Looking for cheap flights? Man uses THIS hack to book air tickets worth over $250K for only $17k

A quick-witted individual named Herman Yip recently managed to snag $250,000 worth of airline tickets for a mere $17,000 due to a currency conversion error on the All Nippon Airways (ANA) website. Yip, who runs a travel website from Hong Kong, further advised that if you are looking out to cheap flights then keep an eye for such opportunities.  

Yip purchased 25 tickets, including a first-class round-trip from Jakarta to Aruba, with layovers in Tokyo and New York, for only $890. Some of the business-class flights cost as little as $300. 

ANA confirmed that the airfares had been listed incorrectly on their Vietnam website due to an erroneous currency conversion, but has not yet confirmed whether or not the cut-price tickets will remain valid. A decision will be made by the end of April.

“I guess ANA hasn’t made clear if they’re going to honor the tickets or not, because the impact from the incident seems so huge as the bug lasted for so long,” said Yip told Bloomberg. “I know 20 people who knew about the incident, and that of course just multiplies the impact.”

Even though he didn’t have time to consult family and friends, Yip went ahead and bought tickets for them anyway.

“I didn’t even bother to ask them whether they were able to make it or not, as I needed to book really quickly,” he said.

The low prices were available on the ANA website for at least 12 hours, and Yip believes that the impact from the incident is significant. He also discovered that he could change his flight for free after the order was confirmed and switched his Jakarta-Aruba flight to begin in Bangkok, which is closer to his home.

How to book cheap flights?

To take advantage of these rare moments, Yip recommends reacting quickly and being flexible because there may not be a wide choice of dates or destinations. Lots of other people are also likely to be pouncing on the opportunity, limiting options. Essentially, book first and assess later.

“If you see something that’s probably a 10th of the original price, just book,” he said. “It’s very likely you’ll able to change or cancel, because the airline will always want to you cancel.”

A similar pricing error occurred in 2019 with Cathay Pacific Airways, and the Hong Kong carrier chose to honor the tickets. It remains to be seen whether ANA will follow suit. In the meantime, Yip and his fellow bargain-hunters are hoping that their cut-price tickets will be honored.