[eye30]

A couple booked a dream holiday to Las Vegas, only to discover when they arrived at Birmingham Airport they had mistakenly booked to fly from Birmingham Alabama.

But the excited couple arrived to find the airline's desk closed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-36150328


Ps
This would never happen to our alanho (lives near this airport)..... or has it!

[Surferdude]

A couple booked a dream holiday to Las Vegas, only to discover when they arrived at Birmingham Airport they had mistakenly booked to fly from Birmingham Alabama.

But the excited couple arrived to find the airline's desk closed.

Couple pick 'wrong' Birmingham in holiday blunder - BBC News


Ps
This would never happen to our alanho (lives near this airport)..... or has it!

Touch wood, I've not been caught like that. But it would be easy to do. On line bookings with those drop down windows have a habit of "defaulting" after you've selected something. And unless you triple check everything it could be disastrous.

[AlanHo]

The nearest I ever came to a significant problem was when I was flying first class from Tokyo to Singapore on Cathay Pacific accompanied by an American business colleague. We had arrived at the airport far too early and spent a happy time in the lounge enjoying the "refreshments"

We boarded the plane and took our seats. A few minutes later other passengers arrived with the same seat numbers. It turned out we were on the wrong plane - this one was flying to Hong Kong. We were smartly removed from the plane back to the gate area and directed to the correct air bridge which was side by side with the one we had used. Our flight was still there waiting for two passengers who had gone missing.

It was a good job other passengers had the same seat numbers - otherwise we might have found ourselves in Hong Kong

It's the last time I have ever had more than a few drinks in the lounge before boarding.

[Phil №❶]

Unusual for Swire's not to check your boarding pass more accurately. 

[AlanHo]

This incident goes back to 1992 - I get the impression things were more relaxed then,

[wbm00]

This incident goes back to 1992 - I get the impression things were more relaxed then,

Did you ever experience having to only wave the cover of your British passport as you walked right through passport control?

[asathorny]

This incident goes back to 1992 - I get the impression things were more relaxed then,

Did you ever experience having to only wave the cover of your British passport as you walked right through passport control?

I got waved through at Vancouver, she was questioning nearly all the previous to me whom mostly had darker skin then I, and when it was my turn she waved her left arm as I approached and  said 'have a nice holiday, sir'....    And I was not dressed in outrageous holiday gear  either 

Then a month later as I was departing they rummaged through all my gear and made me play the compact disk player et al

[AlanHo]

When I worked in the Middle East I was fortunate to be given first class travel (and so was my wife when she accompanied me)

A lot of airports have a fast track lane for premium passengers through passport control and security - being waved through was common.

When we flew Concord there was a dedicated lounge at Heathrow and New York with a gate off the lounge straight onto the air bridge to the plane - checks were minimal.

[wbm00]

This matches with a family friend's experience - he frequently travelled to India for business in the 80s/90s. Sadly died last year in his late 70s after spending much of his life smoking 40 a day. He certainly can't be accused of not living life to the full.

At Heathrow he said he'd often walk non-stop from the baggage carousel to the car park, simply flashing the front of his passport while exchanging a mutual nod with the gentleman at passport control. Sounds like those were the days.

[Surferdude]

The last time my daughter flew home from Heathrow she got there early enough to be able to catch an earlier flight (to Singapore). She wandered around Heathrow for a while, heard her flight called and boarded. In Singapore she had a longish layover and heard her name called over the PA.
When she enquired she was informed she had NOT gone through the immigration checkpoint at Heathrow. She's been traveling internationally since she was 18 but had basically flown from Toronto,  to London and on without any sleep.
Despite this her luggage had arrived in Singapore with her.
Neither she nor anyone else has ever been able to explain how she did it.