When any price can be the "supposed" price, then that term has no meaning.

Exactly -- just like there would be a "demand" for a fare on the other end of the spectrum -- say, a $30 fare. If charging $3054 (approx. lowest fare of $286 times 10) is not "absurd", then neither is expecting to purchase a $30 fare (approx. $286 divided by 10).

Indeed, part of the standard neo-con speech is that corporations are supposedly only responsible to shareholders. Not all believe that way, but the sense of civic responsibility seems to have gone down over the last 30 or so years, and responsibility to employees has gone way down. That has consequences.

Airlines think nothing of charging $100 change fees if they think they can get away with it, or inventing things like fuel surcharges and then not reducing those when costs go down. They also show strong tendencies to take advantage of monopoly situations. And they can do what DL did on the $28 CLT-BGI fare and jerk people around on schedule changes to the point where they shake many out.

It's still possible for individuals to act unethically or even criminally, but I wouldn't include using mistake fares in that. You can bet that airlines are working on artificial intelligence and other algorithms to try to flag fares that look out of line (possibly by an extension of the type of technology that gives fares a star level on FC), and they'll still be doing it even if it costs them a lot more for the technology than they lose by honoring mistake fares.

It seems like the majority of people pledging are fairly new to FT (kind of makes sense). I just hope they don't see their pledge as a symbol of what their voice on FT is about. Perhaps I'm a holdout, but I still believe FT's purpose is to assist others in maximizing their miles without taking advantage of a mistake.

I like this post. I think that first and foremost people should remember that this is Flyer Talk purpose. Mistake fares are just a tiny sideline of this forum, yet will attract a huge amount of traffic for the simple reason that a vast number of people want something for nothing, they want to take advantage of a mistake.

I have no issue with that. I have done the same, I have taken advantage of fares that were mistakes. It enabled me to travel, which I always believed opens eyes to the world, that travel crosses cultural and religious borders. I've seen amazing places, made friends many continents away, and I think made me a more worldy person. Flyer Talk has encouraged me to maximise my travels, and comfort levels when I do travel, and for this I thank you.

However, I feel sad. Having worked in massive online travel corporations I have seen the vast number of contracts loaded (i'm talking nett rather than published fares) - normally by unskilled individuals in India, i'm aware of the potential of errors. It's not just prices, it could be min / max stays, routings MPM's, but all of these need to be addressed if there are errors, and often it's down to the smallest minion in the company missing a decimal point, or mistyping a number. The desire to feed companies or individuals to the wolves
horrifies me, as I have made mistakes in the past in work as in life, and I would hate to think one would unleash such fury.

I had priced up a number of options on the Myanmar fares, I laughed when I saw what had happened, and was very close to booking a couple of predominantly TG/BA/AI J fares - why not? But the scale of this quickly dawned on me. After all - I know that J for £26 and F for £36 for 37 hours of flying is a 'mistake'. Someone, somewhere has made a mistake, lets not call it by anything else. Let's not call it anything to justify it in your head, let's not subsequently pretend that such fares could be anything else so you can file a complaint with a government agency in a country you don't live in, or weren't flying to. You know that the cost you were being to asked was somewhere between 1%-10% of an equivalant 'sale' fare.

What makes it sadder is some of the justifications i'm seeing. I've seen comments that people want airlines and massive companies go bankrupt just to appease their anger that you are being denied the chance of take advantage of some little 'minions' error. Dress it up how you like. Your opinion of Airlines & Travel Companies 'ethics' are largely irrelevant - judge yourself by your own standards. I don't wake up and think of stealing £10,000 from my bank because Barclays has misappropriated millions of pounds from consumers over PPI.

I'm not going to (or coming back from) Myanmar for £320 in Business Class after all. It was fun, diverting time and energy from work, but i'm over it now. I wish everyone seeking legal redress, and turning to courts over this, well, I wish you all the happiness you might find. But you will in future continue to peruse this forum, and deep down wish for another 'mistake'. Maybe some will stick, maybe some wont. But I believe there are a vast number of experienced FT'ers who no longer share their discoveries because of the response when some of these fares 'go south'. I'm not confident of that, i'm just reading between the lines, as i'm not part of any 'clique'. But being linked with the industry I do get to hear about such opportunities - but I feel morally I couldn't share them on this board because of the anger and repugnant greed that seems to follow the fares - which is definitely more apparent in the past year.

So, i'm not pledging to be 'ethical' as everyone has their own measure of what it means. But I do pledge to continue travelling cheaply, and on 'mistake' fares if necessary, and to continue smiling and moving on if I can't take advantage of them. Almost what makes me the saddest of all is there has been so little focus on Myanmar / Burma, and some of the comments and ignorance i've seen made about one of the world's most beautiful countries. One that is just starting down the path of democracy, that is just opening it's door fully to tourism. It's possibly one of the world's most spectacular, heart warming, and friendly countries, and the people would embrace each and everyone of you.

So for those of you who do manage to use the flights, please don't return on the same plane you've arrived on, or get out as quickly as you can. Stop, stay, talk, meet and experience. The country is almost certainly safer than where you currently live. The people definitely warmer, and will certainly open your minds. Is that not what travel is about? That, and the tier points, and miles :D

Anyway, unleash the wolves, I think I need to steer clear for a while, sorry for boring you all to death. :eek:

Well said. I couldn't agree more. Reading some of the infantile rationalizations and histrionics about these Myanmar fares makes me embarrassed of FlyerTalk. Seeing people so eager to sic lawyers or government regulators/bureaucrats on a company that made an honest mistake -- and whose mistake did not harm them in any way -- makes me embarrassed to be an American (the source of most of this litigiousness). It's true that the airlines are generally not very customer-friendly businesses a lot of the time. But the proper response, in my opinion, is to vote with one's feet, not with a sledgehammer.

I booked a couple of the Myanmar mistake fares. If the airlines choose to honor them, then I will fly them and thank my good fortune. If not, then I will move on. No harm, no foul.

some of the airlines are honoring the fares to Myanmar. I will not be flying them as I did not buy a single ticket. No harm, no foul. I am happy that some of the FT'ers will enjoy the nice flights.

Don't airlines take full advantage of us when we screw up with our reservations and then charge $150 to cancel/change an air ticket?

Is it ethical that KE cancel my reservation to ROR and extort another $200 from me because they believe the fare is too low?

Minos

+1
Well said

=1 Well said again

ethical?
How can they charge you ridiculous fee when you make a mistake and call in to change or cancel your ticket?
How can they raise price to sky rocket high when you need a ticket in urgent?

Why should I give a .... about airline companies?

I will definitely take full advantage when airlines make mistakes, but I will not whine and cry on a forum when they don't honor it.