USDOT says @united does NOT have to honor those super-low priced air fares from 2 weeks ago.
Check out @GerriWillisFBN's Tweet:
https://twitter.com/GerriWillisFBN/status/569944272406851584?s=08D.O.T statement
Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings Determination
Regarding United Airlines Mistaken Fare
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings
(Enforcement Office) has completed its review of the mistaken fares that appeared on United
Airlines’ (United) Denmark website on February 11, 2015. During the past two weeks,
thousands of consumers who purchased tickets from United’s Denmark website at the mistaken
fare levels have contacted the Enforcement Office asking that United be required to honor those
fares based on the Department’s rule against post-purchase price increases of scheduled air
transportation.
After a careful review of the matter, including the thousands of submissions from consumers and
information from United, the Enforcement Office has decided that it will not take action against
United for not honoring the tickets. The mistaken fares appeared on a website that was not
marketed to consumers in the United States. In order to purchase a ticket, individuals had to go
to United’s Denmark website which had fares listed in Danish Krone throughout the purchasing
process. In addition, only people who identified “Denmark” as their location/country where
billing statements are received when entering billing information at the completion of the
purchase process were able to complete their purchase at the mistaken fare levels. Consistent
with the Office’s treatment of fare advertisements and disclosure of baggage fees, it does not
intend to enforce the rule in question (the post-purchase price increase prohibition) when the fare
offer is not marketed to consumers in the United States. Additionally, the Office is concerned
that to obtain the fare, some purchasers had to manipulate the search process on the website in
order to force the conversion error to Danish Krone by misrepresenting their billing address
country as Denmark when, in fact, Denmark was not their billing address country. This evidence
of bad faith by the large majority of purchasers contributed to the Enforcement Office’s decision.
To ensure that the Office’s determination that United is not required to honor the mistaken fare is
available to all affected consumers expeditiously, the Office is placing this notice on its website
rather than responding separately to each individual who has contacted the Department. The
Office has also agreed that United may choose to post information about its handling of this
incident in a prominent location on its website instead of providing individual responses to
consumers who submitted an inquiry to United or the Department regarding this matter. We
believe that posting of information by the Department and United is the best course of action as
it offers the most effective means of reaching as many consumers as possible at the same time.