From London to Newark for only $74: that’s a real bargain! However, don’t get too excited- it’s too good to be true. Thousands of United Airlines’ customers were left furious on Wednesday evening, after the carrier announced it would void all of the tickets, sold at a hugely discounted rate due to an online glitch.
For a brief period of time on February 11, United Airlines’ passengers were offered the chance to book first class, round-trip, transatlantic flights at a cut-price cost. Many travelers, who registered themselves as being located in Denmark, snapped up the bargain tickets on the United Airlines website. The flights priced in Danish kroner, with first-class fares on routes like London to Newark for just 491 Danish krone- or about $74 because of an apparent error on the site. The mistake was spotted by a travel blog and eight hours later the hopes of the “lucky” holidaymakers were dashed when the airline started sending them cancelation emails.
In an official release, United Airlines blamed a third-party software provider that had applied an incorrect currency exchange and accused customers of trying to ‘take advantage’ of the situation. The ticket drama blew up the travel blogs. Many users expressed their disappointment that the airline decided not to honor the too-good-to-be-true tickets; others seemed to have anticipated the carrier realizing its mistake; there were users that said it would completely affect their loyalty to the airline. However, it is clear to everyone, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
