Passengers boarding the wrong aeroplane and ending up in the wrong destination.

[stadler]

There was an article in the news about two weeks ago about two American ladies who accidentally flew from Rome in Italy to Tunis in Tunisia instead of Nice in France after a staff member misheard them. They documented the entire thing on both of their Tik Tok accounts too. It seems that what happened is that they asked to go "to Nice" and the person at the ticket counter misheard that for "Tunis" and gave them the completely wrong aeroplane tickets. They did not realise until they were on the aeroplane and ended up flying all the way from Rome to Tunis and then spending the day at Tunis airport before getting put on a Nice flight.

TikTokers looking for flight ‘to Nice’ wind up in Tunis, Tunisia

The travelers somehow did not realize they were headed to Tunisia — despite it presumably being written on their boarding passes — until they were on the plane

www.independent.co.uk

Accidental tourist TikTokers looking for flight ‘to Nice’ wind up in Africa’s Tunis

The travelers somehow did not realize they were headed to Tunisia — despite it presumably being written on their boarding passes — until they were on the plane

Two TikTokers hoping to enjoy a vacation in Nice, France instead found themselves in the Tunisian capital of Tunis after an unfortunate miscommunication.

Brittney Dzialo shared the now-viral TikTok that captured some of the chaos of her trip. She and her friend had traveled to the airport to take a trip to the coastal French city and boarded their plane as normal.

Once they were on the plane, however, things started to go awry. The two women began talking to other passengers and learned they were in fact heading to the north African city Tunis, as opposed to Nice, which is located on the French Riviera. The headrests of every seat on the plane also were covered with cloth wrappings bearing the word "Tunisia."

Realizing their mistake — and apparently learning for the first time where Tunis is — the women tried to get off the plane before it was too late.

Two TikTokers hoping to enjoy a vacation in Nice, France instead found themselves in the Tunisian capital of Tunis after an unfortunate miscommunication.

Brittney Dzialo shared the now-viral TikTok that captured some of the chaos of her trip. She and her friend had traveled to the airport to take a trip to the coastal French city and boarded their plane as normal.

Once they were on the plane, however, things started to go awry. The two women began talking to other passengers and learned they were in fact heading to the north African city Tunis, as opposed to Nice, which is located on the French Riviera. The headrests of every seat on the plane also were covered with cloth wrappings bearing the word "Tunisia."

Realizing their mistake — and apparently learning for the first time where Tunis is — the women tried to get off the plane before it was too late.

"We're supposed to go to Nice, France," Dzialo tells a flight attendant in the footage. "We're on the wrong flight."

Unfortunately for them, their luggage was already loaded onto the plane. The women were told they'd need to continue on to Tunis and then figure out their travel plans from there.

"We're going to have to change in Tunis," Dzialo says in the video. "We're going to Africa."

The mixup reportedly occurred during booking. "Nice," is pronounced "neese,” and it is believed the airline booking agents misheard them and issued tickets to “Tunis” instead.

Once the women landed in Africa, they tried to sort out their travel plans at the airport but had a difficult time due to the language barrier. They ultimately had to pay for new flights to France.

“They are making us pay for a new flight, saying we can’t get on the next one tonight, everyone is rude, two men who are the supervisors yelled in my face, in tears, so as a last resort I had to bring out my bestie chat and found out about EU regulation and now they are taking us a bit more seriously so we can get to NICE asap,” Dzialo says in a video.

Dzialo went on to say it took "hours" for an airline worker to find a flight out of Tunisia, and that they even had to ask the “captain to hold the plane” as they rushed towards a gate.

The next day, the duo finally arrived at their intended location. Dzialo marked the achievement with a post next to a fountain captioned: “NICE COMMA FRANCE.”

TikTok - Make Your Day

TikTok - Make Your Day

I suppose both "to Nice" and "Tunis" sound very similar so it is an easy mistake for staff to make when the airport has regular flights to both destinations. But i am so surprised that neither of them looked at their ticket or realised until they were already on the aeroplane. Since it went viral on social media it seems that the Tunisian tourism agency has given them a free holiday to return to Tunisia so at least they got something out of it.

This reminds me that about fifteen or twenty years ago there was an article in the newspaper about someone who accidentally flew from Los Angeles to Auckland instead of Los Angeles to Oakland after staff misheard Oakland for Auckland and put him on the wrong flight. He did not realise until he was halfway on the flight and ended up doing a fourteen hour flight to New Zealand and fourteen hours back instead of a one hour flight.

I am curious if anyone has heard of any other similar stories of people accidentally boarding the wrong aeroplanes and ended up miles away in the wrong destination? Or even if it has happened to yourself before?

