Associated Press
CHICAGO — Fantasy fares of as little as $25 for a round trip to Europe turned out to be a dream come true for dozens of customers of United Airlines.
Reversing course, United said yesterday it would honor the 143 tickets sold on its Web site during a 55-minute period on Jan. 31 when flights for international destinations were offered for next to nothing.
The world’s largest carrier blamed a computer error, and said last week that anyone who spotted the near-giveaway airfares at www.ual.com should have known that the prices — $24.98 for San Francisco to Paris, for example, with similar deals for flights to Hong Kong and other cities — were too good to be true.
That angered the ticketbuyers — including one man who bought 17 — who argued that listed fares should be binding even if they were unintended.
United spokesman Chris Brathwaite said yesterday that while the airline thought it was on solid legal ground with its cancellations, "We’ve chosen not to make this issue a point of dissatisfaction with our customers."
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