Got a $48 airfare, one way !!!

[3redheads]

Through Independence Air from Dulles to Orlando in August. Chose the $64 coming back because the $48 one was too early, before disembarking.

 

So, we saved $250 off of any other airfare listed in expedia, orbitz etc.

 

All I can say is WOW!!

 

Kim

[judytata11]

Great deal.... don't you love it when you find something like that??

[3redheads]

I just love to find a deal! You are soooo right Judy!!

[hdawson]

Good luck. Last I heard, they were flying on avg with 45% of seats filled and having a cash crunch. Always pay with credit card.

[2VaCruzers]

3 redheads...do you live in VA? I'm about a 10 min. drive from Dulles. Great deal you snagged!! :D

[NancyB84]

I've flown with Independence Air alot lately and the flights have been close to full. I think there are alot of airlines in a money crunch right now. Congrats on the great price!!!!! Have fun on your cruise.

[bags6490]

Man, I wish I lived near a bigger city sometimes. That's a great deal! Best I can find is $97 one way from Raleigh.

[3redheads]

Hopefully, they'll stick around until August.

 

 

2Va-I'm in Herndon, we're practically neighbors :D

[2VaCruzers]

Why yes we are, 3Red!! You live even closer to Dulles than I do. My dad lives in Herndon (close to the police station). There is a long running thread over in the Floataway Lounge called Island Cruisers of VA. A bunch of us who love cruising and live in the vacinity. We've gotten together to do lots of stuff: pool parties, bbqs, potlucks, xmas party, and now planning a 2006 cruise together to the Southern Caribbean (june/july). Also trying to get in a few Nationals bball games this summer. Drop in on us...join us! :D We have loads of fun.

 

Robin

[Arizona Cruz Chic]

Nice!!! :D

 

 

***

[CessKinKoS]

love it when i find great deals for airfare like that.

 

a couple years ago i found tix from Houston to Newark for $70 RT and then just a couple months ago Houston to LAX for $125 RT.

[zebra36]

Congrats.!

 

Found similar deal to Jacksonville a whle back. Amazing that you can sometimes find better fares booking 2 one-way fares on different airlines vs rt. on same carrier. Just goes to show, there are deals out there if you have the time and patience to root them out.

[CruisinDawn]

Great deal!! But just know you will probobly be searched. My husband has to fly one-ways on occasion to make his business plans work and every time he gets pulled out of line for the full pat down. For some reason a one way ticket flags the system for a search. Leave yourself a few extra minutes just incase you get the pleasure. Enjoy your cruise.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[rsinj]

Independence Air might not be flying come August. Be prepared to make alternate arrangements - which will most likely cost significantly more than your $48 fare.

 

I've seen this a few times in the past - and it has ALWAYS been a precursor to an imminent bankruptcy filing on the short-term horizon. They sell as much as they can at bargain prices (which people will always jump at), then file for bankruptcy protection, and then they decide if they will honor your ticket. I also wouldn't count on other airlines honoring Independence tickets should they file for bankruptcy protection.

 

I've specifically seen this with America West about 15 years ago. Leisure Air in the mid-1990's (they flew out of Atlanta). Then again not too long ago with US Air.

 

Howard

[3redheads]

Howard,

 

 

I certainly hope this isn't the case. I've googled the airline and there's nothing about them having financial difficulties. It's only certain flights that offer this rate. We shall see.

 

Thanks for all of the responses.

 

Kim

[Globaliser]

Hopefully, they'll stick around until August.

Good luck with that.

 

I definitely second the idea of making some backup arrangements.

I've googled the airline and there's nothing about them having financial difficulties.

There's a huge amount of info out there about their financial difficulties. They're very well known.

[J&SLowery]

I hear everyone's concern about FLYi's really low rates, but they are nothing new. You just have to watch for good deals. We've flown with them 3 times in the last 2 months and the planes are all full. They have very succint itineraries and price them by demand several flights each day. That is a great price, but I honestly wouldn't take that as a hint that they're about to go under.

 

It has been a wonderful thing having Independence Air for many of us that fly out of Dulles. It has made travelling the east coast and even out to parts of the Midwest very affordable. It's not cost effective for us to drive to many of the places we go routinely anymore.

