Travel Tips

The Fine Print of Skybus

I incorrectly entered my office address instead of home address (see what happens when you click before your morning cup of coffee) without successfully purchasing a round-trip ticket for my annual pilgrimage to Columbus, Ohio. I was left to email Skybus.

I received no assistance in clearing the pending charges off my credit card. My bank told me they could only clear those charges “if the merchant calls us to verify” the charges were not going to go through. This was not done by Skybus…

So the charges on my credit card tied up over $600 dollars. [My Visa] has a much more modest credit line, so for me tying up that much credit was burdensome…Skybus never called me in response to this complaint, nor did they call BOA’s credit card number as a merchant to release the credit hold for the two tickets, that were never successfully purchased.

At this point the problem is resolved on my end, because the “charges” eventually disappeared after some eight days or so.

In my humble opinion, Skybus’ business model is fatally flawed without a call center to support traveling customers, and unless one is added soon, the airline will not last long!
-Lance

Skybus spokesperson Bob Tenenbaum responds:

The Skybus business model makes it very clear on their Web site that they don’t have a call center, and if you do have a problem you deal with it through email. Initially, the response for tickets was overwhelming and they got behind, and there were some delays. They’ve dealt with this and they’ve cleared the backlog. Under normal circumstances [customers will get] an email response within 48 hours. The business model is designed to take care of situations electronically.

Mr. Tenenbaum also points out that in “The Skybus Rules of Flying,” the fourth rule states: “We don’t have a phone number. Seriously. We’d love to chat, but those phone banks are expensive. And a good website like www.skybus.com is even more convenient.”

For more visit Ask Skybus.com.

Editor’s note: The lesson learned here? Cheap airfares often come with additional — and not always fully disclosed — costs… Skybus is very open about its business model of being online only. If you’re not comfortable dealing with only electronic correspondence, always read the fine print before making your online purchase.

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For more information about discount airlines, check out “True Costs of Low Cost Air Carriers”.