What Are ‘Mistake Fares’? (And How To Take Advantage of Them)

Flights can eat up a sizable portion of your vacation budget, so it makes sense that travelers are always looking to save money on airfare. Enter: mistake fares. They’re tricky (but not impossible) to find, and they could save you hundreds of dollars on airfare — take, for instance, last year’s deal from Chicago to Dublin for $135 round-trip. (Yep, you read that right.) Here’s a look at why mistake fares happen and where to find them, along with tips and advice from travel experts on what you need to know before booking one.

What Are Mistake Fares?

Mistake fares, also known as error fares, crop up when an airline (or third-party agency) unintentionally publishes a fare for a significantly cheaper price than is normal for the route, even compared to promotions and seasonal deals. Mistake fares may be offered as return or one-way tickets, and they usually have restricted availability as far as dates are concerned. However, if you’re lucky enough to find a great fit for your trip plans, these types of fares can save you a lot of money. 

Why Do Mistake Fares Happen?

Airlines use dynamic pricing, offering lower fares to fill seats or raising ticket prices when demand is strong. Pricing changes often, and sometimes, there’s a glitch in the process. Airline employees may make a mistake when entering data, or taxes and fees may be omitted from the advertised fare. Other times, currency conversions can go wrong — right number, wrong currency — meaning a fare is significantly lower than normal. Additionally, you might find that a certain class of fare is available more cheaply than it should be: a business-class ticket for the price of a seat in economy, for instance. 

Where Can You Find Out About Mistake Fares?

Mistake fares will be visible on airline or online travel agency websites, but you’d need to be extremely lucky to happen upon one by chance. Though in some cases a mistake fare will be obvious, it can help to know what the fare would usually be (using a tool such as Google Flights), so that you know you’ve stumbled upon a great deal. 

Dedicated frequent flyer forums (like Flyertalk) are a good place to find and share information, but it’s generally easier to let someone else do the detective work for you. The good news is that there are many such platforms, including Jack’s Flight Club, Secret Flying, Going, and Thrifty Traveler. While some of their content is available free of charge, subscribers typically get the first look at the best deals, so it can be beneficial to sign up for a subscription if you travel frequently. 

For example, Thrifty Traveler Premium costs $99 per year, while Going’s Premium package will set you back $49 annually. Thrifty Traveler sent out the alert about the aforementioned $135 fare to Dublin, while in 2025 Going sent out a variety of mistake fare alerts, including New York to Singapore for $171 one-way and Dallas, Miami, or Philadelphia to Europe starting at $868 for a return trip in business class.

You can also choose to receive personalized alerts by text, email or WhatsApp. Such real-time notifications are helpful, as once mistake fares are identified by an airline, they’re usually promptly removed. Alerts are often short-lived, sometimes available for a few hours or even minutes before the error is spotted and the deal expires. Moral of the story: You’ll need to act decisively if you want to benefit from mistake fares.

What’s the Catch?

According to travel experts, overall, mistake fares are still quite rare. They may appear once every few weeks, and like we said, they tend to disappear quickly. The biggest catch is that mistake fares aren’t always honored by the airline. Not all tickets are canceled, though — some airlines believe that taking the financial hit for what amounts to a relatively small loss in potential revenue is worth it to avoid the negative PR. Fare experts claim that anywhere from 70% to about 90% of mistake fares are honored.

What Else To Know Before Committing

One of the top tips from the experts at the fare deal sites is to book directly with the airline and to use your credit card for the purchase protection it offers. It’s also prudent not to make nonrefundable arrangements for other aspects of your trip, such as hotels, until you’re absolutely sure your booking won’t be canceled by the airline.  

It pays to be flexible, too, not only with dates but also routes. For instance, if it’s an amazing deal, you might choose to book a separate positioning flight beyond your local area to get you to a different airport where the mistake fare originates. However, if your mistake fare is canceled, you won’t be able to get your money back for that leg, so you’d need to keep your options open and preferably book a flexible ticket.

Of course, all this might be too much of a gamble for some travelers, but if you’re lucky enough to find a mistake fare — and it’s honored — odds are you’ll be the happiest passenger on the plane.

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