Discount airline NewLeaf is offering passengers the chance to bid on unfilled airline seats.
The company has partnered with Calgary-based company Jump On Flyaways, which collects the bids on the unsold seats. The company then presents the reasonable bids to NewLeaf for consideration, and the airline then decides which offers to accept. NewLeaf can accept offers at any time up until 48 hours prior to a flight’s departure time. Once a bid is accepted, the traveller’s credit card is charged.
NewLeaf President and CEO Jim Young says this gives the company another distribution channel to get its fares into the market.
“About 20 per cent of all airline seats go unsold,” said Young. “We thought this was a great idea in which to allow Canadians access to our ultra-low cost fares through our program.”
The airline has 11 routes, including destinations in Victoria, Kelowna, Kamloops and Abbotsford.
“We know that we're not going to accept very many one penny and five cent bids. But if you watch our fares and see how fares prices are changing, you may be able to put in a bid at a slight discount that may be accepted,” said Young.
The airline’s first flight is set to depart on Mon. July 25.
