AUSTIN | ABIA Updates

[misterno]

Another nice vacation package to Cancun and I can not go. Why? Because although Houston is located the closest to Cancun it is one of the highest priced. Continental is to blame.

check the deal here

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthr...87624&t=686703

[Major AWACS]

Originally Posted by misterno

Another nice vacation package to Cancun and I can not go. Why? Because although Houston is located the closest to Cancun it is one of the highest priced. Continental is to blame.

check the deal here

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthr...87624&t=686703

no it isn't Continental's fault it is the free market--- that is how business works. I am sorry economics is so hard for you to grasp on this issue.
besides that is a all in V fare via Delta. A search by me finds other cities similarly priced.
A search via CO's own website has non-stop flights to cancun, during spring break for $345 roundtrip. Not bad at all
Aeromexico is cheaper at $274 but that is with a stop, connection, and longer journey. $345 rt is fair, why are you complaining?

And a quick review online by me and I can find cheaper fares and hotels to Cancun doing it myself-than an all in for ~$1600
the only benefit in that package is "Free alcohol" which often has a disclaimer at those resorts.
Besides you could fly airtran to ATL then catch that deal if you wanted.

You are not looking at the big picture or how the industry works.
You bring in discount players and you get the likes of Air Florida, hopefully minus the fatal crashes. For airlines to charge as little as you seem to want to pay, something has to give, service, realibilty, or safety. Normally a little bit of each.

Continental does not price in a vacuum on many Houston routes. That is why Houston has some of the cheapest fares in the USA, contrary to what you see. You can check via the WWW.BTS.Com

Ciao,
AWACS

[Mikey711MN]

...which is a resumption of service offered some years back to my understanding.

(since this has become the AUS aviation developments thread, I figured I'd post the news here)

From the press release:

Toronto-Austin, Texas

Starting May 1, 2008, daily, year-round non-stop service using a 75-seat Bombardier CRJ-705 Jazz regional aircraft featuring both Executive and Economy class and personal audio-visual entertainment at every seat. This will be the only daily, non-stop service between the two cities and solidifies Air Canada's position as the leading carrier serving the most destinations to Texas from Canada.

AC8115 will depart Toronto at 1:20 p.m. and arrive in Austin at 3:40p.m. AC8114 will depart Austin at 4:15p.m. and arrive in Toronto at 8:25p.m.. The flight provides convenient connections to London, U.K., in both directions.

[LoneStarMike]

Finally! DOT has approved VivaAerobus application to serve Austin. In spite of earlier news reports that this had already occurred, it was pending. It's official now as of January 23, 2008.

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspubli...000064803a1feb

[Mikey711MN]

Per the Austin Business Journal article...

In a press event on Jan. 29, the airline will announce the start of its daily, low-cost direct flights to Mexico from the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and unveil the dates and fares for the new service.

...and so it begins.

[LoneStarMike]

VivaAerobus has now posted a "map" of the Austin ULCC Terminal. Not a map of the terminal, per se, but rather a map of the airport showing it's location.

[LoneStarMike]

From their website Looks like the initial service will be to MTY and CUN only and will start on May 1, 2008. The introductory $9.99 fares are limited and require a purchase 5 weeks in advance.

LoneStarMike

[hookem]

Originally Posted by LoneStarMike

From their website Looks like the initial service will be to MTY and CUN only and will start on May 1, 2008. The introductory $9.99 fares are limited and require a purchase 5 weeks in advance.

Yeah, that's a huge ad on their home page! $9.99 from Austin to Cancun starting May 8.

Are they already building the terminal? Otherwise, they are going to have to put it up fast... less than 4 months left.

[pato79]

After taxes you end up paying only around $130 round trip! Awesome especially for me since I go to both locations at least once a year. Cant wait to get home, get my passport number and get some tickets.

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by hookem

Are they already building the terminal? Otherwise, they are going to have to put it up fast... less than 4 months left.

They're not actually building anything right now. They're renovating the old Texas National Guard Building. If and when passenger counts reach a certain level, then and only then will GECAS contruct the "permanent" low-cost termial.

Originally Posted by pato79

After taxes you end up paying only around $130 round trip

You may want to double check that price. It might be a little lower. Something I noticed is that when you choose your flights and go to the next page, out to the side it gives you your total fare in that green space. Directly underneath that, it says "Price Details" If you click on that, it gives you a completely different (lower) total fare. The discrepancy seems to be in the amount of tax being charged on the return flight to the US from Mexico.

BTW, this is the initial schedule

AUS-MTY - Depart AUS 14:20 - Arrive MTY 15:35
MTY-AUS - Depart MTY 07:00 - Arrive AUS 08:10

AUS-CUN - Depart AUS 08:45 - Arrive CUN 11:00
CUN-AUS - Depart CUN 11:25 - Arrive AUS 13:45.

