Air Tran?

[lala3291]

Hello!
We just booked a package at Disney for January 2-9. We are looking at airfare and Air Tran is significantly less expensive than other airlines. We have never flown Air Tran. Could you please let me know your opinions of Air Tran and any experiences you may have? We LOVE JetBlue (especially the TV's) but it is significantly more expensive.
We are flying out of Boston.
Thanks!

 

[JandT'smom]

As others on different threads have mentioned the seats and leg are really cramped and every time we have flown them they have changed our flight times 2 or 3 times. The prices are good and so was customer service.

 

[alyssa810]

I've only flown them once, but I will be flying home from LAX on them next month. Our first experience was somewhat shady. We flew BOS to ATL, which was fine, except that we got to ATL late so we really, really, really had to book it to get to the gate where our connection was. When finally got to that area, there was a flight to LAX loading, and a flight to LAS loading. It was a chaotic scene. No one knew where they were supposed to line up, there were no reps around, and then the door to our gate closed! We were like ***?!!? and then someone opened the door and we went down the gate to our plane. No security alarms went off, and no one EVER checked our boarding passes. We were able to get seats in the exit row (woo hoo), and then even more people continued to get on the plane! Once we finally took off, we overheard a woman in front of us say something along the lines of "I can't wait until we get to Vegas!" and all around people were mumbling...."um, we're not going to Vegas...." The poor woman got on the wrong plane and tried to tell the flight attendant we needed to turn back because SHE was going to Las Vegas. It was really quite humorous for the rest of us- she wasn't really hostile, she just felt like a total idiot for getting on the wrong plane! Anyway, when we landed in LAX I was telling my DH there was NO WAY our luggage was making the flight, we had too short of a layover in ATL, WE barely made the flight. BUT lo and behold our luggage made the flight and our faith in AT was restored.
BTW, this flight was a freebie when AT and Wendy's had the cup promotion, so it was tough to complain about a free flight.

A friend was supposed to fly from BOS to MCO a couple of years ago, and his flight was rescheduled several times and he finally canceled his AT reservation and was able to get his money back. We fly home on AT, as I mentioned, next month, and our flight has also been changed already, but it as only by 15 minutes so it's not a big deal.

I remember the seats on the plane being spatious - it might have been the exit row though. We're SW people usually, but again, we had freebies from the AT credit card...

 

[lala3291]

Thank you for the replies! I think I am going to give Air Tran a try...just hoping our flights won't be moved around too much!
Thanks again!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

It's not just a changing of times by 15-30 mins or so that would bother me. It's that they take a non-stop flight, cancel that and put you on a connecting flight.
That's really annoying.

 

[cjnix29]

I have flown them twice. Both times have been great. First time there were no flight changes. Second time they changed our flights. But it actually worked out great for us. I went to change them, since they had moved them significantly, and I was able to actually change airports to the one that was closer. I didn't book that airport initially because it was a bit more expensive. So with the free change, I got the airport I wanted at a great time, with no fees to do it! I'd fly them again.

 

[Missytara]

I have had great luck with Airtran from BWI. Other than SWA, they are the only ones to offer non-stop service to MCO. Even with the seat fee and the baggage fee, the cost has still been cheaper than SWA and I like the fact that I have a seat assignment.

They have changed my flight once to 40 minute later going home (more time with the Mouse) and changed my flight no. this year going home, but nothing major.

Love, love, love them.

 

[lala3291]

Thank you all for the responses!
I have booked Air Tran for our vacation.

 

[sjsjbrook]

I have not heard good things about Air tran. Two different disny podcasts have both had issues with air tran during their flights.

Most famously on was recording while fliying air tran. Let's just say it was not a child friendly podcast.

 

[mickeymouseclubhouse]

This will be our fourth year flying with Airtran from Chicago Midway to Orlando. For us, they always seem to have the cheapest flights (direct), we have had only minor schedule changes (15 minute difference), we always pay for assigned seats and have had no problems with them for the short 2 hour flight. We will continue to fly AT.

 

[Jey12]

We are also flying Air Tran for the first time next month. We booked our flight 4 months ahead of time and have had two changes, but really the last change put our schedule back to where it was when we booked. I wanted a larger layover in Atlanta because it's been my experience that all flights seem to have delay issues in Atlanta. So I never put much blame on the airline. I have flown southwest, delta, American Airline and Midwest Express. It seemed to me on the Air Tran flights the seat sizes were around what you would normally find on AA or Cont. I love southwest but their cramming of seats is uncomfortable for anyone I think. Air Tran was a good $250 cheaper even with baggage than southwest so we went with them. Hope it all works out for all of us.

