Skybus: The New Airline With $10 Seats
by Monique Peragine

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Please check their Web site carefully (www.skybus.com), because they charge you for checking your bags and they are sticklers on the weight as well. They also charge for ALL the drinks and food. There is nothing free at all on these flights – NOTHING! A bottle of water or a can of soda or a cup of coffee is $2, and they serve a breakfast sandwich for the morning flights and a regular sandwich for the afternoon or evening flights for $8, while the alcoholic beverages are all $6.

If you have a carry-on, you need to check the size and weight dimensions on the Web site, or else it may be considered checked luggage and that is considered a charge. It’s $5 each for the first two checked bags, but if the bag weighs more than 22 pounds, there is an additional charge. One passenger had one bag and it was considered overweight, so they charged her on the spot $25 plus the $5 to check it. I hope that changes in the future.

Then, last but not least, there is no seating arrangement, so if you would like to be seated first, you can pay an extra $10 to get on the plane first (of course, after the wheelchair passengers and the kids with strollers). Then, they board the rest of the passengers. I can tell you this plane I was on seats 187 passengers and it was not even a quarter of the way full, so you could sit wherever you wanted comfortably. For those of you not familiar with Airbus, there are three seats on each side. There is no TV (like JetBlue) and no music on board, so tell your clients to bring reading material and DVD players for the kids if they are flying a long way!

Check out their site, since they are opening in other airports and the fares can be really low, making this a great low-cost carrier.

Monique Peragine serves as the OSSN Newburgh (N.Y.) Area Chapter director. She owns Trips A Plenty Travel in Newburgh, N.Y. You may reach her at monique@tripsaplenty.com.

(Credits: Monique Peragine; stock photos)