Cathay Pacific mistakenly sells $16,000 flight for $675
Conde Nast Traveler Contributing Editor Mark Ellwood on the top travel trends of 2018.
A few very lucky people may have snagged the travel-deal of a lifetime this year: Cathay Pacific accidentally sold business and first-class tickets from Vietnam to New York for $675, rather than the standard $16,000.
The Hong Kong-based airline said it mistakenly sold business-class seats on August flights for a fraction of the usual price – and it plans to honor the blunder. Although it sold the ticket for around $675, prices for the same route in July and September cost around $16,000.
“Happy 2019 all, and to those who bought our good - VERY good surprise ‘special’ on New Year’s Day, yes - we made a mistake but we look forward to welcoming you on board with your ticket issued. Hope this will make your 2019 ‘special’ too!” the company wrote on Twitter.
The cheap airfare was publicized by Gary Leff at BoardingArea, a travel blog.
“Oh my goodness this is an amazing fare,” he wrote, but he warned travelers to wait a few days after booking to make additional non-refundable plans.
“In theory an airline refusing to honor a sale like this would have to reimburse any out of pocket costs you incurred but there’s not much history with enforcement of that particular DOT statement so I’d still not test it,” he added.
The South China Post found 11 people who snapped up 18 first-class and eight business-class tickets.