Error fares: How to take advantage of cheap flight deals when airlines make mistakes

08.09.2023 - 07:17 / euronews.com / Angela Symons / Airlines

Looking for cheap flights for your next getaway? Error fares could be your best bet.

As the name suggests, error fares are mistakes made when the price of a flight is listed online. Sometimes tickets are sold for far less than they should be, either due to human error or glitches in the complex systems that determine flight prices.

Savvy travellers can take advantage of these mistakes to secure a cheap holiday - but there are some risks with these low-cost fares.

Here’s everything you need to know about error fares, from how to find them to what could happen when you book them.

There are various websites and newsletters dedicated to finding cheap flights - including those that specialise in hacks like skiplagging and error fares.

Jack’s Flight Club is one example that delivers flight deals via an email newsletter and mobile app. Rather than offering tickets through its own platform, it redirects users to the airline or travel agency’s booking websites. Subscription is free, though Premium Membership offers access to more discounts.

The service provides alerts for cheap flights departing from all airports in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK, as well as from Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC in the US.

Secret Flying offers a similar service, with cheap flight deals and mistakes listed on its website and shared with subscribers via email. It searches for deals departing from airports worldwide and is free to use.

You can also set up price alerts for specific routes with aggregation services like Skyscanner or Google Flights.

Error fares are usually rectified or sell out quickly, so you’ll need to act fast to secure a cheap flight.

Flight prices are often determined by complex algorithms that adjust them based on data like demand for particular routes or distance.

They may be adjusted further by online travel agencies selling flights as a third party. Sometimes error fares occur when these agents list prices that differ from the airline’s direct pricing - either due to human error or a glitch in the system.

In other cases, conversions from one currency to another may be listed incorrectly, making the flight far cheaper than it should be. The airline may also miscalculate the mileage of connecting flights, resulting in lower taxes.

Airlines sometimes make the mistake of listing a premium, business or first class flight at an economy rate too. This is often where you can make the biggest saving, as economy fares are largely made up of taxes and surcharges which usually remain the same regardless of errors.

As technology improves and AI takes over, error fares are likely to become less common and be rectified faster when they do occur.

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