chinatraderjmr

You don't see a difference at all??? The people that gambled had no idea when they sat down that the cards were not shuffled. Everyone knew 4 miles was a mistake.

I agree w you in that I pay more NOT to fly UA as well sometimes. But that's cuz they suck. I certainly can't call them "thieves". What exactly have they stolen from anyone besides the right to fly to HKG in F for free. If ANY other airline made this exact mistake you really think they would honor it if not forced to? No way...

sonofzeus

Wish there was a way to haul UArse before that gutsy NJ judge.

lehmanins

I would argue that the bulk of the net amount gained was earned well after the winners realized the casino's machinery was flawed. So what the gamblers (if that is even the right word) knew or didn't know when they first sat down is beyond irrelevant.

travelkid

I guess they should have known if they booked more than one maybe. But first flight free wouldnt be unheard of or unreasonable other promos considered^

lehmanins

And I also would contest your allegation that everyone knew it was a mistake. But that's besides the point as it pertains to your comment.

chinatraderjmr

Really, even most of the most ardent supporters here on FT of the 4 mile tkts have admitted they knew it was a mistake. Sure, the argument has been thrown around for the sake of it, especially discussing court, etc that it was not a "known mistake" but I have not read one argument on this or any other forum from anyone who "really" believed this was a legitimate fare. Sure, you can try the argument mentioned above that someone who never collected miles got 500 RDM'S for signing up for a credit card & had no idea what a mile was worth. But that person was still savvy enough to find this deal on social media during the tiny window it was open? Sure

I suggest reading the thread from the beginning (not all of it of course . You'll see this argument has been thrown around from the beginning and as I mentioned above, even the most ardent supporters of having these tkts honored have mentioned that not knowing it was a mistake won't fly & is not the way to get any satisfaction

travelkid

How do you think the mistake was discovered in the first place? Someone found it looking for seats ex or through HKG. Its a huge intnl airport so you probably have thousands of people every minute looking for those seats. This is what at least one of my contacts did.

chinatraderjmr

Of course that's how it was discovered. That's how all mistake fares are originally discovered. Someone with 500 miles in their account was not looking to get a tkt to HKG. It was discovered by people looking for legitimate bookings who then discovered the mistake. The 4 mile deal is even slightly different Thrn other mistakes as the full mileage WAS displayed originally. This has nothing to do w if UA should or should not have honored the tkts. It just has to do w the fact it was virtually impossible not to know it was a mistake. When you searched for the flights, the FULL amnt was displayed. It was only in booking that the fare went down (miles required). Someone with 500 miles in their account would not have continued w the booking process since at that point it said 140,000 miles or whatever. Are we supposed to believe people then continued to book hoping that the price would miraculously come down?

zrs70

I wonder if this thread can be used as evidence that certain posters knew it was a mistake at he time of booking.

travelkid

You know better than this, as you have followed the thread. Plenty of people did multi city, and of course some of these were newbies. I know a few who did this and booked one ways and/or intra asia at saver level without ever seeing any higher price. That these people didnt get mulitple bookings is in itself a sign they did not know it was a mistake and tried to game the system.

Do you mean legally? Or is it just a statement for the theoretical discussion?

cordelli

From the British Airways Mistake Fare Thread

Oh, and BA actually sent someone reasonably high up in the food chain in addition to the lawyer. We had a reasonably civil conversation outside of the negotiations process. She also had some print-outs of my blog posts about the debacle. That was entertaining to me.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13277516-post1262.html

So yes, you can expect them to use the internet postings should there be any chance they actually need to try and prove people knew it was a mistake and not some incredible deal they read about under the title of Mistake Fare someplace online.

zrs70

Legally. Look, as I've posted earlier in the thread, I think it's just wrong for people to fight this as they willingly took advantage of a mistake.

travelkid

May I assume your name is Mike Cordelli? Obviously a different cup of tea if you post under full name- as is very rare around here.

The legal aspect, which is what interests me here is clear. If you post under full name that you know its a mistake, you have to expect to be met with that in court. Tough fight to claim you didnt know then.

Global321

If the people that took advantage of this mistake got their flights... good for them.

However, 100% of the people that booked first class international tickets for 4 miles KNEW it was a mistake. Anyone who claims otherwise is simply lying.

84fiero

Why not? One can put an award on hold, with insufficient miles, to allow time to buy, transfer, etc. the necessary miles. I searched for my most recent award (not the 4 Mile Island) with about 1,400 miles in my account, knowing I would move UR points in if I found what I was looking for.