United Airlines sells 'free' $0 tickets on their website

Customers wait to find out if the airline will honour the purchased tickets after a glitch on their site

Customers who rushed to 'buy' airline tickets for $0 when the United Airlines website was hit with a technical glitch are waiting to find out if the company will honour their tickets.

An unknown number of United Airlines customers purchased US flight tickets for almost nothing when the company's website displayed some fares at zero for a short period on Thursday. However, there is no guarantee anyone will be able to use the tickets.

“One of our filings today contained an error which resulted in certain fares displaying as zero,” United Airlines spokeswoman Jennifer Dohm said in an email. “We have corrected this error.”

Fares between cities such as Washington and Minneapolis were being sold for between $0 and $10, with a $5 tax incurred, according to Forbes.

The airline said it temporarily closed its website and stopped booking flights through its phone centre for approximately two hours before resuming operations after the error was fixed.

The 'free' fares were available for approximately 15 minutes before United Airlines closed thier online reservation system.

Miscellaneous airport fees may have resulted in some passengers paying a nominal cost for the tickets. United is now in the process of deciding if it will honor the fares purchased.

“We are in the process of evaluating this and as always we will do what is appropriate,” Dohm said.

The website has since resumed normal online services, but the question remains as to whether customers will be able to fly with the tickets they purchased.