Is it just me, or have we gotten too aggressive, dare I say, "over-entitled" with mistake fares?
I posted earlier:
Well, can't say I'm surprised...
For "error" fares, they should have a 24 hour rule, like what consumers have when buying a ticket. If you think you made a mistake, cancel in 24 hrs or else you're stuck with it. Same can apply to the airlines: catch and fix the tickets issued in 24 hrs or else they're stuck with it.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/18943233-post35.html
Now, call me old fashioned, but when we play a game of mistake fare chicken, there's always an understanding that it may not go in your favor.
I've gone on some mistake fares before (even found one and posted on FT - not too many members can say they've accomplished that) and the level of resentment is pretty high for an airline that has been fairly timely with the error (it may not have been within a day, but it has been pretty quick).
Perhaps some have forgotten how long (and arduous) other mistake fares have been. The Alitalia fiasco lasted for weeks/months before they reneged, BA took over 2 or 3 weeks with their India misprice before canceling. Granted, there was furor over those as well, but those bookings were in the system as ticketed for far longer, and there was no update from the airline, unlike how UA has been relatively quick to respond. And most mistake fares that get cancelled never got a head's up either.
The understood protocol was to not book any dependent hotels/flights on the mistake fare until a few days/weeks later. I remember that it used to be a "gentlemen's agreement" that an airline that caught the mistake and informed the affected passengers in a timely manner (within a day to a few days), it was considered fair play and it was no harm, no foul.
UA did inform/cancel within a timely fashion (by previous standards). Now it seems that it is unacceptable; but even we have 24 hours to cancel a ticket. And they even honored the ticket for those who booked and flew early. That was nice of them. People complaining they have to let everyone else do the same are just unrealistic.
I'm as much for a mistake fare as the next guy, but UA played it fair in my consideration.