United Airlines to honor nearly free tickets

CHICAGO, Illinois -- United Airlines will honor the so-called "fantasy fares" that were offered by mistake on its Web site.

The tickets were nothing short of the sale of the century -- San Francisco to Paris, for instance, for $24.98 round-trip, with similar deals for flights to Hong Kong and other cities. They were purchased during a 55-minute period on January 31.

United blamed the fares on a computer error and said that people should have known the prices were too good to be true. That angered ticket-buyers, who said listed fares should be binding even if they were unintended.

United finally agreed to honor the 143 tickets for the sake of customer relations.

"We've chosen not to make this issue a point of dissatisfaction with our customers," United spokesman Chris Brathwaite said.

"We say to them, 'Bon voyage,' and enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he said.

Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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