Scrumpy492003 From Canada, joined Jul 2007, 170 posts, RR: 0 Posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 9100 times:
Per The BBC
Two seats on the first commercial flight of the Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger plane - have been sold for $100,380 (£49,755).
The premium seats were auctioned on eBay by Singapore Airlines (SIA), which is operating the superjumbo flight.
A regular one-way first class seat would normally cost $3,391.
Starting prices did range from just over 3 pounds and up.
Sure the money all goes to Charity, BUT who has that to spare except for the likes of Sir Richard B.
KC135TopBoom From United States of America, joined Jan 2005, 10595 posts, RR: 53 Reply 1, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 9082 times:
Quoting Scrumpy492003 (Thread starter): Two seats on the first commercial flight of the Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger plane - have been sold for $100,380 (£49,755).
The premium seats were auctioned on eBay by Singapore Airlines (SIA), which is operating the superjumbo flight.
A regular one-way first class seat would normally cost $3,391.
That's a lot of money to pay for a ride that will be like most other airplanes (except the Concorde).
Airbazar From United States of America, joined Sep 2003, 5970 posts, RR: 9 Reply 2, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 9038 times:
Quoting Scrumpy492003 (Thread starter): Sure the money all goes to Charity, BUT who has that to spare except for the likes of Sir Richard B.
I'm sure there are plenty of airline enthusiasts who have that kind of money to spare, not to mention hundreds of news outlets around the World.
MD80fanatic From United States of America, joined Apr 2004, 2603 posts, RR: 11 Reply 3, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 8844 times:
$100000 could get you 30 Zero-G flights, and a couple million more could get you to space. What a waste. The only redeeming factor is that it goes to charity.
CXfirst From Norway, joined Jan 2007, 2244 posts, RR: 1 Reply 5, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 8588 times:
Quoting Scrumpy492003 (Thread starter): Sure the money all goes to Charity, BUT who has that to spare except for the likes of Sir Richard B.
Maybe it is him, wanting a scheduled flight feel for the A380. After all SQ owns a lot of VS, so I don't think he or SQ have something personal against each other.
wait.......he'd probably make a PR stunt out of that, not him.
DL767captain From United States of America, joined Mar 2007, 2539 posts, RR: 0 Reply 6, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 8477 times:
if that is true then the whale jet is worth it for the passenger, it costs almost $5000 on UA to go to europe from LAX, so $3,391 for first class sounds pretty good
Boeing743 From United States of America, joined Jun 2007, 406 posts, RR: 0 Reply 7, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 8012 times:
it will be interest to see how loads will be on first flight and future flights as the price is little higher.
Stitch From United States of America, joined Jul 2005, 22955 posts, RR: 78 Reply 8, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 7991 times:
Since the money goes to charity, could it be used as a tax write-off?
PanAm747 From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 4242 posts, RR: 11 Reply 9, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 7939 times:
Quote: Since the money goes to charity, could it be used as a tax write-off?
In the United States, a company such as SQ can officially donate two seats for a charity raffle. As long as the recipient of every penny of the raffle goes to a registered non-profit organization, they can write the cost of that off their taxes.
Since the person who is bidding on the tickets is technically making a donation to a non-profit, I believe they can write off the cost of the tickets. However, tax laws are notoriously convoluted, and it is possible that if the money goes directly from the bidder to SQ and THEN to charity, it might not count.
Quote: Sure the money all goes to Charity, BUT who has that to spare except for the likes of Sir Richard B.
There are many people in the world for whom a $100,000 is pocket change. Off the top of my head any of the Walton family (of Wal-Mart fame), Oprah Winfrey, and J.K. Rowling probably find that kind of money in the folds of their sofas.
Pan Am:The World's Most Experienced Airline - P(oor) S(ailor's) A(irline): San Diego's Hometown Airline-Catch Our Smile!
