Qantas doesn't plan to let V Australia steal away its customers when Richard Branson's newest airline takes flight December 15. So the old-line Aussie carrier is hyping some great fares on its A380 flights between LA and both Melbourne and Sydney.
Qantas says it's selling tickets for as little as $380 round-trip on flights departing between November 2 and December 8. But as far as we can tell, those super-cheap tickets are already gone.
We did find an LAX-Melbourne round trip in November for $1,215. Not less than 400 bucks, but that's certainly not bad! If you're willing to spend a bit more, A380 service between the US and Oz starts on October 20.
You know about Megabus. You know about BoltBus. But now Greyhound wants a piece of the $1 promo fare action, too. And not content to just offer short hops for a buck, the bus company is selling tickets between Toronto and New York for as little as $1 each way. Crazy.
We know what you're thinking: I wouldn't spend nine minutes on a Greyhound bus, let alone nine hours. But these special NeOn coaches will be tricked out with video entertainment, power plugs and free WiFi. One would hope the bus bathrooms will be working, too.
Obviously, this is a promotional price, though from May 22-25 every seat is going for $1. If you book in a hurry, you'll still be able to lock in fares as low as a buck for departures later this summer.
Last week we asked, "Is V Australia about to officially announce LAX-SYD service at a press conference?" Turns out, yes. The newest carrier from Richard Branson will go wheels up on December 15, 2008.
The super-cheap promo fares for the first few days are already sold out, but you can still get some incredible deals in December. We found a round trip for $1,747, while Kayak reports the cheapest non-stop Qantas fare for the same dates is $2,582.
In addition to great fares, V Australia has also released cabin details. In coach, seat pitch is 32 inches with a recline of 6 inches, and every seat will have a 9-inch screen for on-demand in-flight entertainment. And if you need or want to stay online, the airline's 777s will have cell phone connectivity, letting you SMS and browse the Internet on your GSM device. What, no in-flight WiFi?
Earlier this month, Boltbusannounced its WiFi-enabled bus service from DC to NYC to Boston, promising fares as low as a dollar. But since there are so many cheapskates and college kids in all three of those cities, Megabus wants a piece of that action, too.
The primarily Midwestern bus line will fire up service between Boston and New York sometime before June. Like its competitor's, Megabus tickets start at $1 and escalate in price as your departure date approaches--and as seats sell out.
Of course, the one thing Megabus won't offer is plugs at every seat and wireless Internet. Still, you gotta love fare wars that'll have you getting four-hour rides for a single.
You probably won't hear other airlines admit it, but Virgin America is driving down fares out of LAX. Since Branson's baby cracked the airport in August 2007, Southwest, United and Alaska Airlines have all lowered fares and added frequencies to compete. JetBlue is even trying to replicate VA's success by starting up JFK-LAX service on May 21.
Locals, obviously, are loving it:
"It's been awesome," said Brandon Brown, a San Francisco State University student whose family lives in Westchester and was flying down from San Francisco on a Virgin America flight. "Sometimes it's now cheaper for me to fly than drive."
And it looks like fares will stay low. Virgin America is only going to expand service at the airport, as it works up to as many as 30 more cities in the coming years.
Cheaper is good. Now if only LAX could get nicer. Have you seen the bathrooms in the Southwest terminal?
At least 10 airline start-ups are coming to Asia and the Pacific this year, including a few low-cost carriers. The geeks at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) say that the new carriers and routes stem from an influx of foreign travelers to the regions, and the potential Australia-United States open skies agreement has to be helping. That has us psyched: More choices and new hubs mean more competitive pricing.
So what new airlines are we waiting for? There will be at least five joint-venture airlines (such as Indonesia's Lion Air and Australia's SkyAirWorld) and low-cost carriers adding international routes (like a subsidiary from ANA). Start-ups include Virgin's V Australia and New Zealand's Kiwijet. Some of the new airlines and routes include larger capacity planes; no one will be flying any 787s anytime soon.
According to The Australian, CAPA says:
The next few weeks will provide a much cleared picture of [what's next]. Meanwhile, airline managements are growing increasingly nervous.
When go! buzzed into the islands with rock-bottom fares, inter-island dogfights kept prices low to the delight of locals and tourists alike. Fares have fallen from an average of nearly $200 round trip to $50-$80 round trip as the cozy duopoly of Aloha Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines has given way to a ménage à capitalism.
Before starting operations, go!'s parent company, Mesa Air, considered buying both Hawaiian and Aloha out of bankruptcy, going so far as to examine confidential business documents from the carriers. When Mesa decided to go its own way and launch an all-new airline, Hawaiian got mega-miffed and sued. The court case ended with a judge awarding Hawaiian $80 million in damages.
It's such a hit that go! might be forced to shut down. The big loser in all this? Clearly travelers, as you can expect fares to skyrocket once go! flies off. The next stop for the case is US District Court for an appeal.
Just as we were turning our attention to the fare war in the Bay Area, London Heathrow is set to see some fierce competition that could lower airfares. Long protected from trans-Atlantic competition, routes between LHR and the U.S. will be up for grabs starting in March.
And according to the London Times, things will be heating up:
Delta is likely to serve New York, Atlanta and one other American city, with Air France studying a Los Angeles service.
At this point, the airlines haven't officially announced these routes, but if Delta and Air France get going, you can bet Continental and Northwest will want to fire up service through their own hubs, too.
What remains to be seen is if passengers actually prefer Heathrow. While a new terminal sounds like a pleasure, it's for British Airways flights, not American carriers. And plenty of discount carriers fly to London's other, less congested airports. If people aren't clamoring for tickets on the new routes, you can be sure fares to LHR won't fall.
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