Orbitz Glitch: Your Flight to AVP is Delayed 45 Minutes!

Update: Orbitz apologizes for Scranton Snafu with 15% off Promo!  YESPLEASE.

My iPhone just lit up with a pop-up message from Orbitz:

Your Flight to AVP is Delayed 45 Minutes

The only problem is I don’t have a flight to AVP planned.  I had to Google AVP to even learn that it is the acronym for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport in Pennsylvania.

Having once had my United Airlines account compromised, I did not dismiss this notification.  I quickly went online and checked my Orbitz account, but thankfully no flights to Scranton are listed.  Phew, I was worried someone was flying on my $1.25 worth of Orbucks.  Then, I tried phoning Orbitz only to learn there is a wait time of over 20 minutes.

So, I went to Twitter, and tweeted: @Orbitz I just got a pop up message from you that my flight to AVP is delayed, but I’m not flying there.

I did not get a response, except from my friend Elaine who wished me well on my trip.  Then I looked back at Twitter and saw droves of tweets from others who had received the same message from Orbitz. Scranton. Scranton. Scranton.  Music from Twilight Zone is playing in the background….

I can only guess that there is some sort of glitch in Orbitz’s system.  What exactly, I do not know, but in these times, I quickly think of unauthorized use or hacking.  I think I’ll go change my password now.

UPDATE: Orbitz admits mistake.

Interestingly, the special promo code YESPLEASE was advertised before the Scranton snafu – but still – it’s a 15% promo worth using. You can find the terms and conditions here.