$9 Flights on Jet America
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$9 Flights on Jet America:
http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/9-flights-on-jet-america/7807
Watch out Jet Blue, Southwest, and Virgin America—upstart Jet America is after your customers. Jet America is following in the footsteps of airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair, offering ridiculously low prices on flights, then nickel and diming the hell out of you. Each flight will offer nine $9 one-way seats, and as of now, the airline flies between Lansing, New York (Newark), Detroit, Toledo, Minneapolis, South Bend, and Orlando.
The home page says "$9...not a gimmick". But you can't actually get a flight for under $28 + taxes and fees because there is a $5 "convenience fee" for each direction, and the price is only one-way.
Also, if you have luggage, the "$9 flight" actually costs $68 + taxes and fees because luggage is $20 each way. If you have two pieces of luggage, it looks like the cost of a "$9 flight" is $108 + taxes and fees.
They claim they have 9 seats for "$9" on every flight, but even when I searched obscure flights far in the future (e.g., Orlando to Lansing on August 29, 2009), prices started at $49. Did 9 people already book those $9 seats from Orlando to Lansing at the end of August and all the way through September 19th?
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15 years
From other online boards covering this deal it's explained as being $9 ($49 after taxes).
15 years
Interesting as Ryanair used to do this - have a very low headline rate, and then add lots of taxes and charges. Now I believe in the UK the price they advertise has to be achievable. Although you'll need a vias electron card, as this is the only one that doesn't attract a £5 fee. Do they have similar rules regarding headline rates and the rates after compulsory charges in the USA?
15 years
The CEO is the same guy who started SkyBus, which offered a similar deal with $10 tickets for the first 10 seats of every flight. I used them twice, and was quite happy with the service. Then they screwed everyone over.
One day, without warning, the company shut its doors overnight. The closing was announced at midnight, and the staff was told not to come in the next morning or ever again. Scheduled flights were simply abandoned, and people were left stranded all over the country. They had no agreements with other airlines to help the customers, so those people just had to suck it up book a brand new flight to get home. During the entire time they were in business (three years I think) they never listed a phone number anywhere, so no one could even call to get information, although even if they had a number there would be no employees to answer the calls. Customers who booked with credit cards that included automatic travel insurance were okay. Anyone who booked with a debit card simply lost their money on the grounded flights.
It’s a pretty good scam. They target small airports that don’t have much business, and they make huge promises about high traffic. In desperation the airports accept to let the airline operate for the first few years without paying any fees. Without this large expense the airline can offer flights at a much lower rate. When the time comes to start paying the fees the airline dissolves. Then they move to different airports to do it again under a different name. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
I’m going to bet that in two or three years Jet America does exactly the same thing as SkyBus. In the meantime, if you can grab a cheap flight, go for it!
15 years
Looks like Jet America is having problems:
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S1043602.shtml?cat=1
The bargain airline Jet America can't get off the ground, and now Minnesotans are out hundreds of dollars because of it.
The airline started selling tickets to fly out of the Twin Cities—even though they haven't been assigned a gate or even a plane at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.
The Ohio-based carrier was slated to begin flying to the Twin Cities in August, but uncertainty over the carrier’s ability to succeed has grown. The airline delayed its launch for another month, citing slot issues at the Newark Airport. Industry experts say they’re not at all sure if the airline will in fact land anywhere close to Minnesota next month.
Jet America suspends Lansing flights for 31 days
http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2009/07/jet_america_suspends_lansing_flights_for_31_days
Plans to offer low-cost flights out of Lansing this summer never left the ground after Jet America suspended flights and began refunding tickets earlier this month.
The carrier, which was supposed to begin service July 13, planned service to Lansing Capital Region International Airport with direct flights to Newark, N.J., as well as to Melbourne, Fla., near Orlando. The company announced July 3 a 31-day delay of all flights.
“We suspended sales and we’re refunding $900,000 in sales to all of our ticket holders,” said Bryan Glazer, a spokesman for Jet America.
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