Qatar Airways Turns a Fare Mistake Into an Opportunity — Business of Loyalty
Skift Take
When you add up the PR value for Qatar as well as the good will it engenders among travelers (especially those adding to their oneworld alliance point totals), the snafu was a smart move.
In a year full of amazing, low-cost, international, premium airfare sales, Qatar Airways may have taken the cake last week with a special fare that it launched for flights out of Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam. For just over $700, travelers could fly round trip from the former capital of South Vietnam through Doha and onward to the United States in business class, a price that would be a steal in economy, let alone in Qatar's award-winning premium cabin.
News of the sale fare went viral. Within hours, thousands had booked tickets from Saigon to Chicago, New York, and San Francisco -- with supplemental "positioning" flights to and from Vietnam just to take the journey on Qatar Airways. The only problem was that the pricing was a mistake. Overnight, Qatar pulled the erroneous fares and in a flash, the deal of the year was gone.
At this point, Qatar could have taken the route that many carriers choose when an error fa
