SONG AIRLINES
Written: May 01 '04 (Updated Jan 06 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Music trivia, dish network at every seat.
Cons: hung in the air circling the airports, but can't blame Song for that.
The Bottom Line: Song makes you feel at ease and occupied, all at a very competitive price!
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| scapp70's Full Review: Song Airlines |
How I Became Acquainted With Song
Last month (March 2004), my family and me wanted to take a trip to Orlando. We sort of felt guilty because, we just got back from there late November 2003. To compromise (sort of), was to budget this trip a little bit extra. One of the hard parts was to find a cheaper flight. Prices have seemed to climb very high as of late. I talked to a Continental representative, while trying to see if they had cheaper unadvertised prices, she told me no, and she thinks prices will continue to climb because of the inflating cost for fuel. That makes sense to me, but I couldn't give up with that discouraging speculation.
With the help of a wonderful free software, that anyone can download, called Sidestep I found comparatively very inexpensive airfare for the dates I needed. I had two choices, I could have flown from JFK to Tampa, Florida via Hooters Airlines for about $160, which I was kind of curious and excited about, or fly with Song from JFK directly to Orlando for $140 RT. My wife didn't share my excitement about Hooters so we went along with Song. Plus it made more sense to fly directly to Orlando for such a short trip; we were just staying for four nights.
My Preparation
Living here in the NYC area, it has always been easy for me to just hop on over to Newark Airport and fly out from there. I know it and it's easy. Song does not fly out of Newark at the same price as they do when they fly out of JFK. It is definitely worth it to try a new airport than to pay the extra money to use Newark. I have never been to JFK, I didn't know how far it would be or complicated once we got there, so my wife and I made a trial run to JFK the day before.
We jumped in the car and drove just a short half hour to JFK. We tried to follow the airport signs, but we didn't see any that read Song. I knew that Song was affiliated with Delta, so we drove to the area where it read Delta (Florida). We found it, so far this trip was a piece of cake.
I had made my reservations with Song through my credit card's travel department. They never e-mailed or mailed me my tickets or itinerary. We went inside and went to the Song area and tried to find help about this.
Song proved friendly and helpful
One of the nice people of Song's staff directed me to the black telephones to talk with a Song representative. This female rep, named Cynthia, was very helpful and very friendly. I was a bit nervous that I would run into problems with this reservation, but she immediately put me at ease and painted a smile on my face.
She printed out my itinerary while I was still on the phone with her and all was fine. I went home, cross my hands behind my head and was able to relax about my trip that was less than 24 hours away.
The Flight
On Song's website, they tell you that they are able to offer less expensive airfare by not offering any free meals. They do have a large variety of foods to purchase for an airline. I may have purchased something, but nothing was Atkins friendly. The price for the food seemed a little high. My wife and I purchased a couple of small bags of peanuts in the airport before we boarded and we were content for the two and a half hour flight. They offer free soda and water, which we accepted. No Pepsi, but I guess we could settle for the second best, Coke.
The menu on their web site looks like this:
» breakfast «
served on flights departing before 9:30 am
Honey Wheat Deli Bagel $3: Available with jam and, of course, cream cheese
Stonyfield Farms Yogurt and Natursource Granola $3: Mountain Crunch Granola and yogurt
Breakfast Sandwich $6: Turkey on whole-wheat croissant with cream cheese
» lunch & later «
served on flights departing after 9:30am
Song Signature $8: It's the special of the day...ask your Song Flight Attendant. Everything
goes well with our Bonterra Chardonnay.
Mediterranean Vegetable & Toasted Lavosh Vegan Sandwich $8: Roasted butternut squash, grilled eggplant and zucchini, and roasted bell pepper served on toasted lavosh bread, with organic brown rice and tofu cream cheese. May we suggest a nice, meaty Bonterra Cabernet to go with it?
