AirTran Agent saved me from my own stupidity!

[tooh8ful]

I booked our flights for September last week. I'd been watching and was ok w/the fare. If it went down, great, a credit, if not, it was a good rate.
I've been periodically checking to see if rates go down. Last night they were about $100 cheaper for the 4 seats than when I booked.
I called AT to get a credit. The agent asked for my confirmation # and which flight (to or from) was cheaper, which I read to him from my email. At almost the exact same time he and I both said
OH NO!"
There is a little "trick" AT's website does when you're booking flights. If you put your departure flight date in, then your return flight date, then change the month, both months change, but your return flight date changes to the departure date. I hadn't realized that when I booked the flights and saw the horrible thing I had done at the same time as the agent!
We were slated to fly down at 7 am on 9/16 and come back at 4:10 pm the same day!
The agent was SOOOO nice to me. I cannot say enough nice things about him. He realized I was about to have a heart attack so the first thing he said was, "I'm not going to charge you the $75 per ticket change fee, I'll take care of this, it will be ok!"
He fixed our flights, and our seats. He didn't charge me the $300 to change flight times nor the $60 direct booking fee. He took pity on me and just charged me the difference in price, which was $12.
We now have the CORRECT flight times and days, our seats are reserved, I have recovered from my heart trauma, and I LOVE AirTran!

AT often gets a bad rep on here for changing flight times etc. I realize they do that. But they have always been great working with me if the new times didn't work for me and after last night, I'm a fan for life!

 

[kaytieeldr]

That's great! Now, not that I'm pushing or anything but if you have ANY identifying information about him AT ALL - name, location, employee number, even the time of your call and your reservation number - this REALLY deserves a complimentary letter to AirTran! Not that I'm pushing or anything...

 

[DaniB]

Oh yes, agreed! That was wonderful of him and he should be acknowledged!

 

[dioxide45]

Could acknowledging him also get him in trouble?

 

[loveysbydesign]

It's so nice when people do the right thing and help others!

 

[Pirate Dad]

Could acknowledging him also get him in trouble?

True but could just express a generic sentiment of appreciation and mention that it's service like this that generates customer loyalty!

 

[rstamm]

I booked my flights in reverse, instead of going from Harrisburg to Florida I was going form Florida to Harrisburg, after I finished I looked at the confirmation and saw what I did.

I called AirTran and she said it happens all the time and just charged me the $15 fee to book it over the phone.

 

[tooh8ful]

I felt bad, after I hung up and calmed down I realized although I had thanked him profusely, I had neglected to get his name.
I think I will send a thank you letter generally though. He was very kind and helpful and I was a mess!

 

[ScubaCat]

I booked my flights in reverse, instead of going from Harrisburg to Florida I was going form Florida to Harrisburg, after I finished I looked at the confirmation and saw what I did.

I called AirTran and she said it happens all the time and just charged me the $15 fee to book it over the phone.

FYI, you can do that online to avoid the $15 fee within 4 hours of booking. Airtran gives you a 4 hour fee-free change/cancel window. (Although, no refunds; any credit will be held towards a future flight.)

 

[rstamm]

FYI, you can do that online to avoid the $15 fee within 4 hours of booking. Airtran gives you a 4 hour fee-free change/cancel window. (Although, no refunds; any credit will be held towards a future flight.)

I didn't know that, if I do it again its great to know I can change it myself.

Thanks!

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Oh my, I would've passed out if that happened to me. My stomach dropped just reading it. I'm so glad you got a helpful agent who took good care of you!!!!

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

I booked my flights in reverse, instead of going from Harrisburg to Florida I was going form Florida to Harrisburg, after I finished I looked at the confirmation and saw what I did.

I did this same thing a few years ago when booking our NewYears trip with JetBlue. When I called, the agent was very nice and was happy to fix it for me. The only charge was the difference in airfare...except it turned out to be more than $1000 difference

The only way to keep it close to what I originally paid was to fly home 2 days later than originally planned. Lesson learned...I always triple check before I buy anything online!