A lucky AFF member has had a bargain price holiday to Vancouver and New York, thanks to a Flight Centre error. scubabe and her partner each managed to pick up Air Canada flights to New York, with a stopover in Vancouver, for just $619 return.
It all started around a year ago, when Flight Centre incorrectly advertised on Spotify a special deal to New York for $619 return – instead of the correct fare of $1,619. scubabe‘s partner decided to email Flight Centre to see whether they would honour the price. To Flight Centre’s credit, they did! There was just one catch… they had just three hours to plan a holiday they had never (until now) intended to book.
The ad comes on again. It says $619 again. Oops! It’s an advertising error!
So at 9:30am he writes Flight Centre a very nice email, politely pointing out the discrepancy and asking simply if they would be prepared to honour the advertised price.
And to our huge surprise, at 2pm they reply… “Sure, as long as you can get your flights booked by COB today, yes we will honour the price”.
Call to action stations! We’re off to Canada & the USA! We have 3 hours to design a trip that we didn’t know we wanted to take…
They did end up booking the cheap flights from Australia to New York, and the rest of the planning for the trip began. scubabe later decided to add New England to the itinerary, in addition Vancouver and New York.
So, we spend 10 months putting a dream vacation together. We decide to have a relaxing holiday in Vancouver; followed by a week roadtripping in New England in the fall (perfect timing for leaf-peeping!), which is where Mr Scubabe spent the first 7 years of his life; and we’d finish with a week living it up in New York City. We decide to AirBNB most of the time, with some hotels scattered through.
Fast forward to ten months after the Flight Centre error, and the trip was ready to begin! But first, scubabe‘s partner had one last surprise in store…
The day before we fly, I spend most of the day at the salon getting pampered. I come home and model my new hairdo for Mr Scubabe, who looks a little nervous but I don’t know why. He admires and compliments my new ‘do, and then gives me a hug and asks “Are you ready to start packing for our next adventure?” I nod, yes I am, and I’m so excited! Then Mr Scubabe follows up with “Before we do that, I’d like to invite you to join me on one more adventure…” and opens a ring box to the most delightful engagement ring I have ever laid eyes on!
This was certainly a fortuitous Flight Centre error for these travellers, who enjoyed a wonderful trip at a bargain price! It just goes to show how important it is to keep your eyes and ears open. In the frequent flyer game, some things aren’t too good to be true!
This member has written a detailed and entertaining trip report all about their North American trip. You can read the full trip report on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: The bargain flights of a lifetime
