Travel News
The New All-You-Can-Fly Airline & Other Money-Saving Tricks
With high gas prices, impending airline mergers and peek season, you’re going to need to be creative to find a flight deal this summer. Peter sat down with Anne Banas, executive editor of
SmarterTravel.com, to discuss new airlines and new ways to find a deal.
Peter Greenberg: Let’s talk about Surf Air, which is a new membership only airline. For about $790 a month, $10,000 or so a year, you get an all you can fly deal from select cities in California.
Anne Banas: If this program is going to have a benefit at all, it’s going to be for business travelers who commute on a regular basis, because otherwise, Surf Air only runs to cities within California right now, and you’re not going to benefit as a leisure traveler.
PG: When you think about the people who need to go between Santa Barbara and San Francisco or Santa Barbara and Monterey or Santa Barbara and Los Angeles or Tahoe–those little intra-California airfares are outrageously high, so you can even benefit as a leisure traveler. The price differential is that huge.
AB: That’s a good point.
PG: To put this in perspective, Surf hasn’t yet received certification from the Federal Aviation Administration. They’re hoping to fly sometime this summer, but I love the concept.
It’s not a new concept. Eastern Airlines used to have a monthly pass. JetBlue annually has a pass where you can fly all you can fly unlimited for a month.
When these offers happen, especially if you’re a frequent flier, why not jump on it?
AB: That’s true, and Surf Air is even talking about expanding to Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe which could definitely make it a little more interesting for people.
