All Nippon Airways (ANA) recently experienced a website error, allowing passengers to book first-class and business seats at astonishingly low prices.

The lucky glitch: ANA’s unbelievable bargains

At least one passenger scored a first-class round-trip from Jakarta to the Caribbean via Tokyo and New York for a mere $890, a seat that would ordinarily cost around 20 times that amount with ANA. According to data obtained by Bloomberg, a Jakarta round-trip business class ticket flying via Singapore, Tokyo, and New York, typically priced at $10,000, was available on the website for just $300.

The Japanese carrier revealed that a temporary error on its Vietnamese website displayed incorrect currency conversions. The airline has not disclosed how many passengers managed to book these cut-price tickets before they were removed.

Decision pending

An ANA spokesperson reportedly stated that the airline would honor the tickets for those fortunate passengers who managed to purchase them. However, later reports suggested that a final decision has yet to be made.

One lucky passenger, Wong, told Bloomberg that he booked a round-trip business class ticket from Jakarta to Honolulu via Tokyo for a mere $550 instead of the usual $8,200. Wong said, “I never thought I’d catch such a deal,” and added that he entered his details as quickly as possible, knowing ANA would remove the ticket once it noticed the mistake.

Errors like this occasionally happen in the airline industry. Four years ago, Cathay Pacific made a similar mistake twice within weeks, selling first-class seats for a tenth of their proper price. The Hong Kong-based airline honored the reservations.

Conversely, these errors can sometimes work against travelers. For example, a British Airways’ website glitch once charged a customer over $4 million for a family holiday that should have cost around 200 times less.