They normally check your ticket when boarding so i suppose the only possibility is things like the "to Nice" and "Tunis" incident where staff mishear you and sell a ticket to the wrong destination and the passenger never realises! Although i am sure there must be occasional other instances when staff do not check properly and some confused passenger gets on the wrong flight!

 

[simonw]

There was an article in the news about two weeks ago about two American ladies who accidentally flew from Rome in Italy to Tunis in Tunisia instead of Nice in France after a staff member misheard them. They documented the entire thing on both of their Tik Tok accounts too. It seems that what happened is that they asked to go "to Nice" and the person at the ticket counter misheard that for "Tunis" and gave them the completely wrong aeroplane tickets. They did not realise until they were on the aeroplane and ended up flying all the way from Rome to Tunis and then spending the day at Tunis airport before getting put on a Nice flight.

I suppose both "to Nice" and "Tunis" sound very similar so it is an easy mistake for staff to make when the airport has regular flights to both destinations. But i am so surprised that neither of them looked at their ticket or realised until they were already on the aeroplane. Since it went viral on social media it seems that the Tunisian tourism agency has given them a free holiday to return to Tunisia so at least they got something out of it.

This reminds me that about fifteen or twenty years ago there was an article in the newspaper about someone who accidentally flew from Los Angeles to Auckland instead of Los Angeles to Oakland after staff misheard Oakland for Auckland and put him on the wrong flight. He did not realise until he was halfway on the flight and ended up doing a fourteen hour flight to New Zealand and fourteen hours back instead of a one hour flight.

I am curious if anyone has heard of any other similar stories of people accidentally boarding the wrong aeroplanes and ended up miles away in the wrong destination? Or even if it has happened to yourself before?

They normally check your ticket when boarding so i suppose the only possibility is things like the "to Nice" and "Tunis" incident where staff mishear you and sell a ticket to the wrong destination and the passenger never realises! Although i am sure there must be occasional other instances when staff do not check properly and some confused passenger gets on the wrong flight!

I've seen the story, but I'm sceptical as you would actually have to go to the gate for Tunis not nice in order to board the wrong plane.

 

[Flying Snail]

I've seen the story, but I'm sceptical as you would actually have to go to the gate for Tunis not nice in order to board the wrong plane.

Sound somewhat unlikely but if it's possible to miss all the signs and still go the wrong way someone will do it.

Rather more common is people buying tickets for a place that they have mistaken for the one they actually want to go to and not realising until they walk out the airport.

Mali instead of Bali being one of the more amusing ones.

 

[stadler]

I've seen the story, but I'm sceptical as you would actually have to go to the gate for Tunis not nice in order to board the wrong plane.

Sound somewhat unlikely but if it's possible to miss all the signs and still go the wrong way someone will do it.

Rather more common is people buying tickets for a place that they have mistaken for the one they actually want to go to and not realising until they walk out the airport.

Mali instead of Bali being one of the more amusing ones.

I can easily see their mistake happening. They probably just asked a member of staff where their aeroplane was departing from and showed their ticket. Or maybe they just looked at the flight number and not the destination. A lot of passengers are not experienced travellers and can easily make these mistakes and not notice things.

 

[Gloster]

Fifteen or more years ago a British couple booked tickets to Sydney as they had always wanted to see the Harbour Bridge and so on. They were told that they would have to change planes in Halifax (not Yorkshire), but they were happy with that for the price. It was only when they saw that their connecting plane at Halifax was a small twin-prop that a slight element of doubt crept in. They soon arrived at Sydney… Nova Scotia.

To be fair to them, instead of moaning and looking for someone to sue, they made the best of it. The story got round, and they became minor local celebrities, even appearing on local radio.

BBC NEWS | UK | Britons fly to 'wrong' Sydney

An internet booking mix-up has left a young English couple holidaying in chilly Sydney, Nova Scotia, instead of on the sun-kissed beaches of the Australian city of the same name.

Emma Nunn, of Sidcup, Kent, and Raoul Christian, of Charlton, south east London, both 19, bought their tickets from an online travel agent for £740 each.

But after a six-hour flight from London's Heathrow Airport, their flight landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

 

[philosopher]

I am curious if anyone has heard of any other similar stories of people accidentally boarding the wrong aeroplanes and ended up miles away in the wrong destination? Or even if it has happened to yourself before?

I knew someone who meant to fly from New York to London at the end of her holiday but somehow ended up in Hong Kong after boarding the wrong flight. This occurred nearly 20 years ago.
I have no idea how it happened as she did not talk about it much, however I am very surprised the gate staff would have let her on the flight to Hong Kong as they must have checked her boarding pass before boarding.

