Gonna Fly Now! Skybus Launches from Columbus
Today Skybus will take its first flights out of Port Columbus. The discount airline, which offers one-way fares for as low as $10, is currently taking reservations for nine locations. There are plans to expand to up to 25 locations over the next few years.
Good to know before booking:
Don’t look for a 1-800 number, or any telephone number for booking, there is none. All reservations are through Skybus.com.
Everything, right down to checking luggage is extra. $5 a piece for the first 2 bags. $50 after that, so pack carefully. One carry on and one personal item (like a purse or laptop bag) are included in your ticket price.
Skybus has open seating, so if you really want that window, or an isle seat near the restroom, be prepared to shell out an extra $10 for priority seating.
Skybus offers sodas, beer and food, all for an extra $2-$10.
Also, don’t expect to fly into many major airports. As far as I can tell, Columbus is the largest airport they currently service. You can get to:
Los Angeles—by way of Burbank
Boston—by way of Portsmouth
Kansas City
Richmond, VA
Seattle, WA and Vancouver, British Columbia (Bellingham Internat’l Airport)
Ft. Lauderdale
Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC
San Francisco, Oakland and the Bay Area, through Oakland Internat’l Airport
All flights originate from Columbus, so if you are in Oakland and want to get to Boston you will have to book two flights: from California to Columbus, then from Columbus to Boston. Don’t forget this is an entirely new flight, so you will have to retrieve your bags (if you checked any) and recheck them—and pay the bag check fees again as well.
But hey—did I mention flights start at only $10?!?!
I am booked on a Skybus flight to Ft. Lauderdale this fall. Assuming no hurricanes get me, I’ll write about it when I return.
Happy Landings!
October 17th, 2007 at 8:42 am
[...] I took Skybus on my round trip flight to Ft. Lauderdale recently. In all honesty, I was fairly impressed. The new planes had leather seats and were of normal size. On the way down, I paid $2 for a very tiny bottle of water, but that did not surprise me. (I was a little surprised by the fact that they give you a shopping catalog onboard and the fact that you could “corporate sponsor” the in flight announcements–but hey, my ticket was under $80 round trip) I liked the way we got on and off quickly and flights were in the air on time. Personally, I would have given Skybus a very “thumbs up” type of review. [...]