[Travelandtourism] Cheap Fairs

[Don Gillmore]

TRAVEL MECHANIC. Cashing in on 'mistake fares'. By Josh Noel, Tribune
Newspapers. Considering how many plane fares are posted every day, what are
known as "mistake fares" happen relatively rarely. But when they happen,
they happen big. . Consider United Airlines' mid-July mistake fare. Some
probing traveler realized it was possible to get to Hong Kong from the
United States for the low, low price of zero frequent-flier miles -- just
taxes and fees that totaled about $30. The fact that it was found is
semi-remarkable: United showed the proper mileage required for the trip
(45,000 miles for economy, 60,000 for business class) until the final
screen, where it said the trip would cost four frequent-flier miles. If the
person booking had the necessary miles in his account, the miles were
deducted. Those who didn't could book the fare not even for the four miles
but for none. News of United's mistake (which it called a "programming
error") rocketed around the Internet, and hungry travelers jumped on it,
though United wouldn't say how many. Many undoubtedly came from that
dedicated set of travelers who comb frequent-flier message boards looking
for such mistakes. United's Hong Kong situation blew up only after it had
been posted to one of the biggies, flyertalk.com. Mistake fares have been a
hallmark of the industry -- though rare -- for years, resulting in tickets
being sold for thousands of dollars below standard cost to destinations
across the globe. Most have been the result of human error. It was a rite of
passage, in a way," said Brett Snyder, founder of the crankyflier .com blog
and a pricing analyst for America West from 1999 to 2002. You were bound to
make a mistake. The key was catching it as quickly as you could. Airlines
have and have not honored the fares; they've largely been left to decide. In
this case, United announced four days after the mistake that people who
already were traveling as a result of the Hong Kong mistake would be allowed
to finish. Everyone else's tickets would be canceled. The federal Department
of Transportation is investigating in what is likely an early test of new
DOT rules that prohibit airlines from increasing fares after a customer
receives confirmation. But mistake fares will happen, and people like
Matthew Klint will be waiting. Klint, who blogs for upgrd.com, said by email
that he has "cashed in on just about every major mistake fare" in the last
six years, including an absurd $233 nine-leg journey that netted him 40,000
frequent-flier miles. Typically, these mistake fares are stumbled upon by
accident, so you will see a post from a novice user presenting the 'special'
fare, then the 'experts' immediately jump on to analyze it, see how it can
be tweaked to maximize it," Klint wrote. There's something strangely
cathartic about the idea of cashing in on mistake fares. We are so beholden
to the airline industry but have so many unpleasant experiences that getting
one over feels like a rare victory. It doesn't make it right. But it does
make it cheap. The Travel Mechanic is dedicated to better, smarter, more
fulfilling travel. Thoughts, comments and suggestions can be sent to
jbnoel at tribune.com. Include "Travel Mechanic" in the subject line. ct12 0206
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