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twilight_world
Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Posts: 3
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 Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 10:04 pm Post subject: Is it possible for foreigners to book Skybus flights? |
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I've been looking at the Skybus website, which sells (relatively) cheap flights inside the US. However, I noticed that if you try to book a flight, you need to give your address and country. This is not unusual for an airline, of course, but the problem is that you are only allowed to choose between two countries: The USA and Canada. Does this mean that the rest of the world are excluded from booking flights on Skybus? I couldn't find any information on this on their website.
I suppose one could make up a fake US address, but I have a feeling this is not going to work, as they can probably see from the credit card info that the customer is not American or Canadian.
So, does anybody have any experience with this problem or know a way to get around this (silly) restriction?
By the way, are there other budget carriers besides Skybus which only let their own nationals book flights? |
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attitudetravel
Joined: 15 Nov 2007
Posts: 248
Location: London, UK
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| Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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Hi twilight_world and welcome to the Low Cost Travel Cafe!
As you can see we are doing a bit of rearranging at the moment, but the new forum will be up and ready very soon!
| Quote: | | Does this mean that the rest of the world are excluded from booking flights on Skybus? |
It's possible, but I think you and I can both conclude it's very unlikely.
What's the real reason they need so many contact details?
I somehow doubt it has to do with protecting themselves against credit card fraud so much as enabling them to sell those details on to North America based direct marketing companies, if given permission. (As a Ryanair-style LCC, Skybus needs every ancillary revenue opportunity it can grab...)
I don't think it will make much difference if you select United States of America or Canada or indeed which state you subsequently select. You'll find that you have to amend your phone number and your post code (and even your street name, if it's too long!) to fit the booking form requirements, but ultimately (I'm guessing) you only want an e-ticket confirmation from them by email anyway, so I suspect it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if you write your geographical address as 1 Sinterklaas Avenue, North Pole.
If you decide to book with Skybus, I'd be very surprised if a Credit Card transaction doesn't go through, whatever address you type. At least if you try it and it requests a different address, you'll know to contact them on this page:
Contact Skybus
without being out of pocket.
And yes, I agree, it's a bit daft that they think people booking flights on their site must be coming only from the USA or Canada, but it's not as phenomenally stupid as the Sky Express RU booking form which still, after more than one year, only lets you book a maximum of one adult, one child and two infant passengers for each booking transaction.
I know there are a lot of single Mums in Russia, but really...
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Alan Lansdowne
Editor, attitudetravel.com |
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twilight_world
Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:18 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for your response!
I don't plan on booking any Skybus flights just yet, but I was looking into this problem since I may do so in the future. I actually tried to contact them about this some six months ago, but never received a reply then.
Anyway, I thought I should give it another try, so I sent them another message and this time they replied within 24 hours:
Rest assured we have every intention of accepting reservations from customers outside the United States and Canada. We plan to offer this capability in the very near future, so please check back with us by visiting our website at www.skybus.com.
Further, Skybus does not accept temporary address.
We apologize for any inconvenience and look forward to serving you in the future.
James
Skybus
This doesn't completely answer my question, but at least it seems they might be doing something about this restriction in the near future. Although, they don't say explicitly that you can't use foreign credit cards, I have a feeling that a foreign card might be rejected. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for American Internet companies only to accect American credit cards. If I knew when I was going to travel with them, I could have tested to see whether my payment went through, but I don't want to test their system and risk ending up paying for a flight which I may not want.
| Quote: | | And yes, I agree, it's a bit daft that they think people booking flights on their site must be coming only from the USA or Canada, but it's not as phenomenally stupid as the Sky Express RU booking form which still, after more than one year, only lets you book a maximum of one adult, one child and two infant passengers for each booking transaction. |
Wow, that's just amazingly ridiculous! |
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attitudetravel
Joined: 15 Nov 2007
Posts: 248
Location: London, UK
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| Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:46 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | at least it seems they might be doing something about this restriction in the near future. |
Yes, let's hope so.
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Alan Lansdowne
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attitudetravel
Joined: 15 Nov 2007
Posts: 248
Location: London, UK
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| Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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Well, given what happened this weekend, it's probably a good thing you were unable to book a flight on Skybus after all.
I doubt it would have made much of a difference in the end, but I wonder if the collapse might have been averted for a short time had the carrier not been so short-sighted as to turn away all passengers except those with US and Canadian citizenship?
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Alan Lansdowne
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