I would avoid Skybus

[CarolA]

Again, I don't hold Skybus tickets and I don't expect a "bailout".

However I do believe your post was mean spirited and unnecessary and I hope when you have the unfortunate issue of being *stuck* by your airline ( and most travelers do ) you are treated with more compassion than you show.

BTW, next time you may want to read the posts before you answer them.

I am stuck right now LOL! I have been stuck more times then most of you have flown. I was on Eastern when they shut down. (We drove home) I had a family member have to buy a walk up fare from Europe when his airline went bust LOL! It happens and you deal with it, but....


(I read you post you called me "Mean spirted" and "elitest". Now what would you like to call me? I don't think that name calling is a good habit to get into, but I guess...... to each thier own! I am also a "realist" Airlines exist to make money. It's not a charity to get you on a cheap vacation. Sorry if that fact is disturbing!)

 

[tammymacb]

As a matter of record... I never said you were elitist or mean spirited. I said your posts were...

 

[Lewisc]

I guess I am cheap and do not spend enough time researching airlines before I plan my vacation.. stupid I guess that when they added a route from Richmond I did not figure they were going under.. Oh well I guess I deserve to lose my $$.. Thanks for pointing it out..

Why are you losing your $$$? Credit card companies are processing refunds. Many banks are even refunding purchases made with a debit card.

Always pay for airline tickets with a credit card. You get the best protection. Probably true for any online/credit card purchase.

You don't have to do a lot of research. $10 fares is a clue. The fact that Skybus doesn't have a listed phone number is another clue. I understand not wanting to pay for a toll free number. I understand not wanting to pay reservation agents. I can't understand expecting service from a company that doesn't want any phone calls.

A few airlines are offering Skybus passengers standby travel, for a very time limited time period, for a limited number airport pairs. The airlines are getting good press. This may prevent the government from requiring far more.

The people who think the airlines may be gaining new (profitable) customers from this action are not being realistic. Carol's point is passengers who booked Skybus are the passengers who are going to troll for the lowest fare, no matter what.

 

[CarolA]

It's interesting that no one on this thread has said that "if SW, DL etc. honored my ticket I would probably always book them in the future" If the airlines thought they could get that kind of loyalty in return for being generous then I bet they would do it. But I don't think it would work that way.

 

[Lewisc]

It's interesting that no one on this thread has said that "if SW, DL etc. honored my ticket I would probably always book them in the future" If the airlines thought they could get that kind of loyalty in return for being generous then I bet they would do it. But I don't think it would work that way.

They would always book that airline as long as that airline had the best price.

 

[springandmac]

It's interesting that no one on this thread has said that "if SW, DL etc. honored my ticket I would probably always book them in the future" If the airlines thought they could get that kind of loyalty in return for being generous then I bet they would do it. But I don't think it would work that way.

Why does anyone have to be loyal to an airline?

 

[MrMarv]

The business model for Skybus was flat-out unsustainable, as Carol pointed out, and all of the ominous items Lewis pointed out were also a no-brainer for avoiding Skybus and other similarly-structured airlines.

With the dreadful financial conditions that the 'legacy carriers' find themselves in thanks to the exploding price of jet fuel and other assorted factors, they aren't required to honor those Skybus prices, but they certainly have the option to get you back home at their prevailing price.

 

[springandmac]

You don't have to do a lot of research. $10 fares is a clue.

This is called a loss leader

A loss leader is a product sold at a low price (at cost or below cost)to stimulate other, profitable sales. It is a kind of sales promotion, in other words marketing concentrating on a pricing strategy. The price can even be so low that the product is sold at a loss.

I guess I should assume that all companies who run loss leaders are going out of business soon too.

 

[Lewisc]

This is called a loss leader

A loss leader is a product sold at a low price (at cost or below cost)to stimulate other, profitable sales. It is a kind of sales promotion, in other words marketing concentrating on a pricing strategy. The price can even be so low that the product is sold at a loss.

I guess I should assume that all companies who run loss leaders are going out of business soon too.

I'm confused. How does a $10 fare lead to other profitable sales? This isn't a loss leader at a supermarket. CC and BB run a loss leader on a TV, they hope they can profitably sell over priced monster cables, service contracts and even installation. The entire purchase may be profitable.

How many sodas would Skybus have to sell each passenger to make money on a $10 flight?

The model was flawed.

 

[goofy4tink]

You know people.....this is close to being shut down. There have been some not so nice things tossed around. As we've all said before...no pixie dust on the transportation board. IF that translates into a post being nasty, I'm sorry. But, there is no room for possible misinterpretation here...so, please try to keep your posts as truthful and straightforward as possible.
No one likes a nice discussion more than I, but insults and arguments will not be allowed.

 

[Lewisc]

I won't post any more in this thread.

Passengers with future flights are getting credit card refunds. Passengers with an interrupted trip had the option of a $50 standby fare. Maybe they got lucky and maybe they had to hang out in an airport for a day or two. I don't see that many passengers getting treated unfairly.

I don't think Carol's comment was mean spirited or elitist.

Skybus model was seriously flawed. The results speak for itself. A supermarket running a "loss leader" for toilet paper gets in pallets of extra inventory. Probably got some price and/or promotional allowance from the mfg. Skybus has a finite number of seats to sell on each flight. A $10 seat is one less seat to sell at a profitable fare.

Given the price of jet fuel I don't think there is anything Skybus could have done.

You know people.....this is close to being shut down. There have been some not so nice things tossed around. As we've all said before...no pixie dust on the transportation board. IF that translates into a post being nasty, I'm sorry. But, there is no room for possible misinterpretation here...so, please try to keep your posts as truthful and straightforward as possible.
No one likes a nice discussion more than I, but insults and arguments will not be allowed.

