ANA To Refund Cheap First & Business Class Tickets Sold Mistakenly
Last week, All Nippon Airways (ANA) accidentally sold first and business-class tickets at a portion of their usual prices.
The tickets, which would typically set buyers back five figures, were reportedly sold for just a few hundred dollars due to a currency conversion glitch on ANA’s Vietnam site.
Those who scored the tickets at a steal later learnt that they did not land a bargain after all. The airline has since cancelled the tickets, according to multiple news reports.
They will thankfully be refunding customers fully for their erroneous purchases.
Five-figure first & business class seats sold for hundreds during glitch
On 17 Apr, a technical currency conversion problem allegedly occurred on ANA’s Vietnam website. This caused the sale of first and business-class ANA tickets at lower rates than usual.
Customers who encountered the bug were thus able to book flights that would typically cost around S$13,000 for as low as S$400.
ANA Accidentally Sells S$13K Business Class Tickets From S$400, Airline Investigating Blunder
For example, a US$10,000 (S$13,300) business-class ticket that included a layover in Singapore apparently went for US$300 (S$400) on the website during the glitch.
This route’s first-class counterpart, meanwhile, allegedly sold for US$890 (S$1,190) instead of the correct amount of US$16,300 (S$21,700).
As a result, ANA had to shut down its Vietnam site to address the glitch.
ANA apologises for erroneous tickets, will offer full refund
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), the problem has since been rectified. An error in the fare quote system of ANA’s travel technology provider, Amadeus, was the apparent cause.
ANA has since apologised for any inconvenience and said that they will cancel and refund the erroneous tickets. The airline will be notifying affected customers individually about the change but customers do not have to do anything, noted The Straits Times (ST).
In light of the recent event, ANA highlighted that customer service remains a top priority for the company.
“We strive to maintain safety and quality in our operations every day. We truly regret that this issue occurred, and deeply apologise to our customers for any inconvenience.”
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Featured image adapted from Fasyah Halim on Unsplash.
