I thought I had read something about this very low-cost airline somewhere on this board, but a search didn't turn up anything. Has anyone used Skybus or is planning to? The fares are ridiculously low, beginning at $10 OW (plus taxes and fees), though you have to pay for just about anything else, including seat reservations, checked bags ($5.ea.?), any food, etc. But considering the cost of flights, this doesn't seem much of an inconvenience.

True, they have limited destinations currently, but they are growing. They focus on smaller, under-utilized airports, many close to, though not in, major cities. For example, they use Stewart Airport - the former Air Force Base - in Newburgh, New York. That wouldn't be much trouble, though, for someone headed to, say, north Jersey or Westchester Co., and without all the hassles of the Big 3.

Their two hubs currently are Columbus, Ohio, and the Piedmont-Triad Int'l. Airport (Greensboro/ High Point/Winston-Salem) here in NC. I'd certainly use it rather than Charlotte, if there were flights to someplace I planned to go. Interestingly, they invite the public to suggest other destinations that might work for them.

I'd like to hear of anyone's experience with Skybus.

Ann

I can't add anything about Skybus but had very positive experiences with Stewart Newburgh in the 90's when I frequently travelled to the Mid-Hudson Valley on business. If I could squeeze in a little Manhattan time at the end, my favorite tactic was to drop off the rental car (picked up at Stewart) at the White Plains commuter rail station and then take the train into Manhattan.

I was really sad to see American Airlines dropped service to Stewart.

I have not flown them so I don't know what the service is like. They are very new to the US market. One of the original destinations they announced was a smaller city north of Seattle - Bellingham. It sounded like a good option since Bellingham is halfway between Vancouver BC and Seattle and it is a hub for the Alaska Ferry. But they recently dropped the Bellingham flight due to the high cost of fuel. This was after only about 6 months of service. But they are expanding elsewhere especially on the east coast where the distances are not as great as flying to the west coast. It sounds like they might be a good option for your region if they succeed.

I very recently flew from Newburgh to Columbus and the airport is clean and small. The flight was full, I was travelling with kids and had paid for priority boarding - seating is not assigned, so you have to stand in line if you want seats together. They sell food and water on the flight, charge for check-in bags and also sell some stuff on the flight like chocolates etc.

All in all well worth the price and not a bad experience.

My husband had a terrible experience with them - they could not find his reservation (make sure you take your confirmation printout with you), so he had to find an internet kiosk to buy a ticket for a flight leaving in 35 minutes for $234.00 and when he went to checkin they said the flight is closed. Why would they sell him the ticket if the flight is closed???

There is of-course no 1800 number so you can email them about issues, but they have not yet bothered to reply.......