There is no Alhambra in Grenada

Source: Hugh Whyte on Unsplash

Avios mix-up sees woman fly to Grenada, not Granada

A woman who booked a visit to Spain as part of a "bucket list" said she "just froze" when she realised she was being flown to the Caribbean instead.

Lamenda Kingdon, 62, from Plymouth, wanted to go to the Alhambra Palace in the Spanish region of Granada after being diagnosed with cancer.

However, she was booked on a flight to Grenada by travel rewards company Avios, an error which she only realised had been made once she was in the air.

Avios has since reimbursed Ms Kingdon.

Ms Kingdon was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2012 and a brain tumour in June.

After she completed her course of treatment, she decided to use her unspent Avios points.

She had planned to travel to Granada to see the Alhambra Palace as part of a *"bucket list", a list of things she wanted to achieve in her life that she made while she was ill.

Ms Kingdon left Gatwick on 1 September and said though she noticed her ticket said Grenada Airport, she thought "that maybe that's how they spell it in Spain, because sometimes foreign countries and places are spelt differently".

"To be honest, there were other things on my mind," she added.

Bottle of champagne

She said she had already eaten her in-flight meal and drunk a gin and tonic before she found out she was on the wrong flight.

"I started to tell [another passenger] that this was part of my bucket list and I was so looking forward to seeing the Alhambra, and she replied 'not on this flight you won't'.

"I just froze because I did think I was going to Spain, I thought we'd be landing soon."

Ms Kingdon said she left the plane at a scheduled stop in St Lucia and after spending six hours in the airport's executive lounge, boarded a plane back to Gatwick.

"My major concern was that I had a taxi waiting for me at Granada Airport.

"When the message came back to say the taxi had been cancelled, they opened a bottle of champagne for me."

Ms Kingdon was flown to Granada the following day.

Avios reimbursed the cost of her flights and gave her additional points, which she said she hoped to use to travel to New Zealand, another destination she had identified on her list.

Craig Holland from the company said that as soon as the error was brought to their attention, "we reimbursed her [points] and all her expenses, and gave her more as compensation".

"We are so pleased to hear that she is now planning her next trip," he added.

Ms Kingdon said that she plans to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support while on her next holiday.

Source: BBC News

Vocabulary:

a mix-up - un error

a bucket - un cubo

#WOTD BUCKET (n) a container with an open top and a handle
e.g. Armed with a mop and bucket, I started cleaning up the mess.
e.g. I took my nephew to the beach to play with his bucket and spade.

to BUCKET (DOWN) - rain heavily
e.g. It's absolutely bucketing down. pic.twitter.com/0omcDDqfvS
— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) August 31, 2019

a bucket list - una lista de deseos

What is ON YOUR travel BUCKET LIST? https://t.co/2ZTAkYCxmA
— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) January 7, 2020

#idioms
What's your opinion on BUCKET LISTS?
Do you have one? What is / would be in your top three?

Listen to 6 Minute English on the subject:https://t.co/srN9NaDjea
— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) April 22, 2020

to *realise sth - darse cuenta

to be diagnosed with sth - ser diagnosticado con algo

to reimburse - reembolsar

to achieve - lograr

to *notice sth - darse cuenta

to look forward to sth - esperar algo con ansias

#PV LOOK FORWARD TO - to feel happy and excited about sth that is going to happen
e.g. I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO goING on holiday this summer.

- used at the end of a formal letter
e.g. I LOOK FORWARD TO meetING YOU.

I look forward to.❌
I look forward to it.✅ (obj is needed) https://t.co/Iu0DtSoIxV pic.twitter.com/YCNDdf07c4
— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) March 28, 2020

to land - aterrizar

a concern - una preocupación

to raise (money) - recaudar

What's the one word that fits every sentence?

raise your voice = to shout / speak loudly and angrily

raise money for charity = to do sth so that people contribute to a charity

raise hopes/fears/doubts etc. = to cause emotions https://t.co/iogaFWYNbp pic.twitter.com/UpDR2nT3FL
— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) June 18, 2020

expenses - gastos

*Realise implies a deeper level of understanding or comprehension while notice simply means becoming aware of something, often hrough observation.

Idiom:

If you kick the bucket, you die. (informal)

I'm only 50. I don't want to kick the bucket just yet.
I've just heard that the old lady on the first floor kicked the bucket. They say she had a heart attack.

#idioms
I want to see more of the world before I KICK THE BUCKET. (humorous)#PV
He PASSED AWAY peacefully in his sleep.
= to DIE
— English in Madrid (@madteacher72) October 12, 2017

Comments

luciti said…

Hi! I want to help with vocabulary!! lol

a mix-up – confusion/ lío

a bucket - un cubo.

*a "bucket list" = a list of things that you want to do before you die.

to reimburse – reembolsar, devolver.

to achieve - alcanzar

to look forward to stg – Desear algo.

a concern - preocupar

to raise (money) - conseguir (dinero)

IDIOM!!

You can traslate " ckick the bucket" por "Estirar la Pata" jaja

Bye, Lucía.

Wednesday, 30 October, 2013

Unknown said…

i preffer the caribe better than Granada...

Thursday, 07 November, 2013

Graham said…

Hi Edu,

Short but sweet.

I agree - I'd prefer the Carribean to Granada too though I wouldn't mind going back to Granada again.

Friday, 08 November, 2013

Sir Joseph said…

Hello Graham,

Companies always try to sell you many items, as much as possible. If you are not careful, they sell the moon. This woman was clear about her destination, but Avios sent her to Grenada. It´s crazy. As that was a fly farther than Spain, the same name was an excuse to send her to Grenada. The prison warden of Avios though this woman wanting to go to the Caribbean place. If a woman, 62, alone, said, please, I want to go to Granada, wouldn’t you ask her if she wanted to go to Grenada or to Granada? I think it was not an error, but it was the yearning to sell more and more.

On the other hand, I went to Granada several times, but I have never been to Grenada, neither the Caribbean. I´m afraid that it is very difficult that I went there. There are a lot of places in the world where I would go before to the Caribbean, for instance, Inverness.

I´m sorry for temperatures in Inverness. I have heard than it is much hot in the North of Europa. We are well in Madrid, it isn´t hot, as other times, at the moment.

See you.

Saturday, 28 July, 2018

Hello Joseph,

Are you still in Madrid?

I am back for a bit.

I think it was a misunderstanding and the company is not to blame. They were decent enough to fly her to Granada.

It's not the first mix-up of this kind. A number of dopey people who thought they were flying to Australia have ended up in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1205495/Dopey-Dutch-pair-end-Canada-flying-wrong-Sydney.html

... As it was a flight further than Spain, the same name was an excuse to send her to Grenada. The prison warden of Avios thought this woman wanted to go to the Caribbean place. If a woman, 62, alone, said, please, I want to go to Granada, wouldn’t you ask her if she wanted to go to Grenada or Granada? I think it was not an error, but it was the yearning to sell more and more.

On the other hand, I have been to Granada several times, but I have never been to Grenada, neither the Caribbean. I´m afraid that it is very unlikely that I will ever go there. There are a lot of places in the world where I would go (to) before the Caribbean, for instance, Inverness.

I´m sorry for the temperatures in Inverness. I have heard that it is very hot in the North of Europe. We are well in Madrid, it isn´t hot, as other times, for the moment.

Wednesday, 08 August, 2018