VC10DC10 From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 891 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 7917 times:
Quoting PanAm747 (Reply 9):
Since the person who is bidding on the tickets is technically making a donation to a non-profit, I believe they can write off the cost of the tickets. However, tax laws are notoriously convoluted, and it is possible that if the money goes directly from the bidder to SQ and THEN to charity, it might not count.
I'm certainly no tax expert, but one possibility is that the purchaser/donor of these seats will be able to write off the total except for a "fair market valuation" of the ticket. In other words, $100k-$3.3K (normal cost for SIN-LHR in F) = $96.7K writeoff.
Brilondon From Canada, joined Aug 2005, 2094 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 7912 times:
Quoting PanAm747 (Reply 9):
There are many people in the world for whom a $100,000 is pocket change. Off the top of my head any of the Walton family (of Wal-Mart fame), Oprah Winfrey, and J.K. Rowling probably find that kind of money in the folds of their sofas.
The Walton family would never part with that much money for anything. They don't even drive very fancy cars or have any real lavish offices.
PanAm747 From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 4242 posts, RR: 11 Reply 13, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 16 hours ago) and read 7878 times:
Quote: The Walton family would never part with that much money for anything. They don't even drive very fancy cars or have any real lavish offices.
VERY true!! They are an extraordinarily modest (but comfortable) family.
I was thinking of using the example of Doug Steenland, but I'd REALLY get for that one!!
Good thing I didn't mention his name, huh?
Pan Am:The World's Most Experienced Airline - P(oor) S(ailor's) A(irline): San Diego's Hometown Airline-Catch Our Smile!
AirplaneCrazy From United States of America, joined May 2006, 29 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 15 hours ago) and read 7834 times:
Quoting Stitch (Reply 8): Since the money goes to charity, could it be used as a tax write-off?
According to the auction faq you cannot claim a tax deduction for the charity flight. SIA will not claim a tax deduction either.
"http://www.auctionwire.ca/SIA/faqs.html"
I'm sorry the above isn't a live link, but I can't get the above URL to format correctly because the forum software is automatically processing "SIA". Here is the relevant text:
1.2.13 Will I get a tax rebate since the money goes to charity?
The successful bidder will not receive a tax rebate through this charity auction because Singapore Airlines is selling a ticket and a service to the successful bidder. The transaction between the successful buyer and Singapore Airlines is a sale of an airline ticket.
Upon receiving all proceeds, Singapore Airlines will make the donation to the named charity or charities. To be fair to all successful bidders who bid in the spirit of generosity, Singapore Airlines will NOT be filing for a tax rebate for the donation.
Everyone involved makes the contribution to be part of a historical event, not gain a tax benefit
FlyDeltaJets87 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 15, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 6955 times:
Quoting KC135TopBoom (Reply 1): That's a lot of money to pay for a ride that will be like most other airplanes (except the Concorde).
Yea, but it's the idea of being the first to do it that's worth it to people with money to spare. I mean, look at how much people will pay for a "special" baseball that looks exactly like any other regulation MLB ball.
I wonder if any US citizen purchasing a ticket could put down all or part of the airfare as a tax write-off for a charitable donation.
Scrumpy492003 From Canada, joined Jul 2007, 170 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 6955 times:
That makes sense, because they said that the higher price in the auction - for the seat that you are bidding on, the better service erc. you will receive, the lowest starting price probably doesn't get a window, is next to the washrooms perhaps and is just along for the ride!
BEYauty From Lebanon, joined Aug 2005, 160 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 6750 times:
Quoting Scrumpy492003 (Thread starter): Two seats on the first commercial flight of the Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger plane - have been sold for $100,380 (£49,755).
The premium seats were auctioned on eBay by Singapore Airlines (SIA), which is operating the superjumbo flight.
I hope they get more than just pretezels and a Coke during that flight!! Anyone know if they will be catering any special meals for that flight? Or will it be the regular meal service for that class flown?
777STL From United States of America, joined Dec 2004, 2863 posts, RR: 4 Reply 18, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 5657 times:
Quoting Brilondon (Reply 11): The Walton family would never part with that much money for anything. They don't even drive very fancy cars or have any real lavish offices.
