Air Tran RANT

[OzFan]

Yes, I chose to. It was totally my choice. I didn't want what Air Tran was offering and since it was a time change that was well over their policy, I was given the option to choose another flight or have my money refunded. There were no other flights that I wanted. I do not like to change planes, I have enough of a fear of flying without the stress of layovers and plane changing. If I'm paying for a service, I'm going to pick which service I want, what works better for me. That is why I PAY for airfare. I do not expect it for free. If it was a free service then I would have no gripe.
I CHOSE to pay the extra for SW.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Funny thing is this is our 15th time flying to Florida. I have NEVER EVER had any problems before now. We even flew after 9/11 and still no problems.

This will by my 35th flight to Florida.
The high cost of fuel is an entirely different issue from the reluctance to fly following 9/11.
Oil was about $25 a barrel then. Now it's what, $135?

Back then, the problem was GETTING passengers.

Now, it's the high cost of transporting us.

 

[bicker]

I have not had this happen but I have had conversations with some people on the other end of the line, they are the business professional I am the traveler...

Well, calling a CSR a "business professional" is a bit misleading. The vast majority of us Disney vacationers make roughly as much if not substantially more than the typical CSR. I think referring to them as CSRs or agents helps keep expectations regarding their performance and conduct more in line with the reality. As it is, most of us travelers tend to focus far more on the lowest base fare that comes up on the screen than any of these details about how we get treated by the airlines policies or CSRs, and so we should fully expect that the airlines will put as much emphasis on those aspects as we consumers do (i.e., not much).

yes we KNOW as travelers tha things will be changing but I too have a set vacation planned down to the minute, and these schedule variations make me readjust EVERYTHING, everytime, how many times am I gonna be able to redjust

I think the new reality (which, quite frankly, has been the reality all along, but is just becoming more so the reality these days) is that low-cost vacation travel, at least, will be a constantly adjusting escapade. The more you "plan things down to the minute" the more likely that your plans won't work. The best planners make their plans robust by putting in significant flexibility, making back-up plans, and as needed, paying extra to secure greater assurance that things won't go awry. Choosing not to do so leads inextricably towards a substantially higher probability of disappointment. However, each of us need to decide how much we want to avoid disappointment.

I do have to say that when Air Tran changed my time, the email was sent to my 14 year old son, not to me

They'll send it to whichever email address the purchaser entered for the ticket.

 

[bicker]

I paid a decent amount of money for us to fly. I guess what I expected and what you get are two different things.

Holding unfounded expectations regarding the service purchased is very common, and you shouldn't feel the least bit embarrassed by this. Consumers are well-advised to learn learn learn about what they're buying, in advance, but often it is vocation in itself just keeping up. No fault; no blame; but it still leaves many consumers expecting things that were never part of the offer made to them by the service provider.

Just a note about "decent amount of money". Folks should consider anything less than $350 round-trip from Chicago, to be a good deal (and expect that number to go up over the next few months). $250 round-trip tickets are nice, and still available much of the time, but expecting such a fare isn't reasonable given the costs associated with offering airline service in today's environment.

I do not like to change planes, I have enough of a fear of flying without the stress of layovers and plane changing. If I'm paying for a service, I'm going to pick which service I want, what works better for me. That is why I PAY for airfare.

Just be sure you understand what you're really paying for. The things you mention here -- layovers, connections, etc. -- are among the aspects of airline travel that are simply not part of what you're promised when you purchase a ticket. Most airlines are very generous, these days, and let you cancel and get a full refund when such aspects of your reservation changes. Just remember that they don't have to do so, and eventually they may no longer do so. It may very well come to the point where you will have to choose between airline travel "as is" or sticking with surface travel.

 

[bavaria]

While the internet has done a lot of good things, I think that it has also made some things more difficult.

Someone on this thread said that they have their vacation planned down to the minute; I often read posts like that here, and remember what vacation planning was like just 10 or 15 years ago.

For my first trip to WDW, I went to the library and read the one book on Walt Disneyworld. I chose a hotel from a travel agent's giant book of hotels. I had an agent make my booking for me. That was all the planning that was involved 14 years ago, and I had a wonderful trip. Now I think that people tend to plan every minute or detail of their vacation, which can result in disappointment when something impacts those plans.

And for those who say that 'frequent travellers forget what it is like' - I don't forget. Once when I was relocating to another country, my travel agent called my neighbour (I didn't have a telephone) to tell me that BA had changed my flight to 1.5 days early. I had to finish packing and say my goodbyes. I managed. I had many experiences like that.

