Qantas Airways Ltd accidentally sold return first-class seats between the US and Australia for less than A$5,000 - a discount of as much as 85% on the usual premium cabin fare.

Passengers snapped up 300 of the tickets within eight hours on Aug 22, Qantas said Monday. The airline said it’s rebooking the lucky customers into business class - still a saving of about 65% on the normal fare. Qantas currently offers first-class return flights between Sydney and Los Angeles in October for between A$20,000 and A$29,000.

Airlines typically don’t have to honour advertised fares when they’re clearly incorrectly priced. Qantas is opting to soak up costs from the snafu, blamed on a coding error, as it rebuilds its battered reputation. The Qantas brand has been bruised in recent years by cancellations, lost luggage and ticket sales on already-scrapped flights.

“This is a case where the fare was actually too good to be true,” Qantas said in a statement. The rebookings were “a gesture of goodwill”. Customers also have the option of a full refund.

Qantas earlier this year agreed to pay a A$100 million penalty and compensate passengers for selling tickets on thousands of flights it had already decided to cancel.

  - Bloomberg