Travellers gleefully snapped up the £200 to £300 BA fares to Dubai and Tel Aviv when they appeared online at around 6.30pm last Monday night (June 18).
BA subsequently cancelled many of the fares and apologised for the “exceptionally rare” error, before offering customers full refunds and a £100 voucher.
The fares though were available until around 10.30am the following day, by which time, it is understood thousands of bookings had already been made.
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Alan Bowen, legal advisor to the Association of Atol Companies, told TTG he was aware of eight "large agencies" affected by the issue, one of which sold around a thousand tickets overnight. Ali Shah, chief executive of Travel Up, claimed his agency sold more than 2,000.
“I expect they [BA] sold in excess of 10,000 that night,” said Bowen. “It was obviously a mistake.
"These are what are known as CAT35 fares. They’re loaded into the GDS automatically, which adds APD, fuel surcharges and fees, etc.
“Agents have no control over this. Airlines should guarantee these fares after they are sold and honour them. Tickets are generated four to five hours after a booking so by midnight, it was too late.”
