The Traveling Man

NOTE: This airline went bust.

I’m currently working on several new articles from my trip to LA and SD last week, but in the meantime I wanted to make a quick post on a new airline I’ve just heard about, Skybus.

Skybus is a new airline with a hub in Columbus, Ohio. They are offering shocking low rates. I don’t know if it is just because they are new but they have one-way flights as low as $10! That is a really great deal. If you live in OH, this is a great deal for you. Even for me, driving to Columbus to board a cheap flight can still save me a lot of money. They fly to the following locations (from Columbus):

Seattle (Bellingham, WA)
San Francisco (Oakland, CA)
Los Angeles (Burbank, CA)
San Diego
Kansas City
Boston (Portsmouth, NH)
Hartford (Springfield, MA)
Richmond, VA
Greensboro, NC
Jacksonville (St. Augustine, FL)
Ft. Lauderdale

The way it seems to work is that they offer a certain number of very low fares ($10) on each flight. These sell out very quickly. So if you are planning further ahead, you will probably have better luck. I found $10 fares to Boston and Hartford for later this year. But for me, the west coast fares are the really good deal. I found $50 O/W fares to Seattle, San Franciso, and LA. This comes out to $120 R/T after taxes and fees. For Seattle, anything under $300 is a good deal so that is just awesome!

I can’t really call this a “review” as I’m yet to actually try out the airline but I’d like to do so soon. I may take one of these cheap $36 flights to the east coast just to see what it’s like. Unfortunately, weekend flights are not nearly as cheap.

Note also that they keep the fares low by not offering *anything* for free. You pay for things you might usually get for free on another airline. Drinks are $2 a pop and you can get small meals for $5. Even a blanket costs something! And it’s $5 to check a bag. But even if you add in these fees, it still sounds like a substantial savings over traditional airlines. I, for one, hope this business model takes off!

Skybus.com

Tags:   airline · budget · Travel2 Comments