A glitch allowed Delta Airlines website site users to buy $50 roundtrip tickets Thursday CNBC.com reported.
"For a portion of the morning today, some prices on delta.com and other booking channels were incorrectly displayed, resulting in lower-than-usual fares for customers," a Delta spokesperson told CNBC. "The situation has been resolved and the correct prices are being displayed. Delta will honor any fares purchased at the incorrect price. Passengers can keep their ticket.
The amount of tickets purchased, or the cost of the error was not reported according to CNBC.
"Should they have to pay for the mistakes of their employees? I don't know, but it would cause some uproar if they didn't," Airfarewatchdog.com's George Hobica told CNBC."They could face a hefty fine
if they don't honor the prices ... the fine may have been cheaper than the cost of the mistaken flights."
Several passengers were appreciative of the unexpected break.
"My brother lives in Idaho, so every couple of weeks I look to see how much the tickets cost, and it's usually $500 or more," Kristen Lich, a college professor told CNBC.com. "My husband and I would never be able to buy these tickets for all five of us at regular price."
Lich bought five round-trip tickets for herself, three children, and a fifth person, for travel to Idaho from Chicago for $242 CNBC.com reported. Prices are usually 10 times the cost CNBC reported.
United Airlines briefly gave away free tickets or negligible fees Sept. 13 USA Today reported.
The airline said it mistakenly put fares into its system for zero dollars. Passengers reported only having to pay $5 to $10 for tickets aside from any airport charges they might have had to pay.
United temporarily stopped accepting bookings, from customers who were trying to buy tickets through its website and phone centers, to prevent more sales.
The website however, began taking submissions again at about 2:45 p.m. central time.
