Joan Rivers not the only one stuck in Costa Rica

Joan Rivers wasn´t the first to have problems with Continental Airlines in Costa Rica.

Michael Jensen, who frequents the country and got in touch with Rivers after she appeared on CNN television talk show “Larry King Live,” said he´s seen people turned away for overused passports. He had trouble himself when his facial hair didn´t match what was pictured in the passport.

“There´s someone there who harasses everyone,” said Jensen, calling from Oregon. “It´s too bad because it gives Costa Rica a bad image. That is the last thing people remember when they leave a country.”

Even stardom couldn´t help Joan Rivers talk her way past an unyielding gate agent in Liberia Airport on Sunday.

The 76-year-old comedian and actress, who spent her vacation in Papagayo in the northwest province of Guanacaste, lost her seat on a Continental flight to Newark, New Jersey when an airline employee noticed a discrepancy between the name on the boarding pass and the name on the passport.

As people were boarding the last flight of the day, Rivers was called to the counter and told her seat had been given up. The reason? Her boarding ticket read Joseph Rosenberg and her passport read “Joan Rosenberg AKA Joan Rivers.”

See The Tico Times Online Feature Story and listen to the interview with Joan Rivers here.