Travel Hack

Never Miss Another Glitch Fare!!!

Thailand

So it happened again!! While everyone was enjoying their weekend, a glitch thought it was going to slip by unnoticed, but the travel gods had other plans. They exposed the glitch as quickly as it tried to slip by! A blessing presented itself in the form of a $272 flight from the US to Dubai, Bangkok, and Joahnnesburg!! Yes, you read that correctly. $272!!!

Now, I don’t want to speak too soon because the airline has been canceling reservations left and right. Formerly, the Department of Transportation required airlines to honor glitch fares. However, a temporary provision has gone into effect as a result of how quickly information is disseminated on social media. Under this new provision, airlines are not required to honor glitch fares if they can prove that it is in fact a mistake, and they reimburse customers for their ticket purchases and other expenses accrued as a result of this purchase, i.e. activities and non-refundable hotel reservations. Keep both my friend and me uplifted in prayer that we are issued our tickets and are allowed to board the plane to Thailand.

Now, a lot of people ask me how I find out about glitch fares. I touched base on this in a previous article, which can be found here. Now, once you’ve done everything suggested in that article, let’s say you come across a glitch fare. There are some things that you do and don’t want to do. Here are my top 5:

DO book IMMEDIATELY!!!! Worry about the logistics of the situation after you have purchased the flight. You never know when the airline will catch wind of this glitch and fix it.

DON’T contact the airline. They will fix the error and prices will increase. This will only result in you ruining other people’s opportunity to take advantage of the glitch.

DO research the airline’s cancellation policy. Some airlines give you a 24-hour window to cancel for free. Third-party websites (e.g., priceline and expedia) offer this luxury as well. Why would you want to cancel though? Glitches don’t come around often.

DON’T waste time contacting friends you know are not going to book. Like I said previously, these glitches are corrected quickly for the most part, and while you are calling around trying to find someone to accompany you, the price has already been updated. I learned my lesson though. I contacted ONE person this time, and as expected, she was ready to pull the trigger on the deal. She’s the real MVP!!

DON’T make any irreversible plans until you receive an actual ticket, not a receipt or confirmation email. Like I said, for this past weekend’s glitch, reservations are already being cancelled.

May the odds forever be in your favor and the travel gods lay it upon the hearts of these airlines to honor these glitches.

Let’s see…what did I miss? What are your do’s and don’ts of reserving a glitch fare?

Glitch Fare

28 Comments

  • Lyssie

    Awesome post!! I love airline glitches. I’ve made some rookie mistakes though. My first time, I saw roundtrip flights from New York to Hong Kong for $198 and called the airline. They told me it wasn’t possible and when I went to book online, it was already fixed 🙁
    My second time I booked right away a trip from New York to Cebu, Philippines to go by myself. I decided 26 hours on a plane alone wasn’t ideal and called 4 hours later to cancel my flight for free. But like you said with free cancellation, just book it and think about it later!
    There are sites on social media that keep track of airline fare errors all the time so as long as you’re addicted to Facebook and are flexible, you can usually grab a dirt cheap flight to an awesome destination!

    • Miss A&P

      Thank you!!!! Oh no! Lying airlines. Smh. We’ve all made mistakes here and there; it’s all about what we learn from the experience.

      Oh man!! I found out about that flight to the Philippines after the price had been updated!! I wish I had known sooner :(. I would’ve purchased a flight to New York like I did when I went to the Middle East. 26 hours is definitely a long time. That included layovers though, right? My longest flight was 14 hours. It said about 26 hours for my flight to Thailand. I’m so not looking forward to it!!

    • Miss A&P

      I’m pretty much flexible, but instead of using fb, I follow the websites on twitter and opt for notifications. Anything they tweet comes directly to my phone. IFTTT sends notifications to my phone as well. This prevents me from having to stalk websites all day.

  • Esse D

    Yet another informative post! I’ve heard of glitch fares, but didn’t know the details behind him. I imagine it would be common sense to not call the airline, but people are funny. ?

    I’m too much of a planner to take advantage of one of these deals. I have to have everything planned out before I book my flight. Freestyling is too stressful for me. ? My fingers are crossed for you not getting stopped at the gate!

    • Miss A&P

      Here you go with the dramatics!! You can be a planner and still take advantage of a glitch fare. The only thing you have to make a move on immediately is the flight itself. I had 10 months to plan for my trip to the UAE, and I currently have 7 months to plan for my trip to Bangkok. If it makes you feel any better, reserve accommodations at a hotel since the majority of them allow you to cancel up to 3 days prior to your arrival. Just book the glitch and allow me to do the planning. Just don’t hassle me every 5 minutes!!! Lol.

  • Joanna

    I have never been lucky enough to catch a glitch fare. I keep seeing them posted on different website I follow but when I click to book I am already too late. However, before booking a flight I do keep trackers on the prices, hoping for an error fare. It’s great when the airline doesn’t cancel and you get to actually travel on such a low price! 🙂

    • Miss A&P

      Maybe you’ll be able to snag one in the future. I thought I missed out on this deal because it kept reflecting a different price at check-out. We ended up booking on the airline’s website and was able to secure the cheaper flight. What do you use to monitor prices?