 

[fsmith2845]

Hello!
We just booked a package at Disney for January 2-9. We are looking at airfare and Air Tran is significantly less expensive than other airlines. We have never flown Air Tran. Could you please let me know your opinions of Air Tran and any experiences you may have? We LOVE JetBlue (especially the TV's) but it is significantly more expensive.
We are flying out of Boston.
Thanks!

I have flown Airtran a lot for business and just booked AT for our Disney vacation the week after Thanksgiving. The fares are reasonable, customer service has always been great when there have been problems with flights, etc. we're lucky enough that we have a direct flight to Orlando from our home airport too, so only a "quick" 2 hour flight to MCO.

 

[ang]

We flown serveral times with Airtrans and never had a problem.

 

[NancyIL]

I have not heard good things about Air tran. Two different disny podcasts have both had issues with air tran during their flights.

Most famously on was recording while fliying air tran. Let's just say it was not a child friendly podcast.

Which Podcasts? You will read bad things about most airlines if you read this board very much!

I prefer AirTran for my flights to Orlando because they have a non-stop flight each way 4 days a week. I have had them change the non-stop to connecting flights a few times, but the non-stops always seem to return.

 

[maciec]

I think with airtran it really depends on which airport you are flying out of. For those of us that fly out of Baltimore we have very good luck because that's a big hub for Airtran. We don't get messed with like a lot of other airports. I have flown Airtran exclusively now for the past 4 years and we have NEVER had a problem.

 

[Jey12]

With our upcoming Air Tran flight we didn't specify our seats. We are traveling with DD4 for her first plane ride and I've heard that it can be common for her not to be assigned a seat with us? Is this true? I never imagined when booking that this would be an issue for a 4 year old passenger traveling with both parents. It appears our fight is pretty much full for all legs of the trip and the seat assigment option is now gone for our flight. How can I know if she will be seated with us? I'm thinking about 2 minutes next to strangers and someone would gladly offer to switch. The problem is I think I'd be the one more devastated if I can't sit next to my child than she would be.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

With our upcoming Air Tran flight we didn't specify our seats. We are traveling with DD4 for her first plane ride and I've heard that it can be common for her not to be assigned a seat with us? Is this true? I never imagined when booking that this would be an issue for a 4 year old passenger traveling with both parents. It appears our fight is pretty much full for all legs of the trip and the seat assigment option is now gone for our flight. How can I know if she will be seated with us? I'm thinking about 2 minutes next to strangers and someone would gladly offer to switch. The problem is I think I'd be the one more devastated if I can't sit next to my child than she would be.

May I ask why you didn't choose seats? My boys are 13 and 10, have flown probably 20x, and I still think they're worth the $6 so we can sit together. Don't be surprised if people around you are reluctant to trade seats with you. It's very likely they paid and don't want to move away from their family so you can sit with yours. Not trying to be mean but that's just a fact of flying these days. I'd call AT and see if you can prepay over the phone. Maybe there are seats held out that can't be booked online.

 

[Jey12]

May I ask why you didn't choose seats? My boys are 13 and 10, have flown probably 20x, and I still think they're worth the $6 so we can sit together. Don't be surprised if people around you are reluctant to trade seats with you. It's very likely they paid and don't want to move away from their family so you can sit with yours. Not trying to be mean but that's just a fact of flying these days. I'd call AT and see if you can prepay over the phone. Maybe there are seats held out that can't be booked online.

I wasn't the one that booked our air travel. I was at work and unable to book so the friends we are traveling with booked the flight for all of us. I didn't know picking seats was an option since I have never had this issue arise with an airline. I myself have flown several times for work with different airlines and the person I booked my tickets with always was assigned a seat next to me during those flights. I have flown on my uncle's flight pass with American Airlines for the past 8 years for personal travel and I have become rather spoiled by flying on that. I didn't want the stress of flying standby with a group so I agreed to book on whatever airline they chose so we could arrive at the same time. It just never entered my mind that 2 adult tickets booked at the same time with a child, all with the same last name would not be assigned seats next to each other. Thank you for the tip of calling, I just happened to read about people not being seated with their children and had a bit of a panic because this was a thought that I had never entertained. Of course it would be well worth the $18 to make sure my child sits with us, it would be absurd to think othewise. I also would never ask someone sitting with their family to move so I could sit with mine. I am not a hypocritical pain, I simply was just unaware that this would even be an issue.

 

[maciec]

definitely call and see if you can get something together. With Airtran I always pay for the added comfort of knowing that my kids will be seated with me during the flight. I just don't ever want to take the chance.

 

[Mommy2Jameson]

We've flown Airtran the past 2 years and we'll be flying it again this October. We've always done a direct flight to Florida and a connecting flight on the way home(because it's later!). We have NEVER had a problem or a flight time change/cancelation (KNOCK ON WOOD! )

The tickets were SOOOO much cheaper than everywhere else too! We got flights from Illinois for $69 each way!

The pilots/flight attendants have always been very nice.