A new, no frills discount airline Skybus is operating in the United States and selling flights for less than $10 a ticket. For such a cheap ticket there are a few catches of course: no food, limited amounts of checked luggage, no assigned seating, and all flights route through Columbus Ohio. The concept will be immediately familiar to anyone who’s traveled on a similar discount airlines in Europe. For European airlines such as EasyJet and RyanAir it’s not uncommon to get flights for as little as for €1 or £1. If you’ve traveled on one of those airlines you know what I mean when I say don’t expect the same level of ‘service’ you’ve been receiving on other airlines.

For example, with Skybus, there is no toll-free number for you to call. In fact, there’s no phone number at all. Email only. According to their FAQ page here’s what to do if you have a complaint:

We’d love to hear from you. You can send us a message by filling out the form that’s on our Contact Us page. We can’t guarantee a personal response to your message, but rest assured it will be delivered to a real Skybus employee.

In other words, they’ll read it, but you’ll probably get an automatic reply. Here are a few more caveats:

In flight entertainment? “Bring a book”
Canceled Flight? You’ll get a refund.
Delayed? “Don’t be Late. We won’t wait and we’ll leave without you.”
Hungry? Eat before you leave. “Don’t Sneak Food Onboard.”
First Class Seating? Pick your own seat. $10 to get to the front of the line.

Anyway, it’s entertaining reading even if you’d never fly with them. And for some people wanting what the Europeans have had for years, it will be perfect. Rumor has it that Skybus sold 97,000 seats on the first day of this offer alone.