Air Tran..seat assignment question

[delmar411]

I have to agree; if you are spending all that money to go to Disney World, what is the issue with spending the 6.00 to get seats together. Are you saying that instead of the airfare saying $49.00, it was $54.00 dollars one way, now you wouldn't go????

You are going to a place that charges almost $3.00 for a bottled water, but you won't spend $6.00 so your family can sit together???

No I won't.

Number one there are 6 of us so that is basically another RT ticket between us when it's pushing the outer limits of our budget to fly in the first place. (and our WDW trips don't include $3 bottled waters! LOL)

Number two I don't agree with the practice of charging for seating in the first place and I'm not going to encourage it by giving them money.

Number three, it's never been an issue. Ever. Even on overbooked flights. Why would I throw away money? I might as well light it on fire and watch it burn. At least then there would be some entertainment from it.

 

[delmar411]

I know flying out of Dallas/Ft Worth to Orlando that parties have been seperated. I saw a mom going ballistic on a gate agent who refused to seat her near her child. She said she could not believe Air Tran would seperate her from her child and the gate agent told her Air Tran didn't. She had the choice to choose their seats and chose not to pay the $6.00, so there was nothing they could do, as the plane was full and they were not going to ask people who paid for their seats to move. She just kept insisting that someone be moved to accomodate her. Once she got on the plane, she tried to go off on the FA, who told her the same thing. She then demanded that the young couple who had seats next to her daughter move. They refused. If she had asked instead of demanded, someone migh have been willing to help. As it was the FA basically told her to either sit down or get off the plane. She sat. The kid was fine, looked embarassed over mom's temper tantrum, but was fine.

So you have no idea the circumstances of how they can to be seated apart do you? The mother could have purchased 2 tickets at different times. AT has no way to know they are a traveling party if you buy like that. They could have checked in at the very last minute and took the last 2 seats on the plane which were seperate. There are multiple different reasons why they wouldn't be seated together, the least of which is they didn't pay for their seating assignment.

That's not any type of proof that you need to pay for seating assignments. W/o the full facts of the situation there is no way to determine how that occurred.

I've seen you post that same story over and over on these types of threads. It's the only one I've ever seen about someone being split up.
And from checking in at the 24hr mark I can tell you very few people in Indy pay for seat assignments considering 90% of the plane is available for the choosing at 24hrs.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

So you have no idea the circumstances of how they can to be seated apart do you? The mother could have purchased 2 tickets at different times. AT has no way to know they are a traveling party if you buy like that. They could have checked in at the very last minute and took the last 2 seats on the plane which were seperate. There are multiple different reasons why they wouldn't be seated together, the least of which is they didn't pay for their seating assignment.

That's not any type of proof that you need to pay for seating assignments. W/o the full facts of the situation there is no way to determine how that occurred.

I've seen you post that same story over and over on these types of threads. It's the only one I've ever seen about someone being split up.
And from checking in at the 24hr mark I can tell you very few people in Indy pay for seat assignments considering 90% of the plane is available for the choosing at 24hrs.

The only way to find this out is to try. By then it's too late.

This is all really a personal decision and no right/wrong answer. Similar to buying travel insurance. It's a gamble and you may still be fine without it but you may end up wishing you bought it.
Some people are risk takers and some worry more. It all works out in the end as long as you understand your risk at the time of making that decision and live with the outcome knowing fully that you had a choice.

 

[maxiesmom]

I just flew Air Tran this past week, and saw a woman and her 2 kids split up. The oldest child looked to be maybe 10. The kids were seated a few rows behind the mom. They boarded after me, so I saw her walk them to their seats, tell the girl (the older child) to buckle her brother in, and then she walked back to her seat at the front of the plane.

There is no way to guarantee that your travel party will be seated together unless you pay the fee. By not paying it, you are risking your family being divided up. If you can live with that, then fine. Don't pay for seat assignments. But then also don't complain if you don't get seated together. Because you are taking a chance by not purchasing you seat assignment. Air Tran is under no obligation to seat your family together, just because you purchased a bunch of tickets at one time.

 

[living20057]

I just returned from WDW last week, and we flew on Airtran. There were two adults and two children 4 and 8. The seats they gave us was completely separated. I was able to move them during my online check in. I wasn't able to move one seat, but when I got on the plane I switched seats with someone.

 

[Shagley]

I just flew Air Tran this past week, and saw a woman and her 2 kids split up. The oldest child looked to be maybe 10. The kids were seated a few rows behind the mom. They boarded after me, so I saw her walk them to their seats, tell the girl (the older child) to buckle her brother in, and then she walked back to her seat at the front of the plane.