 

[simonw]

I can easily see their mistake happening. They probably just asked a member of staff where their aeroplane was departing from and showed their ticket. Or maybe they just looked at the flight number and not the destination. A lot of passengers are not experienced travellers and can easily make these mistakes and not notice things.

The fact that they posted on Tik tok says to me it was deliberate

 

[edwin_m]

I recall at least one story of people booking to Birming-ham Alabama and ending up in Birmingham England, or possibly vice versa.

 

[AlterEgo]

Oh please. A scripted tiktok stunt picked up by credulous journalist.

 

[Bletchleyite]

easyJet no longer check boarding cards at the door, which is the last line of defence against people doing this - it otherwise only comes up if someone boards and finds someone in their seat. Obviously someone who was doing it deliberately wouldn't make a thing about that, they'd just move.

Nonetheless, when they did do such checks I once experienced a mess-up at Geneva Airport where the Luton passengers were incorrectly boarded onto the Gatwick aircraft and vice versa (the displays and boarding had been set up the wrong way round for the two, which were on adjacent gates). About 10 people got past the boarding pass check on the door until I had boarded and started walking down, then was called back for another check, at which point it was noticed. We then all had to get back off while they faffed around for 20 minutes about what to do, they were originally going to swap the crews over because the bags had also been loaded onto the wrong aircraft rather than just the passengers, but that was decided to be too complex as it would have resulted in an easyJet Switzerland aircraft ending up at Luton and needing to be swapped back (there aren't, or weren't, any EZS aircraft operating to Luton, they were all Luton based EZY ones), so they swapped the bags over and we went well over an hour late.

 

[TravelDream]

easyJet no longer check boarding cards at the door, which is the last line of defence against people doing this - it otherwise only comes up if someone boards and finds someone in their seat. Obviously someone who was doing it deliberately wouldn't make a thing about that, they'd just move.

Most airlines don't nowadays.

There are plenty of 'lines of defence'.
Gates are very clearly signposted and very few places have gates crammed together which might cause confusion (though I realise some do).
Boarding passes are checked at the gate which is a multi-stage process. Staff member visually checks ticket and ID, and then confirms ID matches passenger. Boarding pass is then scanned with the computer system electronically checking.
Most airlines will check at least the first passengers boarding pass to confirm the destination. Some continue to check all, but it's much less common nowadays.
And then I have never been on a flight where the destinations wasn't stated on the PA system or visual on the inflight entertainment screens.

 

[Towers]

Oh please. A scripted tiktok stunt picked up by credulous journalist.

Very much this, clearly!

 

[Jan Mayen]

1. I was on a small plane in Scandinavia, flying to The Aland islands. The hostess started her speech, presumably saying welcome aboard this flight going to The Aland Islands, when a business gent who had been reading his paper stopped her, and they had a conversation. Engines stopped, doors opened and he got off. Not sure where he wanted to go.

2. Off topic, but hey ho. Back in the days when I worked at a Ticket Office, an American asked for a ticket to Chichester. Not sure what, but something told me that wasn't where he wanted to go. So I made sure, even down to pointing to the word on the ticket. A few minutes later, he was back wanting a ticket to Chester...

 

[stadler]

Oh please. A scripted tiktok stunt picked up by credulous journalist.

Very much this, clearly!

I find that very hard to believe. You honestly think somebody would purposely purchase a ticket to the wrong destination or get on the wrong aeroplane just for Tik Tok views. I know people do crazy things to get viral but this just seems like such a massive effort for someone to go to just for the purpose of a Tik Tok stunt.

 

[Towers]

I find that very hard to believe. You honestly think somebody would purposely purchase a ticket to the wrong destination or get on the wrong aeroplane just for Tik Tok views. I know people do crazy things to get viral but this just seems like such a massive effort for someone to go to just for the purpose of a Tik Tok stunt.

Yes!

This is how some folk make a living, so anything to grab attention and ‘get some clicks’!

 

[The exile]

I've seen the story, but I'm sceptical as you would actually have to go to the gate for Tunis not nice in order to board the wrong plane.

“Oh look how they spell Nice in Italian T-U-N-I-S - isn’t that cute?” Given the fact that flight they actually wanted may have been being posted as Nizza it’s perhaps not so unbelievable.

 

[AlterEgo]

I find that very hard to believe. You honestly think somebody would purposely purchase a ticket to the wrong destination or get on the wrong aeroplane just for Tik Tok views. I know people do crazy things to get viral but this just seems like such a massive effort for someone to go to just for the purpose of a Tik Tok stunt.