  • Nadine

    I spend so much time on social media but I always manage to see mentions of glitch fares too late… never actually managed to book one ? Hope all goes well with yours though!

    • Miss A&P

      I actually found out about this glitch like a day after someone posted about it in a facebook group I’m in. Fortunately, it was still available when I finally found out about it!

  • Pascale

    Great post! You are so right in saying that you need to book right away. Do something else or check another website to compare en the opportunity is gone! Go with the flow! 🙂

  • Jay Artale

    Never heard of Glitch Fares before .. but sounds like a good option. But I don’t know if you’ve noticed how cheap long-haul flights are becoming. I flew from Istanbul to New York for $200 which wasn’t a glitch fare, but was a real steal! Now I hasten to add, it was on Ukraine Airlines, and it flew via Kiev, and there was only one movie screen in our cabin, that showed a 15 year old movie in Ukranian with Chinese subtitles …. let’s not mention the food! 😉 @rovingjay

    • Miss A&P

      I haven’t seen any that cheap from the South, but they’ve still had some pretty good deals. I’ve been seeing flights to Europe from the mid 300s to mid 400s. The flight to Istanbul was a steal! I wish I had known! I would’ve caught a flight to New York!! One movie screen? Ukranian with Chinese subtitles? Lol. That sounded like one long flight. I’d put up with it any day for a $200 flight out of the country though ?.

  • manders1397

    These are great tips! Unfortunately most glitch fares come up for major airlines in the US… And as a Canadian, my flight to said airline usually negates the good price :(. I keep watching though, maybe I’ll come across something that works for me one day! I love last minute trips!

    • Miss A&P

      I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!!! Follow airfare spot, the flight deal, and secret flying. Hopefully, something will turn up.

  • Sheila Berrios

    A few months ago there was a glitch fare to Argentina in which I almost pull the trigger. I think it was less than $300 from Miami. But after reading more about it, I guess there is no need to feel scared. Worst case scenario they cancel it, best case scenario you get a great deal.

    • Miss A&P

      I think I remember seeing this deal!! I was nervous when I booked my first glitch fare, but not anymore! Lol. I’ll pull the trigger now with no hesitation. I am nervous though because this is a fuel dump fare, and someone posted that they purchased their father a flight, but he wasn’t allowed to board because they said he purchased a fraudulent ticket ?

    • Miss A&P

      I’ve missed two to Africa now!!! The one in December 2014 and this one. I was able to get the glitch fare to Abu Dhabi in 2014, but I couldn’t get any dates to work for Africa with the most recent glitch. One day we’ll get it!!!!!

  • ARIANA DEL RIO

    I don’t think I have ever encountered a Glitch on an airline website sadly. But good to know this info, and it sucks that they can now cancel your tickets and such. After all we go through and put up with for FLYING with AIRLINES, the glitch is like our REVENGE!!! I hope they can’t take that away from us forever. Best of luck with Thailand

    • Miss A&P

      You have to follow different flight deal websites because you’ll never find them on the airline’s website. You can use the airline’s website to book a glitch, but you’ll never see one advertised there. A few I follow are theflightdeal.com, airfarespot.com, and secretflying.com.

      I totally agree. I kind of felt bad for taking advantage of the glitch, but then I remembered everything I’ve been through on some of these airlines and continued with my purchase ?

  • Flying Fluskey

    I have never been lucky enough to come across a glitch fare (that i know of). My husband can’t make quick decisions so if I ever do I’ll have to go solo….which wouldn’t be a bad thing. I think the tip about not wasting time telling friends is very important. I’ve missed a few hotel deals waiting on friends.

    • Miss A&P

      Lol. You can make the quick decision to purchase the flight for both you and your husband, and then you all can take your time and make the other travel plans together.

      I’ve definitely learned my lesson waiting on friends. Never again.

  • Lorena

    Oh My! I have never heard of a glitch fare before and this one definitely will come in handy if ever. We do have promos though, if you are fast especially around Southeast Asia. Thanks

  • Miss A&P

    Those promos do come in handy!! Whenever I do visit Asia, I’ll remember to look into those promos so I can travel to different Asian countries at a reasonable price.

  • Muss

    A few years back, I stumbled on a flight glitch by accident and was able to travel to Italy for under $300. I don’t know what happened but from that moment on I was OBSESSED. I started studying ways to see the world for cheap and eventually started to uncover rare deals and price mistakes and started sharing with my friends in a Whatsapp group. Eventually I started http://www.flyglitch.com where I uncover deals and send them to my subscribers with instructions on how to find the deal. It’s taken me many years to master this tedious art of finding flight glitches but I always see my subscribers come back and email me about their trips around the world for less. The way I see it, if you can save on airfare, you have more cash to spend on your trip on a fancy hotel or just being out and about so why not save where you can? Millennial like myself are more interested in experiences and there’s no better experience than traveling. Just do it for LESS 🙂

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