Airline passengers set to enjoy first class blunder
Print Edition
Scores of savvy travelers will be sipping heavily discounted champagne in first class recliners on Cathay Pacific flights this year after the airline agreed to honor tickets that were mistakenly sold at a fraction of their value.
Airline and travel blogs went into overdrive on New Year鈥檚 Eve after eagle-eyed shoppers noticed the carrier was offering first and business class tickets on its website from Vietnam to the United States and Canada for as little as US$670.
That represented a staggering discount. A first class round trip would usually cost around US$16,000 and a business class flight US$4,000-US$6,000.
It took two days for Cathay to publicly acknowledge the error, with the airline saying it would indeed honor the cheap fares.
鈥淲e made a mistake but we look forward to welcoming you on board with your ticket issued,鈥 the airline said on Twitter, calling the mistake a 鈥淰ERY good surprise 鈥榮pecial鈥 on New Year鈥檚 Day.鈥
A spokesperson for Cathay declined to say how many tickets were sold at the discounted price.
Wang Guanran, who writes on hktravelblog.com, said he was working in the early hours of New Year鈥檚 Day when he spotted websites alerting people to the cheap flights. In two hours he managed to snap up five first class round trips from Vietnam to New York for US$840 each and a business class flight for US$699.
鈥淚 was very lucky,鈥 he said. 鈥淢ost people in Hong Kong were sleeping after celebrating, they totally missed it.鈥
Most of those awake when the glitch hit would have been in Europe and North America, he said.
鈥淯ntil then it wasn鈥檛 looking like a good New Year, I鈥檇 been working and was missing my family,鈥 he said.
Cathay had a tough year in 2018. It continued to struggle with the rise of cheaper rivals from Chinese mainland, losing US$33 million in the first six months of the year. Then in October it admitted to a data breach, five months after hackers made off with the details of 9.4 million customers, including some passport numbers and credit card information.
Regis Cheung, who bought three round tickets from Vietnam to New York and one to Vancouver for US$800 each, welcomed Cathay鈥檚 move.
鈥淭heir response has helped them improve their image,鈥 Cheung said.
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