Singapore Airlines Refuses to Honor Mistake Fares on Nearly 900 Business Class Seats
Joe Cortez December 05, 2014
Mistake fare on nearly 900 business class seats, sold by Australian travel agents, will not be honored by Singapore Airlines.
Nearly 900 flyers who thought they were getting a cheap ride in business class on Singapore Airlines will be forced to choose between spending more to stay in business, traveling in economy or staying at home. News.com.au reports that after a computer mistake deeply discounted business class tickets, Singapore Airlines has chosen not to honor the fares.
The mistake fares were sold by a number of Australian travel agents between November 29 and December 1. A representative for Singapore Airlines said the mistake happened when a number of business class seats were incorrectly assigned to an economy booking subclass. This resulted in a significant discount on business class seats from Singapore to European destinations.
“We have been notified that a small number of travel agents have sold tickets against this reassigned business class subclass, at an economy class fare level,” an unnamed Singapore Airlines representative told news.com.au. “The airfare conditions for the fare clearly stated that it was only valid for economy class travel.”
As a result, flyers who purchased the mistake fares have been given three options. Those who wish to remain in business class will be allowed to travel in the upgraded cabin by paying the difference between their mistake fare and the cheapest business class fare. Those who don’t want to pay for the difference will be allowed to either downgrade their ticket to economy at no additional cost, or accept a refund from the airline.
Singapore Airlines told news.com.au that they are working with travel agents to notify customers of their options and resolve the situation. The carrier reportedly plans to hold travel agents accountable for the difference in fares, in the event that the agent is unable to settle with their clients.
[Photo: Singapore Airlines]
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"SQ have just announced that they will honour all the tickets issued." Of those few belligerent passengers who have no caved it yet, I suppose. Why make the concession so late and for a fraction of the victims? Sounds like an ultra-cheap publicity stunt and a dishonourable attempt to avoid some lawsuits.
SQ have just announced that they will honour all the tickets issued.
900 Pax SQ should man up and honor the tickets still $3,5k in a lot of revenue . Merry Christmas singapore airlines
This is why I try to purchase as few tickets as possible through travel agents. Airlines are much more likely to give waivers against their own mistakes than those of third parties. I've been asked to cover debit memos more than once by travel agents, and I've had fares come back for re-ticketing from agents with hundreds of dollars in missing carrier surcharges that were missed in error on the first ticketing. But nothing like this has ever happened booking direct. In the age of ITA Matrix, Expertflyer, and a host of other sophisticated airfare resources, there is seldom a good reason to add financial risk by going through a travel agent.
"Singapore Airlines told news.com.au that they are working with travel agents to notify customers of their options and resolve the situation." That is Australian customers who similar to Singaporean customers also do not have any rights in such cases. My guess is that European customers will not be pestered with the generous downgrade offer at no cost ... "The airfare conditions for the fare clearly stated that it was only valid for economy class travel.” SQ's way of accepting full responsibility - the customer is always to blame. Or the TAs ...