Skybus has a goal:  to offer the lowest priced flights in The United States.  On paper that sounds fantastic, but accomplishing this is proving to be challenging for the no-frills airline based in Columbus, Ohio.  Emulating the Ryanairbusiness model, tickets are cheap, airplanes are not spacious and passengers are charged for everything, which if you know this beforehand, as you should, then there should be no problem.  Unfortunately, Skybus has terminated its flights to Seattle / Bellingham, San Diego and one of its two daily flights to Los Angeles citing high fuel costs as the reason why.  It is using its freed-up capacity to increase service from Columbus to Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point, NC and Punta Gorda/Ft. Myers, FL.

In a time when airlines are taking a beating about everything from timeliness to kicking scantily clad co-eds of their planes, we have decided not to jump on the bandwagon and start railing against Skybus.  iKangaroo really hopes that Skybus can deliver on their promises and will flourish.  Nevertheless, we sympathize with the travelers who had their flight to Seattle canceled and had to cancel their ski trip, that sucks. 

To insure a positive budget airline experience consider these tips:

• Airines are in business to make money, so if they are charging $10 per ticket they have to generate revenue from somewhere.  Southwest does it by using off-the-beaten-path airports, quick turn-around time and other cost cutting efficiencies. Plus Southwest has a great fuel hedge strategy which has allowed them to keep their fuel costs below what other airlines pay.  JetBlue has cut overhead costs by homesoucing some its customer service function.  In addition to cost cutting strategies, budget airlines look for other revenue sources.  These sources can be creative such as Ryanair’s selling advertising on their food trys and Skybus’s charging $500,000 yearly to make their aircraft into a flying billboard; I wonder what Ladybird Johnson would think of that?  Mostly these revenue sources are created by charging travelers for everything.  A couple examples are Spirit charging for ice water and Ryan Air charging for customer service.  The best way to defend against these charges is to know that they exist.  Moreover, don’t expect to be able to sweet talk yourself out of these charges because the airline is counting on that cash and has already considered it as a part of their potential earnings.
• Airlines use less frequented airports to keep ticket prices down.  As a general rule these airports are more inconvenient to reach and offer fewer services, so research the airport before booking your ticket.  As Elizabeth explains in the post about her flight experience from Rome to Paris, landing at the Paris-Beauvais cost her and an extra 8 hours in travel time compared to Charles de Gaulle and Orly. For instance, Skybus’s airport in “Boston” is 50 miles outside of Boston which practically insures the necessity of renting a car or getting someone to spend 4 hours to pick you up and drop you off.  Remember to take these costs into account when assessing your options.
• Of course, we understand that none of this does any good if the flight is cancelled so hopefully Skybus will plan well enough make their new routs profitable.  We are especially looking forward to the New Orleans / Biloxi and Florida routs.

So, when booking your ticket from a budget airline be sure to research the potentially added costs, calibrate your expectations accordingly- remember that convenience is generally more expensive- and have a great time.  Budget airlines are a great option, and when used properly they can save money for more important things like food and nightlife.  And again, Skybus, we wish you the best and hope to hear a lot of great reviews in the future!

Happy Travels!

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