Air Tran--Not advanced seating

[Tigger&Belle]

I've never flown Air Tran and was wondering how it works without advanced seating. The fares are good ($69/each way per person, SW would be $79), but I'm not sure how the seat assignments work. It will be me with my 11yo. He's old enough that it wouldn't be the end of the world if we didn't sit together, but he'd sure prefer it.

Do they wait to assign seats until we are at the airport or could it be done before then? Can I get the tickets on the same ressie if there is online check-in and seat assignments or should I do two ressies like I had to do for SW (I know they changed the way SW does it, but not before I made my last ressies)?

Any help or suggestions are welcome!

Thanks, T&B

 

[benhannah's mom]

We just returned from WDW using Airtran. You can reserve your seats via the internet 24 hours before your flight. We did this and had no problem getting seats together. On the way back, I did the same thing using the internet access at Disney Quest. I just wasn't able to print out our boarding passes there. It was no problem at all though.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Thanks! Sounds like we should be ok going down, but don't know that I'll be near internet access at WDW. If my husband has my flight info (he's staying home) can he get my seats arranged 24 hours in advance? I would think so if there is nothing to print out.

Were all of your tickets on one ressie?

T&B

 

[benhannah's mom]

Yes. Your husband should be able to reserve the seats for you as long as he has your confirmation number. We had 4 people flying on the same flights with 3 different reservation numbers. I just went in and did one at a time. I made sure I got our seating assignments right at the 24 hour mark so that we would all be together. Have a great trip!!!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Sounds good. Just wanted to make sure we could be on one ressie. In other ways how was flying with Air Tran?

T&B

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

We had someone at home print out the boarding passes for our return flight and fax them to our Disney resort. The front desk called to tell us they had them. If you can't have them faxed, the seats can still be picked out within the 24 hour time frame and you can then pick up the boarding passes at the AirTran window at MCO.
AirTran seems as good as any other airline. Their planes are newer than a lot and the left side has two-seaters which is ideal since there are only two of you travelling. The AirTran employees are very friendly and helpful.

 

[dudspizza]

Sun Country Airlines does the same thing.

I logged on at home 24hrs before our flight down, picked our seats, and printed our boarding passes... it was simple.

When at WDW, I left my family at the MK, took the monorail over to the business center in the Contemporary, logged on there, picked my seats for our return flight and printed them out for $1 per page. All worked out fine. I met them back at the MK an hour later...

Any business/convention hotel at WDW has a business center where you can print out your boarding passes... it works well.

Have fun.

Duds

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Thanks! I guess I can see if I can fit printing the boarding passes into our schedule, but knowing my husband can get the seat assignments 24 hours out from home will at least take that pressure off.

T&B

 

[lkc0538]

We are just back from WDW and flew Air-Tran. We were 2 families- so 2 different ressies, 7 total people. Both on the way there, and way back, all 7 of us could sit togther (and on the way back, it was a full, full plane). We did the online check in, an were fortunate enough that the family traveling with us took a laptop and tiny portable printer to check in for the return. We didn't get online until about 12 hours before our flight, and still got seats together. I was told if you don't have access to a computer and printer, you can just call 24 hours in advance and have seats assigned. You'll just have to get boarding passes printed at the airport.

We thought Air Tran was great. Both times we arrived on time or early and thought service was very good. They seem to "pad" their flight times- both times we pushed off about 15-20 minutes late and still arrived on - time or early.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Thanks! Sounds good, except today I went to check my flights and now the prices went up. Why didn't I get tickets last night? Now there is no price advantage over SW and the SW return time is a little better. It's good to know that Air Tran is a good option, if not for this trip, then another.

T&B

 

[Tigger&Belle]

My return flight ended up coming back down in price and I booked with Air Tran. Now I just need to remember to get the seats 24 hours out!

Thanks for all the help!

T&B

 

[dudspizza]

Originally posted by Tigger&Belle
My return flight ended up coming back down in price and I booked with Air Tran. Now I just need to remember to get the seats 24 hours out!

Thanks for all the help!

T&B

Trust me, you will remember. I counted down the minutes until I could log on to get my seats.

Duds

 

[CTillberg]

I just wanted to thank you for this great information! I had no idea that you could log in an reserve your seats 24 hrs. in advance. I did not see any information on their website about this. I am still a bit worried that we could be split up (my DH and I have a 3 and 5 yr. old), but now we have a much greater chance of all sitting together.
Thank you, you have taken a load off my mind!

Cathy

 

[Tigger&Belle]

I'm telling you, these boards are invaluable! I've saved $55 on my Dollar car rental so far and know about the Air Tran check-in. And that's only from the transportation board!

T&B

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We reserved our seats on the internet the night before. We didn't have any problem and there were 5 of us. I sat with ds and dd, and Dh sat with other dd. No problem at all and the service was great. I was a little leary of trying Air Trans but the price was right.

 

[jcemom]

Thanks for the information! We'll be flying AirTran for the first time in February and I have been a bit worried about the seating as well. It's nice to know I can hop over to the CR to get my return flight taken care of as well! No more worrying for me!

 

[skiwee1]

We use Airtran all the the time and reserve our seats 24 hours in advance. While at WDW we went over to the GF and used their business services to reserve seats for our return flight. I think the total cost including printing out the boarding passes was $16. I know there are other business centers in certain Disney resorts that you can use.

 

[dudspizza]

Originally posted by skiwee1
We use Airtran all the the time and reserve our seats 24 hours in advance. While at WDW we went over to the GF and used their business services to reserve seats for our return flight. I think the total cost including printing out the boarding passes was $16. I know there are other business centers in certain Disney resorts that you can use.

There is a charge for the internet access and then $1 per page printed. The CR did not charge me for the internet access. I printed 6 boarding passes, so they charged me $6.

I suppose it depends on who you get working the counter in the business center.

Have fun!

Duds