Associated Press
Want to fly round-trip to Paris for less than $25?
United Airlines inadvertently listed such eye-popping fares on its Web site for nearly an hour last month — then disappointed customers who snatched them up by saying it wouldn’t honor them.
A United spokesman blames a technical error for the misleading offerings at www.ual.com that lasted 55 minutes on the evening of Jan. 31. The result: International fares such as San Francisco to Paris for $24.98, with similar deals for flights to Hong Kong and other cities.
A total of 143 tickets were sold at the near-giveaway prices, United spokesman Chris Brathwaite said yesterday. United later informed the ticket-holders that the fares that looked too good to be true were just that.
"We certainly apologize for any misunderstanding and inconvenience it may have caused to customers," Brathwaite said. "But ... it was a glitch. We fixed it, and we advised the customers and we gave them some options."
United has offered to find the lowest possible fares for the customers. But that’s not sitting well with customers like Eric Bescher, who snapped up a $27.98 ticket from San Jose to Paris and expects United to honor it.
Last year, an Air France ticketing glitch resulted in a similar situation, with some round-trip Paris-Hawai‘i fares listed at $169. Some fast-acting Hawaii residents snapped up the low-priced tickets. Air France honored the tickets.
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