. Made up my mind and hit purchase...with a different set of dates still up. Sigh. Rang immediately, NZ call centre lady laughed and changed the booking.

 

[VPS]

Speaker at a recent conference in Australia was from UK. His wife came out after conference and couldn't find her hotel when she arrived in Melbourne. The hotel was in Melbourne, Florida

 

[pauldab]

Theres also a Melbourne in the US that pops up in searches

Melbourne International Airport, Florida

MLB AIRPORT CODE | Melbourne International Airport

MLB / KMLB are the airport codes for Melbourne International Airport. ✈ Click here to find more.

airportcodes.aero

 

[offshore171]

Poms sometimes fly to the wrong “Grenada”.

The Caribbean one, as opposed to Granada, Spain

 

[Port Power]

Last year I was booking in J from PER-LHR, return CDG-PER. My TA was amazed that I could purchase the return flights for some $1200 less than she could. Turns out I had booked July instead of June!

Thank goodness I double checked after I printed the e-ticket or I would have missed the tour. I rang the QF call centre immediately to change dates. The customer service person wanted to charge me for changing flights and had to check with her supervisor when I reminded her of the 24-hour no charge change rule. I have become quite pedantic when booking connecting flights or connecting to cruise flights.

 

[Seat0B]

Sure did. Booked BNE-CBR return on Red e-deal. I haven't lived in Brisbane in 20 years, oops!

Lucky for me, I was booking the flights with an Amex travel credit. Once I'd finished having a minor heart attack, I checked the Amex Travel terms and took a gamble on the 24 hour cancellation for a full refund overruling the Red e-deal terms. Luckily for me that worked and I rebooked, very carefully.

And welcome to posting on AFF @Beer_budget!

 

[Seat0B]

There is also a Melbourne in the US that pops up in searches

yep the old Melbourne Florida switcheroo!!!

 

[Seat0B]

I've had an actual and a near miss.

Actual Wrong Flight
A long time ago (about 25 years, I would guess), on a work trip booked by the client's travel team, they totally stuffed up my return leg DRW-CBR. I worked all week and had to go against my rule of no red eye flights to be home in CBR on the Saturday by early afternoon for some very important (at the time) kid thing, so had asked to be booked on the 0045 flight out of Darwin (I think it was via BNE) home to Canberra. I stressed the importance of it over and over, and they sent me an email saying it was all arranged as per request. I don't now recall why I did not notice the e-ticket details, but I did not. Duly turned up at the airport after hanging around the hotel lobby for hours after finishing work at 1500, and nope, I am not on that flight, I am on the 1245 flight later on Saturday. I burst into tears at this point - over tired, hot and sweaty and mum-guilt - and they helped me out with a seat on a different set of flights (from memory via ADL and MEL) that got me home only a little bit late, but totally totally shattered. Lessons learnt:

1. Always check the ticketed details
2. Never let anyone else organise your travel, ever, under any circumstances
3. Things that were really important at the time fade to obscurity eventually - I now can't recall why I had to be home so urgently, only that is was urgent, so really it can't have been that big a deal, although the Seat offspring may have a different view on that
4. Watch out for those middle of the night flights - they are very confusing.

Near Miss
Booking a set of very complicated flights in and out of DXB to visit Seat Son a few years ago, I got myself really mixed up with departure date for one of those crazy middle of the night flights, broke rule 4, and booked a flight effectively a day too early - it was scheduled for not long after midnight on the correct date but that meant that I was not going to be back from a side trip with a leisurely day to spare for packing and farewells, but rather would have a tight connection at DXB and a long leg home with disordered packing and insufficient time to enjoy EK DXB F lounge Quelle horreur!!! Luckily I noticed I had done this almost immediately after pushing the go button, so immediately called and used the QF 24 hr change of mind policy to get it sorted out. I really appreciate that policy. I've actually used it a few times when buyer's remorse has set in and I have needed to change dates, destinations or even cancel a trip that I have just booked.

 

[flyingfan]

Sometimes having someone else organise my travel is ‘inevitable’ so I always, always carefully check when I get the booking back.

Complaints of “I live in SYD, why would you book me a flight to SYD” and “Why would you book me me for such a short/long stay” don’t make a jot of difference. I know I’m responsible for checking.

 

[jastel]

That’s probably Charleston (CHS). I was there in September, picturesque, southern charm, great food.

Yes that place.
See I still dont know where I am going!

 

[albatross710]

Sadly just last week booked a set of February flights BNE-SYD for the exact MARCH dates I actually needed. To be fair on myself I was booking flights for Mrs and I and using a combination of

Gift voucher for 2 pax (couldn't easily split that)
Gift voucher for 1 pax return
Points redemption for the other pax return

QF have $110 change fees plus the points penalty

Turned out it was easier to change my meetings.

 

[Himeno]

yep the old Melbourne Florida switcheroo!!!

Some thing happens with Paris, TX and London, ON.

 

[Happy Dude]

Possibly. I showed up at ROK for a GLT-BNE flight once. When you do lots of mining projects and seem to fly in/out of a different airport each time, it's worth checking your flight details before leaving site.

 

[Himeno]

On my first solo overseas trip (US around easter 2005), I booked each flight separately as I confirmed dates. Some flights were done online, others at a travel agent.
I had Southwest MSP-MDW-BWI, then a bus up to State Collage, PA (spent a few days with friends), followed by a bus back to BWI and a flight to BOS.
I had selected the flight I wanted online, but it wasn't possible to book online, so went to a travel agent.
Told them what was happening and that I needed a BWI-BOS flight at a set time/date, and showed them the bus schedule.
Instead of booking the late afternoon AirTran flight like I'd asked, the agent booked the early morning flight.
It was all correct on the paperwork sighted at the travel agents office, but was wrong on the email I had when I got home.
I quickly replied and got it fixed before any tickets had been processed.

Had an unexpected stop over in Singapore a few years ago after an onward connection had been mistakenly booked for the following day. Sat in the SIN arrivals hall trying to find a hotel for the night. The ticket had free changes, subject to availability. There weren't any seats available in the required fare classes, so couldn't change it. The agent looked in to it, found that it was their error and discounted the cost of that hotel off my next trip. (one of the best travel agents I've dealt with, even with that error).

 

[Quickstatus]

My TA had (over 20 years ago).
Booked a flight from ROM-LHR 1 months after we were supposed to depart.
I went to airport to check in and found out that not only that but the LHR-SIN was also similarly affected.

Flight to LHR was sorted fairly quickly but the SIN flight took a little longer, but no significant delays encountered.