Airline Mistake Fares: The Best Travel Hack To Save A Fortune

bTravel hacking enthusiasts are always on the lookout for the best deals—and nothing beats the thrill of snagging an airline mistake fare. This powerful travel hack gives you the chance to book flights at a fraction of the usual cost, sometimes saving thousands of dollars.

But what exactly are mistake fares, and how can you take advantage of them?

In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about airline mistake fares. We’ll start with the basics, then show you real screenshots of incredible deals we’ve found—so you can see the savings for yourself.

Let’s break down what mistake fares are, how and where to find them, and what airlines really think when you book one.

What Are Airline Mistake Fares?

Airline mistake fares, also known as error fares or glitch fares, occur when airlines or booking systems accidentally list ticket prices far lower than intended. These pricing errors can result from currency conversion issues, technical glitches, or simple human mistakes during fare entry. No matter the cause, the outcome is the same: an opportunity for travelers to book flights at unbelievably low prices.

And these deals aren’t limited to economy class—mistake fares can also apply to premium cabins, including business and first-class. With a bit of luck and fast action, you could end up flying in luxury for a fraction of what you'd normally pay.

How Do You Find Airline Mistake Fares?

Finding and booking airline mistake fares requires a combination of vigilance, speed, and the right tools. Here are some tips to help you land these elusive deals:

• Sign Up for Airfare Alert Services: Websites like Jetsetter Alerts, specialize in alerting subscribers to mistake fares as soon as they’re spotted. Signing up for our email alerts is a great way to stay informed about these elusive deals.
• Use Social Media and Forums: Communities on platforms like Reddit, particularly the r/churning and r/travel subreddits, often share mistake fare deals. Twitter accounts dedicated to travel deals also provide real-time updates, and flight forums is a great place to find people sharing them. However, getting the alert yourself gives you a much better chance of getting flights booked before the price is fixed.

Tips for Booking Airline Mistake Fares

✅ Be Ready to Book Quickly
Mistake fares don’t last long—some disappear within minutes. Have your payment details and traveler information ready so you can book immediately when you find a deal.

🗓️ Consider Flexible Dates and Airports
Being open to different travel dates or departing from alternate airports can significantly increase your chances of scoring a mistake fare that works for you.

⚠️ Understand the Risks
While many mistake fares are honored, there’s always a chance the airline will cancel the ticket after discovering the error. It's smart to wait a few days before booking any non-refundable hotels, tours, or other travel arrangements. If your fare is canceled, the airline will contact you directly and issue a refund.

What to Do After You Book a Mistake Fare

Scoring a mistake fare is thrilling—but the process isn’t over once you click “book.” Here’s what you should do next to give yourself the best shot at keeping the deal:

✅ Wait for Confirmation

Airlines often take some time to review and process mistake fares. Hold off on celebrating until you receive a confirmed ticket and payment receipt. If the fare is truly honored, you’ll get an email confirmation with an e-ticket number—that’s your green light.

🚫 Don’t Contact the Airline

Whatever you do, do not reach out to the airline to ask if the fare is legitimate. Doing so draws unnecessary attention to the mistake and can increase the chance of it being canceled. Worse, it could get the deal shut down before others can book it too.

Examples of Mistake Fares In The Media

The travel community is filled with stories of incredible trips made possible by mistake fares. Here are a few examples that have made headlines:

• First-Class to Southeast Asia: In 2019, a glitch led to first-class tickets from various U.S. cities to Vietnam being sold for under $700, a fraction of the airlines intended cost of $16,000.
• Business Class to Europe: In 2017, an error on a booking site allowed travelers to book business-class flights from the U.S. to various European cities for just $600 round-trip.
• Flights to Japan: In 2014, United Airlines mistakenly listed round-trip flights from the U.S. to Japan for just $10. Although the fare was eventually canceled, it sparked widespread discussion and excitement in the travel community.
• United Airlines: In 2013, United Airlines had a huge filing issue with their fares and sold a very large number of flights for free, while other travelers reported only having to pay $5 for round trip flights from Houston to Washington.

Is Chasing Mistake Fares Worth It?

