PRICING MISTAKE: 4 miles from Hong Kong

[PlatinumGuy]

They would have decided by now either way IMHO

[myb821]

still to early for that slightly OT if it is offered and i cant use my ticket can i cancel without requesting redeposit so i can get the taxes back

sorry to bump this but it got pushed back I was wondering if anyone had an answer

[PlatinumGuy]

The official answer is no. Whether or not u can talk ur way out of it I dunno.

[sky121]

yes (its a stupid question)

Stupid question? 

Incorrect answer. The answer is NO. Officially you can't.

[Side incomer]

They would have decided by now either way IMHO

I have the same feeling, but I assume that they'll have to cancel them manually which can take days or weeks, so we won't see results so fast.

[yehuda S]

I happen to agree that is NOT REASONABLE to EXPECT United to honor these. For the few people who already started their itinerary I would say that is really sleazy. It is obvious they booked a flight leaving immediately because they did not expect the ticket to be honored. The same goes for any troll out there who is threatening to sue. I think everyone would agree that they are a complete pig.

HOWEVER, United did not render any services at all for the rest of us, and since no one seriously expects the free flight or stands to lose anything if it is cancelled, I don't see how it was wrong to book it for fun. A lot of people had a ton of fun and excitement planning a great trip while bearing in mind that they are probably not going to get it anyway.

One more group of people I take issue with are those who booked a ton of flights. Some commentors claim they booked as much as 50 (!!!) tickets. It is this kind of insane gold mining that is so dirty and ugly.

Since the WSJ article was dredged up with a quote saying that United policy is to honor all mistake fares no matter how big the error is, I would say that United looked to the future, understood the ramifications of such a policy and made it anyway.

The reason they made that policy and announced it is because they made a calculated decision that the benefits of having that policy outweighs the possible cost of the policy. If that is the case, then is it really morally wrong to book a mistake fare? Would you say the United should benefit from having the policy and also not honor it?

Having said all this (in a really long post) I think the reasonable thing for United to do is honor the tickets for those who made reasonable bookings (one or two) possibly moving them down to economy. However if I were in charge those who took egregious advantage of the mistake to book 5,8,10 or 50 bookings would lose them.

This would also give United a chance to get some good PR given the VERY recent PR disaster where a planeful of people were stuck in China for three DAYS waiting to depart. If I were in charge I would make a big deal out of honoring some of these bookings and alert the media to distract from the other mess.

Your thoughts?

[PlatinumGuy]

@S/I, they have pax flying out today, they wouldve cancelled those, no?

They fell out of the 24-hr period now, which is stupid if they're intending on cancelling them.

[Side incomer]

@S/I, they have pax flying out today, they wouldve cancelled those, no?

They fell out of the 24-hr period now, which is stupid if they're intending on cancelling them.

I was just saying that since they may have to do this manually, they'll have to take 5-10 of their reps to go over ALL 20,000 bookings, and cancel one by one, which may take time till they get to every single booking regardless of the time they are flying...

[e-Lawyer]

I happen to agree that is NOT REASONABLE to EXPECT United to honor these. For the few people who already started their itinerary I would say that is really sleazy. It is obvious they booked a flight leaving immediately because they did not expect the ticket to be honored. The same goes for any troll out there who is threatening to sue. I think everyone would agree that they are a complete pig.

HOWEVER, United did not render any services at all for the rest of us, and since no one seriously expects the free flight or stands to lose anything if it is cancelled, I don't see how it was wrong to book it for fun. A lot of people had a ton of fun and excitement planning a great trip while bearing in mind that they are probably not going to get it anyway.

One more group of people I take issue with are those who booked a ton of flights. Some commentors claim they booked as much as 50 (!!!) tickets. It is this kind of insane gold mining that is so dirty and ugly.

Since the WSJ article was dredged up with a quote saying that United policy is to honor all mistake fares no matter how big the error is, I would say that United looked to the future, understood the ramifications of such a policy and made it anyway.

The reason they made that policy and announced it is because they made a calculated decision that the benefits of having that policy outweighs the possible cost of the policy. If that is the case, then is it really morally wrong to book a mistake fare? Would you say the United should benefit from having the policy and also not honor it?

