Not again: Cathay Pacific accidentally sells first class seats at a tenth of the price
A recent tech error meant one of the most luxurious airlines in the world was selling its first class tickets, usually valued at more than $22,000 for a mere $2,130.
The accident only occurred for passengers booking flights from Portugal to Hong Kong.
As part of the fare, first-class passengers would have to swap planes throughout the journey given there are no direct Cathay Pacific flights from Portugal to Hong Kong, and thanks to the error, the discounted price covered first class seats on connecting flights as well.
Whoops.
While the airline has fixed the error and changed the price of flights, Cathay has promised to fully honour the those who bought the discounted fares.
Commenting on the tech issue, a Cathay Pacific spokeswoman said: “The sale of such fares was stopped immediately,” she said in a statement.
“We are looking into the root cause of this incident both internally and externally with our vendors.
“For the very small number of customers who have purchased these tickets, we look forward to welcoming you on board to enjoy our premium services.”
This is the second time a tech error has caused major discounts on first class fares for Cathay Pacific.
Just two weeks ago, the airline discounted round-trip, first-class tickets from Vietnam to North America were briefly from $23,000 to $1,500.
Commenting on the two tech errors, Jeremy Tam Man-ho, a commercial pilot and politician in Hong Kong’s Civic Party said: “Human errors can happen, no matter how sophisticated a company is, but if the same kind of errors happen repeatedly in a short space of time, it may indicate a bigger problem.”
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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