Airtran dropped their rates!

[kelscross]

Thru 12/12/05...hoping something will be coming out for xmas day travel!!

 

[starwood]

I wouldn't fly them if they were free!

 

[DebbieB]

I wouldn't fly them if they were free!

Care to elaborate? I have flown them on 3 or 4 trips with no problems.

 

[kelscross]

Yes please elaborate...we have flown each trip with them basically because until Delta started again, Airtran was the only direct flight from Dayton OH to Orlando FL.

 

[starwood]

I've posted this before but here goes.

We flew them to Tampa in April. The trip down was fine with absolutely no problems. The trip back there was bad weather in Atlanta so the plane was late coming in (not their fault). We ended up missing the connection in Atlanta (again - not their fault). This was Saturday night. We were told they couldn't get us on a flight to Newark until Tuesday evening!!!! We stayed the night and got a flight to Baltimore the next morning and had to drive the rest of the way home. We incurred an additional $200 in expenses from renting the car, gas, tolls and additional food that they refused to reimburse.

I think it is absolutely absurd that they think someone can wait 3 days to get their final destination.

 

[Scotch]

I've posted this before but here goes.

We flew them to Tampa in April. The trip down was fine with absolutely no problems. The trip back there was bad weather in Atlanta so the plane was late coming in (not their fault). We ended up missing the connection in Atlanta (again - not their fault). This was Saturday night. We were told they couldn't get us on a flight to Newark until Tuesday evening!!!! We stayed the night and got a flight to Baltimore the next morning and had to drive the rest of the way home. We incurred an additional $200 in expenses from renting the car, gas, tolls and additional food that they refused to reimburse.

I think it is absolutely absurd that they think someone can wait 3 days to get their final destination.

AirTran is not alone -- this could happen if all subsequent flights are booked solid for a couple of days. This happened to DH with American Airline flying from Atlanta back home with a connection through Chicago. Due to bad weather his flight arrived in Chicago too late for the connection home. This was a Thursday evening. He was told the next available flight to get him home was not until Saturday!!!! The agent said due to numerous delayed planes that entire day and so many rebookings that flights for the next two days were booked. DH was so mad. It just sounded unreal since there are several flights from O'Hare to our home airport each day. Anyway, a few hours later he talked to another agent and that agent said there was an opening for a flight on Friday and DH snatched it.

So I would not avoid AirTran just due to that one experience if their prices are right. We have flown AirTran to Orlando five times since last December (and DH has flown it two additional times for business trips to Atlanta) and we've been pretty happy. The only time we experienced a serious delay was our most recent flight to Orlando due to a lightening storm in the Orlando area. We ended up circling Orlando in the air for about an hour; there were lots of turbulance (and DS ended up throwing up on me twice in that hour). But that was not AirTran's fault of course.

 

[Scotch]

I wanted to add that AA also said they would not reimburse any costs if DH decided to drive home; it wouldn't even cover DH's overnight hotel charge that evening because the delay was caused by the weather. That is a standard policy across airlines, though.

 

[kelscross]

My goodness..that would leave me with a bad taste in my mouth as well. Could they put you on a different airline? I had a flight cancelled before and the airline moved me over to a completely different airline. It wasn't Airtran but another carrier who cancelled. Would they pay for your hotel for those three or so days?

 

[MycatlovesEeyore]

The two times we flew AirTran we had stop-overs in Atlanta. On BOTH trips our connecting flights were cancelled and we were put on the next flight that afternoon. It cost us a day on both vacations. On second trip, we finally figured out were being taken advantage of. They were cancelling the mid-day flight down because these flights were not completely full. They were advertising the second leg, but not flying so as to save money. To heck with the customers. I will NEVER fly them again.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me thrice, NOT ON YOUR LIFE.

 

[starwood]

We were told they do not put people on other carriers. To make matters worse there were about 80 people on our flight going to Buffalo. They had just closed the plane door when they got to the gate and they wouldn't open it to admit them. However, their luggage did make the flight. They had to spend the night in Atlanta with NO luggage.

 

[CarolA]

There were several hundred folks trapped in Atlanta a few weeks ago due to storms. Most of them were on Delta of course (it's bigger then AirTran). Some of them were stuck for up to two days. If the FAA shutsdown the airport due to weather it's just a snowball effect. This summer has been HORRIBLE in Atlanta. It storms almost daily around 5. Of course when with lightening at the airport no one can go work on those large metal planes....

Actually airlines RARELY cancel flights because they aren't full.. That plane has a schedule and it needs to go someplace. So while the midday flight to Orlando might not have been full, the evening flight from Orlando that is on the same jet probably was full. Taking even one plane out of service has a trickle down effect.....

 

[iluvflorida8]

Thats why I only book non-stop flights ANYWHERE!!