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Delta Travelers Receive Gift of Discount Ticket Glitch

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It was the holiday gift that bordered on miraculous, especially for the morning following Christmas. According to numerous reports, a computer glitch resulted in bargain prices for Delta airfares on Thursday, December 26, 2013.

ABC reported that some fares were as low as $20 roundtrip. Even better, ABC reported that the airline has said it will honor the “mistake fares.”

Frequent fliers, and apparently frequent FlyerTalk.com message board readers and writers began reporting the “mistake fares,” as they are referred to in the industry, around 9 a.m. on Thursday morning.  And by 10:45 a.m., the low fares that had been available on Delta.com, Expedia and Priceline, among others, were gone, CNN reported.

For a period of time, there was concern as to whether Delta would honor the mistakes. The airline has since made the following statement:

“For a portion of the morning today, some prices on delta.com and other booking channels were incorrectly displayed, resulting in lower than usual fares for customers. The situation has been resolved, and the correct prices are being displayed. Delta will honor any fares purchased at the incorrect price.”

Among the great deals Delta will honor includes one FlyerTalk forum participant who claimed to have booked the following four low fares, according to ABC: Chicago to Miami for $55; Erie, Pa., to Miami for $47; Salt Lake City to Erie, Pa., for $65, and Chicago to Erie, Pa., for $90.

The travel and fare lookout website Airfarewatchdogs.com reported that fares were as low as $40 for a round trip between New York and Los Angeles, and $200 for a first-class roundtrip ticket between Los Angeles and Hawaii, Reuters reported.

Economy seats for a roundtrip ticket between New York and Los Angeles on Delta typically cost around $400 or more. A first-class roundtrip ticket from Los Angeles to Hawaii for the second week of January currently costs more than $3,500 on the Delta website.

“Airlines employ analysts whose job is to constantly monitor competition and keep tweaking rates. It is possible that one of them entered a wrong number,” said George Hobica, founder of airfarewatchdogs.com, told Reuters.

It was also reported that by 1 p.m. the same day, some of the low fares were still available on Google Flights, such as $47 fares from New York City to Los Angeles, a flight that normally costs around $400.

As far as Delta honoring the cheap fares, travelers who booked with United Airlines in September scooped up tickets for as low as $5 and tickets booked at that price were honored by that airline as well, according to Reuters.

ABC explained that “Delta’s contract of carriage states that in the event of an “erroneous” fare, ” Delta reserves the right to cancel the ticket purchase and refund all amounts paid by the purchaser or, at the purchaser’s option, to reissue the ticket for the correct fare.” But rules set forth by the Department of Transportation state otherwise, saying that an airline must honor a purchased ticket, mistake fare or not.”

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