A simple spelling error on a travel document left an Australian holidaymaker nearly £400 out of pocket, serving as a stark warning to all travellers to meticulously check their visas before travelling.
The Costly Typo That Grounded a Holiday
Lynne Johnston, from Geelong West in Victoria, Australia, had meticulously planned her whirlwind trip to Vietnam. Aware that the country requires Australians to secure a visa prior to arrival, she wisely opted to use the official Vietnamese government website to apply for her e-Visa, paying the standard $25 fee.
After carefully entering her personal details, she received the document just one week later. To the untrained eye, everything appeared in order. However, a critical mistake had been made: her surname, Johnston, was misspelled as 'Johnstonton'.
A Panicked Airport Ordeal
The error only came to light when Lynne was at the airport, ready to begin her holiday. Officials spotted the discrepancy between her passport and the visa and informed her she would be unable to board her flight. The name on the visa must be an exact match to the passport.
Faced with missing her flight, Lynne was forced into a last-ditch, costly solution. She revealed she had to rush to a Flight Centre desk at the airport and pay $500 (approximately £378) for an emergency visa to correct the error and proceed with her travels.
A Common and Costly Oversight
Lynne was not the only traveller to fall victim to such an oversight that day. She reported that a fellow traveller at the Flight Centre was also '$500 poorer' after discovering, too late, that their middle name had been omitted from their visa.
In a contribution to The Sydney Herald, Lynne offered a final piece of crucial advice to all holidaymakers: 'Don’t just glance at your visa and throw it in with your passport. Go over it carefully.' She added, 'You may be up-to-date with scams, but don’t think you are so clever that something else won’t trip you up.'
Her experience underscores the absolute necessity of verifying every single detail on official travel documents, no matter how trustworthy the source may seem.
