British Airways held liable for pricing mix-up

Over the past year there has been some great deals on fares to be taken advantage of by the flyer as airlines have struggled to place bums on seats. Some airlines reverted to offering two-for-one deals on business class seats, some even choosing to do away with premium seating while the recession took hold. There has also been a few ‘computer errors’ by airlines across the world where tickets have gone on sale for ridiculous small amounts, but people have still purchased them in then hope it will stand. The most recent was British Airways who offered return tickets from the US to India for as little as $40 plus fuel surcharges.

The total price amounted to around $400 and was online for a day before it was taken down by the carrier who said that it was obviously a mistake so they would not be honouring the price. This led to a few passengers who tried their hand with the airline, but the answer was still the same. So those passengers reached out to the Department of Transportation (DoT) in the US and asked them to step in. After a thorough investigation the DoT into complaints that they received they learnt that a number of customers had made further bookings on onward flights, hotel reservations and even car rental bookings. They decided that British Airways should be liable to reimburse passengers, which had booked tickets to India on the 2nd October, compensation for whatever penalty that would have to pay for their other bookings.