FARK.com: (7220917) Department of Transportation rules say airlines must honor airfare mistakes. Like first-class roundtrip tickets to Hong Kong for 4 frequent flier miles

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		Department of Transportation rules say airlines must honor airfare mistakes. Like first-class roundtrip tickets to Hong Kong for 4 frequent flier miles (blogs.wsj.com)		32
		More: Interesting, Department of Transportation, United Continental Holdings, Hong Kong

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7446 clicks; posted to Main » on 18 Jul 2012 at 9:48 PM | Favorite | share:

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aseras		2012-07-18 09:51:56 PM

As it should be. Fark the airlines.

Next stop, fire the TSA.

AverageAmericanGuy		2012-07-18 09:52:19 PM

I'm cool with this. Caveat emtor.

EngineerAU		2012-07-18 09:55:02 PM

Memo to airlines (and other industries): Being cheap with IT staffing and just about everything else will lead to more mistakes like this. Enjoy the consequences of working people 70/hrs or more a week on salary on a regular basis.

/Bank websites, I'm looking in your general direction

muldoon		2012-07-18 10:02:05 PM

cost of doing business.

"programming errors" are expensive, this should have been factored in when you decided to outsource to wipro and IBM India. Good on folks for cashing in on your mistakes.

SkittleBrau		2012-07-18 10:02:12 PM

Dear Major Airlines:

Nanner nanner booooo booooo.

Sincerely,

Everybody Else

gweilo8888		2012-07-18 10:03:05 PM

How. The. Fark. did I miss this?

/could've used a cheap trip home
//$40-ish in taxes plus 4 frequent flier miles would almost make it worth flying United
///CX FTW

haemaker		2012-07-18 10:12:37 PM

gweilo8888: How. The. Fark. did I miss this?

/could've used a cheap trip home
//$40-ish in taxes plus 4 frequent flier miles would almost make it worth flying United
///CX FTW

Agreed Damnit. Pissed I missed this too.

0Icky0		2012-07-18 10:12:54 PM

gweilo8888: ///CX FTW

I see my wife treated you well.
But if you ask for an upgrade, she'll ask you for your credit card.

UsikFark		2012-07-18 10:30:41 PM

"Oh, but it says here, 'not valid with any other offer.' You'll have to pay the double-secret $4,000 baggage fee, we only waive that at our discretion."

Seth'n'Spectrum		2012-07-18 10:41:28 PM

gweilo8888: ///CX FTW

Overpriced. But so is every other airline flying trans-Pacific.

/RIP Oasis Airlines

Evil High Priest		2012-07-18 10:41:49 PM

Cue HA ha kid.

dahmers love zombie		2012-07-18 10:50:17 PM

I think United should be able to cancel the deal.
And I think any customer should be able to get a full refund at any time for any fare that they mistakenly purchased. Like for the wrong day, wrong time, wrong destination, or if their life changed so that to travel on their purchased ticket would be a mistake.

Change every single airfare to fully refundable, and the carriers can have their "oops" rule.

FormlessOne		2012-07-18 11:07:08 PM

Remember, folks, it's OK for airlines to refuse to refund ticket costs if you make a mistake, but if the airlines make a mistake, well, you'll just have to suck it up.

When the rules become equal for both sides of a contract, then we can talk about "mistakes." Until then, as the airlines tell us when we inadvertently order the wrong seats on the wrong flight, they had ample warning to confirm or deny the purchase.

95629		2012-07-18 11:07:55 PM

dahmers love zombie: I think United should be able to cancel the deal.
And I think any customer should be able to get a full refund at any time for any fare that they mistakenly purchased. Like for the wrong day, wrong time, wrong destination, or if their life changed so that to travel on their purchased ticket would be a mistake.

Change every single airfare to fully refundable, and the carriers can have their "oops" rule.

You were with me til the life change. Every seat an airline sells to someone that does this I one less seat they can sell to someone who is actually going to use the ticket. Also people would constantly refund their tickets every time they saw a lower price.

Airlines operate on a razor thin margin. They can't afford to give passengers anything more without charging for it somehow. It's screw us all in the end. Tickets are way too cheap as it is.

JungleBoogie		2012-07-18 11:08:09 PM

"Department of Transportation rules say airlines must honor airfare mistakes. Like first-class roundtrip tickets to Hong Kong for 4 frequent flier miles"

Aw yeah.

i25.photobucket.com

FormlessOne		2012-07-18 11:08:27 PM

animeorb		2012-07-18 11:23:56 PM

Bleh, if only my united miles account wasnt empty right now I totally would have gotten in on this deal right away :(, lol maybe i should have bought overpriced miles for it

a61sun		2012-07-19 12:05:17 AM

EngineerAU: Memo to airlines (and other industries): Being cheap with IT staffing and just about everything else will lead to more mistakes like this. Enjoy the consequences of working people 70/hrs or more a week on salary on a regular basis.

/Bank websites, I'm looking in your general direction

...and other industries. Just today was at HP tryin to renew a warranty, pages loaded like they were running off an Amiga. ...and Verizon, don't get me started!

Bomb Head Mohammed		2012-07-19 12:14:06 AM

Oh good. My life was missing comments from snowflake, entitled, demanding American consumers who have more than almost everybody on earth despite their collectively run of the mill education and work ethic and yet feel hard done by and that they are somehow getting "screwed over." Glad I found them now I can die a happy man.

TuteTibiImperes		2012-07-19 12:32:46 AM

dahmers love zombie: I think United should be able to cancel the deal.
And I think any customer should be able to get a full refund at any time for any fare that they mistakenly purchased. Like for the wrong day, wrong time, wrong destination, or if their life changed so that to travel on their purchased ticket would be a mistake.

Change every single airfare to fully refundable, and the carriers can have their "oops" rule.

