Will United Airlines Honor Free Tickets Sold After Filing Error Thursday?

United Airlines accidentally sold free flights Thursday after a filing error in the booking system. wikicommons 

United Airlines was forced to shut down its entire booking system Thursday afternoon after a filing error offered customers a deal that may prove too good to be true: free flights.

United spokeswoman Jennifer Dohm confirmed to International Business Times Thursday night that an error in the system appeared to offer customers $0.0 fares for many domestic flights, though they paid upwards of $10 in taxes.

“One of our filings today contained an error which resulted in certain fares displaying as zero,” Dohm said. “We have corrected this error.”

News of the incredibly cheap airfares spread quickly on social media sites like Twitter and popular forum FlyerTalk, which is often the first place to pick up on any airline booking engine errors.

A thread on FlyerTalk, which began around 11:30 a.m. EST, likely kickstarted the frenzy, with a poster describing how they booked several round-trip flights from San Jose to Boston for a grand total of $10 each. Other posters in the forum -- roughly 100 in just an hour’s time -- described booking long-haul flights like Washington, D.C. to Honolulu, Hawaii, also for a measly $10 in taxes.

http://www.ibtimes.com/will-united-airlines-honor-free-tickets