Qatar's 2-4-1 offer delayed by system crash

Qatar Airways has been forced to delay its two for one ticket promotion following the crash of its booking engine.

When Hotelier Middle East contacted the carrier, a spokesman said there had been “quite a large response” to the offer, but referred us to the company website.

“Due to technical problems with our booking system, customers may have experienced difficulties booking the 2-for-1 offer,” a statement read on the Qatar Airways site.

“For this reason, Qatar Airways is postponing the special promotion to start on 13 April (00:01hrs) until 14 April (23:59hrs). Qatar Airways will honour all 2-for-1 bookings made to date for this offer.”

The statement added that passengers would still stand a chance to win one of a 100 pairs of economy tickets to a Qatar Airways destination of their choice by signing up.

“We sincerely regret any inconvenience and look forward to welcoming you at qatarairways.com/100 very soon,” the statement concluded.

The promotion is celebrating the launch of the company’s 100th destination in its network.

In 1992 vacuum cleaner manufacturer Hoover offered a free flights promotion, whereby the British division of The Hoover Company promised free airline tickets to customers who purchased more than £100 worth of its products.

The response was far more resounding than Hoover anticipated and was overwhelmed by the demand for tickets and vacuum cleaners.

It is estimated the fiasco cost the company nearly US $82 million.