German low cost carrier Air Berlin has added its name to the growing list of airlines who think it's a fun idea to make passengers pay extra for stuff.
That's airline life these days, and we're getting used to it. But that doesn't mean we're going to like paying Air Berlin's €10 (more than $15) charge for booking online. We're pretty sure online booking is the cheapest way for Air Berlin to actually get customers, making this seem like one of the most unfair fees we've heard about lately.
Air Berlin also thinks that answering telephone calls is a costly affair and is increasing the surcharge added to phone bookings from €16 up to €20 ($32). With a bunch of flights going for just €29, we really feel these extra charges are a kick in the stomach... or a reason to fly another airline.
Not satisfied with promising punctuality or getting free advertising from Paris Hilton, low cost carrier AirAsia is giving us yet another reason to fly: a new menu.
AirAsia has had a limited menu of hot meals available for purchase for a while now, but they're expanding the menu to include a bunch of local Asian delicacies: chicken rice, satay sticks and yellow glutinous rice are among the additions. If you prebook your meal online, it works out cheaper.
But boss Tony Fernandes makes no secret of the real reason for the menu additions. He's quoted as saying "It's purely another revenue-generating initiative." Full marks for honesty, Tony, but until we see you eating yellow glutinous rice yourself we're not sure we're ordering.
We're big fans of small budget airlines, but we just discovered low cost Japanese carrier Skymark. It's based in Tokyo and flies a bunch of domestic routes and also heads over to South Korea.
Skymark has a full, colorful website for its Japanese customers, but for English-speakers it's a little bare and full of slightly quaint English and a few odd commands. For example, on the contact page where telephone numbers are given for reservations and information, the site demands "Please double-check the phone number before dialing." No wrong numbers, please!
This airline's been in a spot of bother recently because two pilots retired at the end of May. Somehow Skymark didn't anticipate a problem and thus, two pilots short, had to cancel 168 flights during June. Increasing demand for pilots as LCCs grow across Asia is apparently to blame, and nobody's sure if they've found more pilots for July or not.
With low cost carrier Ryanair forever finding more ways to separate customers from their money, we're not sure if this newest innovation is something to help passengers or yet another commercial venture.
Ryanair has just launched a Flight Tracker service, which will send text messages to registered passengers in Britain and Ireland about arrival and departure times, and notify you "on those rare occasions when a Ryanair flight is delayed". It costs £1.50 ($3) to register your phone number for a particular flight, and after that, the updates are sent to you for free.
Cynics have suggested there are plenty of web-based services who'll send you such messages for free, but Ryanair's proud that you don't need to know your flight number for its tracker--you can call up and get registered with just your departure date and route. But can't you just look up your flight number?
Not long ago, American Airlinesdecided to cut back service to San Juan and by extension the rest of the Caribbean. Almost immediately, JetBlue decided to scoop up some of that extra capacity. Now AirTran wants a piece of the action, too.
The LCC will add a seasonal flight this winter from Baltimore, and additional flights from Orlando and Atlanta will also go on the schedule.
American was pretty much screwed either way, deciding between raising fares--and losing customers--to pay for jet fuel or losing money while maintaining a schedule that would keep smaller, low cost airlines like JetBlue and AirTran out of its market. We'd feel bad for AA, except, well, you remember what happened this April.
Low cost carrier Jetstar Asia has always been the little sister of Australia-based Jetstar--itself the child of Qantas. But now Jetstar Asia is preparing to cut the apron strings and step out into the budget airline world a little more independently.
At the same time, Jetstar Asia is ramping up its offerings. First up will be a route between Singapore and the newly vertical Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. There'll be daily flights, some of them also heading to Siem Reap, the stop for sightseeing target Angkor Wat.
Seems right that the slightly rebel child will head off to such a typical backpackers' destination.
As of this week, if you fly with AirAsia, they sincerely promise that your flight will be punctual: Yep, they've been brave (or crazy) enough to launch an On Time Guarantee.
In the unlikely event that your plane is delayed--and only 11 percent of flights were in May--you'll be compensated. To be precise, if your flight is delayed by more than three hours and it's not due to bad weather, airport closures, air traffic control, strikes or acts of God, AirAsia will give you a RM200 ($60) voucher to use towards your next flight.
The whole deal isn't quite as exciting as we'd hoped with all those exceptions to the rule, but it's better than nothing. Thanks for trying, Air Asia!
Valuair is a Singapore-based low cost carrier that's slipped under our radar until now. It started out with big plans to practically conquer the Asian market--it was even the first LCC to start up in Singapore--but things didn't go quite according to plan. After a bit of a merger with Jetstar Asia, Valuair's routes are more limited.
The carrier's just added a few evening flights to the Singapore-Sumatra route, and the rest of its flights are also to Indonesia, especially to Jakarta and Denapasar (Bali).
Valuair tries to differentiate itself a bit from rival LCCs with hot meals and--get this--a free baggage allowance. We're quite taken with this Valuair lunchbox. Who can't love an airline that wishes you "Bon Airppetit"?
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by amandak
