I’ve been ever so slightly intrigued by the idea of Skybus. It’s a play on the Megabus model of sellling tickets: the first ten on any flight are just $10, and prices rise incrementally from there. Of course the trade-off with Chicago’s service is that you have to fly out of Gary, Indiana and you can only fly to Greensboro. That’s it. Take it or leave it.
It was pretty great then to read a Chicago Tribune writer share his experience with the service. The airport? Quiet and almost abandoned. The flight? Advertisements. You can’t bring your own food or beverage, either. But even so, his ticket was about $600 less than United. That’s a big savings… if you want to go to Greensboro.
I mostly think of this stuff as gimmicky and can’t imagine it lasting forever… but we’ll check in on this Ping in 5 years and see if I was right.
Posted in Consumer Commentary
Dave Walls March 25, 2008, 5:32 pm
Skybus does fly to some major airports..Ft Lauderdale, Milwaukee, and one or two others. It’s an interesting concept for sure. And hey, if I ever want to fly out of my hometown of Wilmington to Greensboro or Columbus, OH, I’m set for life!
Paul April 5, 2008, 12:56 pm
…aaaand they’re out of business.
http://consumerist.com/376455/skybus-crashes-cancels-all-flights-effective-immediately
Terry M. April 5, 2008, 6:32 pm
There is a Mexican one, VivaAerobus, and they just started new service from Austin to Cancun & Monterrey (a trip I used to make frequently – and which is a horrible 7 hour drive). They are heavily advertising their flights for $9.99 – of course after all of the taxes and everything they are more expensive, probably still cheaper than driving though.
I also recently booked a ticket (domestic flight in Thailand, o AirAsia) advertised for 99 baht, which is around $3.00. Of course, make it round trip and put in taxes, and it’s around $50.
ugo April 17, 2008, 5:44 pm
In Europe, you have ryanair .. dirt cheap but it flies from less-traveled airports. It’s open-seating but besides that, it’s like all the other airlines .. almost. You pay for each checked-in luggage and insurance is extra.