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Teh One Who Knocks
04-28-2016, 11:36 AM
By Erin Edgemon - AL.com


Birmingham, England and Birmingham, Alabama. Easily confused, right? Maybe not.

A British couple was expecting the trip of a lifetime when they arrived at the Birmingham Airport in England recently for a flight to Las Vegas.

Their dreams of gambling, star-studded shows and buffet meals were quickly crushed, however, when they learned their flights were actually departing from Birmingham, Ala., the Daily Mail reported.

Richella Heekin spent a year planning the trip for the 30th birthday of her long-time boyfriend, Ben Marlow. She kept the trip a secret until revealing the surprise in front of friends and family.

Heekin paid £1,200 ($1,745) for the flights on lastminute.com and wasn't able to get a refund.

Marlow said this about the experience to the Daily Mail: "When we turned up at the airport we couldn't find the flight details anywhere. We approached one of the desks and they told us our holiday was booked from Alabama.

"I was gutted - more for my partner than for me," he continued. "She had told everyone and she was really upset. She was distraught and we didn't know what to do."

Marlow said the situation was "embarrassing because everyone was really happy for us. We are just going to have to start saving from scratch again."

Lastminute.com told the Daily Mail that the distinction between the Alabama and British airports is clear. The website said it attempted to arrange a new flight for the couple but couldn't. A refund also couldn't be provided due to the "terms of conditions of the booking."

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Vegas or bust: Couple left devastated after girlfriend booked her partner a dream 30th birthday trip to Sin City… <a href="https://t.co/PIkrJWWMYg">https://t.co/PIkrJWWMYg</a></p>&mdash; MF Meta Guide (@meta_guide_mf) <a href="https://twitter.com/meta_guide_mf/status/725344791572041728">April 27, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Goofy
04-28-2016, 12:21 PM
:dunce:

Teh One Who Knocks
04-28-2016, 12:25 PM
They're spelled the same, easy mistake to make :hand:

fricnjay
04-28-2016, 01:40 PM
This is why education is important :lol:

RBP
04-28-2016, 03:05 PM
She's a keeper. :tup:

DemonGeminiX
04-28-2016, 05:09 PM
Just don't let her make any travel plans... or any important decision whatsoever.

PorkChopSandwiches
04-28-2016, 05:20 PM
:haha:

perrhaps
04-28-2016, 08:18 PM
Just don't let her make any travel plans... or any important decision whatsoever.

Just get her to Vegas somehow.

Teh One Who Knocks
04-29-2016, 12:41 PM
Ashitha Nagesh for Metro.co.uk


http://i.imgur.com/skkwTa4.jpg

Remember the couple who accidentally booked themselves a flight from the wrong Birmingham?

We know how sympathetic you all were to their plight – so you’ll be pleased to know that they’ve now been given a free five-star holiday to Las Vegas.

ICYMI, 26-year-old Richella Heekin had booked a surprise holiday to Vegas for her boyfriend Ben Marlow’s 30th birthday.

But when they turned up at the airport, it turned out that she’d actually booked it to depart from Birmingham, Alabama, instead of the one in the West Midlands.

http://i.imgur.com/Wt2zx5h.jpg

Lastminute.com said they felt for the couple, but as the booking was non-refundable and there weren’t any flights going out, there was nothing they could do.

But Virgin Holidays sensed an opportunity for some good PR to be kind-hearted, and offered the couple a five-star, five night holiday – with flights and everything included.

‘It was heart-breaking to hear that Richella and Ben couldn’t go on their dream holiday to Las Vegas because of a silly booking mix-up,’ Kelly Grindle from Virgin Holidays told Birmingham Mail.

‘Considering we’ve got direct flights from Manchester airport to Las Vegas, we couldn’t stand by and do nothing.

‘Everyone at Virgin Holidays wants to see them enjoy a well-deserved break, so we’re giving them two economy-class flights with Virgin Atlantic, five nights hotel accommodation, and are waiving all applicable fees and charges.’

Ben said he was ‘over the moon’ at the news, while Richella said it was ‘so lovely of Virgin to do this’.

So there we are – all’s well that ends well.

Teh One Who Knocks
04-29-2016, 12:41 PM
Yes, stupidity should be rewarded :facepalm:

RBP
04-29-2016, 12:56 PM
Yes, stupidity should be rewarded :facepalm:

:+1:

fricnjay
04-29-2016, 02:03 PM
:privilege:

FBD
04-29-2016, 02:07 PM
PR stunt at this point