The Low Cost Carriers are starting to have a huge battle with costs. JetBlue learned it could lose money this quarter, and Southwest is facing a huge, 600 million dollar, fuel cost increase as its hedges are running out. So now the battle  is to increase ticket prices to remain viable companies.

We need a higher average fare for our tickets,” said David Neeleman, chief executive officer at JetBlue, which reported its first quarterly loss this month and is forecasting a loss for all of 2006.
“We need to get another five bucks or 10 bucks if we really want to make some money,” he said.
Laura Wright, chief financial officer at Southwest, said it’s facing $600 million in higher fuel costs this year and will need to cover that expense.
“We’re going to have to see revenue improvement to cover those fuel costs,” she said. via Seattle PI.

It is a very rough time to be an airline. The industry needs to determine a pricing structure that works for themselves and the customers.

As reported here as a tip previously, Southwest has wised up and made remote check in a feature, allowing the traveler to print their boarding pass from the kiosks.

Travelers flying Southwest Airlines can now use their wireless computer connection to check-in for a flight, cancel boarding passes and obtain other flight information.

Any customer with a confirmed reservation and access to a wireless system with a web browser can take advantage of the new service by going to www.southwest.com or mobile.southwest.com via bizjournals.com.

This is a great tip from the blogger The Social Customer Manifesto on how to get to the head of the Southwest A-B-C seating game if you are in a hotel and can not print out your boarding pass.

If I didn’t check-in before I left the hotel, I’d be destined for a “Group C” boarding experience. But if I did check-in online, I wouldn’t have a boarding pass to get through security. What to do?

Then I remembered “the magic option” on the Southwest Airlines kiosks that I had seen when I had checked in for my outbound flight. That magic option? “Reprint Boarding Pass.” (I had actually needed to use this option when checking in for my outbound flight, as the first boarding pass had jammed coming out of the printer and had been ripped to ribbons in the process.) 

Read the rest at The Social Customer Manifesto.

Talk about a great gift for that someone you know who loves to travel. A great way to drop the subtle hint that you would like them to come and visit.

Southwest Gift Card Page.

Hat Tip Ben Mutzabaugh.

It looks like Southwest is going after US AIRWAYS by taking on more gates at Philadelphia International Airport.

Southwest operates from six gates at the Philadelphia airport now. By early January, the airline plans to take over leases on two gates used by UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, said Steve Sisneros, Southwest’s manager of properties. By spring, Southwest will get four gates now used by Delta Air Lines Inc.

Southwest’s expansion could further pressure US Airways to cut prices. In 2004, when Southwest invaded US Airways’ Philadelphia turf, average one-way fares here dropped 26%.

Southwest serves 61 cities nationwide, and it recently announced plans to start flying from Denver.

US Airways spokesman Philip Gee told The Philadelphia Inquirer for a story in Thursday editions that the airline wasn’t fazed by Southwest’s expansion plans. He said America West Airlines, which acquired US Airways out of bankruptcy court, has competed for years with Southwest in Las Vegas and Phoenix, where both airlines have hubs. US Airways and America West are merging their operations under the deal, which was completed in September. via USA Today

Zagats released their US Airline Rankings today, with Midwest Express and Jetblue leading the way.

The Top Ten Airlines Rated By Zagat Readers

1. Midwest Airlines
2. JetBlue Airways
3. Song
4. Frontier Airlines
5. Independence Air
6. Hawaiian Airlines
7. Alaska Airlines
8.Aloha Airlines
9. Continental Airlines
10. Southwest Airlines

The email scam of phishing has a new target. Members of Frequent Flyer Programs. Phishing is the act of sending out an email in the name of a company you have an account with. The emails typically inform you of a supposed problem with your account, and then redirect you to a fake site. There they try to extract information out of you so they can steal from either your account or steal you identity.

These attacks previously had targeted banks and paypal accounts. Now these thieves have set their sites on frequent traveler accounts.

Anywhere [consumers]strong> might have a stored profile might present the same risk,” said Eric Olson, a vice president at Cyveillance, an Arlington, Va., company that specializes in tracking Internet risk and fraud.

It may be especially risky for the Internet-savvy frequent traveler.

“Super-platinum members of hotel chains spend a great deal of money on travel. That is a perfect target for a scammer.”

Two of the largest hotel frequent-guest programs appear to have been targeted by phishers, the hotels’ websites suggest: the Hilton HHonors program and the Starwood Preferred Guest program. Neither Starwood nor Hilton returned phone calls asking for comment about phishing.

The Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum celebrates th history of ballooning. The location of the museum, Albuquerque, NM otherwise known as the “Balloon Capital of the World.” There is nothing more picturesque than to see the mass release of balloons into the air of the many shapes colors and sizes. The museum will offer great insight in to the questions that so many most likely had but were afraid to ask, myself included

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) One look at the autumn sky here, dotted each morning with colorful hot-air balloons, shows why the city has come to be known as the “Balloon Capital of the World.” That reputation will only grow next month with the opening of a unique museum devoted to the rich history of this most graceful form of flight. The Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum is scheduled to open October 1, coinciding with Albuquerque’s annual Balloon Fiesta, which starts the day before and draws people from around the world.

“For people who aren’t balloonists … there’s a sense of wonder about how these things get up in the air. And who are these people that wake up so early in the morning to do this?” said Marilee Schmit Nason, curator of collections for the new museum. “Our museum will answer those questions and the questions people never knew to ask.”

(Full story)