Qantas mishap sees travellers bag discounted first class tickets - but there’s a catch

When it comes to travelling,do you tend to scour a plethora of websites for the best deal?

Whether it is getting moved up to business class or bagging a free room upgrade, these little wins can make all the difference to our holidays. 

However, some travellers got more than they bargained for after 300 first-class Qantas tickets were mistakenly sold at a discount of a staggering 85 percent. 

Each of the luxury first-class tickets was worth more than £10,000, according to Travel Weekly.

The Australian airline said the mishap was due to a coding glitch on its website which saw return tickets to the US available at a discounted price for eight hours on the site last Thursday (August 22). 

Those who bought the tickets are set to get a refund or be downgraded from first class to business class “at no additional cost”. 

Qantas passengers travelling business class would still be getting a huge discount of 65 percent for their ticket, according to the airline.

Despite the glitch, Qantas’ terms and conditions state when flyers book with the airline and there is a mistake in the fare price, the airline is entitled to cancel the booking and offer a full refund. 

In a statement, Qantas said: "As a gesture of goodwill, we’re rebooking customers in business class at no additional cost. Customers also have the option of a full refund."

This is not the first time this has happened. Cathay Pacific sold $16,000 (£12,100) worth of business-class seats for just $675 (£510) in 2019. The travellers were able to keep the hugely discounted tickets.

Meanwhile, flyers travelling to Dubai with British Airways thought their luck was in after paying £1 for flights instead of £200. However, the airline had to cancel the purchased tickets.

Have you ever had an airline mishap? Let us know in the comments below.