I suppose that I just don't understand the need to expend negative energy when things happen. Ranting and raving and being unpleasant won't cause the airline to make that flight reappear on the schedule. I think that we have all reacted without thinking ourselves at some point, but the reality is that there is only so much we can control and so much we can change.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Someone on this thread said that they have their vacation planned down to the minute; I often read posts like that here, and remember what vacation planning was like just 10 or 15 years ago.

I'm already theorizing next year's trip. I wasn't going to go back to Disney World. I really wasn't. Then this morning I realized that (probably) by next September, there will be a new addition to the Hall of Presidents.

Anyway, for years I've been thinking of going via Amtrak - either straight from Boston, or on the Auto Train.

Amtrak doesn't own the rails - I think CSX does - so if two trains need the same track at a given time, the freight train gets to go first. No way in the WORLD could anyone traveling long distance by train, rightfully plan a vacation down to the minute. Or the hour. Or even plan anything on the expected arrival day.

 

[bicker]

While the internet has done a lot of good things, I think that it has also made some things more difficult. Someone on this thread said that they have their vacation planned down to the minute; I often read posts like that here, and remember what vacation planning was like just 10 or 15 years ago. For my first trip to WDW, I went to the library and read the one book on Walt Disneyworld. I chose a hotel from a travel agent's giant book of hotels. I had an agent make my booking for me. That was all the planning that was involved 14 years ago, and I had a wonderful trip. Now I think that people tend to plan every minute or detail of their vacation, which can result in disappointment when something impacts those plans.

Abso-friggen-lutely. And I think we can credit this change with a lot of secondary disappointment, as well. 15 years ago the resources weren't there to foster such a large percentage of guests optimizing every minute of their vacation, as is the case today. The number of guests utilizing what WDW offers to the greatest possible advantage stresses the system far beyond what was the case "back in the day". Guests have gotten more efficient at consuming far beyond the service's reasonable ability to become more efficient at providing. So when people say that the feel WDW has "gone downhill" a lot of that is simply a reflection of this disparity, not any real decrease in what is being provided, but rather just a shrinking of the distance between what guests consume and what the system can provide.

I suppose that I just don't understand the need to expend negative energy when things happen. Ranting and raving and being unpleasant won't cause the airline to make that flight reappear on the schedule.

Another Abso-friggen-lutely from me, here. I haven't seen any objective evidence indicating that fostering a stew pit of venting actually makes anyone feel better. The way it looks to me, ranting helps foster even more dissatisfaction, where people who would otherwise have been reasonably disappointed instead feed on the negative energy -- they see other (perhaps unreasonable) people saying that they are indignantly irate, and figure that they should be irate too: Voila! Another person converted from reasonably disappointed to indignantly irate. How does this help?

What I have seen make things better for people is a constructive discussion helping people understand better what to expect, so they're not surprised/shocked by what they encounter, as well as presenting people with helpful alternatives, so they have a productive direction to pursue to remedy their disappointment.

 

[cbrfan]

I rebooked with SW. Better flight times, but more money. I will keep an eye on SW, but no one that I know that has flown with them has had their flights change by even a minute. I should have followed their advice and just booked with them from the get go. Live and Learn.

Just a heads-up. The last time DD (and 2 friends) flew SW, her direct (not non-stop) flight from Detroit to San Diego turned into the scheduled stopover in Nashville and a surprise trip to Phoenix with a 3 hr. layover. Absolutely no notice until she got to the airport and no other options that would get her to graduation on time. No e-mail, no phone call, nothing. So while SW is good most of the time, EVERY airline makes changes. OP, I hope your trip goes smoothly from here on out, especially since you're traveling during hurricane season. Cuz there'll be some stressed out CSRs under those circumstances, too. And since you have a fear of flying I think you'd be wise to prepare yourself for a return flight with a layover in the event of a weather cancellation.

 

[OzFan]

Just a heads-up. The last time DD (and 2 friends) flew SW, her direct (not non-stop) flight from Detroit to San Diego turned into the scheduled stopover in Nashville and a surprise trip to Phoenix with a 3 hr. layover. Absolutely no notice until she got to the airport and no other options that would get her to graduation on time. No e-mail, no phone call, nothing. So while SW is good most of the time, EVERY airline makes changes. OP, I hope your trip goes smoothly from here on out, especially since you're traveling during hurricane season. Cuz there'll be some stressed out CSRs under those circumstances, too. And since you have a fear of flying I think you'd be wise to prepare yourself for a return flight with a layover in the event of a weather cancellation.

I have the hurricane factor covered. My family lives in Jacksonville, and Coco Beach. If by chance a hurricane does hit, we will head north to Jacksonville stay a couple of days and then drive home. I lived in Florida for most of my life, flying scares me more than hurricanes.