OneGo’s subscription-based flight service for just $1,500 is certainly an interesting concept. But additional costs for rebooking and access to coast-to-coast flights may make it a difficult buy for small businesses.
Subscription-based commercial flight services haven’t really been attempted yet, for a variety of reasons.
But flight booking start-up OneGo wants to attract small companies and business travelers by offering unlimited domestic U.S. flights for the price of a monthly subscription payment.
Unlimited air bookings isn’t exactly a new thing; high-spenders and constant flyers have been rewarded with similar programs from airlines themselves for years.
“We’re not sure why anyone hasn’t tried this model before,” OneGo CEO and founder Paulius Grigas told Skift. Right away the service will offer access to 500 domestic routes.
The services uses global distribution systems to perform the flight information discovery and booking aspects, but wraps the process in an iOS app, allowing subscribers to choose flights through a simple graphical user interface. Desktop or Android booking are not available yet.
The sweet spot for OneGo will likely be the business travelers who need to fly often one month, and not much the next; the subscription is monthly, and companies pay month-by-month.
Grigas envisions the service as a great value-add for companies to attract talent, since the service allows for personal flights in addition to business trips, and smaller companies looking for a way to contain air travel costs. Putting the booking choice in the hands of the flyers, instead of an agent, may also be appealing to small companies and more experienced road-warriors.
Airline miles do accrue as normal, too.
While the company touts the $1,500 price for unlimited flights in its cheapest region, more costly fees make the service a more realistic choice for travelers. It charges a non-refundable $495 account creation fee to even try the service, for instance.
Using the base subscription, flights must be booked seven days in advance and flights can’t be changed once originally booked. Business-class and first-class tickets aren’t available through the service under any plan. And users are limited to four simultaneous open reservations, meaning that unlimited flights is something of a misnomer.
For OneGo to act as a truly on-demand flight subscription service, the price increases dramatically. Unlimited flights across the country with last-minute booking and unlimited changes costs $6,000.
National: We offer over 500 routes, representing more than 700,000 daily seats across 76 airports. We will continue adding routes to our nationwide package throughout the coming months.
Cost of the National Plan = $2,950.
West: We offer 35 routes, including the most flown routes in that region, representing around 100,000 daily seats across 14 airports.
Cost of the West Plan = $1,500.
West Add-Ons: Last-Minute Booking = $1,000; Unlimited Changes = $750; More Reservations = $500.East: We offer the top 158 routes, representing more than 350,000 daily seats across 43 airports.
Cost of the East Plan = $2,300.
East Add-Ons: Last-Minute Booking = $1,500; Unlimited Changes = $750; More Reservations = $500.Central: We offer 35 routes, including the most flown routes in that region, representing more than 60,000 daily seats across 18 airports.
Cost of the Central Plan = $1,950.
Central Add-Ons: Last-Minute Booking = $1,250; Unlimited Changes = $750; More Reservations = $500.