Qantas published a first class mistake fare between Sydney and Los Angeles. The airline isn’t honoring it, but is offering an alternative.
Any business should always honor a pricing mistake. Qantas made $2,470,000,000 in profit last year. A loss of $5,000-$10,000 won’t hurt them at all. And it shows good will to the people that fly them.
Is that profit or revenue?
$2.47B was profit before tax in 2023 from one of their press releases.
The $5-10K is a revenue number.
Revenue should be the larger number.
Revenue = all income Profit = revenue - expenses
Re-read what I wrote. They made $2.47B in profit so a loss of $5K-$10K in revenue won’t hurt them. I don’t know what their overhead and profit margin is so I don’t know how much that would impact their profit, but obviously, not even noticeable.
Ah, fair enough. Good point. Well made.
I see the author’s point. Sure it’s within their rights to just refund the tickets, but they did offer business class at the price the people paid which was below what business class costs.
Though - and I’m sure the numbers are out there - unless they would have sold those first class seats to others for full pop, they should have just let people keep them. If that person is going to be on the same plane, and the question is just what seat they get, why not put them in the fancy chair.
Unless Qantas first class is always booked, and maybe it is I don’t know, I don’t see much a reason not to just eat the mistake. It wouldn’t really cost them anything, and it might make someone choose Qantas again in the future for a normal flight.
I’m curious what people think was the best way to handle the situation.
I think what they did was fine. I agree with the author that this wasn’t some heroic sacrifice, nor will it be a particularly spectacular deal for people who bought the tickets. To be frank, the resolution is fairly boring. Is this even news? It would be interesting if the airline honored the first class fare, or if they had refunded the tickets at the last moment and left travelers stranded.