 

I say congratulations, good luck on a great fare; and don't be let yourself become paranoid of something completely out of your control.

 

Just an opinion

 

Jay

[Globaliser]

I honestly wouldn't take that as a hint that they're about to go under.

Can I say that I think that it would be a great pity if Indy went under. They seem to provide a good service and it is good that someone is trying to flex some muscle against the dominant rubbish that operates from its home airport.

 

However, that shouldn't obscure the desperate trouble that Indy is actually in.

 

After the February traffic numbers were released, Indy said this:-

Question : Tony Cristello - BB&T Capital Markets

It seems like your load factors are showing some improvement, even more than you thought. Looking out, where do you see your breakeven load factor eventually materializing? Revenue trends, obviously your costs aren't matching up. I'm wondering when do you plan on putting up some profitable numbers?

 

Answer: Kerry Skeen

In terms of breakeven load factor, a lot of that hinges on fuel and where fuel is. As I said earlier, as we work through the transition issues, we expect to be a pretty efficient carrier by the start of 3Q, by mid-year. Then we have some ability to improve that, obviously, as we continue to take the A319. If we're able, and with improving loads, I think there's a decent chance we will be able to improve our CRJ utilization, because we have reduced that pretty substantially for February, and that has had a negative impact on unit cost. With those two things going, we feel pretty good about where our costs are going. As I said earlier, the Airbus flying, we'll put our costs up against anybody out there in terms of what it costs us to fly an narrowbody airplane. In terms of breakeven, again, depending on fuel, we've always said, and there is really, I don't think, any change in that, that we see breakeven load factors, we had originally said on a system wide basis that we need to be in the 70%, low 70s, high 60s, depending on where fuel is. So obviously with fuel where it is now, it's probably north of 70%. But 70% is a pretty good benchmark for us as we get past the transition issue, when we see our cost at a more ongoing steady state level.

On 17 March, Reuters reported this:-

FlyI faces cash crisis

 

NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) - Low-cost airline Independence Air, which is controlled by FLYi Inc., said in a regulatory filing that is under pressure to boost revenues and cut cuts to avoid a "liquidity crisis," and its shares fell 5.6 percent on Thursday.

 

Faced with fierce competition and record fuel prices, Independence Air has seen revenue "falling significantly below anticipated levels and the company expending cash at an unsustainable rate," the company said in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission made late on Wednesday.

 

Dulles, Virginia-based Independence said in the filing that it had pledged nearly all of its assets in a recently completed restructuring, risking a cash shortfall if passenger traffic remains weak and fuel costs remain at their current record high levels.

And on 5 April, Indy reported March figures:-

FLYi, Inc. Reports March 2005 Traffic

70.7% Load Factor Is Independence Air’s Highest Ever

 

Dulles, VA, (April 5, 2005) – FLYi, Inc. (NASDAQ/NM: FLYI) reported preliminary March 2005 passenger traffic results today for low-fare airline Independence Air. The airline generated 255.9 million revenue passenger miles (RPMs), while available seat miles (ASMs) were 361.9 million. Independence Air load factor for March was 70.7 percent—the highest since the airline began service last year. For the month, 515,611 passengers were carried.

 

For the first quarter ended March 31, 2005, RPMs were at 578.5 million, while ASMs were 963.3 million. The company carried 1,276,462 passengers during the first quarter of 2005.

 

Chairman and Chief Executive Kerry Skeen said, "Nine months since the launch of Independence Air, we have achieved our first monthly load factor above 70%, which is a testament to the overwhelmingly positive reaction we’re receiving from our customers, as well as the dedication and enthusiasm of our employees." He added, "While we are working very hard to generate increasingly higher revenue as we go forward to offset record-high fuel costs, we are pleased to report that March has produced not only our highest load factor but our highest monthly revenue to date."

Fuel prices having not only remained high, but gone higher, since the March statements, I think that we can fairly confidently say that breakeven load factor is "north of 70%", and that even Indy's "record load factor" in March will not have made it any profits.

 

It also goes without saying that the cheaper the fares to buy the load factor (which is just the ratio of bottoms to seats), the lower the revenue, and the higher the breakeven factor.