They always intended to go to Tunis. It is just a skit like half the stuff on Tiktok. She's made a ton of other content in Tunisia.

You can't just walk up to an airport desk and say you're going to Nice and get handed boarding passes for Tunis. There are so many ways this can't happen - not least that you'd need a reservation for that flight to print a boarding pass. They board the plane in Rome, last apparently with their gigantic non-cabin bags, and realise they're going to Tunis and don't for a moment try to get off. You would be offloaded if you boarded in error not least because it means your eligibility for entry at destination hasn't been verified. To even get to the gate for Tunis you would need to exit passport control and be stamped out of Schengen which wouldn't happen on a flight to Nice. Tunisair flights depart from T3 at FCO. All flights to Nice depart from T1.

It's a skit for laughs.

As someone who does this for a living and happens to see these pitches all the time, let me ruin this for you. This is a trip sponsored by a Tunisian tourist board, effectively the Tunisian government - and all of the content is at the very least semi-staged and scripted.

See this video https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNdpKb8Qh/ which is the very first one posted before any of the others from the flight in question.

This shows her descending the plane - on her own - with her gigantic noncompliant cabin bag which would certainly be checked. It's a staged shot. It also isn't TS-IMY, the flight which operated FCO-TUN that day, because it's missing a red ship name on the nose.

It isn't real, it is farfetched bait and I could tediously pick apart every video to show the plot holes but I really haven't the time. Ask yourself what a daft and unlikely scenario that is and then ask yourself the likelihood it happens to two travel creators whose job is literally travelling professionally all the time and then posting videos online.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Another example from 2024 here. Lithuania is quite far away from the intended destination of Barcelona, even by Ryanair standards.

Ryanair: Couple flown to Lithuania after being put on wrong plane

A couple hoping for a holiday in the sun ended up in Lithuania after a flight mix-up.

www.bbc.com

Extract...

A couple were placed on the wrong flight for their family holiday in the sun, and instead ended up 1,500 miles away from their intended destination.

The trip to the Costa Brava was for Andrew Gore's 47th birthday, but while the rest of the party arrived in Barcelona airport, Andrew and wife Victoria found themselves in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas.

 

[Cloud Strife]

I am curious if anyone has heard of any other similar stories of people accidentally boarding the wrong aeroplanes and ended up miles away in the wrong destination? Or even if it has happened to yourself before?

I still don't understand how this happens in this day and age. Boarding passes are scanned at the gate, and I suspect that most people claiming to be on the wrong flight are actually simply wanting to get off for whatever reason. Or they've booked the wrong flight, which also happens.

 

[Bald Rick]

Two examples spring to mind:

1) Martin Deeson, one of the original ‘Loaded’ magazine editorial team, being despatched to Cannes to report on the film festival. Somehow ended up on a flight to Caen (which must have been quite a rarity in the mid 90s).

2) Sara Pascoe (comedian), flying to Costs Rica, beleiving it to be in Spain, and only realising her mistake when observing the in flight map. (She told this story on ‘Would I Lie To You’, and it was true.)


However in both cases they had tickets for the plane they were on.

 

[sheff1]

This specific 'adventure' is clearly staged as explained above, but over the years there have been various instances of children (usually boys) getting onto aircraft without a ticket for that flight and, in some cases, not being detected until they disembarked .... much easier in the days before scanning of boarding passes.

 

[Oxfordblues]

There was the story of an American couple travelling by rail to Florence. When the train arrived at Firenze Santa Maria Novella they remained on board, never having heard of the place and still waiting to get to "Florence"!

 

[185143]

There was a passenger in the Airline series travelling from Luton to Barcelona managed to board the wrong flight and end up in Liverpool.

Admittedly that was almost certainly pre 9/11 so a very different aviation world than we have now!

I asked a couple of Ryanair cabin crew once and one of them said he'd had it happen a few years back, so yes, I can well believe it happens!

 

[JGurney]

I recall at least one story of people booking to Birming-ham Alabama and ending up in Birmingham England, or possibly vice versa.

May have been this 2016 mishap: a couple from Sutton Coldfield had thought they had booked flights from Birmingham (UK) to Las Vegas, and only discovered after arriving at Birmingham International that they had actually booked from Birmingham (Alabama) - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-36150328

 

[Howardh]

At Blackpool Airport in the early 2000's two Jet2's were boarding, side-by-side; one going to Ibiza, the other (I think) Faro, the ticket desks were adjacent and once your ticket was checked you went to the plane's steps...so before take-off the steward/ess made a point of walking down the aisle making sure everyone was on the right flight to Ibiza! So I wonder if they had that issue before of pax being on the wrong plane and were being ultra careful!

