BA offers to make amends for $40 fare fiasco
Ferry Online Travel News 12/10/2009
Airline offers passengers $300 discount on future bookings
After the UK airline refused to honour US-India return tickets that it accidently sold for $40-100, British Airways now says it will offer the affected travellers $300 off on future bookings.
The kerfuffle erupted after thousands of passengers bought $40 return tickets between the US and India last week, when a technical error on the British Airways system displayed the staggeringly low fare.
The fare sat on the BA site for two hours, and tickets were snapped up in the hundreds, as news about the fantastic 'deal' spread through travel forums like wildfire. Thousands of travellers bought the return tickets, even as they expressed their bemusement at the fare. Typical fares on routes between the US and India begin at above $800.
British Airways was soon alerted of the rogue fare, and corrected the booking site display, but not before considerable damage was done. The airline later categorically stated that it would not be honouring the tickets, as the fare was an obvious error, and dramatically lower than normal fares for the route.
However, faced with growing criticism from annoyed passengers and disgruntled travel agents who have had to deal with the fall-out of the fare ruckus, British Airways has now offered to make some amends.
While it will not honour the $40 tickets, the airline has said it will offer affected passengers a rebate of $300 on future tickets purchased on the route. The offer is open until November 12 of this year, for travel up until September 30, 2010. British Airways has said it has sent an email to travel agents, apologising to the customers and offering the $300 discount as compensation.
← Stena Navigator to ply on Stranraer to Belfast route | Index | PSA refers to Ryanair documentary to encourage ferry travel →