Delta website error yields super-low fares for some lucky fliers
An error on Delta Air Lines’ website produced super-low fares Thursday morning before the problem was corrected a couple of hours later.
The fares were as much as 90% below regular ticket prices. Delta passengers who took advantage of the mistake said on social media sites that they had booked such deals as $51 for a one-way ticket from Minneapolis to Baton Rouge, La., and $35 from Raleigh, N.C., to Philadelphia, about one-tenth the normal price.
“The situation has been resolved, and the correct prices are being displayed,” said airline spokesman Trebor Banstetter.
Delta is the second airline to feel the sting of a problem with its booking website this year. In September, United Airlines blamed a computing error that produced one-way fares as low as $2.50. Delta said it will honor the super-cheap fares, just as United did.
But several would-be Delta passengers said on the airline’s Facebook page that they were lured by the ultra-low fares only to see them disappear as they tried to book the reservations.
“I tried to book a flight to NYC from Indianapolis for $64,” New York resident Lauren Beck said in a post. “When I got to the final page, the price had suddenly gone up to $394.”
Delta officials said the airline would honor the prices only if the travelers had booked and paid for the ultra-cheap deals.
The airline also promised to honor flights booked through third-party travel sites, such as Priceline.com and Expedia.
