Every frequent traveler has heard the term "error fares," and for good reason. These glorious pricing blunders can offer flights at 50-90% discounts—sometimes turning a $600 ticket into a $150 steal. But what exactly is an error fare, how do you find one, and can you actually book them without getting your reservation canceled? Let's dive deep into the world of airline pricing mistakes.
An error fare occurs when an airline mistakenly posts an incorrect (usually extremely low) price in their system. These errors can happen for various reasons: human data entry mistakes, system glitches, incorrect currency conversion, or promotional pricing that goes live to the wrong route.
The classic example is when an airline enters ticket pricing into their system and accidentally misplaces a decimal point. A ticket that should cost $500 becomes $50. Or when a round-trip price gets incorrectly applied to a one-way flight. These mistakes spread rapidly through travel deal communities because savvy travelers know they represent genuine savings.
In 2011, British Airways accidentally posted round-trip tickets from London to the US for around $150 when they should have been $800+. Thousands of travelers booked before BA caught the error. Most were honored.
In 2013, American Airlines offered flights from Chicago to Tokyo for approximately $300 round-trip due to a pricing algorithm error. These bookings were also largely honored, giving some travelers an incredible Japan trip for a fraction of the normal cost.
Manual data entry mistakes: An employee enters pricing data incorrectly into the system. A missing digit, a typo, or a copy-paste error and suddenly dozens of routes are mispriced.
System glitches: Software errors can cause prices to multiply incorrectly, apply wrong currency conversions, or apply discounts to unintended routes.
Currency conversion bugs: When airlines update conversion rates, errors can cause massive price disparities between countries.
Travel Deal Forums: Sites like Slickdeals, FlyerTalk, and RedBus2US have dedicated communities that share error fares immediately.
Price Comparison Sites: Aviasales occasionally shows anomalous pricing that might indicate an error fare.
Booking an error fare comes with risks:
No guarantees: There's no legal protection that requires an airline to honor an obviously incorrect price.
If you spot an error fare you believe is legitimate: (1) Book immediately—errors disappear within minutes. (2) Save everything. (3) Monitor your booking for cancellations. (4) Be prepared to lose the money. (5) Don't brag on social media. (6) Consider travel insurance.
Error fares are thrilling to catch and represent extraordinary savings when they work out. But they're inherently risky. Use them strategically: book them only if you can afford to lose the money, choose airlines with good honoring track records, and keep expectations realistic about your odds.
For safer, more reliable flight deals without the cancellation risk, use Aviasales to set up price alerts on your dream destinations. You'll still find incredible deals—just without the uncertainty.
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