I'd rather it go the other way. You buy a ticket, you pay whether you fly or not (unless the airline cancels the flight due to weather, incompetence, or other factors), but on the same page, if you pay a price for a ticket, you are guaranteed a seat for that price. If you can't figure out how to enter in the right time and date for your flight, or can't be bothered to make it to the airport with enough time to get through security and to your gate perhaps paying for a ticket you couldn't use will make you plan better in the future.

In fact, I'd like to see this expanded to cover all online retailers. If HP lists a $2,500 laptop for $250 on their site and you click the 'buy it' button and enter your CC information they shoudl be required to send you that laptop for the price you paid.

Too Pretty For Prison		2012-07-19 01:16:55 AM

AverageAmericanGuy: I'm cool with this. Caveat emtor.

ohhh.,, you speak French.

gweilo8888		2012-07-19 01:41:27 AM

Seth'n'Spectrum: gweilo8888: ///CX FTW

Overpriced. But so is every other airline flying trans-Pacific.

/RIP Oasis Airlines

If you say so. Last flight I took trans-Pacific, CX was one of the very cheapest available (and this wasn't a last-moment, everybody cheaper was sold out thing, this was when all the flights were ~1/3 full.)

Never got to try Oasis, but I understood them not to be as terrible as most LCCs. Me being 6'1", for a flight of that length I'd happily pay a bit more for a more comfortable seat, and better food / service that has me arriving reasonably rested. Now, I'd agree the premium economy prices are a bit out there, but I'd probably bite on those too if I could get one for more like US$1,800 per person, and I'd happily accept that with no changes allowed on the tickets.

Bomb Head Mohammed		2012-07-19 01:56:09 AM

Seth'n'Spectrum: gweilo8888: ///CX FTW

Overpriced. But so is every other airline flying trans-Pacific.

/RIP Oasis Airlines

So, by your logic, an airline that can carry you from new york to tokyo and back for what amounts to let's call it 3 day's work is "overpriced," but to your logic Oasis' clearly unsustainable pricing was great. My, aren't you just an entitled little snowflake!

filter		2012-07-19 02:14:34 AM

I mistakenly entered the wrong date once-- flight left at 0015 which was a day early. I noticed immediately, but no mercy from the airline. fark them-- or allow for customers to make mistakes.

gweilo8888		2012-07-19 02:18:29 AM

filter: I mistakenly entered the wrong date once-- flight left at 0015 which was a day early. I noticed immediately, but no mercy from the airline. fark them-- or allow for customers to make mistakes.

I've long thought the same thing with fuel surcharges. They don't give you money back when the fuel prices are *lower* than they expect; they shouldn't legally be allowed to raise the prices on already-purchased tickets when the fuel prices are higher than they expect. And that goes not just for airlines, but other industries like cruise etc. as well.

Pert		2012-07-19 05:50:05 AM

Too Pretty For Prison: ohhh.,, you speak French.

No, but I do kiss that way...

Pert		2012-07-19 05:51:58 AM

AverageAmericanGuy: I'm cool with this. Caveat emtor.

Is this a troll?

a) spelling "emptor" incorrectly, and;
b) "Let the buyer beware" being completely irrelevant to a story which says that the sellers (not the buyers) need to honour an agreement

Jon iz teh kewl		2012-07-19 07:05:05 AM

Caveat Emperor

upload.wikimedia.org

deeoh1		2012-07-19 08:03:03 AM

Was it common that they wouldn't? Smart airlines wouldn't risk the PR hit. I stumbled upon a mistake on United's website about a decade ago that let me book 2 1st class tickets from Indy to LAX for $43 each and they honored it.

drinks like richard burton		2012-07-19 08:46:16 AM

I was lucky enough to have gotten in on this and booked my wife, her sister, and myself to HKG. cost was $193 and 12 miles total. I fully expected UA to kill it, but 2 hrs after booking, I received my tickets via email. Once 24hrs went by with no word of cancellation, my lottery ticket was looking like a winner. Once they issued my tickets, UA and I walked together into the land of new DOT regs.

lack of warmth		2012-07-19 09:15:54 AM

drinks like richard burton: I was lucky enough to have gotten in on this and booked my wife, her sister, and myself to HKG. cost was $193 and 12 miles total. I fully expected UA to kill it, but 2 hrs after booking, I received my tickets via email. Once 24hrs went by with no word of cancellation, my lottery ticket was looking like a winner. Once they issued my tickets, UA and I walked together into the land of new DOT regs.

As it should be. The deal was set with an electronic handshake.

foxyshadis		2012-07-19 10:19:22 AM

TuteTibiImperes: dahmers love zombie: I think United should be able to cancel the deal.
And I think any customer should be able to get a full refund at any time for any fare that they mistakenly purchased. Like for the wrong day, wrong time, wrong destination, or if their life changed so that to travel on their purchased ticket would be a mistake.

Change every single airfare to fully refundable, and the carriers can have their "oops" rule.

I'd rather it go the other way. You buy a ticket, you pay whether you fly or not (unless the airline cancels the flight due to weather, incompetence, or other factors), but on the same page, if you pay a price for a ticket, you are guaranteed a seat for that price. If you can't figure out how to enter in the right time and date for your flight, or can't be bothered to make it to the airport with enough time to get through security and to your gate perhaps paying for a ticket you couldn't use will make you plan better in the future.

Would totally agree on one condition: That you can sell your ticket to another, or that if the airline does fill that seat, it refunds your money. The whole business where airlines can charge you fees and keep your money while they charge someone else again for the same seat is asinine. The whole business about not being able to transfer a seat in any way without buying a fully refundable ticket and hoping gas prices haven't jumped dovetails with the TSA bullcrap, but that's another story.

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