Booking a vacation can be really exciting. It is, for many, the first time their upcoming trip feels real.
So imagine you are super excited to go on a fun vacation in sunny Sydney, Australia where it's currently Summer but instead you end up in Sidney, Montana where it's very much Winter.
Imagine the disappointment.
This sad turn of events is exactly what happened to one shocked New Yorker.
Kingsley Burnett thought he was booking a dream vacation to Sydney, Australia where he planned to spend time at Bondi Beach.
But he made one crucial mistake when booking his flight.
You can watch news coverage here:
As expected, many of the comments poked fun at the situation and at Burnett.
\u201c@nypost Ah, close enough.\u201d— New York Post (@New York Post) 1675699420
\u201c@guardian @sidlowe Tune in next week for his trip to London, Ontario. Or Kentucky\u201d— The Guardian (@The Guardian) 1675465142
\u201c@DailyMailUK He managed to confuse the two airports' names while also ignoring the glaring difference in travel times and distances. Easily done.\u201d— Daily Mail U.K. (@Daily Mail U.K.) 1675682096
\u201c@CaraMia200 Thought he was a winner with the cheap airfare.\u201d— Cara Mia (@Cara Mia) 1675573457
Some people thought the mix-up seemed like something you'd see on a TV sitcom.
Oh Hallmark Channel romcom.
\u201c@nypost Lol, there was a @hallmarkmovie movie that this happened. \u201cRomance at Reindeer Lodge\u201d main character thought she won a trip to Jamaica in the Caribbean but winds up in Jamaica, VT.\u201d— New York Post (@New York Post) 1675699420
\u201c@guardian Didn\u2019t that also kinda happen in full house?\u201d— The Guardian (@The Guardian) 1675465142
And apparently this is not the first time this sort of issue has happened.
\u201c@guardian Yep. I heard about someone headed for Oakland who ended up in Auckland.\u201d— The Guardian (@The Guardian) 1675465142
\u201cSo a guy from New York thought he booked a trip to Sidney Australia but instead he ended up in Sydney Montana. And the woman that runs the hotel in Sydney Montana says this is not the first time this has happened!\u201d— Sean Holland (@Sean Holland) 1675316487
In an interview, Burnett talked about how the mix-up happened due to similar airport codes.
He also shared when he realized he'd made a mistake.
“I saw a mountaintop covered in white snow. At that point, I knew I was in trouble.”
"It’s a matter of acronyms. The S-Y-D as opposed to S-D-Y. Somebody has to fix that.”
Burnett went on to talk about how he made friends with the American Airlines staff member who helped him make things right.
“For Carol, it was not a paycheck. It was a human being she was dealing with.”
“Montana didn’t have kangaroos. It had Carol. And that was good enough for me.”
Luckily Burnett was able to reschedule his trip and will be trying again to make it to Australia in June.
Hopefully this time he gets to see some kangaroos.
Encyclopedia Britannica
