Aer Lingus website mistake

sat1 wrote: »

If you went into the Aer lingus website for the past week, there was an add
for the US sale from 249 not 5 Euro, thus anything less can be clearly said
to be a mistake.

And if you didnt?

Bond-007 wrote: »

Aerlingus plant me thinks.

I got accused of that yesterday too, for voicing honest reason.

Some nice people on here! Exploiting a mistake for everything they can get.

Did anyone hear the 'lady' on Joe Duffy say she had always dreamed of flying the the US business class, and now her dream was in shatters!! Start saving and pay for it if it's always been you dream ya silly bint - Don't effectively steal the ticket due to a clerical error.

Dougiehowlett wrote: »

You are:

a) jealous

b) an idiot

c) an Aer Lingus employee

d) all of the above

The state agency responsible for consumer affairs took this case on. Aer Lingus have admitted they messed up, yet you are calling people greedy who availed of a cheap fare, after receiving an email from the airline to say there was a fare sale with a low fares airline.

Stop wumming please

don't call other posters idiots.

Occam wrote: »

EI have gone with the economy option as a PR exercise, there is no legal obligation on their part to carry any passenger. Its bizarre, but this idea of a contract existing between the airline and a passenger just doesn't exist in the airline industry.

There was a legal contract between the customers and the airline. Are you suggesting that contract law doesn't apply to companies operating in the airline industry?

Occam wrote: »

Once an airline has given 14 days notice, they are entitled to cancel any flight and the passenger is entitled to zero compensation. Also rescheduling can be a nightmare - especially if hotels and stuff are booked, and no compensation applies to this. The customer can insist on a refund, and in some cases rerouting, but this is frequently far from convenient.

They would have to cancel the entire flights that these people booked. They could not cancel tickets from certain people but not cancel the actual flight itself.

Victor_M wrote: »

If a canny genuine Consumer comes along to this discussion who genuinely didn't realise the mistake and wasn't chancing his arm and has gratefully accepted the nearly free economy flights to the USA well I apologise to you

I'm sure a few people were genuinely booking flights to the US and stumbled across the 5 Euro flight by mistake, but anyone who recieved the seat sale from Aer Lingus advertising flights to the US FROM E249 (from is always the cheapest option for those out there pretending to be stupid innocent victims of this life shattering debacle)

So anyone that says they were just availing of the offer presented to them is lying, anyone saying that they didn't realise that they had just booked a business class flight worth a shade under 4 Grand and didn't realise it, despite "Business Class" being plastered over the confirmation screen then having to choose their seats up the front of the plane, with 2 seats per row is either a bit dull or lying too.

There was no harm in chancing your arms, and they have been well compensated/rewarded with almost free flights to the USA, but its those going on as if there life has been ruined and will accespt no less then business class seats who are making me sick. They are the Compo culture greedy vultures I was referring to earlier.

This is a copy of the email that Aer Lingus sent out on wednesday.

Have a quick glance and someone tell me where it says Business class to New York or Boston for a fiver.

Summer is nearly here so why not book your holidays to the US now.

Fly direct to one of our 7 exciting US destinations from only €249. The only problem will be deciding where to go! Book your flights early – these fares can’t last.





US Sale - Book today

Dublin to Shannon to
New York from €249
New York from €249


Boston from €249
Boston from €249


Washington from €249
Chicago from €259


Chicago from €259


Orlando from €269


San Francisco from €309


Los Angeles from €309

There is not much difference between €180 and €249. I would hardly call them almost free flights.

If someone has never checked the price of business class seats before then how are they to know what the normal price of them is? I never knew they were that expensive until aerlingus started illegally cancelling contracts resulting in the price being mentioned in the media.

When I get those sale email I usually just go to the website and put in some destinations that I want to go to and see the price it gives. I don't bother looking at the prices in the email as they are usually not the same anyway thus I would have not know there was a mistake.

Does it even say the dates the sale runs from and until? I went onto Ryanair's website the other day during their €5 flight sale. Guess what, I got one flight for €0 plus taxes and charges. Should Ryanair be allowed to cancel my ticket now?

