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Airline to honor $16,000 first-class fares it accidentally sold for $675: 'We made a mistake'

Cathay Pacific is honoring first-class tickets it accidentally sold at a major discount. (Photo: Christian Keenan/Getty Images)
Cathay Pacific is honoring first-class tickets it accidentally sold at a major discount. (Photo: Christian Keenan/Getty Images)

Typically, Cathay Pacific would charge around $16,000 for first-class or business-class tickets from Vietnam to New York. However, a few lucky customers will be flying in style for just under $700 due to the airline’s error.

The Hong Kong-based carrier accidentally sold first- and business-class seats for Vietnam-New York flights in August for $675, a major discount from the usual cost for the same route, the Guardian reported.

Despite the costly error, the airline says it will honor the tickets sold at the discounted price. On Wednesday, Cathay Pacific tweeted, “Happy 2019 all, and to those who bought our good – VERY good surprise ‘special’ on New Year’s Day, yes – we made a mistake but we look forward to welcoming you on board with your ticket issued. Hope this will make your 2019 ‘special’ too!”

According to the BBC, the sale was reported by travel bloggers on New Year’s Eve but was later pulled by the airline.

The cheap flights were due to a computer glitch and have been blamed on a person who entered the wrong fares into the system, the South China Morning Post reports. As a result, several thousand tickets were copped at unbeatable prices.

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