Airtran 7AM out of Philly

[mom23boys]

We are taking the 7AM flight next Friday the 19th out of Philadelphia. What time should we be at the airport. I say by 5:30 but DH thinks 5:00.

Has anyone taken that flight, is it crowded? We have never flown Airtran before so I am a little nervous, but I get nervous before any flight.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

We took this flight in June. I would say 5:30am makes more sense. We got there around 5am. We got on the AirTran line only because we had a credit from them and wanted to upgrade to business class for $50.00 a ticket. We already had our boarding passes and only had carry-on luggage. There was a pretty good size line for the AirTran counter but it moved quickly. I would guess we were through security and just waiting for our flight way before 6am. No need to get there at 5am.

 

[OnTheDanforth]

I haven't flown that flight so early, but i have taken Airtran out of Philly before and I can't see why you would need to be there 2 hours before your flight -- they were very efficient getting me all checked in, etc when I arrived for my flight in April ... I think I arrived a little more than an hour before my flight and all was well!

Good luck and safe travels!!

 

[helenk]

We used Airtran last year, we had a 7:30 flight. An hour and a half prior to the take off time was plenty of time.
We went on line the night before got our seat assignment and boarding pass so we were good to go.

 

[jultomzach]

Does Airtran have curbside checking at Philadelphia? I have always flown USAir but have the 7 am Aitran flight in late October.

 

[JustineMarie]

Yes, Airtran has curbside checkin at PHL. We had the 7 am flight last year and arrived at the airport at 5:45am. Had no problems getting through security and still had to wait to board for 1/2 hour. I'd go for the 5:30am arrival. That way you have less time to sit around.

 

[mom23boys]

We took this flight in June. I would say 5:30am makes more sense. We got there around 5am. We got on the AirTran line only because we had a credit from them and wanted to upgrade to business class for $50.00 a ticket. We already had our boarding passes and only had carry-on luggage. There was a pretty good size line for the AirTran counter but it moved quickly. I would guess we were through security and just waiting for our flight way before 6am. No need to get there at 5am.

Thanks everyone for the information, we are planning on arriving at 5:30 then.

Also wdwgoofeeee, I was told the upgrade was $35 not $50. Do you know if they raised the fee?

Thanks

 

[Chuck-PA]

WHen did Airtran start curbside check in? As of last September, We had to stand in line inside at the counter to checkin and then take our luggage to the screener and then onto security.

US Air which is at the same terminal has curbside check in.

The fee to upgrade was $35 in July when I called to re-confirm my flight info.

 

[JustineMarie]

They had curbside checkin last February when we went - maybe it stopped? I'm positive we used it.

 

[puffkin]

Airtran had curbside check in at PHL when we flew them in June. The line was really long though so we went inside where the line was much shorter. But yes, it was available in June.

We often fly out of PHL on one of the first flights of the day, and have never had long lines at checkin or security. An hour and one half should give you plenty of time.