JetAmerica.com’s lure
RyanAir, based in the U.K., also offers low airfare.
Reading about Jet America’s $9 plane tickets, which you can purchase through jetamerica.com, reminds me of the time a telemarketer offered me a product that was “completely free.” After reassuring me about a dozen times of its complete freeness, she asked for my credit card number to pay for the shipping and handling charge. Click.
See, the actual ticket from Jet America Airlines is $9, but your trip will cost a lot more than that. However, for the time being it seems that these $9 price tags are doing exactly what Jet America set out to do: get attention.
Limited service
Jet America Airlines opens for business today, and its promotional kickoff special is $9 airfare. This brings us to catch No. 1: The $9 tickets can only get you between Newark, N.J.’s Liberty Airport and one of these four cities: Toledo, Ohio; South Bend, Ind.; Lansing, Mich.; and Melbourne-Vero Beach, Fla.
Catch No. 2 is that there are a limited number of these tickets available. Only nine seats on each flight will go for $9, and there’s no telling how long this offer will last.
The real cost
Catch No. 3 is that you may be left scrambling for instant cash loans to pay for all of the extra fees that Jet America will tack on to your $9 ticket. For instance, ordering the ticket will cost more than the ticket itself, no matter how you do it.
To buy a ticket through jetamerica.com will cost $10. If you order by phone, it costs $20. Tampabay.com also says that “Jet America will charge an additional $20 for a round-trip with an assigned seat.” It’s not clear to me whether you can choose if you have an assigned seat or not.
Other predictable fees, such as baggage check fees, will also be tacked on along the way.
A good price, but not a $9 price
Really, even with the extra fees the trips are still a great price. Say you order a $9 ticket at jetamerica.com for $10, that’s only $19. If the assigned seat fee is added automatically, that’s $39. If you have carry-on only and don’t require an in-flight beverage, all you need to add is sales tax. So, let’s say it’s $43 one way; that’s only $86 round-trip.
I never pay much attention to the other added processing fees that are tacked on when I order a plane ticket online, but let’s assume those are there. You’re still looking at a round-trip ticket for about $100, which is a really great price. But, it’s not unheard of. And it’s certainly not $9.
Deja Vu
If you feel like you heard of a formula similar to Jet America’s before, it’s probably because you have. USA Today says:
It’s a marketing approach used by Skybus, a Columbus, Ohio-based carrier that operated for about 10 months until weak revenue and high oil prices forced it out of business in April 2008. Skybus offered some seats for $10 until it went bankrupt.
The similarity is not a coincidence. JetAmerica founder and CEO John Weikle also was Skybus’ founder, though he left the management of that company shortly after it launched in May 2007.
Jet America’s planes will begin taking flight July 13.