Oregano Scented Organic Chicken & Baby Spinach Salad $8: Served on a bed of baby spinach salad, with plenty of feta cheese, Greek olives, cherry tomatoes and croutons. We've topped it with Newman's Own Balsamic Vinaigrette. Enjoy this with a Song Sunrise...shaken, not stirred.
all day choices
Fruit and Cheese Snack $4: Triangle cut domestic cheddar and Swiss cheese wedges, with red seedless grapes, dried fruits and hearty crackers
Odwalla Super Protein™ Bar $3
Lunchables $3: Meat, cheese, and crackers
Pringles $2: Originals
Mrs. Field's $2: Chocolate chip cookies
Snickers $2: by M&M/Mars
Skittles $2: by M&M/Mars
Natursource $2: Unwind Trail Mix
beverages
Complimentary: Coca Cola Products, Minute Maid Juices, tomato juice, Mr. & Mrs. T's Bloody Mary Mix, milk, coffee, and tea
Available for Purchase (for those who can't go two hours without alcohol - Scapp70):
Beer $4 domestics, $5 imports
Miller Lite / Miller MGD / Amstel Light / Heineken
Wine $5
Bonterra Cabernet / Bonterra Chardonnay / Korbel Champagne
Spirits $5
Finlandia Vodka / Dewar's Scotch Whiskey
Maker's Mark Bourbon / Bacardi Rum / Jack Daniel's Whiskey / Crown Royal Whiskey / Tanqueray Gin / Bailey's Irish Cream
Signature Cocktails $5
Song Sunrise: Finlandia vodka shaken with orange juice, topped with a splash of cranapple, served in our signature martini glass
Song Twisted Madras: Southern Twist liqueur shaken with cranapple and orange juice
Song also distributes free earphones unlike many other airlines. When I am home, I enjoy my Dish Network satellite service. Now whenever I fly Song, I don't have to miss it. Here on the flight they have a bare bones, basic channel selection that spanned about 14 channels I think if I remember correctly. There's Nicolodeon, CNN, E!, FOX News, something for everybody. Yet, if you're not interested in watching television, you could play music trivia with other participants on this flight. For those playing, I believe, it gives a sense of community. I won every game of course being a music trivia addict, and the score tells you what seat number is winning, and whatever screen name you choose. A lot of the time, I would get a wave or nod of acknowledgement that I am champion on this flight. It proved to be great fun my wife and me, (she cheated off of me).
The thing I miss and would also choose to watch is the flight map channel that some airlines offer. I like watching the flight's progress, I know, it sounds crazy.
The Plane & Service
I found the seats to be nice and colorful, almost in a 1970's retro style. The legroom didn't seem to be any bigger or smaller than other planes. It was good enough for us, especially since we have dropped some major poundage since we have been on this Atkins diet. The plane seemed to be clean in the seating area and in the bathrooms.
The service was very friendly for all areas. The flight attendants usually wore smiles and we even heard the friendly voice of the pilot every now and again.
All in all, I found it to be a joy flying on Song Airlines. The televisions at each seat made the flight, well, fly by. The plane seemed sanitary and the service is usually met with a smile. It gave me a secure feeling to fly with Song probably because they made me feel very much at ease the whole flight. If it weren't for my achy ears from circling the airports for a half hour waiting to land, I would forget I was in the air at all.
Updated: (11/19/2005)
Well, it seems that the rumor with Delta's recent bankruptcy woes, that Delta will be discontinuing their services with Song airlines. But now, it looks like instead Delta will instead expand and upgrade their service on Song airlines.
This is good news for me, because I prefer Song airlines, and I am glad that at the time of this writing, that Song is here to stay...for now anyway.
Rating: 4 and 1/2 stars.
Updated: (01/06/2005)
Song has recently announced that this Spring of 2006, they will add two more non-stop destinations from its Salt Lake City hub which brings their number to 100 non-stop flights. The two new destinations will be to New Orleans, Louisiana and also to Long Beach, California. I suppose that this is part of the expanding and upgrading that they spoke of toward the end of 2005.
Just remember to try and book your flight online for cheaper seats. Surcharges are added if tickets are purchased over the telephone or at an airport. The surcharges could be somewhere around $10 - $15 per ticket, and that could add up.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
scapp70
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Member: Michael Scapp
Location: NYC
Reviews written: 496
Trusted by: 258 members
About Me:
STOP Obama on 'NET NEUTRALITY'! Too much power = corruption!
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