So it looks like the initial schedule starts out in MTY at 07:00 and flies MTY-AUS-CUN-AUS-MTY, arriving back in MTY by 15:35.

[misterno]

WTF is going on with Austin? Howcome nothing is going on in Houston?

[hookem]

Originally Posted by misterno

WTF is going on with Austin? Howcome nothing is going on in Houston?

Houston always has several times the magnitude of things going on at their airport, don't worry. We Austinites just get excited about any new direct service, because it is a big deal for us. In Houston it would be no big deal.

I think H-Town recently got directs to Dubai and Signapore, further solidifying it's position in the handful of cities in the US with serious international routes. Now THAT is a big deal.

[hookem]

Incidentally, while Signapore and Dubai seem like awesome cities to see (especially if you like Skyscrapers), I'd never visit either because of fear of something like this happening:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...=1770&ito=1490

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapc...ion/index.html

[Spaceman]

Anyone who travels to foreign countries other than Australia, New Zealand,Japan, Argentina, Chile, and the Euro countries is a DAMN fool..If you travel to Northern Latin America, Southern and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and (DUH) Africa you deserve the problems that will occur there...

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by Spaceman

Anyone who travels to foreign countries other than Australia, New Zealand,Japan, Argentina, Chile, and the Euro countries is a DAMN fool..If you travel to Northern Latin America, Southern and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and (DUH) Africa you deserve the problems that will occur there...

There are plenty of wonderful foreign (and safe) places to visit. Just hit up the foreign sections of this forum to see for yourself. Visit the 'My City Photos International' section to see all the places. Even the places that are typically thought of as being off limits still have their charm and safety.

I do have to agree with you about Dubai and Singapore though. They've been on my no go list for a while.

[nixcity]

^Wow, a little harsh wouldn't you say. I hope to travel to all of those places eventually, one must abide by the laws of the nation you are traveling to. Oh, and by the way, just because its a European country doesn't mean its without problems. Problems can be found just around the corner, that doesn't mean I'm hiding out in my house.

[hookem]

Originally Posted by nixcity

^Wow, a little harsh wouldn't you say. I hope to travel to all of those places eventually, one must abide by the laws

Wait -- are you referring to Spaceman's post or the laws in the two cities I mentioned? Cause by my reckoning, those laws are a lot more harsh than his post...

Call me crazy, but if I'm going to visit a place I'd expect my worst experience to be that the hotel is noisy or has an uncomfortable bed. Maybe lost luggage, at the worst. 4 years in prison for a speck of pot on my shoe? No thanks... You can build another 200 floors on the Burj Dubai and I could care less.

[nixcity]

I was referring to the other places on the list, yes Dubai and Singapore both seem like facist hell to me.

[texastarkus]

Originally Posted by texastarkus

Low cost airline comes to Austin

06:42 PM CST on Monday, November 5, 2007

KVUE.com

An ultra low-cost air carrier Monday announced it will begin service out of Austin Bergstrom International Airport and hopes to attract passengers with its price -- starting at $9.99.

The U.S. Department of Transportation granted Mexico's vivaAerobus the right to fly out of ABIA Monday afternoon. The carrier will fly nonstop to Cancun, Guadalajara, León, Monterrey, Puebla, and Queretaro.

The airline in no frills, and it will have a new terminal that will have no jet bridges, sophisticated baggage handling, gates or ticket counters.

“The costs of flights between Mexico and the US have been too high for too long. We are going to be the first airline to offer genuinely low fares on international flights. We will attract thousands of new American tourists to the beautiful cities in Mexico, and we will position the city of Austin as a new tourist and business destination for the people of Mexico,” said Mike Szucs.

Flights start in March. Tickets go on sale in a couple of weeks, and the company plans to expand to three more cities by the end of the summer.

Since starting this thread, it's taken on a life of its own as an ABIA thread. I decided to change the title...

[LoneStarMike]

AUS gets yet another new destination - This time Long Beach, CA on JetBlue

JetBlue Press Release

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Customer-favorite JetBlue Airways (NasdaqGS:JBLU - News) today announces a major expansion of service in the western United States, with new premium low-fare service at Los Angeles International Airport plus new intrawest routes from other Southern California regional airports to Austin, Las Vegas, San Diego, San Jose, and Seattle, all beginning this May.

JetBlue will offer one roundtrip daily between Austin and Long Beach (LGB) starting May 1, 2008.

I don't ever remember getting this much new service in a single month. So far we have

May 1:

Viva Aerobus to Monterrey and Cancun
Air Canada to Toronto
JetBlue to Long Beach

May 2:

Northwest Airlines to Indianapolis

May 5:

US Airways to Charlotte

May 11:

Southwest to Fort Lauderdale and Oakland and a second daily nonstop to Denver.

(Southwest is dropping a nonstop to both Houston and Midland/Odessa, though)