Airtran booked with SW, recent experience with seats?

[JimboCh]

Got home last night. Another great experience using Airtran.

We originally had a non stop flight leaving at 4:30pm, got our seat asignments at the 24hr mark.

3 seats in row 19, .......e, d and f.
1 seat in row 23
1 seat in row 27

We were 5 adults so the seat selections were fine.

Check out at Old Key West was 11:00AM, We had tried to get late check out but they said no.

Saw an earlier non-stop leaving at 3:10pm so decided to go to the airport and ask to switch to the earlier flight.

We arrived at the airport at 12 noon and the wait was about 25 minutes to get to the counter.

The airtan agent was very nice and changed all our tickets, we had 3 confirmations, I tried to tip her $10 but she refused to take it.

She got the earlier flight for us and even got the extra leg room when all 5 of us got the exit rows (21 and 22)

21C and 21D (aisle seats)
22E, 22D and 22F ( aisle, middle, window)

So Airtran again worked well for us.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I flew last week, one way they seated me and DS together, despite having different confirmation numbers. (he is a special needs adult). There was some minor chaos on this flight, boarding, apparently some people were assigned the same seats. All worked out, there were enough seats to get it worked out.

Coming home, DS and I were split up, despite being on the same reservation. At the airport, they moved us to the same row, row 10. We had been assigned way in the back. This flight was NOT sold out, many empty seats, we had 2 seats on the 3 seat side, 3rd seat was empty.

It was unusual, business class was empty except for 1 guy. A woman with a baby asked to be moved up there, to have more room. Flight attendant said, there are empty rows in the back, you can move, no problem. woman said, on NO, I do not want to move BACK THERE! So funny.

My advice, dont worry too much about the AirTran/SW situation........ it will work out ok, and they say all this chaos will be over by December 2014.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

.........
It was unusual, business class was empty except for 1 guy. A woman with a baby asked to be moved up there, to have more room. Flight attendant said, there are empty rows in the back, you can move, no problem. woman said, on NO, I do not want to move BACK THERE! So funny.

There's always someone who wants something for nothing. Good for the flight attendant for not caving.

 

[LvsTnk]

I flew last week, one way they seated me and DS together, despite having different confirmation numbers. (he is a special needs adult). There was some minor chaos on this flight, boarding, apparently some people were assigned the same seats. All worked out, there were enough seats to get it worked out.

Coming home, DS and I were split up, despite being on the same reservation. At the airport, they moved us to the same row, row 10. We had been assigned way in the back. This flight was NOT sold out, many empty seats, we had 2 seats on the 3 seat side, 3rd seat was empty.

It was unusual, business class was empty except for 1 guy. A woman with a baby asked to be moved up there, to have more room. Flight attendant said, there are empty rows in the back, you can move, no problem. woman said, on NO, I do not want to move BACK THERE! So funny.

My advice, dont worry too much about the AirTran/SW situation........ it will work out ok, and they say all this chaos will be over by December 2014.

Thank you for your post I am traveling with my DS with special needs as well in a couple of weeks and I have been very nervous about this leg of the trip.

 

[pooh4evr]

just finished checking in our family of 5 ST Louis - MCO - had 5 different conf numbers because booked with points, so I had 5 windows open and had everything filled in before my start time and at 9:05 just went down the line clicking check in and so on. Long story short- we are row 12 seats D,E,F and row 11 D &E - so it all appears to have worked out- I do believe our flight is sold out according to the AirTran site. We will see if anything changes once we are at the airport!

How do they board? DH 6yr old Dd and I are 7 and DD 12 $ 12 are zone 8. Do they board the plane by "zones"? Curious- we haven't flown anything but SW in a LOOONNNNGGG time.

 

[jdisnut]

just finished checking in our family of 5 ST Louis - MCO - had 5 different conf numbers because booked with points, so I had 5 windows open and had everything filled in before my start time and at 9:05 just went down the line clicking check in and so on. Long story short- we are row 12 seats D,E,F and row 11 D &E - so it all appears to have worked out- I do believe our flight is sold out according to the AirTran site. We will see if anything changes once we are at the airport!

