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Ask HN: Why did I get printed the wrong boarding pass?

11 points by passenger09 ↗ HN
I took a flight from Montreal to Frankfurt. Today i checked my printed boarding pass (apparently the first time) and noticed it is completely wrong.

things which seems to be in common: Flight number: AC 8742 (printed flight) AC 874 (my flight)

levenshtein distance of printed name: 12, m = 15, n = 12

boarding pass: https://imgur.com/56ZRhOI

Seems like the only thing in common is that the boarding passes where probably printed at the same time.

Any suggestions what can possibly go wrong when a computer system prints a boarding pass, based on the scanned passport?

In case you feel like that could be your lines of code, let us know :)

9 comments

[ 1.8 ms ] story [ 38.5 ms ] thread
joezydeco
You took a flight from Montreal to Frankfurt, but your boarding pass says Montreal to Bathurst, New Brunswick.

A handy way to look up flight numbers and destinations is an airline's timetable. Here is the one published by Air Canada:

https://services.aircanada.com/portal/rest/timetable/pdf/ac-...

So, flight 8742 is from Montreal to Bathurst. That matches up. The boarding pass confirms that. And flight 874 is indeed a flight from Montreal to Frankfurt, as your post explains.

If I had to guess, your flight was a short hop from Montreal to Bathurst to pick up more passengers and possibly fuel/cargo on the way to Frankfurt. Your boarding pass says 8742 since that's the first leg of the trip that you boarded in Montreal.

Does any of this match up? Did you change planes in Bathurst?

quickthrower2
Nice spot. Could be it. It would be unusual not to be given both legs' boarding passes at check in. Unless you have to unboard and board again at the intermediate airport. That happened to me in Singapore airport once (scary as only had < 1hr to do it), but that was 2005.
joezydeco
You won't get a second boarding pass if your itinerary means you sit on the plane during the stopover. YUL-ZBF would be a domestic flight so there's no need to clear the plane with customs and then reboard it.
passenger09
thanks for sharing the timetable! it seems like you missed the case: i took a direct flight from montreal to frankfurt. the computer system at the airport simply printed the wrong boarding pass -> the one from another person.
joezydeco
Perhaps I missed the case because I always look at my boarding card and confirm the flight and destination before boarding the plane?

There are obviously a number of mixups here. But if you want to discuss software errors one needs to rule out the human factor first.

Why did you board the plane, or maybe how were you able to board the plane with the wrong pass?

gesman
My first reaction thought would be to ask airline.

My last reaction would be to ask hacker news.

passenger09
i already asked the airline but i don't expect technical details :)