Air Trans

[dianemb]

Have always flown USAir but got Air Trans this time. Anybody have an opinion on them (can't change my flight but I am interested in any inf).. My TA (AAA) told me to get there at least hours early, our flight is at 7:15 ama nd we live about an hour from airport. How smoothly was the process? Do you have to check in or print boarding passes?

Thanks for any info!!!!

 

[DisneyDude61]

we have flown air tran a few times from phila international. I live in NJ, so for a 7:15am flight I have the limo pick us up at 4:30 am. We get to airport in about an hour, so we give ourselves about 1.5 hrs to check in and go thru security. ( you never know how long lines will be, and if you will be pulled aside, so I would rather have more time waiting then cut it close) We also do curbside check-in to save some time. I like flying them and have never had any problems. You can sign in 24 hrs in advance and pick your seat.They serve soda/coffee and small snack.

 

[dianemb]

Thanks. We are flying out of Philly too. How does the limo work? How much is it?

Thanks

 

[safetymom]

You can check in 24 hours before your flight and pick your seats and print your boarding passes.

I have flown Air Tran quite a few times with no problems.

 

[Rella Bella]

We have flown AirTran many times... they are just fine BUT
NEVER go to the airport with our first printing your boarding pass out on line!!!
We didn't know this the first time and got bumped off our connecting flight from Atlanta to Orlando, they put us up and we got there the next day but lost 1/2 a day our vacation! (this was Christmas time but after all our expereince I think it's ALWAYS important). You can do it anytime 24 hours before your flight then you have a confirmed seat and cant get bumped. We still go early, but I've heard they overbook BIGTIME so I never risk going to the Airport with out our boarding passes in hand.

Didn't notice if you were newbies going to Orlando... but for anyone who is when you leave Orlando be sure to get to that airport VERY early! We arrived once 1 1/2 hours before the flight and the line was so long we missed our flight. Couldn't get on another until the next day and since this was "our fault" they didn't pay for our accomodations.

Again... get those boarding passes!!! And in Orlando 2 to 2 1/2 hours before your flight is safe... there are long, long lines going through security.
Other than this precaution... AirTran was fine... but dont' expect snacks!

 

[lisareniff]

Also Airtran seems to have a habit of changing flight times with out notifying the passengers. Although it appears more airlines are doing that these days!!

 

[DisneyDude61]

we're leaving Nov 30. Our flight leaves Phila at 7am. I have a pickup scheduled for 4:30am. I call a limo service and schedule a rountrip pickup. Our limo is costing 200.00. he picks us up at our house and drops us off right in front of the airport check-in. (as I said, we use curbside checkin) On the return trip he is waiting for us at the baggage claim. They park right by the baggage claim area. We like the convience of being picked up and dropped off at the door. Its nice not having to deal with parking at the airport, struggle with luggage on and off a shuttle and to the car. (Especially in the winter when its cold and sometimes snowy) We are relaxed and ready to start our vacation. If a limo is too costly, you could also call and see what a towncar would cost. By the time you factor in the price of parking, dealing with luggage and getting up earlier to make sure you catch a shuttle and find parking, it might be worth it to pay a car service. We always use a car service whenever we fly anywhere. Its just so nice to have the convience.

 

[helenk]

We used Airtran from Phila, we had the early flight as well. We printed our boarding passes the night before and got to the airport just about an hour and a half before our flight and we had plenty of time.
The did have soda and peanuts or pretzels for snacks. We always get something at the airport or take something from home to eat on the plane.
I looked into a towncar service from Limerick to the airport and the cost(before the increase in gas) was $170.00 round trip, this did not include the tip. Tropiano runs a shuttle service, they pick up in Pottstown and Oaks, the cost, round trip was $50.00 each from Oaks and $70.00 each from Pottstown.

 

[dck12ga]

With Airtrans.. you say that they change flight times frequently....When do they tell you and how much of a time change do they have to tell you. Is there a magic number that if they change it by XX time they have to give you a refund or change your flight without a fee? Just curious, our flights have changed by 15 min. and they have not told us? Then again, our flight isn't until Feb so there is a lot of time for it to change again!

 

[puffkin]

With Airtrans.. you say that they change flight times frequently....When do they tell you and how much of a time change do they have to tell you. Is there a magic number that if they change it by XX time they have to give you a refund or change your flight without a fee? Just curious, our flights have changed by 15 min. and they have not told us? Then again, our flight isn't until Feb so there is a lot of time for it to change again!

They changed our flight in June by several hours (actually worked out better for us so we didn't mind). I checked our flight information every few weeks, which is how I knew. We did receive a phone call from Airtran telling us about the time change about 2 weeks prior to our trip. However, I had known for at least a few months at that point. I don't think there is any kind of "magic number" but if they change the times, just give them a call and see if they will work with you.

We thought their service was fine. Printed out our boarding passes the day before, and the line to check baggage went very quickly since we already had our boarding passes (curbside was swamped that day).

 

[PortieOwner]

I just used them for my trip last week from BWI-MCO. No lines at all and the airline was great (excellent, professional crew on the plan going down to MCO). The flight down was full, the flight back was empty. I concur that you should print your boarding passes at home before going to the airport. Like many airlines they are stickier about luggage weight/size than they used to be.

Portie

 

[mjh8955]

We have 9 days to go and check our AirTran confirmation online every day, just to make sure nothing has changed. They even let us change our reservation after lower rates came out, and credited us $210 for a future flight. Note - they don't seem to do that if you call them, but I know several other DISBoarders who were able to do it by sending a nice e-mail to them.