Joey401 wrote: »

What a load of rubbish. I'm simply looking for what I bought - a business class ticket to the States. If transactions like this are not reliable then that is the end of business online!!! And its the bigger picture thats important here.

No court will give you what you're not entitled to. And the only loss most people have suffered is their ticket and thats all we're looking for. I don't know where you get the idea that I think I'm entitled to 8grands worth of flights. And furthermore, as I mentioned already, I paid in the hundreds for my ticket - not a fiver or a tenner!!!!!!

And on a final note - I think making a comparison between slipping in a supermarket due to your own carelessness and a entering into a valid contract in good faith just demonstrates a lack of understanding on your part. Apologies if this seems a bit blunt but I really have suffered great inconvenience as a result. And I did not think that I was cheating Aer Lingus out of money as I was paying in the hundreds for my ticket and Ryanair offer 1cent flights all the time.

Victor_M wrote: »

It was an obvious mistake, as someone mentioned many posts back, there is a clause in contract law for mistakes, where the mistake is genuine and obviously an error, Just under 4 Grands worth of flights for a tenner is obviously a mistake. Just because you didn't know the value of business class flights doesn't change anything (in fact you seemed oblivious to the fact that business class flights were coming in cheaper than the advertised economy prices

You see that is where you are missing the point. It was not an obvious mistake. Not knowing the value of the flight means if I had entered into the agreement I would be doing so in good faith. If I had made the mistake and booked a wrong date aerlingus would have said "tough shít" and I would get no refund - Why would the law give them a get out clause but not for me? They are not above the law just because they are a big company.

Victor_M wrote: »

180 after all costs and taxes vs E249 before (E180 - E5 i presume) which would be 249 + 175 = E424, a substantial difference, you are being selective with your examples.

€180 is hardly a free flight. A reasonable person would, having seen the way flights are sold, assume that it is a correct price. Aerlingus are in the low cost airline business. It was mentioned by someone earlier that if Ryanair can sell flights for €0.01 then people could expect that aerlingus could sell a flight that is maybe 3/4/5 times longer for an even greater price of €5 (plus taxes and charges).

Victor_M wrote: »

I would love to see RyanAirs reaction if they made the same mistake, they would either tell you to Fook off and charge you a credit card charge anyway because you used their booking system, or they would drag it out until they had recieved enough publicity (O'leary seems to think bad publicity is better then good publicity) to write off the cost and honor the mistake

TBH I am not sure how ryanair would have handled it but that does not negate the fact that a full enforceable contract was made between the customer and the airline which the airline are obliged to honour or face breach of contract penalties. Again, they are not above the law.

Occam wrote: »

No, I'm not suggesting that contract law doesnt apply, I'm telling you that the contract is alot different than what you think. Your contract does not consist of a guarantee that aerlingus will bring you to New York at the dates on the ticket, in the class on the ticket or even at all.

The fundamental parts of the contract are the same. The terms might be different.

Occam wrote: »

While most people don't know this, any frequent flier will have been a victim of "bumping" or a cancellation at some time. Sometimes its a technical fault, sometimes its an act of God, sometimes its just a strategic decision by the airline . In none of these scenarios had the contract been broken, and in neither scenario is the passenger entitled to compensation other than a refund.

I'm not saying this is a good situation, I'm just telling you thats the way it is.

For that to happen the flight itself must be cancelled. They cannot just cancel your ticket and leave others unaffected without paying compensation.

Occam wrote: »

They can and do. Never heard of overbooking? They usually decide the ""involuntary denied boarding" list based on the ticket class - so people that have paid full fare will rarely get bumped, also passengers with alot of miles will usually get a seat

I'm not sure you understand over booking. They cannot decide who gets the seat before people check in as the whole idea is that they do not know how many will show up. Once you check in then you have your seat. So if I check in before the person who has paid full fare then are you saying they will ask for the seat back to give to the other person?

