Aussie passengers are furious after Etihad refused to honour the cheap fares holidaymakers snapped up after a computer glitch saw flights from Australia to Europe drop to less than $300 return.
While a roundtrip from Sydney to Berlin can cost more than $3,000, on Thursday night some lucky passengers managed to score themselves return flights to the German capital for just a few hundred dollars.
One man, who wished to remain anonymous, told SkyNews.com.au he managed to score cheap flights on Etihad Airways after booking his tickets through third party website Skyscanner.
However he was “absolutely outraged” when the major airline backflipped on the “deal of a lifetime.”
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“My friends and family who also capitalised on this ‘glitch’ were shocked and upset by the news that Etihad had begun the process of cancelling the tickets and providing refunds,” he told SkyNews.com.au.
“I was, however, absolutely outraged at Etihad’s backflip. I understand they made a mistake and could stand to lose thousands of dollars, but the airline is turning its back on its own precedent when it honoured mistaken prices in 2014.
“Typically when a mistake is made, the consumer does not pay for it; I think Etihad should reconsider its decision.”
Etihad has written to passengers to explain that while the correct price was shown in the initial booking page, at the time of payment they only actually paid for the taxes not the flight.
“A number of tickets on Etihad flights were sold incorrectly due to a glitch in a data system supplied by a third party,” an airline spokesperson wrote to the angry holidaymakers.
“Whilst the correct price was shown in the initial booking process at the time of payment, you were only asked to pay the taxes which was charged to your credit card.
“We are working through the bookings made and will be cancelling tickets issued and refund the amount of money you actually paid for the taxes.
“We welcome you to make a new booking at the correct far that should have been collected at the time of the booking.”
Eights years ago the major carrier honoured tickets it inadvertently sold from New York to Abu Dhabi for prices as low as $187 following a 24-hour computer glitch on Christmas Day computer glitch.
However, this time the airline is re-negging on the “deal of a lifetime.”
Responding to questions put to them by SkyNews.com.au, the airline reiterated its previous statement provided to customers and said it was “not sustainable for Etihad to operate those flights”.
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