Yapta: A Travel Site That Really Helps You Save Money

by Willy Volk on

Yapta is a new start-up that should make the lives of travelers easier. Still in beta, the site is scheduled to launch on May 15. Unlike other sites that are basically search engines, Yapta (Your Amazing Personal Travel Assistant) is a browser add-on that lets you “bookmark” fares you find. If you see a flight you like, bookmark it: the flight and fare information is stored in your Yapta account. Bookmark several different flight options at different sites, and then compare them with Yapta. If the fare increases or decreases before you make a purchase, Yapta will let you know.

The *coolest* thing about Yapta, though, is that if you make a purchase by clicking through to the airline or travel site from Yapta, they’ll continue to monitor the price. If it falls, they’ll contact you and suggest you contact the airline for a refund or flight coupon, which you’re eligible for thanks to the “guaranteed airfare rule.” All airlines offer these on price drops. Yapta will help by reminding you.

According to TechCrunch, “over the last several months, Yapta found that 34% of purchased tickets became eligible for a refund. The average refund was 16% of the ticket price, or $85.” That’s money in your pocket.

[Via Downloadsquad]

It’s All About the Hamiltons with Skybus Airlines

by Dave Luna on

Watch your six, Southwest. There’s another discount airline on the market. It’s called Skybus, and it will offer $10 one-way tickets until December 15th. (Of course, that’s only for at least ten seats per flight.)

Skybus CEO Bill Diffenderffer announced that “passengers can buy airline tickets for less than the cost of a tank of gas,” and a company spokesman added that some tickets could reach $330. Cool. That’s still much better than the last-minute tickets I’ve purchased from US Airways for over $1200.

Skybus plans to lower their costs by slapping advertisements on every available surface of their planes. (Sound familiar?) Also, the company will only take reservations via the Internet, so they will not incur the costs of a call center. Oh, and expect to pay a fee to check in your bags.

Unfortunately, the carrier will fly from only five airports when they begin operations on May 22nd:

  • Columbus, OH
  • Burbank, CA
  • Portsmouth, NH
  • Richmond, VA
  • Kansas City, MO

So, don’t plan on flying out to Disney World with that ten dollar bill. You could probably go visit one of your great aunts, though. I’m sure she’d like that. Don’t worry about missing out on great fares if you’re not in those markets because Skybus will add three more airports by the end of May and another airport in June.

Soap Opera in the Air

by Iva Skoch on

We’ve heard from pilots about life in the sky (Ask the Pilot), but here’s a book from the perspective of ground-staff personnel: Imogen Edwards-Jones’ Air Babylon.

The first thing to know is that this is fictionalized. She writes with the help of several anonymous sources, then piles all their different, but true, stories together in a fanciful “expose” of the airport business.

It’s pretty entertaining, and pretty scary, since it describes a fictional 24-hours-in-the-life of a ground crew at a London airport, working for a make-believe, mid-sized international carrier.

Essentially, she’s packed all these bad events together into a single day of hell. You’ve got passengers dying of heart attacks during long trips (and what do they do with the bodies??), you’ve got snakes on the plane, you’ve got contraband in luggage, drunk flight attendants, unruly passengers, asylum-seekers, boy bands, and, of course, sex.

True or not, exaggerated or not, it’s entertaining.

British Airways Hides Knight from 007

by Dave Luna on

British Airways performed some of their own James Bond-style covert maneuvers when they cleverly edited in-flight copies of Casino Royale. Sir Richard Branson, owner of the rival Virgin Airways, has a cameo at an airport security checkpoint in the theatrical release. However, the British Airways version only shows the back of Branson as he moves through a metal detector. Also, their biased cut obscures the tail fin of a Virgin Airlines plane that appears in the film.

I don’t see the point of those changes. I mean, the viewers of that version already gave BA their cash. Would it really hurt to show Branson and the Virgin logo? I guess spite makes airlines do awful things.

I only bring this up because Richard Branson happens to be one of my heroes. After all, anyone who throws a tea party on top of a hot air balloon is ace in my book.

How to Accumulate One Million Miles

by Neil Woodburn on

Marc Tacchi is a bit of a God in the world of Mileage Runners.

Mileage Runners are those who take advantage of really cheap flights in order to build up their frequent flyer miles. These are the people who jet off to Tokyo for one night just to plug another 5,000 miles into their account.

Well, Marc had much higher ambitions. His goal was to accumulate one million miles in a 60 day period. To do so, he got his hands on an unlimited Air Canada Flight Pass. It was good for two months in North America and Marc really wanted to get his money’s worth. The pass cost $3,499 (Canadian) a month (plus taxes). That is roughly $6,000 (U.S.) for two months–the length of the promotion. At stake was one million miles of free travel after that (Estimated value, $60,000).

Naturally, Marc blogged about his Herculean task. I have to admit, I love his resolve, but his blog was a little disappointing compared to what he managed to accomplish. Nonetheless, it still makes for some interesting reading.

Marc began on October 1, 2005 with a flight from Vancouver to Toronto and then simply went bonkers after that.

And yes, he did attain his goal. Here are a few of the statistics he shared in getting there:

Mileage earned: 1,003,625
Current Flight Segments in Aeroplan account: 276
Days I have been in an airplane: 56 out of the last 61.
Favorite Air Canada aircraft: B767-300
Times I have seen March of the Penguins: 0
I never actually got thru it without falling asleep.
and finally..weight change: +8lbs.