- Neelesh Misra alleged IndiGo blocks senior citizen ticket bookings via its algorithm
- He faced "No Flights Found" error when booking a ticket for his 86-year-old father
- IndiGo responded citing temporary browser issues and confirmed senior bookings are available
Author-lyricist Neelesh Misra has alleged that IndiGo engages in a "shady malpractice" when passengers attempt to book tickets under the senior citizen category. Sharing a personal incident on X, he wrote, "I was booking a ticket for my father, 86, for his upcoming travel with me. When I chose 'senior citizen' for him, it said 'No Flights Found'. Two seconds later, I tried to book the same flight and date as a regular passenger: lo and behold, there was a flight! I booked both of us."
Wondering what might have caused this discrepancy, Misra speculated, "Reason: IndiGo has a measly discount for senior citizens, and its algorithm is designed in a way that it doesn't want to let them have it!"
Responding to his complaint, IndiGo wrote in the comments section:
"Mr Misra, we certainly understand how concerning this may appear. We have checked internally and can confirm that bookings under the senior citizen category are available on the mentioned flight. At times, a temporary browser session issue may prevent results from displaying correctly. You may kindly try the search once again, and should you face any difficulty, please rest assured that we are here to provide any assistance required. - Team IndiGo."
The post drew a wide range of reactions on social media.
One user commented, "I think they have a fixed quota for all such discounts. And even if there are discounts, as you said, you can't buy peanuts with the savings from the discounted price at a railway station. Air India recently offered me a massive discount of Rs 5/- for a senior citizen."
Another offered a possible explanation: "It could be a capped discount quota. Airlines often only have a set number of discounted seats. Once full, it may show 'No flights found' for that specific category."
Also Read: Parents Flying IndiGo With Infant Struggle For Adjacent Seats, Call Up Airline. What Happens Next
A third remarked, "Ideally, they should have shown seats available with a pop-up stating no discount seats available, but no, they decided to hamper customer experience! That could have solved both issues, but looks like they want to hide behind shady practices."
This is not the first time Misra has criticised IndiGo. Previously, in January, he alleged that the airline misbehaved with his 10-year-old daughter, Vaidehi Misra, who was travelling alone as an unaccompanied minor on a Lucknow-Goa flight. He shared a detailed post on X describing her experience with a "rude" IndiGo staffer. Read more about it here.
