If you have ever found yourself boarding a plane in any one of Germany’s airports, you might have noticed how meticulous staff are when it comes to the details of your flight.

Well, clearly they dropped the ball in this case.

In an attempt to travel home after meetings in Germany, finance broker Samuel Jankowsky, 29, ended up in Las Vegas instead of Stansted in the UK.

Sounds like the kind of thing that a businessman would tell his wife after being busted for a sneaky boy’s weekend, but it actually wasn’t really Samuel’s fault.

Although staff checked his boarding ticket at least three times, reports The Telegraph, Jankowsky boarded the plane and settled down for a nap, only to wake up and see “the Eurowings aircraft had flown past the UK on the journey-tracker”.

Forking out €25 (R400) for Wi-Fi, he contacted his pregnant wife before landing in Las Vegas on June 30.

But instead of being allowed a little down time in the city of sin, things only got worse…

Jankowsky claims he was “treated as a common criminal by US immigration officials who he said threatened to detain him for not having a visa”.

He soon flew back to Cologne, but after he was reportedly banned by Eurowings he had to travel to Stuttgart airport for a flight home.

Missions.

Jankowsky, of course, hit out at the airline for “allowing him to board the wrong flight and for failing to treat him well on the flight back to Cologne”, saying:

“On the flight back I wasn’t treated at all well by the cabin crew. I didn’t want to be there anymore than they wanted me there.

“The crew were professional but they treated me like they had a criminal on the plane, maybe a serial killer. It was like I was in the film Con Air.

“The whole experience not only cost me time but also I am Euro 878.66 out of pocket for the food, hotel and flight home.

“How could I have boarded the aircraft without a valid boarding pass for that flight? Staff checked my boarding pass three times. It shows the ineptitude of Eurowings staff.

“Heaven forbid my intentions were not good. This is a major security failing.

“In the end, I took a train to Mannheim in Germany and stayed with a friend while I looked for an affordable flight.

“I found one from Stuttgart airport so I had a two and a half hour bus ride from Mannheim to the airport.”

Arriving at Stansted two days later than his intended arrival date, Jankowsky travelled over 17 000 miles (27 360 km) to get home – Cologne is just 308 miles (495 km) away from London.

However, Samuel said he can see the funny side of the situation:

When I told my sister she just burst out laughing for ten minutes straight.

Classic.

In response, a spokesman for Eurowings said:

“We are aware of this case. This case happened several weeks ago and has already been resolved. The passenger had passed through passenger control and the identification documents had been properly checked by the Federal Police.

“Due to an error by a service provider’s employee, the passenger managed to board the long-haul flight. According to the authorities and Eurowings, at no time was there any safety risk.

“Nevertheless, the incident has been thoroughly investigated in-house. Eurowings conducted in-depth discussions with the service provider, in addition to requesting strict compliance with our quality standards.”

Poor form.

[source:thetelegraph]