AirTran - Decent?

[Rapunzel]

Maybe I'm an airline snob...or maybe it's because growing up my dad worked for United Airlines so really I think I've only ever flown on a different carrier once (American).

AirTran flys out of an airport closer to our house, and I'm finding that I can get 4 round trip tix for about $812(AirTran) vs. $1300(United).

Does anyone know if I book the AirTran tickets, am I able to do like Southwest and get a lower fair if one is availible?

Thanks!

 

[HeatherC]

We've flown Airtran before and thought they were great. However, they have been known to switch a lot of flights around and now I'm hearing that they are not honoring a credit if the fare drops.

But we are flying them again in February because all the other airlines wanted like $600 a person and Airtran was $79 each way nonstop for us.

Their planes have always been clean and seemed very new also.

Hope this helps you out a little.

 

[pumpkinboy]

AirTran gets high marks for customer satisfaction generally, and we have flown then a few times both to Orlando and Atlanta. The flights were very nice, with XM Satellite Ratio at every seat, which was also pleasant.

To answer some of the questions in your post: if the fare goes down in price, there's a $75 change fee, so it's realy got to drop to make it worthwhile.

A few things to watch out for on AirTran though: their schedule seems to be a work in progress a lot of the time, so it seems to many here that they change flights around more frequently than other airlines. And these are pretty significant changes too, like midday to crack of dawn schedule changes. Also, on a number of routes they have eliminated non-stops, having folks change planes in Baltimore or Atlanta or even Akron. So just be aware that the "perfect" flight you buy initially might have very different times than when you first reserved. It just pays to keep an eye on them. Other airlines do the same thing, of course, but AirTran is getting something of a reputation.

But all in all, if they were the best priced airline from your area, and by almost $500 in OP's case, I'd definately take them. As I mentioned, the flights we've taken on AirTran have been just fine, with friendly FAs and Pilots, comfy seats, XM Radio and good prices. YMMV

Good luck!

 

[cbrfan]

I received a credit from AirTran for a lower fare a couple of weeks ago and I've seen posts on this board from other who have received one more recently. The thing with AirTran's credit is that it's not a policy. It's done as a courtesy. Not all agents know about it or are authorized to issue it. When I call for a credit, if the agent I get wants to charge the $75 change fee I simply hang up and call back to speak to someone else. I've never NOT gotten the credit. The most I've ever had to pay was the $15 phone fee. And that hasn't been very often.
The farther out you book, the greater the chance of a schedule change. I haven't had any schedule changes of greater than a few minutes (other than 1 cancellation that was really easy to remedy and not a problem). AirTran is VERY easy to work with when they change your flights. You can select any available alternate flight the same day, day before or day after at no charge. Even if it's a higher priced flight. You don't have to pay the difference in fare. If you can't find anything that works for you, they'll glad refund your money. I like to suggest that if they change your flight and you're oK with what they've reassigned you to, don't do anything. Don't confirm and you'll keep your options open. Then if the fare does go down, you can get your original flight refunded and book the lower priced flight. That way you have cash back in your pocket, not a credit toward a future flight.
We fly AirTran all the time and we love them.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Oh, and one other thing about AirTran, they charge you if you want assigned seats. It's just a little $6 charge ($20 for an exit row), but I still find it annoying. For my solo trip to Atlanta, I skipped the assigned seat charge, but with the family, I always just pay it.

Still, it's a pretty good airline, and I would definately take them again.

 

[MELSMICE]

Also, Air Tran just imposed a $15 fee for the first checked bag per person. I'm annoyed about that to say the least!!!

 

[bradisgoofy]

We just flew with AirTran round trip in October. Like the others have stated, they changed our original flights twice, once down and once for the return flight, to stop over flights. Each time I just called and they put us back onto a non stop, so check your reservation at least once a week. We also opted for the assigned seats because there were 7 of us including our 2 year old DGD. On the return flight DW and I upgraded to Business class for $76.00, total.

Overall we were very satisfated with our trip.

 

[sparkyboy]

We have flown Air Tran many times in the past and yes, they may change the schedule around but we have always had great service. Generally, I do not pay the $6 fee if it is just my DH and me, but did last February when we took 3 yr. old twin gbabies with us to MCO.

I'm not happy about the 1st bag fee but we try to pack extremely light and use the laundry facilities, I'm not immune to wearing jeans several times but DH really likes to have clean tees to wear.

 

[TLinden16]

I flew Airtran once, and I will never fly them again. Nothing about flying Airtran was pleasant. They changed my flight 3 times (including the final change that made my 8:00 a.m. flight a 3:00 p.m. flight!). The customer service on the phone was rude. The flight crew wasn't pleasant, and the plane I was on seemed a bit worn. Boarding the plane was disorganized--they called everyone at once, so it took a long time to fill the seats. Just a horrible experience.