Airline to honor $16,000 first-class fares it accidentally sold for $675
- by Patty Hardy
- in Business
- — Jan 3, 2019
First-class fares from Vietnam to the United States, which usually cost about $23,000, were selling for just under $1,500 during a brief period when premium ticket prices plunged.
The pricing gaffe comes on the heels of a sophisticated hack on Cathay Pacific's computer systems a year ago that exposed private information of 9.4 million passengers in the world's biggest airline data breach.
Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific confessed on Wednesday to a technical blunder that briefly allowed customers to purchase a round-trip business class ticket from Vietnam to NY for about $675, a more than 95 percent discount.
The pricing mistake was first noticed several days ago by aviation bloggers, who trawl the internet looking for cheap deals.
Return fares in the premium cabin from Da Nang to NY started at US$675 (S$922) for travel in August, Mr Gary Leff, a travel and loyalty programme blogger on View from the Wing, wrote on Monday (Dec 31).
The same journey cost around $16,000 (NZ$3000) for July and September, according to the airline's website. Last year, Hong Kong Airlines honored business class tickets erroneously sold at economy fares. "Hope this will make your 2019 'special" too! Both carriers didn't disclose how many people purchased the cheaper tickets.
Cathay Pacific referred The National to its tweet when asked for comment about the discounted fares.
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The bargain fares were sold on a route from the Vietnamese city of Da Nang to NY.
In October, Cathay Pacific was the subject of a data breach in its IT systems, jeopardising the personal information of up to 9.4 million passengers.
Airlines often honour tickets sold in error, but practices differ from carrier to carrier and according to circumstances.
Meanwhile, one customer said his first-class ticket was canceled.
Cathay isn't alone here, other airlines have also made similar pricing mistakes.
BA said it offered customers a full refund and £100 vouchers but many said the gesture wasn't good enough.
