The story about the two women with identical boarding passes struck a chord with a friend who accessed it via Facebook.
Here’s his account, with some changed names and other edits to protect identities:
In January, I nearly didn’t get a seat on an Emirates airlines flight to Moscow
due to overbooking. We arrived three hours early, only to be informed that every single passenger on the plane was already checked in online, and I might have to wait for the next flight (in eight hours). They would generously give a seat on the plane to my wife, but I had to wait.
After making a massive fuss, I was finally allowed to use the ticket I bought from an Emirates Travel hub. But when they allocated me a seat, it was not next to my wife. I was advised to arrange a change of seat with the cabin crew.
Before going through passport control, I happened to glance at my boarding pass and I was checked in as Sergey U****ov. So, we turned around, and I presented the boarding pass with my passport to the woman at the check-in counter with three words: “Who is this?”
After mumbling something that sounded like an apology, the woman started with the process of kicking poor Sergey off the plane and to put me in his seat. And guess where his seat was? Right next to my wife!
When we arrived in Moscow, I had to pay for my excess baggage on a domestic flight we had booked. After I paid for the excess, the check-in counter staff would not accept my receipt, as for some mysterious reason it was issued in the name of Armand Van H****en.
It was the first time in my life I could say “I don’t feel like myself today” and totally mean it.
Brett, as in the case of the woman in your story, these little harmless misunderstandings are actually major security issues.
