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With the day of pranks just a chuckle or two away, Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK’s website for flight price comparison is celebrating April Fools by searching for the airlines with the best practical jokes and producing the top five winners. “Travellers pay attention; when it comes to April Fools, some airlines are notorious for their practical jokes, so be on the lookout for fantasy flights, false fares, and other foolish fun,” says Nadine Hallak, Travel Expert for Cheapflights.co.uk…
With the day of pranks just a chuckle or two away, Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK’s website for flight price comparison is celebrating April Fools by searching for the airlines with the best practical jokes and producing the top five winners.
“Travellers pay attention; when it comes to April Fools, some airlines are notorious for their practical jokes, so be on the lookout for fantasy flights, false fares, and other foolish fun,” says Nadine Hallak, Travel Expert for Cheapflights.co.uk.
Virgin
For a brand that’s usually associated with stunts, it makes sense they wouldn’t miss out on an opportunity to share some laughter with their customers through pranks that are difficult to distinguish from their usual on-board entertainment.
In Australia, Virgin Blue ran ads for on-board tanning services along with publishing half-price fares for standing room only on their website, which more than 1000 people attempted to book.
Virgin Atlantic has also taken part in the folly over the years with announcements such as ‘V Married’, an in-flight marriage service inviting couples to toast using real champagne flutes and make speeches to more than 300 guests, after saying ‘I do’ to a ceremony conducted by the pilot.
American Airlines
Claiming a believable effort to lower carbon emissions, American Airlines professed to be launching a solar powered aircraft that produced zero emissions for transatlantic flights. This miracle craft was even pictured, resembling more of a spaceship than a plane, and professed to luxuriate passengers within its range of bars, restaurants, private suites, and golf courses. As with anything that sounds too good to be true, this flight of fantasy was exactly that.
Westjet
The Canadian airline applied humour to baggage fees and created a hoax around sleeping cabins – i.e. transformation of the overhead baggage compartments into sleeping pods for an extra $12. However, customers who rang to book didn’t walk away with nothing as they were offered a 10% discount on their seat price as a reward for playing along to good humour.
British Airways
Back in 2008 when the travel industry had more time for frivolity, British Airways joked that CEO Willie Walsh would serve as a specialist flight attendant on Silverjet providing shoe polishing services to passengers. In addition, they claimed once he was on the ground at Dublin International Airport, he would spend some time collecting baggage on behalf of Ryanair. The hoax grew larger when Ryanair added it would return the favour by supplying BA with some of its staff to help out with the then newly launched T5 at Heathrow. As much as it would have been fun to have a shoe shine from Willie Walsh, it was all in the name of foolishness.
Ryanair
Where other airlines come out with April Fools jokes that seem real but aren’t, Ryanair does the opposite. Last year’s announcement about switching to paid toilets is actually true. The airline is said to be in talks with Boeing about designing coin-operated loos that will charge customers around a hefty £1 per use. They’ve defended their plan by claiming that they hope to teach passengers to use the loo before flying in order to save on the fuel consumption tied to excess take-off weight. Luckily for passengers, Ryanair’s routes are all relatively short haul.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales. She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
