Mainly, you avoid these types of mistakes by just double checking the IATA codes (as mentioned by the other answers) for your destination airport… when you’re paying to fly across the world, it pays to be extra careful, and make sure you’ve done your homework.
Additionally though:
The best way to avoid this problem is to use a travel agent, who will be familiar with the airport codes. Of course, most people prefer to avoid the inconvenience and expense by buying the ticket ourselves, which puts the responsibility for checking the details on our own shoulders.
Check the airport code. City names may be similar, but they always have unique three-letter airport codes, and these are always shown in flight booking engines. So just look them up on Wikipedia, and you won’t mistake YQY
with SYD
.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