In my opinion—and I'm not just saying this because it’s what we do, but because it’s genuinely true—trying to find airline mistake fares manually is nearly impossible these days, unless you're using the currency conversion glitch.

This trick works because, occasionally, airline pricing systems either glitch or apply unfair pricing practices. Some airlines charge different prices based on the traveler's nationality or perceived income level. It became such a problem that many airlines removed the ability to manually change the currency on their websites.

That’s why you need to use a platform that still allows you to adjust both the currency and location settings—and Skyscanner is one of the few that still does.

Unlike Expedia, Booking.com, or most major airline websites, Skyscanner lets you change both your country and currency independently. As demonstrated in the video below, many platforms will let you select a region, but then restrict you to a currency that matches that region. This limits your ability to find better prices from other markets.

Skyscanner gets around this. The currency and region settings you apply on Skyscanner will override these restrictions before you're redirected to third-party booking sites like Expedia. This makes it possible to trigger lower prices and force pricing errors that you otherwise wouldn't see.

Below is a perfect example.

You’ll see two screenshots showing how I used Skyscanner to access fares being pulled directly from Expedia. These screenshots are from the intermediate page that loads just before Skyscanner redirects you to complete the booking.

This was for two lie-flat business class seats on Brussels Airlines from Denmark to Nairobi, Kenya. Take a look at the dates and flight times—they match exactly, showing it’s the same flight, just displayed at different prices depending on the location and currency settings used.

The original price was $28,760 for two business class passengers. Now, take a close look at the dates and flight details in the screenshot above, and compare them to the one below—same exact flights, same dates, same times—but a completely different price.

A $26,000 Glitch Fare – The Biggest I’ve Ever Triggered Using the Currency Glitch

This was one of the most unbelievable mistake fares I’ve personally been able to cause. The total fare dropped by a massive $26,000—from $28,760 down to just a fraction of that—for two business class seats. We immediately sent the deal to our premium members, and within 20 minutes, the fare was corrected.

Getting this glitch to work took nearly two hours of testing different country and currency combinations—literally hundreds of them. It was a ton of work, with no guarantee of finding anything. That’s the nature of currency conversion glitches: you learn by trial and error, and it’s smart to set a time limit for how long you’re willing to hunt.

Out of all types of mistake fares, currency conversion glitches are the only ones you have a realistic shot of triggering yourself. Random error fares that pop up and disappear within minutes or a few hours? They're incredibly hard to catch unless you’re constantly watching, and frankly, your time is probably better spent elsewhere. If the fare isn’t significantly discounted, you could lose money just based on the time you spent searching.

That’s why it makes sense to leave it to the experts—us.
We offer both a free plan and a premium membership, where you can fully customize your alerts based on your preferred departure airports. You're not limited to just one location—you can set up alerts for as many departure areas as you want.

More Mistake Fare Examples

Greensboro To Lima Peru $166 Round Trip

Found On Google Flights Via Delta Airlines

Detroit To Auckland New Zealand $335 Round Trip

This mistake fare was found on Smartfares on United Airlines

Atlanta To Santiago Chile $63 Round Trip

This mistake fare is shown on Google Flights for Delta Airlines, but was actually on Delta's website directly and Google just pulls the prices from there.

Los Angeles To Auckland New Zealand $226

This mistake fare was found On CheapOAir on Qantas Airlines

LAX To Kona, Hawaii $355

This mistake fare included flights to 4 islands, and back to LAX, for a total of 5 flights for an island hopping adventure.

Found On Google Flights On Hawaiian Airlines

Paris to New York $8 Round Trip

Found On Kiwi.com

New York To Los Angeles $25 Round Trip

Found On Google Flights On Delta Airlines

Airline mistake fares offer a unique opportunity for budget-conscious travelers to explore the world at a fraction of the cost. The potential savings are massive, and and after successfully booking your first mistake fare you will be hooked.

By signing up, regularly checking your email, acting quickly, you can turn a simple booking error into the adventure of a lifetime. Whether you’re a seasoned traveler or new to the hunt, booking an airline mistake fares is a thrilling and rewarding experience, where it makes you feel like you just got away with something big.

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