Woman: Travel agent missed by more than 1,300 miles

[JODO 2]

BRISTOL, England , Feb. 10 (UPI) -- A British woman said her vacation to Costa Rica involved a detour 1,300 miles from her destination when her travel agent mistakenly sent her to Puerto Rico.

Samantha Lazzaris, 33, said she thought she was in San Jose, Costa Rica, when her plane landed but soon discovered that the Thomas Cook travel agency had gotten the airport codes for her tickets confused and she had ended up in San Juan, Puerto Rico, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.

"I looked around the airport, saw posters of Puerto Rico everywhere, and thought: 'What am I going to do? Where is Puerto Rico? Where am I?'" Lazzaris said. "It turned from what should have been a trouble-free luxury trip into a distressing nightmare, as I was left to find my own way to Costa Rica."

Lazzaris told the newspaper she contacted Thomas Cook about reimbursing her for the $1,100 she spent traveling from Puerto Rico to Costa Rica but was told by employees that she "had signed the terms and conditions of the legally binding contract for the itinerary and therefore was accepting them."

A Thomas Cook spokesman said the agency is investigating the incident.

"Although there is an onus on passengers to check their flight and ticket details carefully, we will be fully investigating this complaint and discussing it with Ms. Lazzaris as soon as possible," he said to The Daily Mail.

http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2009/02/10/Wom...11051234288215/

[Nagishkaw 510]

Good grief!

[Peikko 1,575]

Daily flame war at it again.

I have to say, I read my tickets very carefully and check that not only the destinations are correct, but that I know the dates, times of flights and the terminal (if there is one) so I can't quite see how this mistake remained unnoticed until the person landed in the wrong country. Very odd.

[rclouse 0]

Wow, amazing she's not American.

[Ban Hammer 13,336]

"I looked around the airport, saw posters of Puerto Rico everywhere, and thought: 'What am I going to do? Where is Puerto Rico? Where am I?'" Lazzaris said. "It turned from what should have been a trouble-free luxury trip into a distressing nightmare, as I was left to find my own way to Costa Rica."

so much for that myth that only americans don't know where things are

[Dr. Obvious 49]

Do you have to fill out a I-94 on the plane to PR? If so, wouldn't that be the third clue of where you are going?

Edited February 10, 2009 by Wacken

[Jasman0717 9]

"I looked around the airport, saw posters of Puerto Rico everywhere, and thought: 'What am I going to do? Where is Puerto Rico? Where am I?'" Lazzaris said. "It turned from what should have been a trouble-free luxury trip into a distressing nightmare, as I was left to find my own way to Costa Rica."

so much for that myth that only americans don't know where things are

[Nikita2Charles 32]

Porto Rico isn't that bad, she should have just use that money to see the island and have a great time, when the card give you lemon you make lemonade.

Was she trying to make a point, San Juan is the capital of Porto Rico, Vers San Jose they don't sound too similar, 1st when she got the itenary, second when she was at the airport before boarding and they are making the announcement, glad it wasn't another american geography bashing

[Fandango 1,439]

How the fuque did she board a plane bound for PR when she was supposed to go to CR?

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

I booked the wrong year for a hotel in Amsterdam once. They gave me the rate I booked.

[sara..... 371]

very strange hmmm we check everything and if we have any changes we check that too, dates time to get to the get gate what the flight number is, what country, i cant believe a grown women would not check it.......

sara

[HAL 9000 96]

Porto Rico isn't that bad, she should have just use that money to see the island and have a great time, when the card give you lemon you make lemonade.

Was she trying to make a point, San Juan is the capital of Porto Rico, Vers San Jose they don't sound too similar, 1st when she got the itenary, second when she was at the airport before boarding and they are making the announcement, glad it wasn't another american geography bashing

Puerto Rico, not Porto Rico. SJU is the airport code for San Juan's intl port. SJO is the airport code for San José's intl port.

[jundp 191]

I do not understand how dimwitted one must be to get on a plane and not once realize it's not going where you thought it was. Luxury vacation? Are hearing and literacy skills now a luxury?!

[HAL 9000 96]

I do not understand how dimwitted one must be to get on a plane and not once realize it's not going where you thought it was. Luxury vacation? Are hearing and literacy skills now a luxury?!

Yep.

I've heard of this happening with people going to La Paz- México/Bolivia. And not paying attention or knowing enough about the differences in people at both possible locations. Between Costa Ricans and Puerto Ricans the difference is nearly negligible, though... so it really becomes an issue of paying attention at pre-boarding. Gates change at times anyway.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]