AirTran Airways

[disneyfav4ever]

Has anyone ever flown on this airline before? I'm looking for a good deal, and this is the best I can find, but I've never flown with this airline, or know anyone who has.

 

[garys12]

We either fly Airtran or USAir out of Philly. Never had a problem with Airtran... The seats are a bit smaller, maybe thats the only thing..

We just booked Airtran for our May cruise...

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

It seems there's been more than one thread with debates about AirTran lately or maybe I'm just noticing them now. You have the people that love them and the people that hate them. (From what I recall one poster called them "AirScam")

I, for one, have never flown on AirTran but have tickets purchased for our trip this October. The flights are non-stop, the times work perfectly for us, the fare was great, and I was able to buy seat assignments. So far, so good.

But I hear that AirTran changes their schedules frequently and, from what some other posters have said, they don't notify the customer of the changes. Others have said they have been notified. So, I'll keep an eye on my itinerary and see what happens to my "so far, so good" as we get closer to departure day.

Debbie

 

[TDC Nala]

I have a couple of flights with them coming up...they had the best prices for holidays.

That said, I will be checking to make sure they didn't change my flights. they like to bump me from the nonstop I originally booked to something that has a multi-hour layover in Atlanta.

 

[cbrfan]

I guess you can count me in as an AirTran lover. We've flown them exclusively for the past 8 years and have NEVER had a problem. We've never had a reason to use anyone else. Consistently the best fares in our area. Very happy with the customer service, newer planes (I think they may have the newest fleet of any US airline, but that may have changed in the past year or two), XM satellite radio, ability to purchase advance seating assignments. It all works for me. While every airline changes schedules and equipment, I've never had a schedule change of more than a couple of minutes. Never a cancellation. Others have posted just the opposite experience. It seems to me to be more of a common problem at certain airports. Perhaps if you post where you'll be flying from people who use the same airport can give you their personal experience. I've always received a notice of change even though it's only a couple of minutes, but I've always known within 24 hours of the change, as I do check my flights regularly. If a cancellation does occur there's no need to sit home and freak out about it. AirTran will automatically put you on an alternate flight as close to your original flight times as they can. You don't have to accept that assignment. You merely call them and they are happy to work with you to find an acceptable alternative, even if you choose to fly on a different day. It's best to check their flight schedule before you call to see if there's something you prefer. If there are seats open, that flight is yours. Really nice if it's a flight you would have preferred originally but was priced higher. If you're unable to find anything that works for you and the change was a substantial one, they'll issue a full refund, even on a non-refundable fare. If you book a flight and the fare for that flight goes down, you can call them and they'll issue a credit toward a future flight for the difference in fare.

 

[canwegosoon]

Very Good experiences out of Newburgh...lots of guys from westpoint use them.

 

[Lisa06468]

What about out of White Plains (westchester)?

 

[VAgal76]

Good experiences here from Richmond, VA.

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

How about you Hoosiers? Any experiences flying AirTran in/out of Indianapolis?

I did get one good Hoosier report - - another DIS'er lives in my town and our kids attended elementary school together. She just flew on AirTran in October and had nothing but good things to say. She bought her airfare 8 months in advance (like me!) and there was a change to her outbound flight....I believe it was moved up 2 hours which was no big deal for them. They just got to WDW sooner.

 

['OhanaMama]

We have flown with AirTran a few times out of Chicago (Midway) and have never had any problems. Our flight times did change once or twice but only by 20 minutes or so. You just have to keep an eye on it.

 

[Mickeycrazie]

Flew on Delta Thanksgiving 2007 direct from Richmond, VA to Orlando very small plane. Prefer the bigger plane of airtran. already made reservations for Thanksgiving 2008 with them. Great prices.

 

[vbarry]

We fly Airtran out of Bloomington, Illinois and we have never had any problems. We were set to leave right before a large snow storm a few weeks ago. I called and asked them if we could leave a day earlier. I figured it would cost me the change fee. They stated since there was a five minute delay in our departure time that I could change my flight for no cost! We left a day earlier on a direct flight and beat the snow!!

 

[VAgal76]

Flew on Delta Thanksgiving 2007 direct from Richmond, VA to Orlando very small plane. Prefer the bigger plane of airtran. already made reservations for Thanksgiving 2008 with them. Great prices.

I know I should've jumped on those prices but I decided to wait for a definite answer from my SIL & MIL to commit to going with us on the Thanksgiving cruise on the Magic and to wait for the few extra miles to post to my account for another free ticket on Airtran. Well, lo and behold if they didn't snatch those $99 one-way fares away just one day too early for me to book for the other 3 people in my party. $99 to $256 overnight! Just my luck. I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short. I'm hoping they'll adjust fares in the next few months, downward that is, so I can buy the remaining 3 tickets I need. If not, I'm going to have to suck it up and pay the $256. I should've just told SIL to shut up and enjoy the free cruise at those prices.

