Typo takes tourist 8000 miles wrong way

[ZeoBandit]

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Typo takes tourist 13,000 km out
POSTED: 7:45 a.m. EST, December 29, 2006
Story Highlights
• NEW: Web typing error takes German tourist 13,000 km (8,077 miles) wrong
• 21-year-old set out for Sydney, Australia but ended up near Sidney, Montana
• Father who sent refund says: "He is usually good with computers"

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BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) -- A 21-year-old German tourist who wanted to visit his girlfriend in the Australian metropolis Sydney landed 13,000 kilometers (8,077 miles) away near Sidney, Montana, after mistyping his destination on a flight booking Web site.

Dressed for the Australian summer in T-shirt and shorts, Tobi Gutt left Germany on Saturday for a four-week holiday.

Instead of arriving "down under", Gutt found himself on a different continent and bound for the chilly state of Montana.

"I did wonder but I didn't want to say anything," Gutt told the Bild newspaper. "I thought to myself, you can fly to Australia via the United States."

Gutt's airline ticket routed him via the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon, to Billings, Montana. Only as he was about to board a commuter flight to Sidney -- an oil town of about 5,000 people -- did he realize his mistake.

The hapless tourist, who had only a thin jacket to keep out the winter cold, spent three days in Billings airport before he was able to buy a new ticket to Australia with 600 euros in cash that his parents and friends sent over from Germany.

"I didn't notice the mistake as my son is usually good with computers," his mother, Sabine, told Reuters.

[vistadelrey]

how is that a typo?

Montana-Australia

you got me.

[hatchetforce]

Coney Island / Pitcairn Island

[vistadelrey]

santa fe/santo domingo

fe/domingo

dumb/really stupid

really stupid/complete ineptitude

inept/dlkfjsa;lkjf;lajf;ldskjfds

typo/whatever

[hatchetforce]

Vista Del Ray / Del Boca Vista (from Seinfeld)

[vistadelrey]

hatchetforce/hats it for us

hats it for us/it's for the hats

it's for the hat's/Montana

i'm lost again

[AT]

21 years old and Mommy and Daddy had to send him the money?

Huh... People being dumbasses makes me feel better about myself.

[WinterlessIceness]

21 years old and Mommy and Daddy had to send him the money?

Lol so he had to do what, rob a few people or something? Not everybody travels with 600 euros cash, you know?

[fast98dodge]

I do recall being at the Portland Airport yesterday waiting for my flight down here to Houston seeing a "deer in headlights" looking German kid wandering aimlessly with a t shirt and shorts on... Had I known who it was at the time, I would've added fuel to the fire by telling him to get a sheepskin coat so the "yokels" in Montana would have some crazy "sheepgames" with him...

[Scotty]

Now that's some funny shit!

[AT]

Lol so he had to do what, rob a few people or something? Not everybody travels with 600 euros cash, you know?

How about a credit card or some sort of financial backup plan while traveling?

[vistadelrey]

yeah i remember getting off on the wrong stop (train or bus) cuz I dozed or getting off on an early stop chasing tail but missing the continent is a new one. what a toe headed yardape. he was probably monkey fucking with his pud and just made up something.

[smithjc]

"He is usually good with computers........." ? wtf?

Who's "he?" His 10 year old son?

[graeme]

Footie (and alcohol) legend, George Best supposedly woke up on an aeroplane bound for Mexico and had to ask the stewardess where the flight was headed.

This guy must have clicked the box US instead of AUS, that's the only way I can imagine anyone fucking up on this majestic a scale. Those pull down menus can cause problems when they move around. I've hit a few bad ones in my time but thankfully without repercussion.

Unfortunately I've never woken up drunk on a flight to Mexico but there is still time.

[WinterlessIceness]

How about a credit card or some sort of financial backup plan while traveling?

Uh, whatever