United Airlines Error Results in Free Plane Tickets

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No, you can’t get one now. It’s too late. Sorry.

But some travelers scored big late last week when they noticed — or heard from hysterical friends — that domestic United Airlines tickets were available for next to nothing. The fares were set at $0, with airport and security fees bringing the total to less than $10, CNNMoney says.

It wasn’t a glitch, the Chicago Tribune says. Someone messed up, but the company said it would honor the tickets. It didn’t say how many tickets were booked or at what cost to the company.

There’s nothing that says United had to honor the fares. It could have canceled them, the Tribune says. But surely the airline can afford some free flights after making $5.4 billion in fee (not fare) revenue last year, more than twice as much as any other airline.

There was a two-hour window to snag the golden tickets, Farecompare.com CEO Rick Seaney told CNNMoney. “Guys were buying 12 and 15 of these things from Washington, D.C., and Honolulu,” he said.

Did you manage to get a free United ticket? If you had, where would you have flown? Let us know on Facebook.

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