Looking for some offbeat vacation ideas?
How about Chain Gang Fantasy Camps, escorted tours through
the finest penal colonies in North and South America?
Or Cumulative Four Star vacations, travel packages
consisting of your choice of one-star accommodations,
attractions and eateries, organized by a one-star airline?
Maybe you'd prefer to sample Free Range Airfares, exorbitant
rates and fiendishly outlandish itineraries determined by "Poulet-ulator
1000," not a computer but a chicken pecking on a calculator? A
recent routing proposed a 26-hour, 56-minute journey from
Brainerd, Minn., to St. Georges, Del., with two stops en route
for a mere $3,363 round trip, on a bench-class fare.
These are just some of the wacky and darkly ironic options
offered on the Web site of SkyHigh Airlines,
www.skyhighairlines.com, the low-cost carrier that claims to
pursue "Excellence Through Compromise" and offers sales
slogans such as "Flying is expensive. Let us cheapen the
experience," or "We've got our heads in the clouds."
Even considering the steady erosion over the last few years
of such quaint notions as customer service and in-flight
amenities on most domestic airlines, no carrier could survive
for very long offering features like these.
Of course, SkyHigh has one major advantage over the
competition. It doesn't actually exist.
The "unnovative" airline and Web site were created three
years ago by Wong Doody, a Seattle advertising agency, as part
of a parody campaign for Alaska Airlines. Backed by radio and
TV spots, the campaign ran in West Coast markets.
According to Kari Connor, Wong Doody account supervisor for
Alaska Airways, the site has been visited by more than
1,200,000 people since it went up and still gets 15,000 to
20,000 visitors each month. "The climate for travel was pretty
grim post-9/11. We wanted to reinforce the idea that Alaska
treats its passengers better, and SkyHigh gave us a great
foil."
There have been some updates, and a mock in-flight catalog
"Nice-ssities" was added, presenting "products inspired by
real customer complaints." It won a Golden Lion award at
Cannes Festival last year.
Although the ad campaign ended, the SkyHigh Web site keeps
providing plenty of lift. Even a brief visit will amuse any
air passenger who's endured a grueling flight or shoddy
service. Ditto for online travel searchers frustrated
negotiating with arcane fare regulations and flight options.
For example, nine short SkyHigh audio spots tout such
concepts as "friend-maker fares," which let passengers meet
new seatmates at every stop on its many-connection
itineraries. How about the "Gate Change Workout" or innovative
ideas like "virtual first class," special goggles that let you
imagine you're dining on fine food and wine.
The site even pokes fun at airline executives. For
instance: Howard Barium, SkyHigh's imperious CEO and chairman,
whose duties include "making even more arbitrary yet
unquestioned decisions." In short, SkyHigh Airlines is a
creative, insightful effort, and a hoot to boot. It's worth a
visit, even if you can't make a booking.
(Pittsburgh Post-Gazette travel editor David Bear can be
reached at dbear(at)post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service,
www.shns.com.)
