Australia’s Qantas Airways accidentally sold first-class tickets at an 85% discount due to a coding error. Customers who purchased these tickets were given the option to either rebook their seats in business class or receive a full refund.
Last week, around 300 people took advantage of a pricing error on Qantas Airways’ website, booking first-class flights between Australia and the U.S. at an 85% discount. The error lasted 8 hours, allowing customers to secure these flights at a fraction of the regular price.
Instead of canceling tickets, Qantas has offered to rebook affected customers into business class at no additional cost. Passengers who are not satisfied with the business class experience can receive a full refund. Business class tickets for flights between Australia and the U.S. cost about $11,000.
This approach contrasts with how Qantas handled a similar situation last year. In August 2023, Australian regulators sued Qantas for selling tickets for over 8,000 flights that had already been canceled, impacting more than 86,000 passengers.
Qantas agreed to pay approximately $80 million to settle the lawsuit, with over $13 million allocated directly to affected customers.
Airlines accidentally selling tickets at drastically reduced prices isn’t uncommon. Last year, China Southern Airlines mistakenly offered flights at meager prices due to a booking system glitch, with some fares advertised for just over $2. The airline honored these fares rather than canceling them and offering refunds.
However, this isn’t always the case. In 2010, American Airlines did not honor a mistake in which it sold first-class round-trip tickets from the U.S. to Australia for $1,100 instead of the correct price of $11,000. Instead, the airline provided a $200 voucher as compensation.
In 2009, British Airways also mistakenly sold $40 flights from North America to India but opted to offer a $300 voucher as compensation.
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