Skybus to start St. Augustine to North Carolina flights

[thelakelander]

By DAVID HUNT, The Times-Union

Tickets from St. Augustine to Piedmont Triad International Airport, located in the northern part of the state between Winston-Salem and Greensboro, go on sale at 6 a.m. Tuesday on www.skybus.com. The airline sells 10 tickets from every flight for $10, plus taxes and fees.

Plans are to provide one flight in and one flight out daily between the two airports, said Skybus spokesman Bob Tenenbaum. He said success with Skybus' routes between St. Augustine and Columbus, Ohio, led the Ohio-based carrier to expand service in the First Coast. The Columbus flights began in July.

North Carolina will be Skybus' third destination from St. Augustine. Starting Dec. 17, the carrier will begin flying to Portsmouth, N.H.

Assistant Airport Manager Bryan Cooper said more commercial flights will help the taxpayer-funded airport boost revenues and become closer to a goal of self-sufficiency.

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/102207/bus_210986117.shtml

[Springfield Girl]

I went to their website about a month ago but couldn't find any flight info. The other sites listing Skybus would just send me to Expedia or the other cheap ticket sites.

[thelakelander]

Here's instructions on how to find pricing for each flight seven months in advance.

1. click on www.skybus.com

2. select "round trip" or "one way" option in middle of screen.

3. Under "From", select Jacksonville.

4. Under "To", select destination (either Columbus or Boston).

5. click on search flights.

[Jason]

This is good news for St. Augustine.  Their tiny little terminal may be due for some expansion soon.

[thelakelander]

Has anyone here tried out Skybus?  How does it compare to other airlines?

[Jason]

I've flown to Columbus from St. Aug.   The experience was great.  I flew on a new AirBus with plenty of room and great service from the staff.  The terminal is very small but effective.  Also at the time I flew the long term parking was free because the gate system wasn't complete. 

[thelakelander]

I'm thinking about flying into Columbus next year, renting a car and then driving to Detroit, Buffalo and perhaps Pittsburgh.  I would still have a lot of driving to do, but I'd be within three hours of my destinations.

[Jason]

That is a lot of driving but the flight shaves off about 18 hours between here and Columbus.

If you book your flight soon you might be able to lock in the $10 rate.  I wasn't that lucky because all of those seats sell really fast.

[thelakelander]

Yeah, its a lot of driving, but I'm taking my wife and kids with me, so trimming 18 hours of driving only means I'll save with gas, food, hotels, time and sanity.  If I can get four seats for less than $200, its a deal in my book.  I signed up for the email notifications yesterday.  As soon as they allow people by June 2008 seats, I'm going to go ahead a book.

[Ocklawaha]

Scott Clem and I were talking about the Intermodal Passenger Terminal they have on the drawing boards. Neither of us think it's a dead plan, just on the shelf until Florida gets it's act together and does passenger on the FEC. While we have fiddled, Maine added routes that haven't seen passengers since the 50's. California, has too, and Illinois, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and others suddenly bloomed to cover 1000's of miles. We as a state have just been plain stupid about transportation.

St. Augustine Intermodal includes a rail side platform, over the highway walk or lounge, a highway side bus terminal, and the Air side, Airport and gate system. It was one of the most advanced concepts I have ever seen. Like me, Scott seemed saddened that they hadn't moved forward with it.


Ocklawaha

[Jason]

That's the way to do it. 

The only "gimmick" to Skybus is the fact that they try to sell items from a catalog during mid flight.  They say its to help keep their flight costs down.  The products are nothing fancy but they don't pester you to buy things.

[Jason]

Scott Clem and I were talking about the Intermodal Passenger Terminal they have on the drawing boards. Neither of us think it's a dead plan, just on the shelf until Florida gets it's act together and does passenger on the FEC. While we have fiddled, Maine added routes that haven't seen passengers since the 50's. California, has too, and Illinois, Missouri, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico and others suddenly bloomed to cover 1000's of miles. We as a state have just been plain stupid about transportation.

St. Augustine Intermodal includes a rail side platform, over the highway walk or lounge, a highway side bus terminal, and the Air side, Airport and gate system. It was one of the most advanced concepts I have ever seen. Like me, Scott seemed saddened that they hadn't moved forward with it.


Ocklawaha

I remember those plans.  It'll be an impressive center if built and should be a huge boost for the local tourism.

[raheem942]

big deal now you can go to form boring florida to boreing NC .......wow......thats great news

[midnightblackrx]

I flew to Columbus for the first time last weekend and it was a great experience!  Nothing better than a direct flight for cheap

[raheem942]

yeah i bet it was just like miami