Advice about Airtran

[lisareniff]

I'm starting to think about our flights for our Feb 2005 trip. We live near Rochester,NY so flying from ROC makes the most sense, eventhough we have very high airfares, but flying from BUF is also doable. Our main carrier is USAir, but we have Jet Blue (that we love) and Airtran for low cost carriers as well.

We have never gone on Airtran but they have a daily non-stop from ROC to MCO!!!! WOW!! We are very interested in this flight! So my questions are..

1- Any general opinons on Airtran? Do they treat people nicely?

2- My DH is tall. Are the seats an OK distance apart?

3- Right now the schedule is out up to Feb 9, 2005 we are going on the 16th. Do you know when they will extend their schedule?

4- Should I buy my tickets right away or wait for sales? (We are going the wed. before presidents day(16th) and returning the friday after(25th).)

Thanks for your help.

 

[dudspizza]

I have not flown Airtran, so I can't comment on their service, but their pricing looks very appealing.

I have noticed that their schedules are posted 5-6 months out. MSP to MCO is only up through Nov right now.

The other thing they do is run specials all the time. I would not buy right now. Watch for a special and be ready to grab it. They are constantly putting their flights on special to fill their planes. The latest specials for my flights were out through Sept. so specials typically come out 3-4 months in advance at most.

Now, if you find a fare that you think is fair.... take it, you will have peace of mind that you have your tickets... and if the price goes down, call and some airlines give vouchers for future flights.....

My 2 cents...

Duds

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

I've flown Airtran several times out of Newport News VA. I think they are great! The service has always been very friendly. They have left and arrived on time.

Not sure about the legroom. I'm 5'7" and didn't feel smushed.

The other dates should probably be out in another month or so. What price are you getting now?

 

[JudithM]

We flew on Airtran for the first time round trip from Baltimore to Rochester a few weeks ago. the Rochester Airport was so nice - friendly people, but you probably know that being from teh area . The employees were helpful & friendly & the rides were smooth. I wouldn't hesitate to fly Airtran again. Is it a nonstop flight from Rochester to Orlando? A friend flew from ROC to MCO last month & had a layover in Atlanta.

 

[lisareniff]

Yes, the airport in Rochester is nice. Small and quick. The food is not bad either. However it is not known for low airfares. A couple years ago we were listed as the 3rd worst. Jet Blue and Airtran have helped greatly. What can you do??

ROC has one non-stop flight to MCO, operated daily by Airtran. (Airtran also has connecting flights through BWI or ATL) I'm a bit worried that it is popular and all the cheap tickets will get taken?? We will be going the Wednesday before school break week and returning on friday during the break. Slightly off the popular travel times but still in there.Right now a ticket in early Feb. is $225 RT including tax.

So far I've read mostly good things about Airtran. So I'm fearing the ValuJet crash less.

 

[colormouse]

We have flown Airtran once in the past and are using them again in September. Our flight down from Phila to Orlando was really cramped. We had the non reclining seats right in front of the emergency exit seating. These seats were much closer to the row in front of us and as I mentioned non-reclining. On our return flight we had asked for the bulk head seats. The very first row after business class. We had plenty of leg room and we were also on the 2 seat side as opposed to the other side of the plane that had the 3 seats. Check in was really long at PHL, no curbside available back then for AirTran. Baggage claim was a nightmare in MCO but I do not know if that was AirTran or MCO's fault. All in all, the price couldn't be beat for a nonstop flight. And flight attendants were very nice and professional. We also arrived on time and departed on time too.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

I would wait for a sale if that price seems high for your area. Airtran does not give credit vouchers. I booked Airtran for October and the price I got was $184 roundtrip non-stop. Check for sales every day.

This will be my third flight on Airtran. I had no problems with them before.

 

[blanq]

I have flown Airtran once, this past January, and had a great experience. They have a young fleet of planes and the staff we encountered were efficient, professional and funny! I won't repeat what others have said, but I will add that since your DH is tall, business class on Airtran might be a nice option for you. Airtran allows you to upgrade to business class at check in, for only $35 per person per leg, provided seats are available. You cannot upgrade if you do online check in, but you can checki n online, and then arrive early at the airport and attempt to score an upgrade at the ticket counter. We were able to upgrade for all legs of our trip (2 on the way to MCO because we had a connection in ATL, and then on the return trip). This was well worth the price of the upgrade! Although there are few perks in business class on Airtran, the extra space (and leg room) was so nice! We will fly Airtran again.

 

[GeminiMom]

Originally posted by Jenn Lynn
I would wait for a sale if that price seems high for your area. Airtran does not give credit vouchers. I booked Airtran for October and the price I got was $184 roundtrip non-stop. Check for sales every day.

