Actual experience airtran through southwest

[tyzzle]

So I know the whole deal, but was wondering if anyone here has actually flown airtran through southwest? Did you check in at the 24 hour mark? Were you seated together? If not were they able to make changes at the gate? What did your boarding pass loom like, did it have a seat assignment on it ? Thanks

 

[ctonge]

we booked our flight through southwest to fly home on April 8 from MCO. We were told we could change our seating, as when we checked in we were separated. When we arrived at the gate, we were told the flight was full and there was no room to move seats. The flight did not leave on time because people were arguing about seats. The flight attendants were also rude and inconsiderate. The plane itself was a mess, dirty, and not cleaned between flights. it was gross. totally not the southwest experience we have become used too.

 

[elfbo]

We didnt check in until about 12 hours before hand. DH was first class and i was a companion so i got assigned a middle row seat, even though there were about 15 window or aisle seats left. No option to change seats online. By the time we got to the air port, the plane was full so couldnt change then. Also found out that fares bought on points cant do the 35$ upgrade to first class.

We left 25 minutes late, but that was due to a medical emergency. Service was a bit slow in the back, saw first class got 2 rounds of refreshments before they made it to my seat.

But a direct flight to my designation is worth it.

 

[beachgrl001]

Id also like to hear of experiences...I bought AT through SW for Sept. My son will be 9 when we fly. I really dont want him sitting alone

 

[Soon2B4]

Id also like to hear of experiences...I bought AT through SW for Sept. My son will be 9 when we fly. I really dont want him sitting alone

I am following this also. I booked our tickets on SW for an Airtran flight. When I called, they said we could change at the gate if that happened. Mine are 4 and 6 so I can't imagine they won't be able to seat us 2 and 2.

 

[maxiesmom]

I am following this also. I booked our tickets on SW for an Airtran flight. When I called, they said we could change at the gate if that happened. Mine are 4 and 6 so I can't imagine they won't be able to seat us 2 and 2.

They won't pay any attention to the ages of your children when they assign you seats. I believe the people booking an Airtran flight on Airtran can still pick their seats, so your seat assignments will come from what is left over.

If seat assignments were important, I would book thru Airtran, not Southwest.

 

[Soon2B4]

They won't pay any attention to the ages of your children when they assign you seats. I believe the people booking an Airtran flight on Airtran can still pick their seats, so your seat assignments will come from what is left over.

If seat assignments were important, I would book thru Airtran, not Southwest.

What's done it done. We already booked on SW. I'm not overly concerned about my older son, but hopefully if we should get separated from the younger some nice person will at least switch and get him close. Also looking at the price difference, Airtran is $160 more for the 4 of us and then we would still have to pay for checked bags. I did look at the plane and it does still look pretty empty and we fly in 3 weeks. Hoping it works out.

 

[conniehar90]

Thanks for posting your experiences! I was considering switching our SW flight to a SW operated by AT flight because the cost was so much lower than the SW flight I bought. Glad I didn't as my DD would not want to sit by herself even though she is 12. Doubly glad I didn't because 2 weeks later the SW flight I originally bought dropped it's fares and we got a nice credit!

They better figure out this seating thing or there are going to be a lot of angry customers. I can't imagine traveling with a child and having them sit alone. We were on a SW spring break flight last year in which an 8 year old had to sit by himself because no one would switch (they even offered free drinks). The mom was very upset but then again she had a C boarding #.

 

[beachgrl001]

I would have just booked SW but most of the flights had 1 or more stops, which IMO is ridiculous I dont want to spend 6-8 hrs to get to fla...Its a 2 hr flight from PA...I also could not have afforded to book AT direct the fees are killer. If that were the case I would have just booked us air...
hoping for the best as far as seats go, worst case, my 9 y/o will be sitting alone. He wont be a happy camper but he will play his ds the whole time anyway, so it will be fine...I will have to just keep getting up when I can to check on him...good luck everyone

 

[RumpleMom]

It is my understanding that there are no more baggage fees on AT now that the merger with SWA is complete.

 

[maxiesmom]

It is my understanding that there are no more baggage fees on AT now that the merger with SWA is complete.

The merger is not complete and will take some time.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

It is my understanding that there are no more baggage fees on AT now that the merger with SWA is complete.

If the merger were complete, there would only be one airline, WN

There are still baggage fees if you book on AirTran.

The merger is not scheduled to be completed until the end of 2014. Be prepared for many hiccups along the way.

 

[tyzzle]

Thanks everyone. Hoping for more reports (sad there has yet to be positive ones). I purchased tickets with points and a credit through airtran. I have enough points for my last to flights, but no reward seats left on my flight through airtran. I can book with points through southwest, but am nervous. My daughters are 2 and 6. I have two seats reserved so the two year old is covered, but worried about my 6 y.o. Not sure what I will do yet.

 

[lesliekatya]

I'm hoping for some more positive reports as well. We have a 12 year old that would be unhappy but fine, but I'm worried about the 8 and 4 year olds. :-(

 

[kristenrice]

The whole seating thing is a little disconcerting to me. We have never flown SWA, only AT, and we would always pay for our seats so that we could sit together. When people got upset because they were separated from their children, I did not have too much compassion because they CHOSE not to buy the seats ahead of time.

Now that SWA will be flying out of our airport, I got a SWA Visa and we have enough points for 4 RT flights. Looking at the flight times, it looks like our return trip will be a one-stop with the second leg operated by AirTran. If I use my RR points to book this flight, it really peeves me that I cannot buy the seat assignments for the AT leg. I do not want to be separated from my children and I am willing to pay for the seats, but I don't think I should have to buy a totally different ticket (via AT instead of SWA) just to do it. You'd think it would be easy enough to offer pre-paid seating assignments on a dual-carrier itinerary. Luckily, we are not flying as a family until next year. DH and I are flying this November so we will test the system and see how it works out.

 

[tyzzle]

Exactly how I feel I am willing to pay for the seat, but I rather not pay for two flights out of pocket just to reserve seats, but am considering it.

 

[Soon2B4]

Exactly how I feel I am willing to pay for the seat, but I rather not pay for two flights out of pocket just to reserve seats, but am considering it.

I said to my dh in retrospect I should I have bought 2 with points on SW for the cked bags and 2 on Airtran with cash for the seat assignments. I didn't realize this would cause on issue. Live in learn I guess

 

[pooh4evr]

I said to my dh in retrospect I should I have bought 2 with points on SW for the cked bags and 2 on Airtran with cash for the seat assignments. I didn't realize this would cause on issue. Live in learn I guess

I think that is what we are going to do, our 12, and 10 yr old DDs shoud be ok if they are split but I would like or either DH or myself to be with DD 6. So I will use points to buy 3 tickets for DH & DDs 1 & 2, and then pick 2 seats for DD and me on AirTran . I guess that will work? I am really hoping by October they will have some of this worked out.

Better yet I just found non stop flights to Tampa operated by SW that are cheaper! Whew we're going to rent a car anyway, so it might work out better!

 

[tyzzle]

Bump for more fb

 

[lurkernj]

I flew AirTran this past Saturday and it was booked thru southwest. I checked in right at the 24 hr mark, and was at the gate 1.5 hrs before the flight, only to find out that they didn't have a seat for me at all, and I got bumped to the next flight