The fares had been entered in error on Cathay Pacific’s website. It is not known how many tickets were snapped up but CX is said to have lost US$5 million by the time the error was corrected.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... ss-ticketsThe flight offer was picked up on New Year’s Eve by Gary Leff, a travel blogger, who wrote: “Oh my goodness this is an amazing fare.
“You can fly from Vietnam – the cheapest fares originate in Da Nang, but other cities work as well – to Cathay Pacific’s US gateways starting at $675.”
Leff warned his readers not to book any additional travel or hotels around the deal, as he suspected Cathay “might get seller’s remorse” and not honour the fares. “I’d wait a few days after buying additional travel or making additional non-refundable plans around the fare,” he said.
But when Cathay became aware of the mistake, the airline said it would stand by the fares. “We do not want to go back on our promise to our customers,” it said. “We made a mistake but we look forward to welcoming you onboard with your ticket issued.”
The airline did not respond to requests for comment about the number of flights sold at the steep discount. Cathay has removed all business and first-class flights for August – the month of the cut-price fares – from its website, but the same flights in September are listed for $16,000.
Another blog, One Mile at a Time, saw it was possible to buy first-class flights from Hanoi to Vancouver for $988 return.
In a blogpost, it said: “Wow! Hurry, this won’t last.” There were also first-class return flights from Hong Kong to New York offered for $1,450. The price of those flights in September is more than $31,000.