Ritika Janiya
Qantas sold tickets of first class at whopping 85 percent off because of a fault in the coding. The bargain was had by at least 300 passengers before the mistake was overcome. The second part of the story goes that airlines have now offered to rebook these passengers into business class or to give a full refund.
Qantas, one of Australia’s largest airlines, found itself in a bit of a pickle recently when the airline managed to accidentally sell First Class tickets for well under their usual price. The company had around 300 people taken advantage of this discount deal at an 85% slash-off rate before the blunder was noticed, owing to a coding error on their website. This unscheduled deal certainly left many a traveler excited, at the very least; now, however, Qantas has moved to step in and address the situation.
The mistake was made last Thursday, and a few hours later the cut-price first-class tickets were being snapped up by opportune customers. The tickets usually cost more than AUD20,000, but were going for a fraction of the usual price. The winning buyers were over the moon at the prospect of being treated to everything first class had to offer, from haute cuisine and fine drinks such as whiskey and champagne to even sleeping like kings on a memory foam mattress with a “pillow menu” for a good night’s rest.
Qantas soon realized the mistake and had to act. According to them, if the price of a fare is obviously an error, then they reserve the right to cancel the booking and give a full refund. Their resolution towards this matter was that Qantas would let the passengers who bought tickets in business class for no extra cost. Otherwise, they would provide a full refund if the customer prefers so.
Business class is still quite a stunning discount for travelers, who paid 65% less than usual. Sure, it isn’t first class, but business class still offers a comfortable, if not somewhat glamorous, experience for passengers.
The error is not unprecedented with airliners. In 2019, Cathay Pacific also mistakenly sold $16,000 business-class seats for only $675. Unlike Qantas, Cathay Pacific decided not to cancel the tickets and let the lucky passengers fly on an incredible deal. It is not always so, but some airlines do this. In 2018, British Airways made a mistake by selling £1 tickets from Dubai to Tel Aviv, which cost £200 in reality. The airline cancelled the tickets, which meant it wasn’t going to let passengers fly for that price.
Qantas is booking passengers in business class as a goodwill gesture, recognizing the excitement built up and expectations wrought around the mistaken offer. While it won’t be first class for everyone gunning for it, it still stands a step higher than what they paid for.
Although this may be a little disappointing for those passengers who are looking forward to living the high life in first class, with the big discount still on offer, business class cannot be a bad choice. They will have comfortable seating, good food, and service on board.
It’s a reminder that sometimes those deals that seem too good to be true really are. There’s a reason airlines have their terms and conditions, and yes, these errors do occur. Customers should know what the policies are and that mistakes can entail changes in their travel plans.
Qantas will remember this situation for the future as a prime example of how additional checks and double-checks on their systems are going to prevent such errors. Sure, their graceful handling of the issue in the form of business class rebookings has worked well; however, they are surely taking steps to assure that something like this does not happen again.
At the end, this mix-up has given them a memorable experience to take away. While others will get a great story to tell, some never got the first-class ride they thought they were getting in the first place. For Qantas, it is another marker of the trials and tribulations of running a major airline and how critical it is to keep customer trust and satisfaction whenever it doesn’t go according to plan.
