Asia is on sale

by Grant Martin on

If you’ve got any business that you haven’t booked in Southeast Asia, now might be the time to buy tickets. Prices to Hong Kong, Saigon, Beijing and a host of other spots recently dropped resulting in a few gems, especially for short term travel.

I’m seeing prices in the 5-600$ range departing from various spots on the left coast, with LAX-SGN being as low as 511$. Assorted city pairs are on sale, so its worth checking out Farecompare (FC) for your city to see where the best deals are. Be aware though, that while the FC tool is nifty, it’s got some unresolved problems with international taxes and fees, so you may have to tinker around with tickets until you find something bookable.

Furthermore, most of the availability is for shortly approaching departures; ticket prices seem to rise significantly after March. And most of us just can’t take a week of to visit Asia at a moment’s notice. But hey: if you’ve got a flexible schedule or some business to take care of, this could save you some significant green.

US Helicopter gives free seats to Eos passengers

by Grant Martin on

If you’re one of the few who have taken advantage of the new low-cost-business-carrier airlines that have recently become popular, take heed: earlier this week US Helicopter announced a partnership with Eos airlines where they provide free transfers from JFK airport into Manhattan.

It’s icing on the cake for those business travelers flying on the new carrier, boasting only 48 seats on 220 seat jet. Of course, you do have to pay for the approximate 3kUSD first-class airplane ticket first.

If you’re one of the majority of us lay travelers who don’t think that business class or helicopter transfers into the city are right for you, now might be the time to reconsider. With the emergence of several low cost business carriers across the pond (minus one last month), supply has increased and prices are starting to fall. The work and peace of mind that you may preserve flying in business class may well be worth the extra two grand that you have to spend on that ticket.

Besides, who doesn’t want to say they took the helicopter into Manhattan from JFK?

Post holiday fare sale from Virgin America

by Grant Martin on

Like many domestic retailers, Virgin America has slashed its post holiday fares across the board. Unlike most retailers at the mall, however, whose January pants always seem to be too big for me (who wears size 52?), you may be able to use some of these tickets.

VX is having a brief four day sale among its seven left and right coast cities. Starting today through the 11th, you can snag tickets as low as 118$ one way across the country. Nothing unheard of, per se, especially when you include tax, but if you already have to fly trans continental or have been itching to try out the airlines’ superior in-flight product, this might be a good time to strike.

You’ve got until the middle of March to fly, so you can spend the next two months working off those holiday pounds before you take a little R&R in San Diego right before the St. Patty’s day binge.

Fare wars to Germany

by Grant Martin on

Usually around this time of the year trans oceanic ticket prices start to fall. And winter and spring is a great time to travel if you’re a northerner (see pictured: my car yesterday), so if you can take advantage of some of the good fares it’s often pretty easy to bang out a quick vacation at minimal cost.

The first slew of good prices this year seem to be to destinations in Germany. Searching from a variety of departure points, I’m finding prices around the 400$ range to anywhere from Munich to Dusseldorf to Hamburg to Frankfurt, leaving over various times in the next few months.

Sure, it’s not the warmest part of the year in Germany, but if you’ve got friends, family or an adventurous streak you can always slip out for a few days and enjoy some authentic German food and beer. Or, if you’re willing to make a couple of connections you can always leave immediately from Frankfurt or Dusseldorf on a low-cost-carrier and be in the Mediterranean in a heartbeat.

Happy travels!

Skybus cancels flights, but there’s hope

by Jamie Rhein on

On last night’s news there was a report on Skybus woes. Flights,18 in all, were canceled yesterday and the day before due to repair issues with two planes. That may not seem like many planes, but the way Skybus works is that the same planes are used for various flights on the same day–and evidently there aren’t spare planes ready to fill in if there’s a problem.

Because Skybus doesn’t have agreements with other airlines, people couldn’t be transferred to other flights. Instead, Skybus is either refunding people for the flights they didn’t take or re-booking them when possible. From what I caught of the news clip, there were Sky bus staff on hand to help with the snafus, but without a call center, there’s no way for anyone to get personalized help except by being at the airport.

Cheap tickets on a cheap airline sometimes does not make for paradise, or help people get to paradise either. I’m hoping that Skybus is able to make it financially and that the issues that make people unhappy do get worked out. I’m looking forward to snagging some cheap seats somewhere one of these days. Our trip to Seattle, as I’ve posted before, was not particularly cheap, but the idea of cheap tickets is holding my interest in the airline and making me think it would be fun to go someplace Skybus goes for an inexpensive few days away. For a special occasion or an important trip, I’d probably opt for an airline with more options, though. Skybus doesn’t have flexibility built into its system. The airline is back on track today because the repairs have been made. [via USA Today]