$10,000 Asia-US business-class tickets sold at deep discount in airline blunder

ANA Holdings said Wednesday the mistake stemmed from an error on its Vietnam website, which listed an erroneous currency conversion, Bloomberg reported.

It did not state how many people had secured discount tickets and said it was “investigating the cause of the bug and the size of its damage.”

Most of the tickets were for a journey starting in Jakarta, through to Japan and then on to New York and back again in various Southeast Asia destinations, including Singapore and Bali.

The airline initially said it would honor the tickets for those who bought them.

However, the carrier said later that a final decision had not been made, adding that one would be reached before the end of the month. The discounted tickets will still be valid for people who fly before a decision is made.

Johnny Wong, who works in the airline industry, said he booked a return business-class ticket from Jakarta to Honolulu via Tokyo’s Narita Airport for VND13 million ($550).

“I never thought I’d catch such a deal,” Wong said. The 29-year-old said he felt under pressure to enter his details as fast as he could, racing against time before ANA realized its error. The fare is now $8,200.

It is not the first time an airline has inadvertently sold premium seats at a cheap discount.

Cathay Pacific Airways accidentally sold first- and business-class tickets from Vietnam to the United States in 2019 for $675 when the normal price was $16,000.