Occam wrote: »

They are under no obligation to carry you on the dates on your ticket, at the class on your ticket, or indeed at all in some cases. While ryanair are unusual in that they never over book flights, they frequently cancel flights for operational reasons. This often leaves passengers stranded... but thats the way it is.

But they must pay compensation for doing that.

In this situation you are entitled to compensation under European law. The airline must give you:

• a choice of either a refund of your ticket (with a free flight back to your initial point of departure when relevant) or,
• alternative transport to your final destination

and

• (depending on the length of the delay) refreshments, meals, hotel accommodation, transport between the airport and hotel, two free telephone calls, telex/fax messages, or e-mails

and compensation totalling

• €250 for flights of 1,500 km or less, if delayed by over two hours
• €400 for longer flights within the EU and other flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km, if arrival at your final destination is delayed by over three hours
• €600 for flights over 3,500 km outside the EU, if delayed by over four hours

That is more than just a refund.

Occam wrote: »

Look I'm not going to keep arguing this with you. Care\Compensation from airlines for cancellations is different to reschedules, and different again to bumping. Its also different according to where in the world you are flying from, the length of your jouney,your ticket class, how late your arrival was, how early your departure was and varies on how long before the departure the airline cancels the flight. There is no golden rule as you seem to think, its complex and as I said "in some situations" you are entiteled to nothing but a refund.

The key point I am making is that this compensation is not even close to the compensation you would recieve if there had been a breach of contract. You are not entitled to reimbursment of losses that you may have incurred as a result of the cancellation\reschedule etc. These losses are frequently *much* more than the value of the food people get in an airport. Most people don't even want some poxy airport food, they want to be at their destination.

What has this got to do with the aerlingus breach of contract anyway? It is a totally different situation to bumping and overbooking.

It is simple. Customers made a contract with Aerlingus. Aerlingus say they made a mistake. Aerlingus thought they could just cancel those legally binding contracts because they say people should have known better.

They were wrong and apologised admitting they handled it incorrectly. They offer passengers a compromise of economy seats in what looks like an attempt to convince them not to sue for breach of contract. It will probably work for some if not for most - although I suspect many will wait to see what happens with those taking it further before deciding.

Those taking it further do have a case (a pretty strong case imo) and will either win in court or receive an out-of-court settlement as Aerlingus did have a binding contract. Whilst I am not 100% convinced either way on the morality of the situation, I strongly feel that it is very important to uphold the law and to show people and other large companies that no company is above the law which aerlingus seemed to think it was. I do not think that Aerlingus would feel sorry for customers who make a mistake so it should work equally both ways.

People should always know their rights and enforce their rights and this is a good example to show people who think that big companies can do what they like (there is a huge amount of people in Ireland who think like that) that they have rights that can be enforced.

Bond-007 wrote: »

I think the trolls are raging they missed out.

Hmm, here you go again, not the first time in this thread a snide comment or trolling remark has been made against the voice of honest reason.

You are sounding like a broken record at this stage, copying and pasting snippets from contract law books all over the place, doesn't change the fact that you are trying exploite an honest mistake for all you can get, and trying to get an awful lot more than you paid for (due to an obvious error).

Lets hope you never make a mistake a get ridden for it.

Compo culture at it's worst.:mad:

One point that hasn't been made here is that those that are seeking the full business class package are in effect looking for compensation from the rest of us. As a majority share holder in Aer Lingus the Irish People are entitled to a dividend of the profits from the company.

Each euro in compensation that these people get is 25c less profit returned to us, the people.

If those looking for the full business class package win, then we are paying each of them €850. Is that right, for what looks like a bunch of chancers that aren't happy with the offer of an economy ticket.

Plus if you have shares in Ryanair you can double your €850 loss, as they own a further 25%. Add to that any pension fund that has shares in either of these companies and you're taking a big hit.

(return business class ticket) 1750 * 2 = 3500. 25% of 3500 = 850
Obviously all of this is treated as loss to EI, who could otherwise have sold that seat.