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Qantas’ $100 airfares overwhelmed its website. The sale continues, now on its last day

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Qantas Airways’ $100 ticket sale Monday for flights between Los Angeles and Australia overwhelmed the airline’s website, leaving many travelers staring at an error page rather than the booking site. The airline apologized for the tech glitch during the sale that kicked off events planned to mark its 100th year of operations.

Despite the tech glitch, the sale continues and is on its fourth and final day. Airfares of $200 round-trip airfares for flights from Chicago to Brisbane go on sale at 2 p.m. Pacific. Travel dates are April 20, 22, 27 and 29, and May 4, 6, 11, 13, 18 and 20. The sale ends when seats sell out.

The first day’s offer got off to a rocky start. Fifteen minutes after the 2 p.m. Monday sale began, Qantas posted this on social media: “We know the site is slow (and we’re working on it) but we still have fares available for $100 each way to Australia when purchased as a round trip. Keep on trying.”

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At 4 p.m., Qantas announced the 100 super-discounted tickets had sold out. “We’re sorry if you experienced issues with the website,” the airline said.

For those who missed out, the airline is offering round-trip fares from L.A. starting at $699, a price that’s been matched by Delta and some third-party retailers, according to a Kayak.com search.

The airline, founded in 1920, was called Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Ltd. (QANTAS) and flew its first scheduled mail and passenger flights in 1922, according to the carrier’s website.

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