An interesting approach to thinking about fare error prices

In the last few days, there has been some discussion in the travel/point blogosphere about a fare pricing error on El Al that allowed you to get a round-trip from New York to Israel for about $300.  Apparently the discount blog dansdeals.com was primarily responsible for spreading the news.

Interestingly, Dan posted a link in which a rabbi offers a halachic analysis of whether it is permissible to exploit a fare pricing error.  (Halacha, in laypersons' terms, is the study of Jewish law based upon the Torah and its descendant legal documents such as the Talmud.)  Here is the discussion:  http://www.vosizneias.com/111398/2012/08/08/new-york-the-elal-pricing-error-a-halachic-analysis

I noticed a not-particularly-surprising quantity of self-justification in the comments.  

A New Feature

It turns out that blogs don't just write themselves, I've come to learn.  One of these days I'll return from my hiatus, or as it's known in the industry, month of procrastination.

In the meantime, I've started a new page on this web site, the Finagle Hall of Fame, which will include some of the best finagles I've ever heard of and/or had the pleasure to participate in.  See link at the top. Some of these are mine, some are from my friends, some I've read about in the news or on other web sites.  I always try to cite sources, unless the source doesn't want to be cited.  If you have any suggestions, please let me know.