Qantas to honour bargain error fares that offered $15k savings

Edited by Travel Weekly

Qantas will honour fares after a website error let travellers book first class flights to the US for up to 85 per cent cheaper than usual, with savings of up to $15,000.

On August 22, return first-class fares between Australia and the US were available on the Qantas.com.au website for less than $5000 return – a Qantas Sydney to Los Angeles first-class flight is currently $19,342 – for travel dates between September 2024 and June 2025.

While fares for first-class flights were about 85 per cent cheaper than usual, business-class fares were 65 per cent lower than normal, due to a “coding error”.

Qantas said about 300 customers booked flights in this “too good to be true” sale during the eight hours that the offer was available online.

Under Qantas’ terms and conditions if there is “an error or mistake that is reasonably obvious in the fare price,” the company may cancel the ticket or booking, provide a refund, offer a new ticket “at the correct fare price” or issue a new ticket if a customer pays the “correct fare”.

The cheap fares gained were shared after a post on bargain-hunting community site, OzBargain, on Friday. The original post said it was “clearly an error fare” but encouraged travellers to book while they could. It warned that the bookings may not be honoured by Qantas but was “worth a try”.

Qantas has since said it would rebook customers in Business Class who reserved tickets during the error period.

“As a gesture of goodwill, we’re rebooking customers in Business Class at no additional cost,” it said. “Customers also have the option of a full refund.”

William Fowler, an American who now lives in Sydney, told news.com.au that he heard about the deal from a friend and quickly jumped on Qantas’ website to book on Friday morning. After paying about $4300 for return first class airfares to Los Angeles, he spent the day hoping it was legitimate and Qantas would honour the sale, before an email on Saturday morning informed him there had been an error.

Fowler was relieved he was at least offered business class instead.

“I’m excited. It’s a great price for business, it would have been an unbelievable price for first class,” he told news.com.au.

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