Another first-person story from an anonymous traveler, who paid too much. “I should have known better,” she admits – but, we’re all human, we all make errors. Learn from hers!
Yes, even before I saw Rick’s post on “Top 5 Tips to Get the Cheapest Airfare this Spring and Summer” – I knew that procrastinating was stupid. Really I did. Unfortunately, nobody put a gun to my head and said “get your ticket today”, and so I let it slide.
Big mistake.
Make that, two big mistakes. For some reason, I decided that this weekend event I had to attend in the Midwest required me to fly out on a Friday and return on Sunday. I could’ve gotten an extra day or two off, but nooooo. It didn’t occur to me to ask.
With the result that I made reservations on the two most expensive days to fly (well, they usually are) plus, I waited until just a couple of weeks before departure to book the tickets. Idiot. Somehow I forgot that there are fewer flights these days, and that other people might possibly want to travel when I want to travel.
Anyway, I’ve flown this route numerous times for $300 (and occasionally for a lot less). But I paid $500. On Southwest. You should have seen what the other airlines were asking.
I better have a real good time on this trip, that’s all I can say. Oh, I can also say, read Rick’s tips – and follow them. Seriously.
The Dept. of Transportation (DOT) has fined United Airlines $30,000.
Here’s why: The carrier failed to include the “7.5% federal excise tax in fares in the initial search results page of its website”. Not that United failed to include it, mind you — that it wasn’t included in the initial search. According to the DOT, this lapse lasted just 60 hours, or two-and-a-half days.
United said this was a unique “programming error” and once they caught it, they immediately fixed it.
Good for them, but even better for us that the DOT is paying attention, and will not let even unintended errors slip by. Of course, it is the law – but it’s also, as the DOT’s Ray LaHood suggests, a matter of fair play: “Our fare advertising rules are designed to ensure that consumers know how much they will pay for a ticket and are able to compare prices when choosing which carrier to fly.”
Hear, hear.
Were you one of the bargain shoppers that snapped up that $40 “too-good-to-be-true” flight from the U.S. to India on British Airways last month?
If you did, you learned it was too good to be true – it was a mistake made by the carrier which quickly removed the fare and canceled the bookings but not before more than 2,000 of you bought tickets.
British Airways has made a gesture – it is offering those folks a $300 discount on travel to India (which must be booked by this Thursday, Dec. 3!) – and now, in an agreement with the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, BA will also compensate customers for cancellation penalties and other expenses they might have racked up due to the airfare mistake.
This could include cancellation fees for hotels or rental cars – anything, really, that cost you money as a result of the original airline mistake.
See the British Airways website for details on how to claim your compensation.
Air Canada filed what appears to be a mistake for U.S. travel to Germany for the next year at fall prices.
The cities and prices are listed below, I don’t think they will be around for long.
Best way to shop for them is using our Where-To-GoSM Dealfinder.
Air Canada Fall Prices thru Summer 2010 to Germany
Update: At 1:00am this morning American added another 100 cities (all the smaller ones in their route system) to the list with these once in a lifetime prices — maybe it isn’t a mistake …
Recently Hillary was handing out “Reset” buttons to thaw relations with Russia, but this is ridiculous.
Tonight American Airlines made what appears to be a mistake on some new and very low priced airfares from the U.S. to Moscow (they didn’t include the $224 fuel surcharge), so if you are looking for a Spring Break Deal (travel good through end of April) this is an absolute winner with prices out the door ranging from $200 – $350 (Russian visa costs about $131 so be aware).
Must connect in Chicago to Moscow (no outbound flights on Mon/Wed and no inbound flights Tue/Thu).
This deal may not be around for long as it looks to be a mistake, so it is likely to get fixed shortly.
I was just reviewing the international airfare feeds and stumbled upon this $420 Delta Air Lines all-in July airline ticket from Houston to Ireland!
Not sure if this is a mistake since this price is available from Houston to Shannon and Dublin, but the price is ridiculous — taxes alone to Europe typically go for $130 roundtrip — and during the summer, on flights from the U.S., the total ticket price is rarely below $1,000 all-in. Going to do some more investigation to see if this is a mistake or retaliation (after all, it is Continental’s hub) — but I expect to see a lot of sub $1,000 summer deals to Europe this year … If you have the money, this is the year to go …
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Did you purchase tickets for a “long haul” flight on British Airways or Virgin Atlantic, sometime between Aug. 11, 2004 and March 23, 2006?
If so, you may be due some money – between $7 and $34 per flight.
Visit http://www.airpassengerrefund.co.uk/ and find out.
This is the result of a settlement that’s been reached in a class action lawsuit that alleged that the two airlines illegally conspired to fix prices of fuel surcharges — surcharges place on those “long haul” fares.
We spoke with one frequent flier based in Europe, who figures he could be owed as much as $600 dollars. The businessman’s reaction was, why did the airlines allegedly conspire in the first place? “Considering that BA and Virgin have always been mortal enemies, it surprises me a bit.”
If the money comes through, the businessman figures he’ll simply spend it on another airline ticket — and yes — he will be more than happy to fly on British Airways or Virgin Atlantic.
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