Every price mistake spawns a new crop of haters who say we can't buy the tickets because it's WRONG.
Well once and for all, I gathered all the arguments why it is morally fine and even a mitzvah, and I put them together so these holier than thou types can finally give it up.
Here goes:
1. You didn't select the wrong country, you just chose to pay in it's currency.
You didn't select Denmark as your residence. You chose to pay in kroner and entered your US address and zip.
The fact that the country couldn't even be changed from Denmark doesn't make you a liar.
2. The Rabbis are all corrupt.
The same "rabbis" that are so holier than thou about gaming the system /morals etc are the same ones who have no qualms about the kashrus industry artificially inflating the price of kosher staple items such as poultry and dairy resulting in unnecessary hardship on people trying to "do the right thing." As long as it's money in their pocket....sure it's fine.
3. No Certification needed? Then you didn't lie.
+1.
At no point did you need to certify that you live there to book.
4. You didn't claim to live in Denmark, you just like paying with a currency that starts with a 'K'.
5. Also it's not lying, because UA didn't expressly forbid you from saying you have a Denmark billing address.
The fact of the matter is in order to be charged in another currency, either because you get a better price in Kroner, or because you simply like paying in a currency beginning with the letter K, one has to select Denmark in the drop down.
So, unless you can show me a law, regulation, or a term in the UA CoC which prohibits choosing another currency in which to pay, I will maintain that purchasers did nothing wrong.
6. You didn't have to lie twice.
7. Also, saying you live in Denmark is not a lie because UA blamed a third party.
Further, once selecting Denmark to get the ability to pay in Kroner, I didn't lie one bit when filling out my CC info. UA processed it, accepted it, and sent me a confirmation of my purchase in Kroner.
Lastly, if what you're saying is accurate, UA would have cancelled on the basis of "lies and fraud." Except they didnt. They cancelled them due a 3rd party error.
8. The airlines deserve it because they charge us more than we like paying.
Yeshivish justification...good term pretty much sums it up. I do have to say though that given that it's not black and white I eoukdd myself do it-the airlines rip us off so much they deserve this kind of stuff.
9. It's wrong but United in particular really deserves it, plus we hate that they make so much money.
If it's a mom and pop business struggling to get by and provide good service, I'd think twice before taking advantage of them in such an iffy case. But given that united makes billions in squeezing it's customers to get every penny, no sympathy-and taking advantage of them in iffy cases is fine.
10. Let's call it a 'gray' situation, then it's ok to do it.
As I've pointed out, it's not outright wrong. Not everything is black and white. Given the "gray" nature of this issue other things can be taken in to consideration in determining whether certain situations are more right or more wrong.
11. It's wrong but we all hate United's CEO.
With UAL, Smisek, along with the rest of the industry I'd take advantage to sympathize with the travel community.
12. We wouldn't do it to a small company but United is a big company, so it's ok.
If your local supermarket (and I don't mean like in NYC, but in a smaller town place where you know the people running the place) priced things incorrectly would you rush to buy up the whole store? Probably not. In iffy situations emotions and outside circumstances do have a role.
13. We'd never do it to an airline we like
, but we hate United so it's ok.
Sympathy does play a role in cases like this-and UAL doesn't deserve anyone's sympathy.
Find any other good ones? Post them here.