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by scirocco 1918 days ago
Three years ago I booked a flight to San Juan (SJU), Puerto Rico by mistake. I was supposed to go to San Jose (SJO) in Costa Rica.

I will never forget the moment I read "SJO" in the email realizing I should have booked a flight to "SJU". Then going into Google, and typing SJO to find out where I was actually flying. I was prepared for it to be in Asia, Africa or anywhere. Luckily, Puerto Rico was just a small detour to Costa Rica (flew from Europe) :-)
3 comments
tecleandor 1918 days ago
Ha! I've got a friend who, on his very early 20s, wanted to stay for a while in Ireland to learn English while working (Madrid, Spain, here). He had a big farewell party, drank a bit too much, and missed his flight early in the morning, only to find that he had booked a flight to BERLIN instead of DUBLIN.

He was so lucky to miss it, imagine that hangover-y arrival to Berlin imagining it's Ireland.

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lhoff 1918 days ago
How does one mix up Berlin and Dublin? Because of Pronunciation?
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tk75x 1918 days ago
I'd imagine it has something to do with the phenomenon wehre you can raed the wrdos in a sntecnee eevn if tehy are jmlbued up. Plus being drunk would magnify the chance to mistake BERLIN for DUBLIN. The last halves of the words arethe same, and so do B and D as well as B and R if you squint.
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tecleandor 1918 days ago
shrugs In Spanish the accent for both Berlin and Dublin is in the last silabe, so it sounds a bit more similar than in English. This plus being naive, young and careless, I suppose... :D
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kabes 1918 days ago
I once booked san jose, costa rica instead of san jose, california. Discovered this already at the airport
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aldendaniels 1918 days ago
Me too! Exactly the same confusion. I thankfully discovered it a day-or-two before my flight and was able to correct the mistake.
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zeckalpha 1918 days ago
SJC vs SJO
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mhewett 1918 days ago
I once called a travel agent to book a flight to San Jose (California). She mis-heard me as wanting to go to Santa Fe (New Mexico). She called me a few days later in a panic, saying "Sorry, I accidentally booked you a flight to San Jose. I'll cancel it and re-book it". Two wrongs do make a right.
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