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Qantas promises to offer first-class flights after mistakenly cutting prices by 85 percent

Qantas has apologized and promised to honor fares after a website error allowed travelers to book international flights up to 85 percent cheaper than usual.

On August 22, due to a “coding error,” first-class flights between Australia and the United States were available on Qantas’ website for less than US$5,000 (about US$15,000 cheaper than usual).

Fares for first class flights were about 85 percent cheaper than usual, while fares for business class flights were 65 percent lower than usual.

Qantas apologized and promised to honor fares after a coding error allowed travelers to book business class flights up to 85 percent cheaper than usual.
OzBargain was the first to publish the cheaper rates on its website. (OzBargain)

Qantas says 300 customers booked flights on this “too good to be true” offer within the eight hours the deal was available online.

The airline publicly promised to rebook customers who had reserved tickets during the sales period into business class seats and told 9News that salewhich was available on the company’s website on Friday, was due to a coding error.

“Unfortunately, this is a case where the fare was too good to be true,” a Qantas spokesman said.

Qantas
Qantas said the sale was too good to be true. (Getty)
Qantas apologized and promised to honor fares after a coding error allowed travelers to book business class flights up to 85 percent cheaper than usual.
For comparison, Qantas sells first-class flights between Sydney and Los Angeles for $19,342. (9News)

“As a gesture of goodwill, we rebook customers into Business Class at no additional cost.

“Customers also have the option of a full refund.”

Qantas is currently selling a first class flight from Sydney to Los Angeles for $19,342.

The terms and conditions on the Qantas website state that in the event of an error or mistake in a customer’s booking, the airline may cancel the booking or offer a refund.

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Customers first noticed the low rates when they were on a bargain hunting website sabine_sabine announced the sale on Friday.

According to OzBargain, the fares were advertised for travel dates between September 2024 and June 2025.

OzBargain noted that it was clearly an “error fare” and said the flights were listed as available mainly between Sydney and Melbourne and the US.

By Olivia

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