I have to differ with the statment on credit vouchers. We originally booked our June flight in March (called Airtran direct) for $1164 total (4 tickets), stumbled upon a sale price on 5/2 & rebooked our same flight for $660 total! After they added the $50/ticket re-booking fee we still were given $304 in a credit file for future travel (within a year). I haven't tried to access the credit file yet, but am sure that what I was told by Airtran reservations was correct.

 

[Traveliz]

Generally though the savings isn't more than the $50.00 fee - at least that is what I have found in my area.

But we have had to cancel and then got the credit file and it worked out easily to rebook later.

Liz

 

[opal]

We flew AirTran for the first time in early March of this year. All of the flights from Buffalo (via Atlanta) to Orlando were overbooked. They were asking for volunteers to give up their seats (they were compensated). Our return flight from Orlando, again through Atlanta was delayed by several hours due to mechanical problems. We did finally get to Atlanta that night, but too late for our connecting flight so they put us up in a Holiday Inn and put us on a flight the following morning. However, they didn't match luggage to passengers so our baggage didn't travel with us. When it did catch up we had to go back the airport to get it (30 min each way) because they couldn't deliver it until much later that night and dd need her clothes to head back to college.

I know March is a busy time of year, but the return plane, (the one that had mechanical problems) had been on the ground awhile between flights and had not been cleaned. The floor and seats were littered with napkins, food wrappers and newspapers from the previous flight....which begs the question If they don't maintain the inside, do they maintain the mechanicals?

We were given a "free" roundtrip ticket anyway AirTran flies for the inconvenience.

 

[kelscross]

We flew Airtran last year and we are flying Airtran again this year. The reason being they are the only airline flying direct from Dayton, OH to Orlando FL..with my children being small that made a difference to me.

The price is good. The flights were on time. The service was like any other airline I flew. However, I am used to a small lunch type meal on Delta when I fly to Orlando and Airtran didn't offer that.

The only thing and we laugh about it to this day is when we asked the flight attendant for a pillow for one of my girls he got all serious and said "We have no pillows on Airtran!!" You should have seen the look on his face! We laughed hysterically.

 

[DebbieB]

I have a coworker who has flown them a couple times from PIT to Miami through Atlanta and he likes them. He has run into the overbooking situation, it worked for him because he volunteered and used the tickets to fly to San Francisco! When returning from SFO, they canceled his flight and put him on a United flight through Chicago (he was to go through Atlanta so it didn't hurt him timewise).

 

[Lucky4me]

That non stop out of rochester sometimes goes down to $59 each way. My best friend flew in May with her 4 kids for under $700.
I booked it for her in January. I'd start looking twice a day in September. Don't hesitate when you see the sales. If you wait even a couple of hours, they'll be sold out.

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

DH flyes AirTran weekly. He is 6'4" and he has never said he has had a problem with leg room, although he always requests an asle seat.

For sales, go to their website and sign up for their "Net Escapes". They will email you in advance of sales. These emails usually come after 9pm before the day of the sale.

Good luck!

 

[The Dog]

Just don't fly those Airbus 320s they have for their west coast flights. They are actually operated by Ryan International and have horrific reliability FWIU.

Also keep in mind that AirTran has to rebook people to Delta a LOT because they simply don't have enough flights to compensate whenever they have a cancelleation. That's a necessary warning because there seems to be a lot of Delta hate on this board.

However if they offer the best price and schedule for you then go for it. Just avoid those 320s until they get their new 737s.

 

[skiwee1]

Originally posted by Jenn Lynn
I would wait for a sale if that price seems high for your area. Airtran does not give credit vouchers. I booked Airtran for October and the price I got was $184 roundtrip non-stop. Check for sales every day.

This will be my third flight on Airtran. I had no problems with them before.

Airtran gave me a credit to be iused within one year when I had to cancel a trip. While they don't give credit vouchers in case they lower their fee at least this is something. It ended up working really well as we turned in 2 tickets and actually got 3 tickets later for the same price. We love Airtran and think it is run much better the SW. You can even pick your seats 24 hours before your flight online. The service has always been professional and prompt, and the staff courteous. I am always willing to pay more then SW just to fly Airtran. We are using them again in October.

 

[lisareniff]

Thanks for all the great information. It was very helpful.

It sounds like we will give Airtran a try. Having a non-stop flight really gets rid of a lot of the problems. It will be no biggie if the flight is delayed without a connecting flight to catch. This will be Feburary in upstate NY; delays and cancelations are a big possibility!

Now I will just have to decide when to buy. Thanks Yzma and Kronk, for the tip about "net escapes".

 

[jfs9900]

All AirTran jets are brand-new - the oldest being delivered in 2001.

Seat pitch is general standard, like Delta/US etc. AirTran does allow upgrades to it's business class cabin (based on availability) on the day of departure. I think it's around $30 well worth it on a long flight....

It's very hard to compare AirTran to ValueJet now- same 'company' but completely rebuilt from the ground up.
Service is standard airline fare. They are adding XM radio to all aircraft this summer - so hopefully by Feb 05 that will be complete....