Typo causes tourist to land in Sidney, Montana

[Initech]

No, this isn't The Onion:

Typo takes tourist 13,000 km out

BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- A 21-year-old German tourist who wanted to visit his girlfriend in the Australian metropolis Sydney landed 13,000 kilometers (8,077 miles) away near Sidney, Montana, after mistyping his destination on a flight booking Web site.

Dressed for the Australian summer in T-shirt and shorts, Tobi Gutt left Germany on Saturday for a four-week holiday.

Instead of arriving "down under", Gutt found himself on a different continent and bound for the chilly state of Montana.

"I did wonder but I didn't want to say anything," Gutt told the Bild newspaper. "I thought to myself, you can fly to Australia via the United States."

Gutt's airline ticket routed him via the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon, to Billings, Montana. Only as he was about to board a commuter flight to Sidney -- an oil town of about 5,000 people -- did he realize his mistake.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/12/29/germany.tourist.reut/index.html

[underpants]

1. Boy would I have loved to see those two cultures clash

:eyes:

[Initech]

2. I smell a sitcom!

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. I don't know the culture

of either Sidney, Montana, or Sydney, Australia. Maybe Sidney, MT is a fine place to down a beer or two. To almost quote an old author, "travel destination mishaps are dancing lessons from God".

But his girlfriend was waiting in Australia, so that might make it more of a problem.





edited to add the source:
“Unexpected travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God”. Kurt Vonnegut

[Rabrrrrrr]

3. Man, you have GOT to be some kind of dumb not to notice

that your tickets say "Sidney, Montana, United States" and not "Sydney, Australia".

You have to be a special kind of dumb not to realize that when the ticket agent at the airport, as you check your luggage, says "Final destination United States....".

And you really have to be a special kind of dumb because the airport code for Sydney is SYD and the Sidney, MT one is SDY (I kid you not!! Okay, so no, you don't have to be dumb to get those two confused).

[pitohui]

5. i guess i almost don't believe the story is true

he would have to clear customs in the usa, believe me, you notice it when you clear customs in the usa, he was in no way flown directly to any sidney, montana

[keithjx]

6. Living in Helena, Montana

I've had luggage end up in Honalulu, (code HNL) instead of Helena, (code HLN).
Unfortunately, I've never ended up there. Lucky luggage....
KJ