Having said all this (in a really long post) I think the reasonable thing for United to do is honor the tickets for those who made reasonable bookings (one or two) possibly moving them down to economy. However if I were in charge those who took egregious advantage of the mistake to book 5,8,10 or 50 bookings would lose them.

This would also give United a chance to get some good PR given the VERY recent PR disaster where a planeful of people were stuck in China for three DAYS waiting to depart. If I were in charge I would make a big deal out of honoring some of these bookings and alert the media to distract from the other mess.

Your thoughts?

Would everyone just quit the public chattering about the validity, just grow up and shut up! It doesn't do any good to publicly speculate.

[U-no-me!]

Would everyone just quit the public chattering about the validity, just grow up and shut up! It doesn't do any good to publicly speculate.

 

[AJK]

Hmm... I totally overlooked the fact that its >24 hours later now...

So if someone who booked 10 flights were to try and cancel some of them, he'd be denied reimbursement?

[AsherO]

my friend GOT A CALL from united (i bold the got a call to impress that my friend is not a moron!) the guy in united was calling to confirm his billing address!!

They probably want to have a confirmed address on file in case they want to send any official/legal docs.

[Reb Moshe]

As of now we know that they may or may not honor it. In other words we have no clue.

It means alot to everyone the back and forth about will they honor it or not.....

Basically why dont we just wait until we get new information from the lovely personel at united that  may know what they are talking about........

[outinstyle]

and since no one seriously expects the free flight

Actual case:
About a dozen years ago, I had a very expensive item on my website that was sold out. I made the “mistake” of changing the price to zero and added to the name to “OUT OF STOCK”, thinking that if I left the item on my website it will help for searches and as long as the name said “out of stock” and the price was zero – I should be fine.
Well some jerk placed an order for ten pieces & then spent the next six months making my life miserable. He had no “leg to stand on” that didn’t stop him from filing complaints with EVERYONE (BBB, the Attorney General, Chamber of Commerce, dozens of complaint sites, even filed a claim in small claims court!)

So yes, there are people out there that won’t just laugh this off.

[e-Lawyer]

As of now we know that they may or may not honor it. In other words we have no clue.

It means alot to everyone the back and forth about will they honor it or not.....

Basically why dont we just wait until we get new information from the lovely personel at united that  may know what they are talking about........

+10

Talk about it all you want - just don't gripe about how unethical it is just because you were too slow to catch it, don't call or contact United and don't give United any good arguments - let them figure this one out on their own.

[sky121]

Hmm... I totally overlooked the fact that its >24 hours later now...

So if someone who booked 10 flights were to try and cancel some of them, he'd be denied reimbursement?

 Well in this case they're better off letting a person cancel but yes he could be denied.

[JEWDA]

wow, speaking about techiyas hamesim...

[AJK]

+10

Talk about it all you want - just don't gripe about how unethical it is just because you were too slow to catch it, don't call or contact United and don't give United any good arguments - let them figure this one out on their own.

Oh, please 

If you think United is trolling DDF for good ideas as to how to get out of these contracts, instead of, you know, relying on their HOARD of legal counsel, you're living in la la land.

Well in this case they're better off letting a person cancel but yes he could be denied.

Guess I'm waiting it out

wow, speaking about techiyas hamesim...

 

[jj1000]

wow, speaking about techiyas hamesim...

 

Maybe he is referring to e-Lawyer? First post in a month...

[lybbtthl]

This would also give United a chance to get some good PR given the VERY recent PR disaster where a planeful of people were stuck in China for three DAYS waiting to depart. If I were in charge I would make a big deal out of honoring some of these bookings and alert the media to distract from the other mess.

That totally does not make any sense! why would United get positive PR by allowing some tickets through and downgrading them to economy? It won't help the media since plenty of people will still complain about the fact that their tickets - which were confirmed in first class - were either cancelled or downgraded! I think it's a matter of all or nothing, If united can legally pull it off to void all the tickets then do that all the way but otherwise, those who have tickets will keep them all in their ticketed cabin.
Regardless if someone bought 2 tickets of 50, how can united go and say we're honoring some and not others? where do they draw the line?