Are you sure the Mom didn't buy the kids the cheap seats and bought herself a ticket in first class. That would sound like a great idea to me.

 

[aubriee]

So you have no idea the circumstances of how they can to be seated apart do you? The mother could have purchased 2 tickets at different times. AT has no way to know they are a traveling party if you buy like that. They could have checked in at the very last minute and took the last 2 seats on the plane which were seperate. There are multiple different reasons why they wouldn't be seated together, the least of which is they didn't pay for their seating assignment.

That's not any type of proof that you need to pay for seating assignments. W/o the full facts of the situation there is no way to determine how that occurred.

I've seen you post that same story over and over on these types of threads. It's the only one I've ever seen about someone being split up.
And from checking in at the 24hr mark I can tell you very few people in Indy pay for seat assignments considering 90% of the plane is available for the choosing at 24hrs.

I happened to be sitting in that first row of seats next to the gate agent when the mom was throwing her fit. I heard her say she intentionally did not purchase seats because she didn't think that Air Tran would seperate her from her child. Once she got on the plane and started yelling at the FAs and the couple sitting next to her daughter, she again said she didn't purchase seats because she assumed Air Tran would automatically make sure she was sitting next to her child. So yes, I do know she intentionally did not purchase seats, assuming that everyone else would accomodate her. She then threw a royal fit when they did not. Flying out of DFW Air Tran has only two nonstop flights (one the morning and one in the late evening) to MCO. Coming back from MCO to DFW they have only one nonstop flight and that's in the evening about 7:30pm. I usually fly the early direct flight out and then the only direct flight back. Those direct flights are always booked solid (and in fact are nearly always overbooked). I've very seldom seen an empty seat on them, so yes most people pay for their seats on them. I fly solo alot and still pay for my seat, as I don't like middle or window seats and refuse to sit in the back of the plane. You choose to keep taking your chances, but for me and my family we'll pay the $6.00.

As far as it being the only story you've ever seen where a family is split up, Maxie'smom just posted where she saw it last week.

 

[aubriee]

People complain about Air Tran's ala carte pricing. Personally I have no problem with it. Yes, they could go up on their fares and go back to allowing you to choose your seats for free and allowing one free checked bag. However, if someone is not using those services, why should they pay for them? I read about people paying $59.00 for airfare and then complaining about a $6.00 seat fee and have to laugh. We don't get those kind of airfares around here. In fact, I fly to Orlando several times a year and usually try to get airfare around $220.00 r/t and consider myself lucky. The cheapest I've ever found airfare to MCO was a few years ago, when I caught it on sale for $189.00.

 

[scrappinDW]

No I won't.

Number one there are 6 of us so that is basically another RT ticket between us when it's pushing the outer limits of our budget to fly in the first place. (and our WDW trips don't include $3 bottled waters! LOL)

Number two I don't agree with the practice of charging for seating in the first place and I'm not going to encourage it by giving them money.

Number three, it's never been an issue. Ever. Even on overbooked flights. Why would I throw away money? I might as well light it on fire and watch it burn. At least then there would be some entertainment from it.

We just flew back a couple of weeks ago. I paid for our seat assignment, but a lady I sat near said her daughter was up about 5 seats and the dad was way in the back. So, they don't automatically put families together!

 

[mrscoobs]

There are so many factors in seat assignments that if you want to be completely sure that you are going to be seated next to each other than please pay the $6.00 a person and then there are absolutely no worries which is great on vacation.

On the other hand, if you do not purchase the seat assignment you can check in at the 24 hr mark and select seats then. Airtran will generally (if possible, sometimes if to many people have allready selected seats then there is no way for them to do this) group parties together that are listed under the same confirmation number starting with the largest group and then ending with couples if they have room. This is to try and avoid the split issue but sometimes it is just not possible if you do not purchase the seats in advance.

 

[anonymousegirl]

Well, it is certainly your prerogative to decide not to pay for a seat assignment. Just please don't come back here after the trip and slam AirTran for not seating your family together.

 

[aubriee]

We just flew back a couple of weeks ago. I paid for our seat assignment, but a lady I sat near said her daughter was up about 5 seats and the dad was way in the back. So, they don't automatically put families together!

Umm, that's three incidences reported just on this thread in the last 24 hours.

 

[RMulieri]

Well, it is certainly your prerogative to decide not to pay for a seat assignment. Just please don't come back here after the trip and slam AirTran for not seating your family together.

