Commentary: So you want to buy a mistake airfare?

SINGAPORE: When a currency conversion glitch on ANA’s Vietnam website last week saw its first and business class tickets listed at ultra-cheap prices, there was a feeding frenzy.

Most of the tickets were for flights from Jakarta to several locations in North America and the Caribbean with stopovers in Tokyo.

Some tickets, normally listed at US$10,000, went for as low as US$300. One customer reportedly snapped up US$250,000 worth of tickets for just US$17,000. 

An All Nippon Airways spokesperson was initially reported as saying that the carrier would honour the mistake fares. Then customers read that ANA would only make a final decision by the end of April but that passengers holding such tickets could fly before a decision was made.

On Tuesday (Apr 25), ANA announced that it would cancel and refund the tickets sold at the incorrect prices.

What a bummer. But there was always a chance this would happen. Mistake fare hunters know this. They expect it. For them, really, the search is part of the fun.

STRIKE FAST

Mistake fares are incredibly unpredictable; all you can do is to be prepared to strike when they arise.

First, you need to know where to look. You could use Google Flights or Skyscanner to monitor routes and alert you whenever fares drop to abnormally low levels, but a much easier way is to stalk sites like Secret Flying and FlyerTalk’s Premium Fare Deals section. There are also private Twitter accounts and closed Facebook groups, where invitations are rarer than steak tartare, code-talking is the lingua franca, and membership rules are basically plagiarised from Fight Club.

Then, you wait. Because that’s all you can do, really. There’s no telling when a mistake fare will pop up. It could be the result of a fat-finger error, when a soon-to-be-unemployed individual leaves out a zero or selects the wrong currency when filing a fare. It could be the result of a system glitch, when fuel surcharges and taxes are inexplicably left off a ticket.

And even when a mistake fare does happen, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to take advantage of it. Mistake fares are often highly specific, limited to a particular route, fare class and date. A US$5 fare for a flight from Tijuana to Tehran might spark pandemonium elsewhere around the globe; less so in Singapore.

ADRENALINE RUSH

But one day, the stars will align. One morning, your phone chirps: There’s a mistake fare originating in a city near you. Suddenly, life goes on hold.

Your heart races as you blaze through the booking process, knowing that time is of the essence. Every second you delay, seats are being snapped up, bloggers (who ruin everything, don’t you know) are spreading the word, and panicked orders are being shouted into phones at airline headquarters.

How many tickets should I buy? What dates can I take leave? Am I bringing the family? What dates can they travel? Where’s my credit card? My kingdom for a credit card!

But finally, it’s booked. You heave a sigh of relief as the e-ticket pops up in your inbox.

Little do you know, the stressful part is just beginning. In the ensuing days, you join like-minded individuals on message boards and chat groups, all asking the same question: Will the airline honour the fare? Rumours fly.

Here’s where realities start diverging. In one universe, the airline falls back on its watertight legalese and cancels the tickets. There is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Enraged buyers call for a boycott, throwing around terms like “bait and switch” and “unconscionable conduct”. Trolls laugh. You wonder why you put yourself through all that aggravation.

In another universe, the airline, after much hemming and hawing, decides to honour the deal. Elation ensues. Friends and family ask why you bojio on the lobang. Your boss passive-aggressively says “oh, taking leave again?”. But you don’t care. You’re flying business class to a far-flung land for cents on the dollar.

EMERGENCY LANDING

And yet, after the initial euphoria dies down, you can’t help but remain suspicious. Even as you start booking activities and hotels, you worry obsessively about getting stranded at check-in. What if the airline decides to renege on its word? What if your positioning flight misconnects? The anxiety comes creeping back.

Even after you step on board and the pre-flight champagne arrives, you refuse to believe it’s actually happening. It’s only after the doors close, the aircraft taxis, and the pilot announces that the flight is indeed headed to your actual destination, that finally you sit back, relax, and let yourself start enjoying your mistake fare.

It’s impossible to say which scenario will play out. For every Cathay Pacific S$900 first class Vietnam-New York ticket blunder that is honoured, there are dozens more that get cancelled.

Airlines consider a host of factors when deciding whether to honour a mistake fare: The number of tickets sold, the load factor on the route in question, the reputational impact. Past performance may not be indicative of future returns - there’s never any certainty with mistake fares.

What is certain, however, is that everyone who buys one is signing up for a wild ride of excitement, anxiety, stress, denial, abject disappointment and maybe, just maybe, a trip of a lifetime. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions for sure.

Just another day at the office for mistake fare hunters.

Aaron Wong is the founder of travel website The MileLion.