Itinerary nightmare: Ontario couple’s trip to Italy includes five flights, via Ontario, California
An Ottawa woman says a travel agent's mistake thinking they were booking a trip from Ontario, California, and not Canada's capital, will force them to take a lengthy detour with a four-and-a-half-hour drive and five flights to get to Venice, Italy for vacation.
Keri Oakley is set to embark on a two-week trip through Italy, Croatia and the Greek Islands this week.
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
In a posting on Facebook, Oakley says instead of booking a flight from Ottawa to Venice, the travel agent booked them to travel from Ontario, California, "and won't fix it!"
"So, our amazing race begins Thursday with a 4.5 hour drive to the Toronto airport, from (Toronto) to Atlanta, Atlanta to Ontario, California, then Ontario to San Francisco, (San Francisco) to Frankfurt, Germany, Frankfurt to Venice," Oakley says, adding it will be the same five flights and a 4.5 hour drive home.
After driving to Toronto, Keri Oakley will fly across the United States and then back over North America to cross the Atlantic Ocean and reach Italy.
Oakley tells Newstalk 580 CFRA's Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal they told the travel company they were travelling from Ottawa, Ont., but the agent booked them to travel out of Ontario, California. When Oakley said her husband told the company the couple was travelling from Canada, they were told by the travel company to get to California for the trip.
"They said, 'your problem.' We said, 'no you need to fix this. Like, you can go from Montreal to Venice no problem,'" Oakley said.
"I wasn't happy with three flights, but now I have five."
"We've given up; we're just going to try to get there and enjoy our trip and look at it as an adventure, maybe look at it like we're on the Amazing Race."
Oakley says the travel agent did not provide any compensation for the additional flights, adding this is their first experience booking with a vacation club.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
NEW With the U.S. election approaching, could American voters in Canada make a difference?
With the U.S. election widely predicted to be a close race, some believe American voters in Canada and overseas will be crucial in helping elect the new president about a month from now.
Canadian figure skater suspended at least 6 years for 'sexual maltreatment'
Canadian figure skater Nikolaj Sorensen has been suspended for at least six years for 'sexual maltreatment,' the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner announced Wednesday.
Grandparents found hugging each other after fallen tree killed them in their South Carolina home
As Hurricane Helene roared outside, the wind howling and branches snapping, John Savage went to his grandparents' bedroom to make sure they were OK.
W5 Investigates What it's like to interview a narco
Drug smuggling is the main industry for Mexican cartels, but migrant smuggling is turning into a financial windfall. In this fourth instalment of CTV W5's 'Narco Jungle: The Death Train,' Avery Haines is in Juarez where she speaks with one of the human smugglers known as 'coyotes.'
B.C. man ordered to pay damages for defamatory Google review
A B.C. man has been ordered to pay a total of $4,000 to a Coquitlam company and its two owners because of a negative review he posted on Google.
DEVELOPING Israel extends evacuation warnings in Lebanon, signalling a wider offensive
The Israeli military on Thursday warned people to evacuate a city and other communities in southern Lebanon that are north of a UN-declared buffer zone, signalling that it may widen a ground operation launched earlier this week against the Hezbollah militant group.
Ontario family devastated after losing thousands to online flight ticket scam
An Ontario family was planning a religious trip to Saudi Arabia that included 10 people, but when they were checking in for their flights, the family discovered some of their tickets were fake.
For Canadians seeking a non-mRNA COVID vaccine, lack of Novavax shot is 'unfair,' advocates say
The federal government's decision to not provide Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine this respiratory virus season raises health equity concerns, experts and advocates say, as some Canadians look to the U.S. to get the shot.
Albertan first Canadian veteran to compete in Mrs. Universe pageant
In less than a year, an Alberta woman has gone from gracing the stage at her first pageant to competing at the Mrs. Universe pageant in South Korea. She's making history by becoming the first Canadian veteran to compete internationally.