Archive for July 18th, 2008
July 18th, 2008
It’s looking less and less likely that Rockford will ever get Allegiant’s Fort Lauderdale service back again.
The airline is cutting service from five cities to FLL, leaving only three cities with service there. The unlucky five are Allentown, Penn.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Greensboro, N.C.; Huntington, W.Va, and Tri-Cities, Tenn.
Obviously, fuel prices are a big factor. Also, it seems that FLL just never, er, took off like Allegiant’s other Florida destinations. But maybe that’s because it started at such a bad economic time, and never had a chance to grow.
If and when Allegiant gives up on Fort Lauderdale for good, at least out of RFD, look for our airport officials to try to start service to Fort Myers.
July 18th, 2008
EDIT: Apologies, an old draft of this got posted Friday with some wrong prices. I’ll keep that from happening again!
Woodman’s was apparently the first to drop below $4 a gallon for regular unleaded gas today. Let me know if you see others follow suit. Call 815-987-1343, email tbona@rrstar.com or comment here.
Today’s drop makes this morning’s price report outdated already. But here goes, anyway (Numbers courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):
Gasoline: Rockford dropped more than two cents to a record $4.20  $4.17 (sorry!) a gallon. We’re fourth in the state in gas prices. The state average increased more than a cent to a record $4.25 $4.24 a gallon. The national average dropped almost a cent to a record $4.11. Illinois has the eighth-highest gas prices in the nation.
Diesel: Rockford dropped almost a cent this morning to $4.82, about four cents below the record set in May. We have the fifth-highest diesel prices in the state. The state average dropped half a cent to remain at $4.86 a gallon. The national average dropped less than a cent to remain at $4.84 a gallon. Illinois has the 19th-highest prices in the country (including the District of Columbia).
July 18th, 2008
For a limited time, if you buy a ticket to Las Vegas and a hotel package, you get a second ticket free.
But, wait, you may say! With fuel prices so high, how can they afford to give tickets away? Because that’s not where they’re making their money. They make it on hotel packages, sightseeing tours and other add ons you can buy. Basically, they just want to recoup their costs of getting you there when they set airfare. With this special, they’re hoping to entice more package trips to make up for declining travel nationwide. Also, if you have one good experience with Allegiant, you’re more likely to use them again.
The deal is good out of RFD, but you have to buy by July 30 for travel by the end of the year. I priced a three-night stay on the strip as low as $637, including airfare, room, airport shuttle and taxes and fees. But my wife tells me we’re traveling enough this year.