[J&SLowery]

Globaliser,

 

I don't deny anything that you have indicated regarding the financial stability of the company. In fact, they are just about like the majority of other airlines with the exceptions of SW, JetBlue, and AirTran.

 

I guess my point is, just live and go with the flow. Maybe we're just too laid back, but I doubt it. We live and work in the DC Metro area, and life is too fast, and too short to worry one's self over if a company might go under. If they do, so be it. At least they provided a product that was affordable and brought happiness to a great many of us for the time they did. If that means one might have to look at other arrangements when the time comes, again, so be it.

 

We hear the reports daily about DC Metro business and financial issues on the radio and papers daily. Most specifically, FlyI has been in the news as you have indicated for the last 6 months. It hasn't changed our thoughts about booking with them whenever we can. I say take the deals while you can get them and enjoy life.

 

 

Jay

[Globaliser]

In fact, they are just about like the majority of other airlines with the exceptions of SW, JetBlue, and AirTran.

I wouldn't agree with this. The only major airline whose situation is comparable to Indy's is US Airways, on whom I personally would advise not booking any tickets for critical travel after 30 June. Indy may not last even that long.

... life is too fast, and too short to worry one's self over if a company might go under. If they do, so be it. At least they provided a product that was affordable and brought happiness to a great many of us for the time they did. If that means one might have to look at other arrangements when the time comes, again, so be it.

The problem is that air travel to a cruise is critical travel. You have to get there. So given the parlous state in which the company is, I would have thought that the sensible advice to the OP is to think about appropriate backup arrangements. By the time the company goes under, if it does, there will be far more people equally scrabbling around trying to secure alternative arrangements. And some of them will have deeper pockets than those available to leisure travellers

It hasn't changed our thoughts about booking with them whenever we can. I say take the deals while you can get them and enjoy life.

I agree with this. If it works for you, do it - and it also gives the company one more thing with which to stay alive a bit longer. But it really is different if you're flying to a cruise.

[rsinj]

I certainly hope this isn't the case. I've googled the airline and there's nothing about them having financial difficulties. It's only certain flights that offer this rate. We shall see.

 

Kim, it is very well known on Wall St. that Independence is in the midst of a cash crunch and probably won't survive in the long run.

 

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh00375_2005-03-17_15-16-17_n17138642_newsml

 

Faced with fierce competition and record fuel prices, Independence Air has seen revenue "falling significantly below anticipated levels and the company expending cash at an unsustainable rate," the company said in the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission made late on Wednesday....

 

FLYi shares have plunged nearly 70 percent over the last six months, and ratings agency Standard & Poor's has warned the company may default on its debt.

 

The airline in January missed an interest payment on some of its bonds, prompting speculation it was close to filing for bankruptcy protection.

 

Howard

[3redheads]

Thanks for the info. We will gas up the car for a long drive in the event they go under. Keep your fingers crossed for us!!

[hdawson]

Why risk booking with an unstable (financially) airline when there are choices of Southwest, JetBlue and AirTran, all of which are operating profitably? I know that AirTran operates from BWI and also Reagan and all three are low cost airlines. As to the industry in general, you will see price increases in the future. There have already been two rounds of increases. The legacy airlines have costs that are higher than their revenue. As the legacy airlines increase their fares, the LCCs will also increase their fares to keep up with the industry and cover the increase in fuel charges.

BTW in the most recent FAA funded study for airline service for 2004, JetBlue, AirTran and Southwest ranked as the top three service oriented airlines in the US. AirTran was further recognized by FAA as the best at baggage handling.

[3redheads]

Tickets already purchased and showing on credit card bill.

[Globaliser]

We will gas up the car for a long drive in the event they go under.

How many of you are going? It's about 900 miles each way, so even at a low-end estimate of overall costs of 50 cents a mile for fuel, maintenance, depreciation, etc. you're looking at spending $900 to drive - and that's before you start factoring in things like the time taken, any additional accommodation costs en route, and the cost of parking for the duration of your cruise.

 

Even a fully refundable ticket (the most expensive type you can buy) on Southwest from Baltimore to Orlando, on which they have non-stop flights, is only $370 per person. So if there are only two of you, you might still be better off buying this sort of ticket as a backup and using it if necessary than you would be if you drove.