Passengers booking flights on United Airlines got a one-day reprieve from paying the carrier's fast-rising fuel surcharge due to what United says was an error.
The mistake saved lucky customers as much as $130 per round-trip on United's domestic flights — the maximum the airline charges for its fuel surcharge.
United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski says the fuel surcharge was inadvertently eliminated for domestic flights booked Thursday due to a clerical error. The mistake was to be rectified Thursday night.
Urbanski says any customer who booked a flight without the usual surcharge will not be charged for it later.
The airfare research site FareCompare.com, which publicized the error, says the surcharge was rolled back as of 12:30 p.m. EDT and would remain absent for any flights booked before midnight.