Alitalia to honor some mistakenly discounted tickets

UPDATE, Oct. 25 -- Italian carrier Alitalia has announced that it will honor some of the heavily discounted tickets that it mistakenly sold on its Japanese website over the weekend.

But those fliers who got tickets entirely free because of the error are out of luck. Only those who paid more than one euro cent after the discount will receive their tickets.

In an e-mail to Today in the Sky received this morning, two days after the incident was first reported, the airline explained the error, which involved a Facebook offer.

The airline said it had offered a worldwide 25% discount, with the exception of Japan. For technical reasons, the carrier had to create a unique E-Coupon worth 25.000 yen (approximately 250 euro or $315) to be used exclusively for the purchase of flights from Tokyo or Osaka.

"This redemption rules were clearly stated in the Japanese version of the Facebook offer," the airline said.

Because of a malfunction, the carrier's system didn't recognize that the coupon was only meant for routes from Japan.

"As a result, the system erroneously allowed the voucher discount of 25,000 yen to be used on all routes in Alitalia's global network," Alitalia said. "The news spread rapidly online and in a matter of a few hours our Japanese website reported a dramatic surge in visits and purchase requests from several geographical areas."

The increased activity on the Japanese website triggered a security system alert that froze all transactions, the airline said.

As reported in our original post, many customers ended up getting tickets for free, especially among intra-European routes that cost less than $315.

Alitalia said it would send emails containing tickets to those clients who paid more than one euro cent after the discount was applied.

"The promotion's objective was to spur and increase the sale of tickets at a discounted price, and not to issue tickets for free or at a minimal cost," the airline said.

But the airline isn't entirely backing off its promotion. It has extended the 25% discount for an additional two days.

ORIGINAL STORY: Italian carrier Alitalia has told travelers that it will not honor heavily discounted tickets it mistakenly sold on its Japanese website.

Travelers flocked to the website over the weekend after word spread over Facebook and Twitter that Alitalia was offering a flat discount of 25,000 Japanese Yen on any tickets. That slashed about $313 from flights, even those between the USA and Europe.

Gary Leff, co-founder of the Milepoint.com frequent flyer community and author of the ViewFromTheWing.com Blog, says most travelers used the promotion code to book intra-Europe flights because they ended up being free.

Brian Kelly, founder ofThePointsGuy.com, which tracks the industry, says he booked a flight from Rome to Milan through the promotion. The flight would have cost him $200. With the $315 discount, it cost him nothing.

"This really brought airfares into the realm of really affordable," he says.

On Sunday, he received an e-mail from Alitalia saying: "We regret to inform you that your ticket purchase has not been processed. Any amount debited on your account, will be credited back."

Travelers have taken to Facebook to demand that Alitalia honor the tickets, posting comments on the airline's page as well as creating a separate "SAY NO FOR ALITALIA TICKETS CANCELLATIONS" page.

Antonella Zivillica, a spokesman for Alitalia, wrote in an e-mail to Today in the Sky that the carrier would explain its position this afternoon.

Kelly says he believes Alitalia's about-face is unfair. "When a customer buys a flight and changes it two days later, they get stuck with fees," he says.

Leff says that fliers should be cautious when booking fares that seem too good to be true.

"There are amazing deals that happen all the time, some of them work out and some of them do not," he says. "I don't get frustrated or disappointed when they don't. Instead I think of them like a lottery ticket. If an airline is going to give away flights to Paris, I'd love to be one of the people that gets to go. But I don't feel slighted if it doesn't work out."