By Soo Kim
Copyright newsweek
A man planning a vacation to Athens, Greece was shocked to find the price of the $400 package deal he was looking to book had gone up by over $23.8 million.
The incident was detailed in a post on Reddit under the username u/Impressive_Worth_369 by 36-year-old Brad, who is the manager of a supermarket.
The post was titled: “Booking a little getaway for the wife and I…‘We’re sorry to say the price for your holiday has gone up.’”
“I was booking it through Skyscanner [a travel deals aggregating website], a package deal, hotel and flights included,” Brad, who did not share his last name or location, told Newsweek.
The Reddit post features a screenshot of the package deal listing, which was apparently initially priced at £297 (around $400) for two people. However, when he clicked through to the deal, which directed him to the website of the TUI travel company, the package was now priced at a jaw-dropping £8,867,599.69 (over $11.9 million) per person.
“No clue why the price changed,” he said, adding, “haven’t contacted them.”
A spokesperson for the TUI Group told Newsweek: “This was due to a technical issue on the website, which has now been rectified. We apologize for the inconvenience caused.”
Booking a little get away for the wife and I… “We’re sorry to say the price for your holiday has gone up” byu/Impressive_Worth_369 inCasualUK
The viral post comes amid strong growth seen in the travel industry in recent years, with a “robust and sustained travel demand” this year even amid growing geopolitical tension, notes the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
Around 300 million tourists were reported to have traveled internationally in the first quarter of 2025, which is around 14 million more than in the same period last year, according to the UNWTO.
‘World’s Gone Mad’
The screenshot in the Reddit post shows a message saying: “We’re sorry to say the price for your holiday has gone up by £17,734,902.34 [by over $23.8 million]…” According to the screenshot, the TUI website also highlighted that the listed price includes a £2,264,800.60 (over $2.6 million) discount.
In the caption shared with the post, Brad says: “So, £297 [around $400] for both with flights seemed a little too good to be true, so I went through the motions. Unfortunately for me, I don’t have £18,000,000 [over $24.2 million] in the bank to spend 4 days in Athens, even with the £2m discount.”
Viewers on Reddit were amused by the extortionate price shown for the vacation deal in the recent post, with several sharing their sarcastic takes on it.
U/Revolutionary_Laugh said: “World’s gone mad. Seems like only yesterday you could have an all inclusive to Tenerife for £8m quid.”
U/ChipRockets wrote: “I feel you OP [original poster]. I hate when they add on that little 69p to the price like that too. Like it’s such a sneaky trick. You can sort of rationalise it by convincing yourself you’re only paying £8867599 but let’s be honest here, you’re really paying more like £8867600.”
“Is the plane yours to keep at that price?” wondered u/weary_dave,” and u/Altruistic_Hawk7061 said: “I laughed so hard at this. Ty [thank you].”
A stock image of a man appearing shocked while looking at a mobile phone.
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