Another ski trip canceled

I booked a ski trip for a group of 8 to Whistler for February 2008 flying into Bellingham, WA on Skybus. I purchased these tickets July 11, 2007 and since then have booked and paid for lodging and rental vans (at the BLI airport). I received an email from Skybus October 16 stating they will no longer be servicing this route after January 6, 2008 and my account will be credited.

We selected this ski location because of the low fares offered through Skybus - it fit everyone’s budget. We are left with either cancelling our trip and losing the money paid for rental vans/lodging or paying premium airfares due to our, now, lack of flexibility with our schedule and having to flying into an airport that is more expensive.

I am extremely disappointed with the manner in which Skybus has chosen to handle this situation. The responsible action would have been to fulfill the dates they offered on their website and cancel the route after March 6. If this was not a viable option, Skybus should have offered to place confirmed passenger’s on another airline carrier in order to carry out their scheduled itineraries.

I am a repeat flyer on Skybus, as are several others in the group. We have raved about Skybus since its inception but are left feeling nothing but contempt for Skybus after this situation. This has been an eye opening experience for all and moving forward, we would spend the extra money to have peace of mind that our flight is truly “confirmed”.

Airlines have to work hard to gain a competitive edge. Doing so includes making ethical decisions and acting in a responsible manner. I do not believe this situation was handled responsibly. Unfortunately, this spells trouble for the future of Skybus as well as their future passengers.