United Airlines refuses to honour cut price tickets
United Airlines has said it will void all tickets bought during a computer glitch which saw first class London-New York flights sell for just £50.
The currency glitch, discovered yesterday, meant that by registering as a customer in Denmark, the flights from Heathrow to Newark could be bought for 491 Danish krone – the equivalent of £50.
The airline issued a statement last night blaming the issue on a ‘third-party error’.
But the announcement led to angry responses from customers and agents who said the airline was violating the US Department of Transportation’s regulations by doing so.
They claim that under the regulations, mistaken fares that contain travel to, from, or connecting in the USA must be honoured.
The airline said in a statement to the Daily Mail: "United is voiding the bookings of several thousand individuals who were attempting to take advantage of an error a third-party software provider made when it applied an incorrect currency exchange rate, despite United having properly filed its fares.
"Most of these bookings were for travel originating in the United Kingdom, and the level of bookings made with Danish Kroner as the local currency was significantly higher than normal during the limited period that customers made these bookings."
The airline had initially said that agents needed to get passengers to pay the difference or give the tickets back.
The computer error meant around 900 business class seats on Singapore Airlines were sold at economy prices.
Diane
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Marginal increase for New York City tourism in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments