Actual experience airtran through southwest

[leebee]

EBCI covers you and your husband for all legs in one direction.

Are you sure about this? I traveled on 7/4/13, booked through SW, first leg was SW, second was AirTran, and I bought EBCI. I called SW and asked specifically about checking in. THey told me that EBCI would get our boarding assignments for the SW leg ONLY; to get the AT seating assignments, I would have to check in at the 24 hour point (or at any point up to 20 minutes before flight time). AT seat assignments are done when you physically (or online) check in, if you made your reservations through SW, and EBCI will not automatically get you a seat assignment on AT.

DH and I are flying SW out of Nashville to Raleigh then on to Orlando. In Raleigh, our son will join us. DH and I will be on a SW yet from Nashville to Raleigh, then we change planes to Air Tran (booked from SW site) to continue on to Orlando... So how does this work? I am sure they'll know to get our bags onto the Air Tran flight, but do we still have to "check in" somehow for the AT flight? Or will we just go to the desk at the gate and check in after we land in Raleigh? Also, DS's connection is only the Raleigh to Orlando leg. Does he check in at the Air Tran desk or SW? And does he check in at the 24 hour mark on the SW website or AT website? This is all very confusing to me.

Since you booked through SW, check in online at 24 hours. They will give you your boarding passes for your SW EBCI assignment and also your boarding passes w/AT seat assignments. At the airport, go to the SW desk. THey'll take your bags and check them in all the way through, making sure they get onto your AT leg. Were your son's reservations made through SW or AT? Did he purchase a seat assignment in advance (if he made the reservation on AT)? He should check in online at 24 hours prior to the flight. Even though we made our reservations through SW, the confirmation said to check in at the AT desk for the return trip, which started on AT (and finished on SW). Because we made the reservation through SW there was no charge for our bags. In Dayton, even though AT is still flying there, the SW and AT check in areas are combined into one and everyone knew what was going on. Good luck... I was confused but it all went off without a hitch. Just make sure you all check in online at 24 hours and you should be fine.

 

[kaytieeldr]

EBCI will check you in for both legs of the flight. I'm sure.

If you want seat assignments on the AT leg, you might have to log in at the 24 hour mark - or you might not be able to do that and will have to wait until you get to the airport.

 

[stitchlovestink]

I just checked in for my flight tomorrow on Airtran. Booked with SW points and am traveling alone with my 3 kids ages 10, 9 & 6. I was really worried about the 6 year old sitting alone, the other 2 would be fine. However, when I checked in on-line I got 4 seats in a row and they are in the 10th row. I am so excited. We had 4 different confirmation #'s so I expected to be all over the plane and I also checked in about 1/2 hour after the 24 hour mark.

Hope the flight home goes as well!

I know this is an older post and you have flown by now but just an FYI for future flyers.... AirTran saves rows 10 and 11 for disabled flyers. So there is a possibilty you 'can' get bumped from these seats pretty close to the last minute. AT won't let you select them online and then they do assign them at the check in time. But if someone shows up at the gate (well the desk near the gate...cannot think of what it is called....sorry, medication makes word recollection difficult) and can show a need for one of those seats they can get one (possibly two if they need a travel companion) and you can get bumped from it. I'm just sharing this so people are not surprised if it happens to them at the gate. It happened on my 7/1/13 AT flight. Not sure if the flight was 100% full but if not if was probably close. Actually I did see at least 1 empty seat now that I think about it!

 

[WendyWuWu]

Are you sure about this? I traveled on 7/4/13, booked through SW, first leg was SW, second was AirTran, and I bought EBCI. I called SW and asked specifically about checking in. THey told me that EBCI would get our boarding assignments for the SW leg ONLY; to get the AT seating assignments, I would have to check in at the 24 hour point (or at any point up to 20 minutes before flight time). AT seat assignments are done when you physically (or online) check in, if you made your reservations through SW, and EBCI will not automatically get you a seat assignment on AT.



Since you booked through SW, check in online at 24 hours. They will give you your boarding passes for your SW EBCI assignment and also your boarding passes w/AT seat assignments. At the airport, go to the SW desk. THey'll take your bags and check them in all the way through, making sure they get onto your AT leg. Were your son's reservations made through SW or AT? Did he purchase a seat assignment in advance (if he made the reservation on AT)? He should check in online at 24 hours prior to the flight. Even though we made our reservations through SW, the confirmation said to check in at the AT desk for the return trip, which started on AT (and finished on SW). Because we made the reservation through SW there was no charge for our bags. In Dayton, even though AT is still flying there, the SW and AT check in areas are combined into one and everyone knew what was going on. Good luck... I was confused but it all went off without a hitch. Just make sure you all check in online at 24 hours and you should be fine.

Our son's ticket was purchased via the Southwest website, not AT even though he's only flying the AT leg of the flight. Should he check in 24 hours before on the SW site? Or does he have to go to the Air Tran site? And does he check in at the AT counter and drop his bags off with AT when he comes to the airport or Southwest? This is sooooo confusing!

 

[serene56]

Our son's ticket was purchased via the Southwest website, not AT even though he's only flying the AT leg of the flight. Should he check in 24 hours before on the SW site? Or does he have to go to the Air Tran site? And does he check in at the AT counter and drop his bags off with AT when he comes to the airport or Southwest? This is sooooo confusing!

he purchased his AT from Southwest== that is where he gotta do the check in.
he should then go to Airtrans gate for baggage check

 

[HappyHappy]

I just checked in for my flight tomorrow on Airtran. Booked with SW points and am traveling alone with my 3 kids ages 10, 9 & 6. I was really worried about the 6 year old sitting alone, the other 2 would be fine. However, when I checked in on-line I got 4 seats in a row and they are in the 10th row. I am so excited. We had 4 different confirmation #'s so I expected to be all over the plane and I also checked in about 1/2 hour after the 24 hour mark.

Hope the flight home goes as well!

Do I book on the SW site or the Airtran site to book Airtran with SW points? Flying to Dominican Republic so need to fly Airtran, right?
TIA

 

[stitchlovestink]

Do I book on the SW site or the Airtran site to book Airtran with SW points? Flying to Dominican Republic so need to fly Airtran, right?
TIA

You will have to use the SW site to use SW points. Just be sure to pay attention to which airline is actually flying the flight. If none is listed, it's a SW flight. If it is an AT flight, it will state...flight operated by AirTran right under the flight # I believe.
Good Luck!!!

 

[dedex13]

Do I book on the SW site or the Airtran site to book Airtran with SW points? Flying to Dominican Republic so need to fly Airtran, right?
TIA

If you want to book through AirTran because of the seating issues you can easily check if the flight is available with rewards through AirTran by signing into your account then clicking on the Rewards Flight tab. Once you determine the flight is available and you want to book through AirTran so there are no seating issues, you can transfer your points from SW to AT and book the flight. Just be absolutely sure that's what you want to do before you make the transfer since you won't be able to get your Rapid Rewards back.

 

[HappyHappy]

Thank you both very much. Is there a link to a forum or thread (that has eluded me) that details the do's and don'ts, pros and cons etc of Airtran vs SW? I found some that didn't address my issues and I found one from a year ago but didn't know it info was still valid. Thanks again!

 

[katallo]

I am curious about a link as well. If I have booked through the SW site but the flight is with Air Tran, do we check in and check flight times with Air Tran and go to the Air Tran ticket counter at the airport?

 

[Thumper_Man]

Just finished reading this whole thread. Lots of good information here and hoping DW and I have a good experience. We usually fly strictly SW, but this will be our first time flying AT as well.

We are going to DL in October. We decided to leave a day earlier so I rearranged our flights. We will be flying from ABQ to SNA, changing planes in LAS. Our first leg of the flight will be on SW. The second leg will be on AT. We don't have kids, so we're not too concerned if we get split up for the 2nd leg of the trip. Our main concern is being bumped from our flight. We are renting a car from a non-airport location so we need to make it to the rental car company before they close. What are people's experience with getting bumped? For the most part, it seems everyone is having luck getting on to their AT flights.

Another concern is the transfer of luggage between SW to AT. Anyone had any problems not getting their luggage during this switch? We always take a carry-on with enough clothes to last a couple of days. We'll be staying for a week and a half, and not getting our luggage is a concern. This isn't the first time we've had to switch flights, but it is the first time we've had to switch airlines.

