Error Fares & Fuel Dumps
What you need to know before you book a cheap flight ticket
How To Avoid The “Error Fare” Scam
Sometimes these fares are available for a few minutes before the mistake is corrected. Or, they may available for hours or, on rare occasions, may stay up for a day or longer. Savvy fliers know that these mistakes are traditionally honored — under certain circumstances — and that those who move quickly can sometimes grab seats at a healthy discount.
But the excitement over these occasional super deals has created an opportunity for unscrupulous discount travel websites and bloggers who are out to make a quick buck. We call it the “Error Fare Scam” -- read on for more details....
The Mistake Fare Industry
There's a new cottage industry of bloggers, budget travel websites and OTAs who create bogus "error fares” or “mistake fares” to lure the unwary. While a real error may well be honored by the airline, these fares are completely different.Bogus errors are designed to get you to buy a ticket that will almost certainly be cancelled or, worse, result in additional charges at boarding, loss of frequent flyer accounts or flat out denial of boarding on your return leg.
The benefit to those who operate these scams is usually the increased traffic to their web sites and increased commissions.
At best these offers are click bait. At worst, these sites create profits will putting unwary travelers at risk of ruined vacations and expensive additional flights.
What is an “Error" or “Mistake" Fare?
As mentioned above, from time to time airlines make mistakes. But these genuine errors are few and far between. The vast majority of the “error” or “mistake” fares posted on blogs and websites that offer astonishingly low prices are not true errors at all.
Instead, they are itineraries that these websites or blogs have themselves created by manipulating fare rules and using insider knowledge to artificially lower the price at specific online travel agencies or search engines.
Creating An Error...
First, they find a website that will unwittingly accept a bogus itinerary that results in a super low price. Then they create a direct link called a “deeplink” to the purchase page. That link is featured in their blurb on the so-called error — and that is the link they want you to follow. Their goal is to collect a commission if possible and generate a flood of excited budget travelers to their website.
How to recognize a scam
The giveaway that tells you you've found an Error Fare Scam.