How do they board? DH 6yr old Dd and I are 7 and DD 12 $ 12 are zone 8. Do they board the plane by "zones"? Curious- we haven't flown anything but SW in a LOOONNNNGGG time.

Looks like we're on the same flight tomorrow morning. I'll be in seat 17D. See you on the plane!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I was at MSP today having my Global Entry interview. The Customs office just happens to be in Terminal 2, which is where Southwest/Airtran fly out of. So, I decided to stop down and talk with those friendly Southwest agents, since I was in the neighborhood. After explaining my predictament and the mistake that I had made (Airtran segment booked on Southwest's website, with inability to pick seats ahead of time and traveling with young children), the agent I spoke with gladly assigned me seats on our upcoming flight on the 19th. I did offer to pay for the seat assignment, but she declined to charge me. Technically, I didn't get to pick my seats--she just asked if I wanted 2&2 or 3&1--and then she assigned our seats based on my preference. I don't know what the seat numbers are, but she said we're all taken care of. She did say she wasn't charging me because they would have seated us with our kids anyway (which we all know isn't necessarily true).

Anyway, thought I would pass on my experience.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

How do they board? DH 6yr old Dd and I are 7 and DD 12 $ 12 are zone 8. Do they board the plane by "zones"? Curious- we haven't flown anything but SW in a LOOONNNNGGG time.

AirTran boards by zones. Zone 8 is the last to board. I hope you are checking luggage.

 

[DisneyFirstTimer10]

I spent the last four months worried about my AT flight booked via SW and wanted to let you know how it went-

Flying with hubby and 2 kids (4 and 7) and all on the same confirmation number

Flight is today at Noon- I checked in right at the 24 hour mark and got row 11 which is the second row of regular seats (first few rows look like they are business class)- hubby and I were assigned the middle seat and the window seat, and kids were assigned row 12 directly behind us- aisle seat and middle seat. I assume because they just went how we were listed on the reservation- We are just going to switch seats with one of the kids so that we are each sitting with one child. Now to pick who gets the aisle seat. Not sure why we didn't get 3 and 1- but at least we are able to sit by the kids without a hassle.

I have never sat towards the front of the plane- advantages and disadvantages?

I assume we board last? Is it harder to get a spot for our carry on?

Are we still able to board early with our 4 year old if we wanted to so there isnt trouble finding a spot for our carry on?

 

[frisbeego]

I checked in for tomorrow's flight on AT booked through SW. I have 2 reservation numbers. I waited 5 minutes after T-24 so it'd be less likely that someone would check in between my reservation #1 and #2 and therefore more likely to get seats together. (I have no idea if that's how the computer system actually assigns seats, but it was harmless to try it this way.)

I ended up with 20C and 20D. The seats don't recline and we're in the last boarding group, but those things won't matter on this trip. I'm very relieved that I'll be sitting next to (across the aisle from) DS4. Let's hope I have similar luck on the return trip.

Follow-up:

Flight down wasn't full. The flight attendant suggested (without being asked) that we switch seats so DS and I were right next to each other (not across aisle).

Flight back. Checked in again at 23 hours 55 minutes. We got 12E and 12F. Flight wasn't full again. No one in 12D.

Maybe we just got lucky, but the whole thing wasn't worth worrying about. Just check in at 24 hours (which I'd do on SW anyway) and hope for the best.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Flight is today at Noon- I checked in right at the 24 hour mark and got row 11 which is the second row of regular seats (first few rows look like they are business class)- hubby and I were assigned the middle seat and the window seat, and kids were assigned row 12 directly behind us- aisle seat and middle seat. I assume because they just went how we were listed on the reservation- We are just going to switch seats with one of the kids so that we are each sitting with one child. Now to pick who gets the aisle seat. Not sure why we didn't get 3 and 1- but at least we are able to sit by the kids without a hassle.

I have never sat towards the front of the plane- advantages and disadvantages?

I assume we board last? Is it harder to get a spot for our carry on?

Are we still able to board early with our 4 year old if we wanted to so there isnt trouble finding a spot for our carry on?

I believe you will be in the last boarding zone, which is zone 8. It should give you your zone on your boarding pass.

The purpose of early boarding is not so you can grab overhead space if you're in the last zone. I have no idea if AirTran will let you preboard with a 4 year old.

 

[maxiesmom]

Are we still able to board early with our 4 year old if we wanted to so there isnt trouble finding a spot for our carry on?

Air Tran does not offer family boarding per se, only pre boarding for those who require special assistance.

 

[supersuperwendy]

I'm sooooo relieved!!! We checked in for our airtran flight this morning on the southwest app.. and received the following seats..

11A 11E 11F 15E 16A 16C


So I guess 11A my 13 year old, 11E&F myself and my three year old , 15E hubby, and 16A & C my 15 & 12 year olds separated by a stranger(that poor stranger lol)

I was so worried that our group of 6 wouldn't get seats on this flight.. I'm am beyond relieved!!!!

 

[keishashadow]

Traveled last week. DH & I on same confirmation. Checked in T-24, both times split up. Headed to counter extra-early and requested to be seated together. In PIT we inquired when we checked luggage but told we had to wait until somebody manned the gate area. Could've slept an extra hour lol. Out of MCO they were able to make the switch when we arrived.

There were issues both flights with those who arrived shortly before boarding and were very vocal about wanting their large families seated together. Rather stressful, kids were crying, sigh.

Employees were very patient, bet they can't wait until the system is fully integrated in this regard. We mused exactly when it is that a verbally abusive customer crosses the line & is denied service. Several passengers were called to boarding gate and seemed happy to change their seats to accommodate others. It appeared as though all children were seated with at least one parent or another child although this didn't appease everybody.

 

[PrincessMommy09]

Checked on right at 24 hour mark for our flight tomorrow morning. All on the same conf number. Got seats 19e, 20d, 23 d&e. Thankfully we got 2 seats together so dd(4) gets to sit with an adult. Now to decide who gets the pleasure of holding 1 year old dd for the flight.

 

[PatMcDuck]

I started looking at airfare for May 2014, on SW. PHL to MCO. And hooray! The nonstops are now all SOUTHWEST flights, not AirTran. So much easier to just board, pick our seats together, and of course, no luggage fees.

 

[DebbieB]

AirTran should be phasing out through next year, it's supposed to be gone by 12/31/14. They are sending their 717's to Delta at the rate of 3 a month and the their 737's are being repainted SW.

 

[pooh4evr]

Checked in for flight tomorrow evening and we are in 5 rows all different numbers. 12 and 10 yr olds should be ok I am more concerned for the 6 yr old. I will try to switch things around at the airport!

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I was at MSP today having my Global Entry interview. The Customs office just happens to be in Terminal 2, which is where Southwest/Airtran fly out of. So, I decided to stop down and talk with those friendly Southwest agents, since I was in the neighborhood. After explaining my predictament and the mistake that I had made (Airtran segment booked on Southwest's website, with inability to pick seats ahead of time and traveling with young children), the agent I spoke with gladly assigned me seats on our upcoming flight on the 19th. I did offer to pay for the seat assignment, but she declined to charge me. Technically, I didn't get to pick my seats--she just asked if I wanted 2&2 or 3&1--and then she assigned our seats based on my preference. I don't know what the seat numbers are, but she said we're all taken care of. She did say she wasn't charging me because they would have seated us with our kids anyway (which we all know isn't necessarily true).

Anyway, thought I would pass on my experience.

Thought I'd update. I just checked in for tomorrow's flight and the SW agent did apparently take care of us. We got seats A&C in rows 11&12.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Thought I'd update. I just checked in for tomorrow's flight and the SW agent did apparently take care of us. We got seats A&C in rows 11&12.

Just reading through this thread, it appears those booking AirTran through Southwest are all getting seats in Zone 8, which as already posted, is the last boarding zone. As someone who almost never checks bags and does carry-on only, I wouldn't be happy about that.