This happened to me once, pre- 9/11. The airline had two Seattle-Boston flights departing 15 apart. I got on the wrong plane and only realized it when the real passenger showed up for the seat. I had to race off the plane (upstream for boarding passengers), and race to the other gate (which was the earlier flight) and barely got aboard on time. And those were the days where at least 4 people physically looked at and handled my ticket.

Every time I've boarded a plane, they seem to always make an announcement stating where the plane is going, and if you're on the wrong plane, get up, and get on the right one. JetBlue especially seems to make a point of doing this.

er... 15 minutes apart

Unfortunate story, but I agree with what a previous poster said. Every flight I've ever been on, they always say where they're going at the start of the flight.

What more do you want them to do? They made up for their mistake by flying her back (I assume for free). It seems to be accepted that she is just as much responsible for the situation, so why not have bear some of burden for that error?

@ForrestWhitakersLazyEye: @Hawk07: From the post:
Also, the ladies next to me said that it was weird how they never mentioned that we were taking off to New York, like they usually do.

Wow, that would've been something. I probably wouldn't have cared so much, since New York is much more fun than Long Beach, although trying to convince the ticketperson at JFK about getting a return flight might have been interesting.

How is it JetBlue's fault that Wendy got on the wrong plane? That would be like blaming Six Flags for "letting" that kid jump the fence and "letting" him get decapitated. They do all they can to make sure accidents don't happen (signs, fences, announcements, etc...), and the rest is up to the consumer to make sure stuff like this doesn't happen.

With overbooking as it is, this was even more of a coincidence that her seat wasn't also taken by someone else (would have been a good indicator.)

I'd put the onus on both her and Jet Blue. JB should have flown her to her final destination asap. As for additional compensation.. what is she due? A free flight for accidentally getting on the wrong plane? Yeah, JB should have checked the ticket, but Wendy should have checked the flight number.

I'd say about 50% of the times I fly, the gate changes. I always check the destination and the flight # on the board. Seems like common sense to me.

Unwilling to provide compensation because of "human error"? WTF? What kind of error needs to occur to get these damn corporations to admit they were wrong?

Also, whats the deal with naming gates with letters? Is "gate 9akjh" going to be next?
You would figure if one was making millions of dollars a year, using your noodle once in a while would be good.
Of course, those sorts of things only happen in bizarro world.

She messed up, not Jet Blue. They flew her back... that is MORE than fair.

People have such entitlement complexes!

Similar thing happened to me when I was 10, flying from Oahu to Maui. got on the wrong plane and ended up in Kaui! Back then they just ripped your ticket at the gate and you walked on the tarmac to the plane. They were boarding 3 planes out of one gate, so it was easy to get confused.

I had to wait in Kaui for them to deplane, refuel, replane, fly to the big island, same wait, fly to Oahu, same wait, and then fly to Maui.

Instead of 45 minutes to Maui, it took about 4 hours.

On the plus side, I think we've found a cheap way to fly from Cali to NYC. Just buy a one way ticket from LA to Oakland or wherever is cheap, board the NY flight, and on the return trip, get a one way ticked to Newark or something.

I have always wondered why I have to have a neat little clear bag for all my liquids but the airlines do not have to ensure that passengers and bags are on the right flight.

Additional compensation? How about a dunce cap?

I'm not a frequent flier, but every time I've flown there's a board in the departure area listing each flight and where it's going. When boarding information is announced over the loudspeaker, there destination of a flight is always announced. Frequently, if not always, the destination of a particular flight is also listed above the causeway to the plane.

So there were two, maybe three, warnings about where this particular flight was going. While I'm concerned about the fact that she was able to get on the plane (the scan of the boarding pass is obviously only a "valid/invalid" check), this is 99.9% her fault. She's lucky they flew her back; consider that compensation for the 0.1% fault of the airline, and pay attention next time.

And no, I'm not a frequent "blame the consumer" troll. I like consumers. But seriously, grow up.

Wait, so it's the airline's fault that you made a stupid decision?

Please GTFO of the gene pool.

This once happened to me from LAX to the east coast on United. They had two flights 15 minutes apart in two gates next to each other I can't remember the numbers. In any event I was able to stay on the flight as I missed mine beacuse I did not know there was a problem until the last few people got on and one of them had my seat.

One arguement is that JB's ticket scanner at the gate should have thrown an error, and that the gate attendant should have responded to the error to prevent her from getting on the flight.

On the other hand, every traveler (sans children flying alone or handicapped people) should only rely on themselves to make sure they are on the correct flight.

Killer Naked Women From Planet Sex And Violence?

I must see this.

Some coworkers and I were flying from Phoenix to Las Vegas for a trade show on Southwest. The flight was delayed, so naturally, we killed an hour or two at the airport bar.

