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Oops! US Air round trip for $1.86
Report: Carrier will honor more than 1,000 tickets sold at discounted price due to computer glitch.
April 19, 2005: 9:33 AM EDT
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Artist's rendition of what the US Air Web site looked like over the weekend.

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - US Airways mistakenly sold round-trip flights for $1.86 to more than 1,000 customers over the weekend.

US Air, which is operating in bankruptcy, said it will honor the tickets. It blamed the prices on a computer glitch.

The flights with the cheap seats were in and out of Altoona, Pa.; Johnstown, Pa.; Jamestown, N.Y.; Asheville, N.C.; Bradford, Pa.; Hilton Head, S.C.; Watertown, N.Y.; and Lebanon, N.H., the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

The newspaper reported that the Web site flyertalk.com alerted many of the ticket buyers to the availability of the cheap seats, posting an alert to its members.

The newspaper also reported that some of those buying seats are not intending to travel and instead bought the tickets to get the frequent flyer miles.

It said Alexandria, Va., resident Alysia Brown bought 12 tickets, arranging a series of stopovers on one journey taking her from Baltimore to Watertown to Houston and back for a total of $39, including airport taxes.

"I'm going to make out pretty good on the miles," she told the newspaper.

US Air (Research) filed for bankruptcy court protection from creditors in August. It is the second time it filed for bankruptcy since a sharp downturn in business travel in 2001 plunged most major airlines into deep, sustained losses.

Under federal bankruptcy law, a company is shielded from its creditors as it tries to reorganize its business and work out a plan to pay its debts.

The airline also was hit by what its chief executive termed a "meltdown" of its baggage system during the Christmas holiday. That problem resulted in it sending some flights out of its Philadelphia hub without any bags.

For more on Afghan tourists, talking Jesus dolls and other offbeat stories, click here.  Top of page

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