Guy Sues Airline That Flew Him to Grenada— Not Granada

You say 'tomato,' British Airways gives you 'tomahto'
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 24, 2014 3:50 PM CDT
Updated Jun 29, 2014 7:21 AM CDT
Guy Sues Airline That Flew Him to Grenada— Not Granada
This 2013 photo shows roses in the garden of a mosque in the Albaicin neighborhood in Granada, in Andalusia, Spain.   (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)

There are innocent little geography flubs, and then there are the ones that accidentally send travelers 4,000 miles away from their intended destination and result in multi-thousand-dollar lawsuits and snotty headlines. Today we present the latter vis a vis the case of Edward Gamson, a Florida dentist who wanted to travel to Granada, Spain, with his partner to study Islamic art. Instead, he ended up in Grenada courtesy of British Airways, the current subject of his legal ire, reports Fox News, which offers the geography lesson: "Granada is a city founded in the 11th century, famous for its Moorish history and architecture; Grenada is a Caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela with beautiful beaches and is a producer of spices like nutmeg and cinnamon."

Gamson appears to be aware this was a possibility, saying, "I made it absolutely clear to the booking agent I wanted to go to Granada in Spain. Why on earth would I want to go to Grenada in the Caribbean if I was flying back to America from Lisbon?" The pair didn't notice anything amiss until the flight tracker on their plane out of London indicated that the aircraft was headed west—on a nine-hour flight, not the two-hour jaunt to Spain they wanted. Adding insult to travel injury, the Independent notes that although British Air workers apologized, the airline refused to refund their $4,500 first-class tickets; Gamson's suit wants the airline to cough up $34,000. (More British Airways stories.)

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