Traveler Cashes in on All Nippon Airways’ Pricing Glitch
Luxury Flights for a Fraction of the Cost
When All Nippon Airways, a Japanese airline, mistakenly offered business class tickets worth thousands for just $300 due to a currency conversion error on their website, quick-thinking traveler Herman Yip took advantage. The 32-year-old Hong Kong travel website owner spotted the opportunity and invested in 25 different plane tickets, saving himself thousands of dollars.
Yip decided to splurge on some luxurious trips, including a first-class round-trip from Jakarta to Aruba, via both Tokyo and New York.
The journey would typically cost a couple thousand dollars, but he only spent $890 on the ticket. Some of the business-class flights he invested in cost him just $300. In total, Yip spent $17,000 on $250,000 worth of airline tickets.
“If you see something that’s probably a 10th of the original price, just book it,” Yip suggested.
Booking Flights for Family and Friends
Not knowing how long the glitch would last, Yip booked some tickets for his family and friends as well.
“I didn’t even bother to ask them whether they were able to make it or not, as I needed to book really quickly,” he shared.
After confirming the booking, Yip discovered he could change his flight for free and adjusted his first-class round trip to begin in Bangkok, which is closer to his home in Hong Kong.
Will All Nippon Airlines Honor the Discounted Tickets?
All Nippon Airlines has not yet confirmed whether they will honor the tickets purchased during the glitch but plans to make a decision by the end of the month. Anyone planning to fly with their discounted tickets before the decision is made will be unaffected.
“I guess ANA hasn’t made clear if they’re going to honor the tickets or not, because the impact from the incident seems so huge as the bug lasted for so long,” said Yip.
The airline has not confirmed how many people managed to secure discounted tickets before the bug was fixed, but it is investigating the cause of the bug and the extent of its damage.
For those who missed out on this accidental sale, Yip advises being prepared for the next time something like this happens. He insists it’s still worthwhile, as “it’s very likely you’ll be able to change or cancel because the airline will always want you to cancel.”