But more recently, Easyjet, had pax waiting on the stairs (at Manchester) to join a flight, but suddenly it all changed and they had to make way for us lot going to Jersey - same gate but adjacent stand. can't recall the gate number but it's the first on the right as you leave the old T1; wouldn't have been surprised if unwary pax hadn't joined the Jersey flight thinking they'd been called in the rush!

 

[nlogax]

I still don't understand how this happens in this day and age. Boarding passes are scanned at the gate, and I suspect that most people claiming to be on the wrong flight are actually simply wanting to get off for whatever reason. Or they've booked the wrong flight, which also happens.

Well, quite. Even getting past that stage they'd have to be *incredibly* lucky to then sit in a seat not claimed by someone who's actually meant to be on the flight.

 

[Airline Man]

To my shame I let it happen once and actually boarded a passenger for a completely different flight! I should have checked the boarding pass more carefully and realised when the boarding pass reader flashed red and made an uncomfortable noise something wasn’t right. Fortunately a much more with it cabin crew member spotted it.

Sometimes it can be a bit chaotic down at the gate when boarding passengers and these things can happen when you’re trying to do two or three things at the same time. And it was BA! Oops.

Also, sometimes passengers can slip by the Gate Team without having their hoarding passes scanned, again mostly down to the chaos at a gate like trying to separate excess hand baggage off the passengers and dealing with lots of seat changes and having to reprint boarding passes. I have also on many occasions stopped someone boarding the wrong flight. Airports can be confusing places and not all passengers speak English. And some of them don’t know where their going to!

 

[TravelDream]

Also, sometimes passengers can slip by the Gate Team without having their hoarding passes scanned, again mostly down to the chaos at a gate like trying to separate excess hand baggage off the passengers and dealing with lots of seat changes and having to reprint boarding passes. I have also on many occasions stopped someone boarding the wrong flight. Airports can be confusing places and not all passengers speak English. And some of them don’t know where their going to!

That really shouldn't happen, however, it's just reality that it will sometimes.

The worst I've had was during Covid at Bristol Airport. Flight was to Spain and was fairly empty.
If people don't know, the gates at Bristol are mainly on this long pier which is on first floor level. There are then signs for gates and a set of stairs and a lift with the gate area and holding pen at ground level.
So I went down to the gate and the entrance to the holding pen where they scan passes and check luggage size was unmanned. Boarding had begun, but there were still people sat in the holding pen.
The gate hadn't closed on the sign and when they close the gate, they close and lock the doors at the bottom of the stairs so I have no idea why other than being short-staffed.
I just walked straight through so got on the plane without having anything scanned/ checked other than at security.
I didn't have checked luggage so I knew that would be fine.

 

[Bletchleyite]

To my shame I let it happen once and actually boarded a passenger for a completely different flight! I should have checked the boarding pass more carefully and realised when the boarding pass reader flashed red and made an uncomfortable noise something wasn’t right. Fortunately a much more with it cabin crew member spotted it.

I think from observation you end up with muscle memory taking over with some boarding systems. That is, the member of staff has boarded a lot of people, gets a boarding pass, it doesn't scan as they sometimes don't, so they just check the passport against the name on the boarding card (which will match because it is the right person, just the wrong flight), key the seat number, pass it and continue. If someone is booked in that seat it'll be caught if they show up (before or after the wrong one), but if by coincidence nobody is likely it won't be noticed until on board, and as some airlines no longer check boarding passes at the door it might not even be noticed until the pilot makes the announcement welcoming them to somewhere they didn't want to go!

 

[Airline Man]

I think from observation you end up with muscle memory taking over with some boarding systems. That is, the member of staff has boarded a lot of people, gets a boarding pass, it doesn't scan as they sometimes don't, so they just check the passport against the name on the boarding card (which will match because it is the right person, just the wrong flight), key the seat number, pass it and continue. If someone is booked in that seat it'll be caught if they show up (before or after the wrong one), but if by coincidence nobody is likely it won't be noticed until on board, and as some airlines no longer check boarding passes at the door it might not even be noticed until the pilot makes the announcement welcoming them to somewhere they didn't want to go!

Quite. The boarding pass scanner would always ‘beep‘ angrily and turn red if there were seat changes made after the original boarding pass was issued. This happened a lot especially on long haul flights especially when you had upgrades and seating people together and for many other reasons.

This holds boarding up and can lead to occasions where mistakes like I made can happen.