 

[springandmac]

I won't post any more in this thread.

Passengers with future flights are getting credit card refunds. Passengers with an interrupted trip had the option of a $50 standby fare. Maybe they got lucky and maybe they had to hang out in an airport for a day or two.

I don't think Carol's comment was mean spirited or elitist.

I don't think I'll post of this BOARD anymore. I ran across one of goofy4tinks post the other day and I didn't understand why she had "there's no pixie dust on the transportation board" in her signature......I do now!

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to figure out what box to check on my dispute form so I can try to get a refund for the 6 skybus tickets I purchased with my debit card.

 

[bavaria]

Why does anyone have to be loyal to an airline?

Nobody has to be loyal to an airline. But airlines reward those who are.

They don't reward those who are loyal to price, rather than loyal to carrier.

 

[goofy4tink]

I don't think I'll post of this BOARD anymore. I ran across one of goofy4tinks post the other day and I didn't understand why she had "there's no pixie dust on the transportation board" in her signature......I do now!

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to figure out what box to check on my dispute form so I can try to get a refund for the 6 skybus tickets I purchased with my debit card.

Let me try to explain that 'quote'....
on many other boards, here on the DIS, there is much magic and pixiedust, much silliness and all out good old fun. I like fun as much as the next person, and I've been told I'm a pixiedust spreader! But...here on the Transportation board, we talk of airline travel, discounts that may be available, the best way to deal with the TSA and security..etc. These types of things are extremely important....if misinformation is given, even in jest, it could ruin someone's trip. So, we try to hand out good info, as best we can while trying to have a bit of fun. A lot of people come here to get insights into how to solve an issue with the airlines. Sometimes that person is looking for the impossible, and they are given the facts that support that. Sometimes though, the poster is looking to be made to feel better or is looking for a completely different answer, even though that answer may not be a good one. We don't do a lot of hugging around here. If we do, we do it via PMs. We all want everyone to have a great travel experience. But sometimes our posts are misinterpreted and perceived to be harsh or unfeeling. Nothing could be further from the truth....we're just trying to be accurate and realistic.
I'm sorry if there are some that disagree with this type philosophy...but it seems to work pretty well here, for the most part.

 

[bavaria]

I'm going to go a little off topic and jump in, since I believe that I may have started the 'no pixie dust' thing years ago

Today I was flying (as usual). I was in the 'elite' security line, and the three people in front of me apparently felt that anything goes in air travel. They had things confiscated right and left while I stood watching and waiting.

One of the things which was confiscated was something which two posters and I agreed should not be packed in a carry on on a thread here a few days ago. Yet when we posted that, others came along and said 'oh no, go ahead and take it - here's some pixie dust!' Well, the pixie dust does nothing. TSA doesn't like it, it makes them sneeze. They don't care that BettyLou on the DIS told you that it was ok to pack the item.

Blame BettyLou for giving you bad advice, and don't blame the posters who post facts and straight forward information. It may not be sugar coated, but it is much more realistic and valuable than the simply wrong information I read here every day.

I hope that there isn't a poster named BettyLou on the DISboard - I was just using that name as an example...

 

[pr surfer]

There's Disney and there's the cold reality of transportation and non-Disney business.

Transportation is not within Disney's control (yet), and as a result, the common sense (or lack thereof niceness) attributed to the mouse will not be available with most air carriers and most of the government employees (whether necessary or workfare) involved with getting you to Disney.

The only person there with Pixie dust is you. The TSA could care less, the airline employees could likely care less too.

Fin.

 

[dvcnewgirl]

I don't think I'll post of this BOARD anymore. I ran across one of goofy4tinks post the other day and I didn't understand why she had "there's no pixie dust on the transportation board" in her signature......I do now!

Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to figure out what box to check on my dispute form so I can try to get a refund for the 6 skybus tickets I purchased with my debit card.

I'll join you.. hopefully those of us that believed we could fly skybus can figure out the papers.

 

[bab31]

Why does anyone have to be loyal to an airline?

I am loyal to Midwest. for a number of reasons- I use my midwest master card and gain miles- they have a program called miles and $$$, I dont eat all my miles when I fly- and it wont cost me more than $200 to use the miles and $$$. They give us cookies They have held a flight for me 3 times. They gave us vouchers ( everyone on the flight) when it was waaayyyy delayed for maintenance. I fly Midwest whenever I can. The layover times tend not to be long. I was looking for airfare for my family reunion in Arkansas. I was booking on another credit card that has a concierge travel agency- finally Midwest came up and I booked I would rather spend a little more if it means I can fly Midwest. Midwest is competitive with the airlines flying out of my area. - oh yeah as far as I know you can still check two bags but I am sure that will catch up as well as the other airlines jumping on board!

 

[bicker]

Any time a jet aircraft lifts its wheels off the ground, with you on-board, and you paid less than $275 round-trip, the airfare was "cheap".

Actually, it depends on where you are traveling.

No. My point was that it doesn't. There are certain fixed costs associated with just taking you off the ground (including the cost of customer acquisition, equipment maintenance, ticketing, etc.), even if flying from IAH to HOU. If I remember correctly, that's somewhere near $275 round-trip. Every penny you pay less than that consider yourself lucky.

 

[pr surfer]

Why does anyone have to be loyal to an airline?

Because loyalty is rewarded. In my case, I'll be going to Fiji, Las Vegas, DLR, and London for free (well, I gotta pay the taxes) because of my loyalty.

To remain loyal, I'm paying out of pocket to go to São Paulo, Boston, Miami (many times), Munich, and commuting across the Caribbean.