It came time to board, and our resident small bladdered colleague decided he needed to use the restroom. When he came back, he got in the line for a flight to El Paso, which was boarding at a nearby gate. He found out he was in the wrong line when he mentioned looking forward to hitting the Bellagio, only to have about 15 people look at him like he was from outer space. Meanwhile, we're on the plane wondering WTF happened to our co-worker, only to have him show up out-of-breath just as we were getting ready to close up and push back.

We still give him shit about this to this day.

@PHX602: And given the delay, it ultimately would have been faster to drive, right?

/hate regional flights sometimes

Isn't there some kind of security hole here? And what are the odds that her seat didn't have someone else in it on that plane?

It does amaze me that they "scanned" her ticket without error. But seriously - I check every 30 seconds when I'm waiting for a flight, becuase I don't feel like being the idiot responsible for being late or incorrect.
And I agree with evslin - I want to see this movie also.

@ForrestWhitakersLazyEye: Try actually reading the article.

Reading the article it's not absolutely clear, but I'm assuming that Jet Blue put her up for the night in NY, flew her to Long Beach the next day, and then flew her back to Oakland on her originally booked return flight. If this is the case, as others have pointed out, WTF else does Jet Blue have to do to make this person happy? I'm guessing perhaps a brain transplant?

And $200 for a cab ride from LGB to Malibu? I guess she's not a driver as a weekend car rental from Hertz with their navigation system should have been a lot less money.

Why is it that people expect to be babysat all the time? She can't be expected to be responsible enough to read the signs and make sure she gets on the right airplane? While the boarding pass scanner probably should have registered an error, this is still 99.9% the OP's fault. JetBlue should have charged her for the flight home.

Gate 9 and Gate 9a? That's some Charlie Kaufman shit.

What no one's pointed out so far is that this is a violation of security rules. She probably checked a bag on her original flight, and they aren't supposed to let someone's baggage go on a flight if they don't show up for it. (The idea is to deter bombings by ensuring the bomber will be on the plane when it blows up.)

Since Gate 9 and 9a are probably next to each other, I would assume they share the same Kiosk where you scan a ticket?

Since the flights were departing at the same time, could the counter person checking the ticket made the simple assumption that the woman was at the correct gate and could have simply went down the wrong ramp?

I'm guessing that the only reason she's upset is because she paid for some unaccompanied minor treatment, because that is the only time that the airline is responsible for getting you on the plane, and that would be the only time she would have a legitimate grievance. Otherwise, it is the traveler's responsibility to get to the correct gate and onto the correct plane.

C'mon! I really rely on the Consumerist to give me stories about companies who are doing wrong. Is this a case where they are telling us about about a company who did good? I think this is totally a case of a consumer who through their own carelessness got on the wrong flight and then expects the carrier to compensate her for her own stupidity. The fact that they flew her back was more than enought! If I was the suervisor I'd be condesending to her too considering how dumb she was. Every flight I've ever been on has 1) Announced the flight destination before boarding 2) Has it posted outside the gate 3) Announces your destination when you're on the plane but before departing. You're telling me none of these happened??? I don't believe it. Pay a little bit more attention next time and don't blame the carrier for your lack of attention. This story should be pulled ASAP from the Consumerist. Is the Consumerist running out of stories???

I had a boss that would do this all the time on purpose. He was an executive and flew a lot. If he missed a flight instead of rebooking, he'd just show up for the next flight and present his boarding pass for the previous flight. 80% of the time he got on the plane without issue.

I don't think the real issue here is the passenger's fault for getting on the wrong plane; it's the utter failure of the ticket scanning system to give a warning to the gate attendant. Does this mean you can scan a ticket for any Jet Blue flight at any gate and be accepted? Can I buy a ticket for an hour-long regional flight and then get on one going to Jamaica instead? If so, wow.

As an aside, I was flying back to Birmingham from NYC last year at the same time another flight was boarding to Columbia, SC. Two guys had their tickets scanned, rode out onto the tarmac with the rest of us on a bus, and only discovered they were at the wrong plane when the flight attendants announced where we were going. You would not believe how confused the flight attendants were that such a thing could happen.

I agree, her compensation was getting back home on a free flight. Imagine if they would have said "hey, sorry, it's your fault so you have to pay for a last minute fare back to California if you want to get home." That would have cost a ton!

I am a bit surprised that those high-tech scanning systems can't tell the person taking the ticket that the person that just gave you the ticket isn't on this flight. Ahh, technology!

@Farquar: I bet that doesn't work nearly as well now that most flights are full. When they ran out of seats they would start asking questions.

I do think it's odd that JetBlue let her on the flight. I mean, what's the point of scanning the ticket? Just to determine that it's not counterfeit?