 

[pens4821]

I am curious about a link as well. If I have booked through the SW site but the flight is with Air Tran, do we check in and check flight times with Air Tran and go to the Air Tran ticket counter at the airport?

Curious as well. Booked our tickets through SW. First leg of the flight is AirTran, then switch to SW. I know we check in online at SW, but when we get to the airport do we take baggage to SW or AT? When we check in for the first leg, does that count for the second leg seating priority when we switch to SW too?

 

[jayhawk74]

Another concern is the transfer of luggage between SW to AT. Anyone had any problems not getting their luggage during this switch? We always take a carry-on with enough clothes to last a couple of days. We'll be staying for a week and a half, and not getting our luggage is a concern. This isn't the first time we've had to switch flights, but it is the first time we've had to switch airlines.

I wouldn't be anymore concerned about the transfer of luggage between SWA and AT than I would be between SWA and SWA. The reason is that at all the airports where there is both SWA and AT all of the ground people are now SWA employees. Basically the only AT employees left are Pilots and F/As, and they are being transferred to SWA as the aircraft leave AT.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I am curious about a link as well. If I have booked through the SW site but the flight is with Air Tran, do we check in and check flight times with Air Tran and go to the Air Tran ticket counter at the airport?

You are flying on AirTran metal; you check in with Air Tran. I have noticed at some airports Southwest and Air Tran are starting to set up joint ticket counters and gates.

 

[Deb T.]

Bumping thread up for any recent experiences...

 

[turtlebean]

We flew last Friday, family of four, from DCA to MCO. I checked in at the 24 hr mark & got 2&2 together. Friends of ours checked into same flight a few hours later & got 3 together & 1 by itself. We still have to check in Friday for our flight back.

 

[c0reyann]

1) I booked via SW for an Airtran flight, had to check in on SW.

2) Two of us, separate seats and its our anniversary. Boo hoo. I called and the CS reps were pretty rude about it saying it can't be changed until we check in at the airport counter tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

 

[maxiesmom]

1) I booked via SW for an Airtran flight, had to check in on SW.

2) Two of us, separate seats and its our anniversary. Boo hoo. I called and the CS reps were pretty rude about it saying it can't be changed until we check in at the airport counter tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

They are correct. They can only change it at the airport--maybe. It is your best chance. I would get to the airport extra early, and hope for the best.

That is what happens when you book on Southwest, even for an Air Tran flight. No seat assignments until 24 hours out.

 

[sunlover13]

I asked this on another thread, no response yet, so I figured I'd try here.

We booked our flight to MCO through SW, but it is an AirTran plane. The flight is at 2:00 on a Saturday. Do I checkin online at 2:00 on Friday OR am I allowed to checkin at 12:00am Friday?

I believe if we booked directly with AirTran, you can checkin at 12:00am the day before your flight. I'm just not sure if I book through SW, an AirTran plane, if I can checkin at 12:00am the day before or exactly 24 hours before my flight leaves the day before which would be 2:00PM on Friday in this case.

TIA!

 

[brettb]

They are correct. They can only change it at the airport--maybe. It is your best chance. I would get to the airport extra early, and hope for the best.

That is what happens when you book on Southwest, even for an Air Tran flight. No seat assignments until 24 hours out.

On both of our Airtran flights, we were intermingled with other SWA passengers who had booked their flights with points. Perhaps because none of us had paid for specific seats, we were all very easy-going about moving around to sit next to family.

I asked this on another thread, no response yet, so I figured I'd try here.

We booked our flight to MCO through SW, but it is an AirTran plane. The flight is at 2:00 on a Saturday. Do I checkin online at 2:00 on Friday OR am I allowed to checkin at 12:00am Friday?

I believe if we booked directly with AirTran, you can checkin at 12:00am the day before your flight. I'm just not sure if I book through SW, an AirTran plane, if I can checkin at 12:00am the day before or exactly 24 hours before my flight leaves the day before which would be 2:00PM on Friday in this case.

TIA!

We were able to check in 24 hours before the flight and not a minute sooner. So yes, you won't be able to check in before 2pm on Friday.