You'd think when you hand over your boarding card before jumping on a plane that someone would alert you that you're at the wrong gate. But unfortunately for financial broker Samuel Jankowsky, three different people failed to mention that he was about to get on the incorrect flight.
He sat in his seat, chucked on his headphones and dozed off, thinking that it would only be a few hours to travel from Germany to London.
But when he woke up, he promptly checked the in-flight tracking map and was shocked when he saw the plane had already passed the UK. It wasn't until he asked the person sitting next to him that he realised that the plane was heading to Las Vegas.
The 29-year-old says: "I paid 12 euros (£10.90) so I could get wifi and Whatsapp my wife to explain. She was distraught and called Eurowings to complain."
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Samuel says he was treated like a 'common criminal' when he arrived in the US because he didn't have a visa. He had to rush through all the necessary paperwork because the next flight was leaving within the hour.
"If I missed the flight, I'd be detained until Tuesday when there was another Eurowings flight," says the father of two.
"I had a boarding pass for London Stansted which cost around 120 euros (£109). They seemed to think I had sneaked onto the plane to get a flight to Vegas on the cheap."
A spokesman for Eurowings says: "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.
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"Nevertheless, the incident has been thoroughly investigated in-house."
But Samuel is pissed, saying the entire misadventure cost him €878.66 (£799.10), because he had to book another flight as well as a hotel. He adds that the trip home wasn't exactly pleasant. He says: "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.
"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."
While some might have been thrilled at an impromptu trip to Sin City, when you have a heavily pregnant wife at home and no visa, it's certainly nothing to get excited about.
Featured Image Credit: SWNSTopics: travel, UK, Las Vegas, USA, US