That said, I don't think JetBlue owes her anything. It was her mistake just as much as it was theirs. She lost out on a portion of her trip plus some cash for the cab ride. JetBlue lost potential revenue flying her from NY to CA for free. Looks like a wash to me.

To all the bitchers and moaners (thats you @Rojma @EyeHeartPie @Pylon83) I think what you are supposed to be taking away from the article is the suprise that the fancy scanners they use on your boarding passes don't actually do anything. (or at the very least, ensure you are on the right flight)

Take it for what its worth, but if you want to be adventurous: buy the cheapest ticket you can find on an airline that you know has a flight the same day to the destination you actually wish to go to. Get past security, and hop on the more expensive flight to your desired destination.

I am not usually one of the blame the customer crowd, but this person really needs to take responsibility for her actions. She made a mistake, JetBlue didn't catch it, and when both realized what happened JetBlue got her to where she was going. It sounds like the airline handled the situation appropriately, and I honestly have no idea why this person is demanding some sort of compensation for her error. I think if anything JetBlue should send her a nice company-branded dunce cap.

@EyeHeartPie: It's a MAJOR security failure, and it is Jet Blue's fault. They scanned her ticket, and directed her to the gate; they let her get on the wrong plane, seperated, I would assume, from her checked baggage. Post 9/11, this is a big no-no.

I can't believe Jet Blue didn't offer her meal and hotel vouchers for the hassle! Where is the service?!

I made it all the way to the back of a 757, saw someone sitting in my seat. Rather than hassle the person sitting there, showed my ticket to the FA. She said, "Right flight, wrong day." Travel agent (this is 15 years ago) screwed it up, and I compounded the error by not looking at the ticket closely enough to verify correct flight/destination/day. I absolutely had to be on this flight. FA said just sit down somewhere and we'll fix it later. Luckily flight was not completely full, but there were some nervous moments until they shut the door way up forward as I watched people continuing to stream towards me.

maybe the OP should have taken off her Ipod headphones.

@ThinkerTDM: That's a good point...if it's computer error, they don't pay. If it's human error, they don't pay. If it's an act of God, they don't pay.

What's left?

When I read the title of this post I hoped it was about child traveling because otherwise I knew I would have no sympathy. I then read what happened and my prediction was confirmed.

Key part: "There was a gate 9 and 9a and they were both leaving at 1 p.m. I didn't even think twice about it."

Ummm.....the destination and flight number are always posted at the gate. And somehow she still managed to get on the wrong flight all by herself. Oh yeah, that's right. She did say she didn't think twice about it. I wonder if she did eeny, meeny, miny, mo to pick which gate she'd walk through. Give me a break!

When your boarding pass says Gate 9a it means Gate 9a not Gate 9. When your boarding pass says flight #782 it means Flight #782. When the posted destination says arrival in New York it does not mean California.

Nobody is trying to trick you. Nobody is trying to pull one over at your expense. Other than hold your hand like they do with children who are too young and inexperienced to travel by themselves, airlines do all they can to ensure grown adults get on the right flight. Sorry, but her level of nonthinking is NOT the airlines fault.

I must laugh at her request for additional compensation. I wonder who's going to compensate the thinking people of the world for all the nonsense nonthinking people put them through?

Is the ticket scanner jetBlue property or TSA property?

Also, it could have given an error but the gate attendant was too lazy or incompetant to realize it.

But in the end this is definitely Wendy's fault.

Sorry Wendy, you're a dumbfuck. Don't go blaming everyone else for your own incompetence.

Take this story to Oprah if you want idiots to feel compassion for your stupidity.

Meh. She is at least as responsible for the goof up as jetblue. I'd be hanging my head in shame, not asking for freebies.

I think JetBlue is at fault here. Yes, we can be dumb, but that doesn't excuse an airline. Besides, it's in their best interest to make sure everyone gets on the right flight.

That way, someone buying a ticket to New York doesn't "accidently" get on board a flight to Australia.

I'm flying in two weeks and I'm frightened.

We need clarification. Did this person get flown to southern California or just back to Oakland? I first assumed it would have been Oakland because this person is complaining, but upon rereading it, there is no mention of that being the reason she is unhappy. If she made it to southern California, what is the problem? An airline is never liable for anything you missed because of the delay in getting to your destination or for the wasted time. It sucks that those scanners don't confirm the gate, but unless the gate wasn't labeled or an agent specifically pointed to the wrong line, this mix up isn't there fault. Next time ask.
That being said, it is ridiculous from a security standpoint that the scanners don't check the gate. Those scanners should log who is walking on that flight and deny anyone with a wrong ticket. With all the security they are implementing and hassling people with, it is very very wrong when security is ignored somewhere else.