Samantha Lazzaris, a 33-year-old from Bristol, saved up saved her money for a holiday, being careful about picking the destination. However, instead of arriving in San Jose, Costa Rica, her flight, booked through Thomas Cook, landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which is 1,300 miles away from where she thought she was going.

It wasn’t until Lazzaris got into a cab that she noticed that there was mix-up with the destinations. She said that she asked the driver to take her to the hotel, but he told her that she was in Puerto Rico, not Costa Rica. Then she said that she looked around the airport and saw Puerto Rico posters all over, wondering where she was.

Lazzaris claims that the staff at one of Thomas Cook’s branches in the city used the code SJU, which stands for San Juan, instead of SJO which stands for Juan Santa Maria of San Jose, Costa Rica. However, due to her e-ticket listing only the codes for the destination, Lazzaris said that she had no idea about the mix-up.

Two of the 16-day trip that she booked was spent trying to get to the right destination. Lazzaris also had to spend another £800 for flights via Miami airport, where she had to spend the night. At the airport she contacted Thomas Cook about paying the extra money she spent, but they told her that by signing the Terms and Conditions, she signed a contract, bound legally, for the itinerary.

Lazzaris also said that asked the staff member if she realized the stress that she was going through due to very little sleep with being afraid of being mugged. The lady responded that she didn’t know, because she would never do something as stupid as traveling alone.

A spokesman said later that they apologized to Miss Lazzaris, offering to refund her for two nights of missed accommodation, the additional flight charges, as well as further compensation, which she accepted.

For more information about the travel operator, go to www.thomascook.com