Haha, you're kidding right? I went to college with one of Sam Walton's grandsons and lived in the same town as two of Walton's daughters. His grandson drove a Ferrari. The two sisters donated millions upon millions of dollars to the school I went to as well as various not-for profits. Hell, one of them donated $30+ million just to build a new sports arena for the school.
Charles79 From United States of America, joined Mar 2007, 1222 posts, RR: 5 Reply 19, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 5657 times:
This is excellent news for the aviation world, the fact that a new plane can still generate that much enthusiasm among the public. It sure brings memories when flying was an event, not part of everyday life. Plus the fact that the money goes to charity is the icing in the cake.
Quoting FlyDeltaJets87 (Reply 15): Yea, but it's the idea of being the first to do it that's worth it to people with money to spare. I mean, look at how much people will pay for a "special" baseball that looks exactly like any other regulation MLB ball.
For some people, being the first to do something is worth a lot of money. In the car industry this is called a "stupid" tax, when buyers pay a markup (sometimes in excess of $50K) just to have the first F430, new M3, SLR, Gallardo, etc, on the block. More frugal folks (who are still insanely rich) wait several months after the rave is gone and now you can pick up, say, a Bentley Conti GT or a Gallardo for not much over sticker.
Ptugarin From United States of America, joined Sep 2006, 318 posts, RR: 0 Reply 20, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 5462 times:
I wonder how long it will take until A380 fares become similar to other fares. SQ should donate all additional earnings to charity because the agitation over the new aircraft type probably will not calm down for a while, and there will be enough aviation enthusiasts willing to pay a high premium to fly the whale jet probably though the end of the year.
Newagebird From Australia, joined Sep 2005, 64 posts, RR: 2 Reply 21, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 5101 times:
haha a mate of mine got invited by his boss to be on that first flight...lucky basta*rd..for free might i add!
dawn of a new era
good luck to airbus and singapore
Azhobo From United States of America, joined Jun 2007, 348 posts, RR: 0 Reply 22, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 11 hours ago) and read 5072 times:
Quoting CXfirst (Reply 5): Maybe it is him, wanting a scheduled flight feel for the A380. After all SQ owns a lot of VS, so I don't think he or SQ have something personal against each other.
wait.......he'd probably make a PR stunt out of that, not him.
Yeah randy will probably be on the flight talking EXTRA LOUD to make his blog point.
Maersk737 From Denmark, joined Feb 2004, 621 posts, RR: 1 Reply 24, posted (4 years 5 months 2 weeks 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 4890 times:
Quoting Stitch (Reply 8): Since the money goes to charity, could it be used as a tax write-off?
No tax write-off in Denmark, If I have had the money to buy a ticket
Peter
[Edited 2007-09-04 07:34:33]
I'm not proud to be a Viking, just thankfull
25 Ncelhr: Imagine if you pay such an amount for your ticket and the flight crew inform you they ran out of the type of wine you wanted with your meal...
26 MadameConcorde: Not with Singapore Airlines. I bet they will have Dom Perignon and Krug even in Economy on these two flights (especially on the Singapore-Sydney leg)
27 Zvezda: Is that not enough? The beneficiaries are all based in Singapore. Therefore, they are almost certainly not registered with the IRS under Section 501
28 Alessandro: One economy ticket one way Singapore-Sydney sold for 1650 US$.
29 Wsp: How stupid. That would be money they could add to the donation. They had some Sydney hospital and Medecins sans Frontieres on the list.
30 Chase: I don't know...this house is a lot bigger than mine, and it's just Sam Walton's neice... http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=3...pn=0.002809,0.006781&
32 MadameConcorde: He got a really good deal. The single economy seats today went for about 1500 (cheapest) to 1700+. We will see what happens tomorrow. There are not ma
33 Phoenix9: What if the guy who paid the highest price wants to sell his ticket and make money off it (lets say for something like $150,000 after 'investing' $100
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