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Almost 2,000 people have been refunded after an Air New Zealand glitch saw fares posted for the equivalent of less than $10.
The issue with the airline’s South Korean booking website last week resulted in some trans-Tasman economy fares as far out as September 2025 going for as low as 6,100 Korean won (under $7), while business fares were seen from 12,500 won ($14).
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Air New Zealand temporarily suspended the South Korean site while it fixed the issue, with customers who bought the fares refunded and offered reimbursement for “reasonable” non-refundable expenses such as accommodation and transfers.
“Last week, we were made aware of an error in our system showing domestic and short-haul flights on our South Korean website at incorrect prices,” said Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty.
“This resulted from a glitch in the currency conversion extension used on our South Korean storefront, showing fares for as low as $8. Just over 1,800 bookings were made until we suspended the website to avoid any further purchases of these erroneous fares.
“As this was an error, we will refund customers who purchased tickets at the incorrect prices. We know this will be disappointing, so we’re offering them the opportunity to rebook the same flights at the lowest fare class available if they still wish to travel. We want to apologise for this genuine error in our system; our teams are working to understand the root cause and ensure this doesn’t occur again in the future.
“Customers will have received a cancellation notification via email. If they wish to rebook with us at the entry-level rate, we ask that they contact our customer care team.”
The Air New Zealand glitch is the second in the past few months to post fares at a steep discount, with Qantas in August accidentally selling around 300 first-class seats to the US at around 15 per cent of the normal price.
Qantas will not fly the affected passengers in first class, as the seats were clearly advertised in error; however, a spokesperson said passengers who booked the tickets would instead be offered seats in business class, which will still be around a 65 per cent discount from the normal price.
“Unfortunately, this is a case where the fare was actually too good to be true,” the spokesperson said.
“As a gesture of goodwill, we’re rebooking customers in business class at no additional cost. Customers also have the option of a full refund.”
