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Qantas Airways recently made a costly mistake, offering first-class tickets at an 85% discount due to a coding error. The Australian airline accidentally listed round-trip first-class flights from Australia to the United States, typically priced at up to AUD 28,000 (USD 19,000), for just AUD 3,400 (USD 2,300).
Around 300 lucky customers were able to snag the heavily discounted tickets before Qantas corrected the error. In a statement, the airline acknowledged the mistake, saying, "Unfortunately, this is a case where the fare was actually too good to be true."
However, in a goodwill gesture, Qantas decided not to cancel the tickets. Instead, they offered to rebook the affected passengers in business class at no additional cost. For those not satisfied with the business class option, the airline is offering a full refund.
A business class ticket on Qantas for the same route typically costs around AUD 11,000 (USD 7,500), so the offer is still a significant value.
This gesture comes after a more controversial incident last year when Qantas was accused of selling tickets for over 8,000 flights that had already been canceled. The airline later agreed to a settlement of nearly USD 80 million, including compensation to affected customers.
Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson acknowledged the airline's shortcomings, stating, "We let our customers down." Mistakes in pricing premium tickets are not uncommon in the airline industry, but how companies respond varies.
In 2019, Cathay Pacific honored a similar error, offering deeply discounted first and business-class seats, while American Airlines and British Airways chose to cancel mistaken fares, offering vouchers instead.
Qantas' recent goodwill gesture, though costly, aims to maintain customer trust and avoid further backlash.
[Information from moneyreview.gr and CNN]
