Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Cathay Pacific will honour first-class airfares sold at economy-class prices, it said today, as a handful of lucky passengers booked tickets for a fraction of the normal price.
Tickets worth up to £15,000 from Vietnam to New York were sold for just £1,300, which works out at just £0.15 per mile. The typical rate is £1.66 per mile.
A technical glitch saw several thousand first-class and business-class tickets sold for economy-class prices on the airline's website on 1 January.
The airline today confirmed that it would honour the mis-sold tickets as a new year treat.
Vincent Lee Chun-fai, an IT professional based in New York, spent HK$12,921 (£1,303) on a first-class flight from Da Nang in Vietnam to New York, said The South China Morning Post. Booked today, for travel in March, the same journey would cost around HK$147,500.
This isn't the first time that technical problems have resulted in huge costs to airlines that decide to honour their mistakes. In August 2018, Hong Kong Airlines accidentally sold round-trip business-class tickets between Los Angeles and various Asian cities for just US$560 (£444) and permitted travel on those tickets.
Compare this to the decision by British Airways in June 2018. The airline chose not to honour tickets from the UK to destinations including Dubai and Tel Aviv, which it mistakenly sold for just £1.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments