Airtran credit??

[Tangelders Ahoy]

2 questions hopefully someone can help me with....first off....I found our flights cheaper this past Friday so I called and spoke to a man from Airtran (who wasn't very nice) and received a credit for the difference. I asked if I would be able to use this credit towards our baggage fees when we check in to our flight 24 hrs ahead of time and was told I can. That I need to go to the online check in and when I get to the part to "pay" for the fees, to call them on the phone and they will walk me thru the process. My question is, has anyone ever done this and if so were they able to do it? Did everything go smoothly? The man I spoke to was really rude and I wanted to see if someone else has done this in the past.

My other question is on Airtran, have you ever been bumped to business class without having to pay? If so, how did it happen? My flights are so empty so far and we would love to fly in the business class but I can't believe the price difference. Let me know!! Thanks!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

2 questions hopefully someone can help me with....first off....I found our flights cheaper this past Friday so I called and spoke to a man from Airtran (who wasn't very nice) and received a credit for the difference. I asked if I would be able to use this credit towards our baggage fees when we check in to our flight 24 hrs ahead of time and was told I can. That I need to go to the online check in and when I get to the part to "pay" for the fees, to call them on the phone and they will walk me thru the process. My question is, has anyone ever done this and if so were they able to do it? Did everything go smoothly? The man I spoke to was really rude and I wanted to see if someone else has done this in the past.

My other question is on Airtran, have you ever been bumped to business class without having to pay? If so, how did it happen? My flights are so empty so far and we would love to fly in the business class but I can't believe the price difference. Let me know!! Thanks!

We are flying Airtran for the first time in December. My flights dropped by $20 pp a couple of weeks ago.

When I called the airline to ask them to apply the credit (I got lucky and had a friendly agent named Linda), she said that in order to use the credit toward baggage I would have to do so at the counter when we arrived at the airport.

Hopefully someone else will be able to confirm who is correct!

 

[lylone]

Yes, you can use your credit for baggage fees. You can use them at the counter or call CS on the phone. Sometimes they are available to use when checking in on line but not all the time.
I have flown Air Tran for a few years and have never been bumped up to Business Class. They have bumped us to an earlier flight when we have arrived to the airport early, or offered us Business Class for a cheap rate. They usually have Business class available for $49 per person when you checkin. Once we got two seats in Business Class for $19....total!

Yes, you can get some deals, but don't bet on them.
Both of our flights in December are pretty empty also, and Airtran keeps running specials.
I am wondering if a lot of folks are waiting until after elections to book travel.

 

[TwoAtDisney]

Be sure to ask at the checkin counter if you can get "complimentary" first class bump. Answer will probably be "No". Then politely ask "how much". Then counter offer, "Oh, that's more than we can afford" - "Can we get 2 seats for $____? Sometimes bargaining works.

If you don't make an agreement at the checkin counter, then try at the gate. We've managed that sometimes. Once we couldn't agree on a price, again expressing our poor financial circumstances (!), but then when presenting our boarding pass to board the plane, we asked again if $___ would be acceptable. They said just a minute, pulled us out of line, got on the phone, & said OK to our price. We paid the extra fees with our credit card & got first class for the $ we wanted.

Once after everyone was boarded on a plane with very few in first class, I went up to the flight attendant & quietly asked if we could pay some extra for first class in order to stretch out our cranky knees & she said, after take-off & after the ok to move around, come on up (for free!) & she pointed to the seats for us to take.

Just keep on trying!!!!! - if it's important enough to you. We only care about 1st class when flying for 3-4 hours or more - but we still ask.