All Nippon Airways accidentally sold out hundreds of tickets at heavily discounted prices due to a currency conversion blunder. Passengers were able to book round-trip first-class tickets from Jakarta to the Caribbean islands for prices as low as $890 (Rs 73,000 approx), as reported by Bloomberg. These tickets would typically cost nearly 20 times more.
People were able to grab business class tickets for as low as $300 (Rs 25,000 approx), according to reports. Many customers paid just a few hundred dollars for the tickets instead of the usual price of $10,000( Rs 8.21 lakh approx). All Nippon Airways has not revealed how many customers bought the discounted tickets.
A spokesperson for the airline had stated that All Nippon Airways would honour the discounted tickets. Later, the carrier said that a final decision was yet to be made. The decision will likely be made by the end of the month, as per reports. All Nippon Airways explained that the discounted tickets will be valid for passengers who fly before the decision is finalised.
ANA Holdings said that it was an error on its Vietnam website that led to blunders in currency conversion. The airline is “investigating the cause of the bug and the size of its damage”, the Economic Times reported.
This is not the first time an airline has managed to goof up and offer business class tickets at a steep discount.
In 2019, Cathay Pacific accidentally sold first and business-class tickets on the Vietnam-US route for as little as $675 (Rs 55,000), instead of the usual $16,000 (Rs 1.31 lakh).
In a surprise move, it decided to honour those discounted rates. “Happy 2019 all, and to those who bought our good - VERY good surprise ‘special’ on New Year’s Day, yes - we made a mistake but we look forward to welcoming you on board with your ticket issued. Hope this will make your 2019 ‘special’ too!” the carrier had stated.
Happy 2019 all, and to those who bought our good - VERY good surprise ‘special’ on New Year’s Day, yes - we made a mistake but we look forward to welcoming you on board with your ticket issued. Hope this will make your 2019 ‘special’ too!.#promisemadepromisekept #lessonlearnt— Cathay Pacific (@cathaypacific) January 2, 2019
Singapore Airlines made a similar blunder in 2014 and sold tickets for less than half the price. It later decided to honour the deal, reported BBC. In 2015, United Airlines had to suffer a ticketing blunder on its transatlantic route. Due to an error by a “third-party software provider", the tickets were sold for less than $100. The carrier later cancelled the tickets.
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