Grenada, Granada; Let’s Call The Whole Trip Off!

Grenada is an island in the Caribbean. Granada is a city in Spain. They are separated by one letter, 4,ooo miles, and now, one frustrated customer.

Edward Gamson, a dentist in Maryland, had a dental lecture to attend in Lisbon, Portugal. Gamson, along with Lowell Canaday, decided that they could also visit the city of Granada, Spain to visit some architecture there. Gamson called British Airways to book the flight, over the telephone, according to the ABC News website. When Gamson got his confirmation, he saw that it read “Grenada,” but did not give country, destination or airline code. So, both Gamson and Canaday boarded the plane in Washington, DC, and made to Lisbon, Portugal, then boarded the plane for Granada, Spain.

Or, so they thought.

About 20 minutes into the second leg of their trip, both Gamson and Canaday noticed the back- of-seat monitors showed the path of the plane going West. When they asked one of the flight attendants about this, they were told the plane they boarded in Lisbon was instead going to Grenada.

After three days of chasing flights, Gamson indeed just made it to his lecture in Lisbon, but all other plans now had to be scrapped. Gamson asked British Airways for what he felt was justified compensation. The airline returned with an offer of 50,000 airline miles and $376 each. Gamson had used over 375,000 airline miles and a customer voucher for his and Canaday’s original tickets, plus an additional $34,000 in fees for pre-booked tours, trains, and hotels. Gamson decided to sue British Airways, representing himself, according to nbcnews.com.

British Airways is fighting back. They first tried to have the case dismissed altogether, or at least having the case moved to federal court, where International aviation rules apply. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, in his witty eight-letter ruling, denied both. Boasberg states the case had merit by quoting Mark Twain, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Moving to federal court was denied by Boasberg because the issue dealt with booking and not anything internationally related.

To Gamson, the only part of the British Airways team that was of any help was the flight crew on the Grenada flight. They did the best they could to accommodate the wayward travelers. The booking agent could not get the correct city, and Gamson states numerous times he told the booking agent Granada, Spain. The ground crew in Grenada, said Gamson, were not as friendly as the flight crew.

Note to future airline passengers; make sure you have your GPS and Spellcheck at the ready.