Finance chiefs may want to consider making it mandatory for traveling staffers to book their flights through JetAmerica.
Starting on July 13, JetAmerica will offer flights to small and mid-size cities like Lansing, MI; Toledo, OH; and South Bend, IN, with prices ranging from $9 to $199. The majority of the flights will either start or end at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
The $9 flights apply to the first nine to 19 seats on each flights. However, food, drinks and in-flight TV all cost extra. And if you need to check a bag, it may cost you more than your actual ticket — there’s a $15 fee per bag.
While it remains to be seen if this promotion will succeed (Skybus Inc., a carrier offering $10 flights, went bankrupt last year), it has certainly created a huge buzz. Two days after JetAmerica’s Web site went active, $9 dollar ticket sales surpassed 12,000, and the heavy traffic crashed its Web servers.
The carrier even gleaned some national attention when NBC Tonight Show host Jay Leno made a joke about the $9 tickets, which caused sales to jump during the show.
If you’re not quite ready to join the masses of penny-pinching travelers who’ve booked $9 flights, there are plenty of tactics to reduce your T&E dollars here.
