Air Tran changed my flight - and then gave me a better one

[Grumpy'sMom]

I booked airfare on Air Tran earlier this week. This will be my first time on Air Tran and it was my first time booking on the internet. For my return flight, they had a web special of $59, direct flight leaving Orlando at 5:00 pm. This is what I purchased. Tonight I checked on their website and the flight was gone. I checked my itinerary on their site and my flight had been changed to 3:15. An hour and 45 minutes is not the end of the world, but I prefer to leave a little later. So I called them. The flight schedule had been changed ( I know this happens a lot), and they offered to put me on their direct 6:15 pm flight for no extra charge! I didn't originally select this flight because of the huge difference in price, this one was $177 as opposed to the 5 pm one being $59. Do airlines usually do this? I feel like I got a good deal.

 

[sandyneck]

No, airlines do not usually do this. AirTran has beyond exceptional customer service from my experience with them. Same thing happened to me last year and I ended up with the flight I had originally wanted but could not get. Most airlines won't do anything for you if they change their schedule. I would fly them all the time except out of Boston they have no nonstop flights to MCO. Have a happy flight!

 

[mattman2k]

I'm glad I read this post. They changed our flights too. We had non-stop flights from/to Pittsburgh and now the departure flight changed from 10:50 to 11:30 (no big deal) but the return flight time changed from 2PM to 9AM. So much for a leisurely last day! I booked with them mainly because the non-stop flight times were just what we wanted.

I called them and the woman was very helpful and said if I'm not happy with the schedules they would refund my purchase. I'm going to wait it out a few more weeks and see if they change again.

Guess it's time to start shopping again!

 

[BrerMama]

I bought our tickets for our June trip in November, also with Air Tran. Our flight schedule has changed so many times I haven't been able to keep track. The main change was that they changed our connecting flight from Atlanta to home from 9 to 7, so we had to leave Orlando sooner to make it to Atlanta in time to make our connectiong. We went from leaving Orlando at 6:25 pm to 2:50 pm. My travel agent told me at that time I could call and get a refund, but I decided to just wait it out. This happened in Decemeber and about 3 weeks ago, they again pushed back our Atl-Home flight to 8 pm, which now allowed us to take a 5:55 pm flight and make the connection. I called that day and they switched us to the 5:55 pm flight. I can't check my itinerary online any longer, since I made the change over the phone, but I still check their flight schedule daily. I've noticed that they generally make changes mid-month on a Friday. Hopefully this one will stay firm, because it suits our plans very well.

 

[XStAnt]

Actually, it's not all that uncommon for an airline to agree to put you on a different flight IF one is available. I think the general ruke of thumb is that they will TRY to accomodate you if the flight time has changed by more than one hour and you request a change (they'll rarely volunteer to do anything). Of course, this is not a guarantee.

 

[helenk]

I am not too happy with AirTran right now, our flight coming back from FL was originally at 8:05pm that would have given us a nice day at the parks, and time to get something to eat before leaving for the airport. First they changed the flight to 7:15pm, I was bummed but okay it still gave us a nice day, now they changed it to 6:15pm. I chose airtran for the 8:05 flight, it was better that USair's 6:30 flight but not as late at their 9:00pm flight.
What concerns me as well is that I have not received one e-mail about these changes, I have discovered them on my own. I wondering if they are going to make more changes before we leave on 6/26

 

[Yzma and Kronk]

helenk - did you book through AirTrans website?
It's their policy to notify you of flight changes by email. Just call them and make sure they have your email on file, and it works through their automated system.
DH always gets email notification of changes, but I do all his flights online.
They also may not notify you until closer to departure, in case there are further changes.

 

[helenk]

Yzma and Kronk

Yes I did book online and provided them with my e-mail address, I even signed up for their member rewards progam and used my number when ordering tickets.
I am thinking like you though that they may wait until it is closer to our trip to notify us. I hope this is the last change though, I do not want to have to leave WDW any earlier that I have to now.

 

[Grumpy'sMom]

HelenK

They did not notify me by email either. For some reason, while I was playing around on the computer, I went on their site to see if prices went up and the original flight home was gone. Then I used their "check your itinerary button" and saw I was on an earlier flight.

After I called, I checked my itinerary again on their sight and the changes had been made.

And I agree with you, it is hard enough to leave, so who wants to leave earlier than you need to? Our flight is only about 2 hours so we can leave 5-6 pm and still get home at a decent hour. This trip I decided to keep my room for the last day (by paying an extra night) so I really wanted to leave as late as possible or it wouldn't be worth it. I hope it works out for you.