We like direct service on Delta's smaller regional jets. We're flying back home from our cruise with them. The Delta jets have more leg room than Airtran does for DH. At 6'5" he prefers the space the regional jets provide him. It's not a big difference, but still a noticeable difference. He has more walking "head" clearance on Airtran but he's only standing for a few moments. Our family in general likes the friendly attendants on Airtran. We've had some nice ones on Delta, but the ones on Airtran have been consistently good.

I'll always choose flight times and price over who I'm flying with when it comes to these two airlines. Delta had the flight time on the way home and Airtran had the price on the way there...or at least they did for a few days.

 

[ChiDisneyFan]

I just booked for Nov 23-Dec 2, total fair for 3 people non-stop was $777, which for Thanksgiving time is a very good deal. I did not think Southwest would be able to beat this fair. Only flown SW previously, I fly out of Midway in Chicago. Never tried AirTran before and a little nervous after reading the latest negative posts. Really hoping my flight does not change and stays non-stop. Originally wanted to leave on Friday , Nov 21 and return sunday after T-Day, the 30th but the total r/t for 3 would have been over $2000!

 

[Lisa06468]

Do the sale prices usually not include a sunday flight? We go out on a saturday, which i already booked, but return on a sunday....dont see the sales for sunday... Bummer.

 

[cbrfan]

I know I should've jumped on those prices but I decided to wait for a definite answer from my SIL & MIL to commit to going with us on the Thanksgiving cruise on the Magic and to wait for the few extra miles to post to my account for another free ticket on Airtran. Well, lo and behold if they didn't snatch those $99 one-way fares away just one day too early for me to book for the other 3 people in my party. $99 to $256 overnight! Just my luck. I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short. I'm hoping they'll adjust fares in the next few months, downward that is, so I can buy the remaining 3 tickets I need. If not, I'm going to have to suck it up and pay the $256. I should've just told SIL to shut up and enjoy the free cruise at those prices.

We like direct service on Delta's smaller regional jets. We're flying back home from our cruise with them. The Delta jets have more leg room than Airtran does for DH. At 6'5" he prefers the space the regional jets provide him. It's not a big difference, but still a noticeable difference. He has more walking "head" clearance on Airtran but he's only standing for a few moments. Our family in general likes the friendly attendants on Airtran. We've had some nice ones on Delta, but the ones on Airtran have been consistently good.

I'll always choose flight times and price over who I'm flying with when it comes to these two airlines. Delta had the flight time on the way home and Airtran had the price on the way there...or at least they did for a few days.

I'd go ahead and book your flights now and hope for a credit later. It's been my experience that AirTran offers the best fares for holiday travel when they're first offered. They only go up from there. Sometimes you'll see last-minute fare reductions to travel on the actual holiday, but those are usually at less than desirable times for many. We always fly in at least 1 day early for a cruise. Trying to fly in the morning of the cruise is a really risky deal.

 

[cbrfan]

Do the sale prices usually not include a sunday flight? We go out on a saturday, which i already booked, but return on a sunday....dont see the sales for sunday... Bummer.

Sunday is a really popular day to fly, so you don't see the sales too often on that day. Your best days to get the lowest sale fare on AirTran are usually Tues. and Wed., with Wed. being pretty much a sure thing. At least, that's what I've noticed out of FNT.

 

[VAgal76]

I'd go ahead and book your flights now and hope for a credit later. It's been my experience that AirTran offers the best fares for holiday travel when they're first offered. They only go up from there. Sometimes you'll see last-minute fare reductions to travel on the actual holiday, but those are usually at less than desirable times for many. We always fly in at least 1 day early for a cruise. Trying to fly in the morning of the cruise is a really risky deal.

We won't be flying the day of the cruise either. I did find something if we left Thursday night. I just need to convince DH that it's okay to take DS out of school for one extra day. The cost difference even with an added hotel night is worth it.

I'm still kicking myself.

 

[ChrisAlli]

I can't decide if I should wait for Southwest or not. Airtran is at $79 each way for our travel dates, but I know they've been know to change times. They have only a few direct flights a day from PHL. Although if I book seats ahead on Airtran that's another $20 each way. I'm really confused and wish Southwest already had their flights up.


What to do????????????

 

[cbrfan]

We won't be flying the day of the cruise either. I did find something if we left Thursday night. I just need to convince DH that it's okay to take DS out of school for one extra day. The cost difference even with an added hotel night is worth it.

I'm still kicking myself.

Don't kick yourself for not booking. Just book what you're comfortable with and if the fare does go down, call AirTran and get credit for the difference. If the Thursday you're referring to is Thanksgiving day, they have put some of those flights on sale kind of last-minute. You may have some luck with that. Particularly the flights that leave during dinnertime (noon-3:00). Not so true with the early or late flights. Don't know if you're aware or not, but if you're talking about A+ Rewards flight credits, you can't get flight credits for someone else's flights. You will only receive the credit for flights you, personally, flew on. The other members of your party will each earn their own credits if they're an A+ member. So if you know you're going and see good fares, book your own and let the others decide later. You can always book theirs later and you've at least saved on your own flights.