Exactly.The family I saw was last month and was SCREAMING at the FA's and making an all around stink that they did not buy tickets together because they didn't want to spend the money and did not think Airtran would separate them.Long story short, our flight was delayed by 20 mins because this family was carrying on so much.They ended up separated, but of course kept up the shenanigans all flight.I get real mad when I shell out money for my family with kids to sit together and then I get punished by someone who does not have the foresight to do so and then blames the airline for it.I am not made of money either, but I factor in the seat charge with the cost of the ticket.

 

[lnh'smom]

I have never prepurchased seats and have never had a problem, but I just went online and booked them after reading this thread. We don't leave for a little over 2 months and I wasn't able to book 4 seats together for my family. I was able to get 2 seats across the aisle from each other and the 2 seats directly behind those. Everything else was booked.
So thanks to whoever brought this up. I can't imagine making DD6 sit alone. I don't know who be more of a wreck, me or her!

 

[son3disfan]

I have never prepurchased seats and have never had a problem, but I just went online and booked them after reading this thread. We don't leave for a little over 2 months and I wasn't able to book 4 seats together for my family. I was able to get 2 seats across the aisle from each other and the 2 seats directly behind those. Everything else was booked.
So thanks to whoever brought this up. I can't imagine making DD6 sit alone. I don't know who be more of a wreck, me or her!

This is too funny...
I was just coming on here to post the same thing!

I also just booked our seats for our Feb flight ( only one way so far) The $30.00 for the 5 of us is do-able and not bad, really. I was going to risk it as well, and just wait, but we ending up in row 23/24 with only a few rows left behind us.....wow.It booked up fast!
We will have more fun sitting together and now I don't have to worry about it. Our fares were only $62 so now they are $68. Still an AWESOME deal out of Buffalo! I too am trying to keep costs down.

Thanks to the OP for posting this thread! I feel much better knowing we are all together.

 

[brandylouwho]

Having two young kids, I definitely pay the extra few dollars for the reassurance. I always think back to a transatlantic flight I was on years ago...where I got to sit by two kids and their parents were many rows back. I never want to be in that situation (well, not until the kids are teens maybe). It isn't nice to the kids or to the people who have to sit next to them (as kids are essentially unattended--and even if they are pretty well behaved, they are still kids and need help sometimes, reassurance, reminders of how to behave, etc.)

Paying a la carte for assigned seating doesn't bother me in the least, I factor that into my comparisons when choosing which airline to book.

Now when they cancel our flight and put us on another one..and don't put us together after I paid for the assigned seats---that ticked me off a bit, but I was able to fix that issue to my satisfaction, eventually.

 

[hopeandtink]

I don't know how to do links but someone on the budget board has a link for $25 air tran vouchers. The thread is called $25 Air Tran voucher. All you do is enter you email address and they send you a code. I used my email, DH email, and my work email and was able to get three codes. You can use one code per purchased seat. All the codes worked and I was able to get all 6 of us assignments for both flights for free!! It would have been $72. They adjusted the last voucher to $22. I booked my tickets through Orbitz but went to Airtran and logged in the itenerary (sp??) and was able to do it easily. I hope this helps someone who needs to buy seat assignments!!

 

[LisaRN97]

I don't know how to do links but someone on the budget board has a link for $25 air tran vouchers. The thread is called $25 Air Tran voucher. All you do is enter you email address and they send you a code. I used my email, DH email, and my work email and was able to get three codes. You can use one code per purchased seat. All the codes worked and I was able to get all 6 of us assignments for both flights for free!! It would have been $72. They adjusted the last voucher to $22. I booked my tickets through Orbitz but went to Airtran and logged in the itenerary (sp??) and was able to do it easily. I hope this helps someone who needs to buy seat assignments!!

I saw this on another site and it may have ended in April or May......I just booked last week and couldn't come up with the voucher, it said it expired....maybe there is a new one??

 

[LisaRN97]

Yup, there is a new one!! $25 off - book by October 31, 2009 and fly before December 18, 2009...... it is on the budget board!!!

 

[princesspaige]

And from checking in at the 24hr mark I can tell you very few people in Indy pay for seat assignments considering 90% of the plane is available for the choosing at 24hrs.

Actually, I am flying out of Indy in September and paid $18 (3 x $6) each way so we could all sit together. When I looked a couple of weeks ago, there were less than 10 seats left on our outbound flight and maybe 12 on the return flight not taken....so I would have to disagree with your comment regarding 90% of the seats being available. Just my observations...