United's Web glitch: U.S.-to-India round trip for $120

[Harshal Chhaya <>]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tip of the day:  Photos of Mumbai at:
              http://www.mumbai-central.com/album/     
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


[Via today's Mumbai Grapevine - 
http://www.mumbai-central.com/grapevine/#subscribe]


United's Web glitch: U.S.-to-India round trip for $120
Late Monday and early Tuesday, United Airlines' Web site (www.united.com) was offering round-trip tickets from Chicago to New Delhi and Mumbai for $120 to $180 -- seats that normally cost as much as $2,500. 

A e-mail network of Asian Indian engineers quickly spread word of the bargains, and 120 passengers snapped up the fares before airline officials discovered the unintended deals and raised fares back up. 

``A software glitch on our Web site allowed a small number of customers to purchase Chicago-to-India tickets for well below the normal price,'' said United spokeswoman Chris Nardella. ``We have fixed it to be sure it doesn't happen again, and we are going to honor the tickets.'' 

United and other air carriers have made similar technological gaffes on the Internet before. While the Web helps airlines cut the cost of selling tickets, it also makes it easier for customers to take advantage of mistakes. 

In this case, a Kansas City engineer who was searching late Monday for air fares to Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, chanced on the too-good-to-be-accurate air fare. He bought a ticket and then spread the word Tuesday to his Asian Indian co-workers at Sprint. 

One of those colleagues, Naresh Boga, went one step further: After buying his ticket, he sent more than 100 e-mails to his friends scattered throughout the United States, including Silicon Valley. 

Now Chinnappa Pasam of Sunnyvale is taking his family of three to Hyderabad to visit relatives for a grand total of $360. 


-- 
 http://www.mumbai-central.com : Where Mumbaikars meet

 Send email to get-bse@mumbai-central.com for the latest BSE listings
 and to get-nse@mumbai-central.com to get the latest NSE listings


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Subscribe [Unsubscribe] send a blank message to 
        nukkad-list-request@mumbai-central.com 
with the word 'subscribe' ['unsubscribe'] (without quotes) in the Subject 
of your message.
The list is archived at  http://www.mumbai-central.com/nukkad/archive.html