A. Icarus Airlines posted a special offer on their website -- a nonrefundable, roundtrip ticket from San Francisco to Paris for $4.98. It was a mistake. The employee who typed in the price wasn't paying very much attention to the supervisor's instructions and when he heard a price of "four ninety eight" he typed in $4.98 rather than $498, the price the supervisor had intended. The supervisor discovered the error eight minutes later and deleted the special offer from the website. Unfortunately, by then 236 tickets had been sold.
Must Icarus Airlines honor the tickets? Why?
Assume for the remainder of the exam that because of -- or in spite of -- your advice, Icarus honored the tickets.
B. Things didn't work out very well for several of the travelers. Annie had an emergency appendectomy three days before her scheduled departure and her doctor advised her not to fly for one week. Annie contacted Icarus, explained the situation, and demanded a new ticket at the same $4.98 price with the departure and return flights each delayed seven days from the original dates.
Is Annie legally entitled to the new ticket? Advise Icarus.
C. Polly was a traveler with special needs. She purchased a hotel and meal package from Icarus for her stay in Paris. She advised the agent that she was physically challenged and her room must be wheel chair accessible. Polly was also a strict vegan and was assured by the agent that her dietary restrictions would be respected.
Unfortunately, neither of her needs was communicated to the hotel in Paris. There were no guest rooms on the first floor and no elevator in the hotel. So Polly wound up in a tiny cubicle off the main floor lobby which had hastily been converted to a room with a day bed. She took sponge baths in the sink in the public toilet on the main floor. The hotel offered a fixed meal with no accomodation for her dietary preferences so Polly wound up losing five pounds in two weeks.
When Polly returned to the US, Icarus refused her request for a refund, noting that the printed contract made no reference either to her disability or dietary restrictions.
Is Polly legally entitled to a refund? Advise Icarus.
D. If Polly had checked out of the tourist hotel into a five star hotel and eaten vegan meals at
Paris' most celebrated restaurants, would Icarus be liable for reimbursement? Why or why not?