Airtran experience since change??

[StampMom]

Just bumping in case anyone has any experience with flying with kids and NOT paying to reserve seats in advance. Is it safe to assume that they'll make sure that each of our kids is with a parent, even if we don't all get to sit together? Or do I really have to pay the extra fee to ensure that my boys (5 and 9) don't have to sit alone?

 

[marciemi]

I really don't think anyone knows. When we booked this a couple months ago, I looked on this and a couple other boards (including an air travel board) and the consensus was that they'd always leave kids with an adult. You might be across the aisle, or right in front or behind at worst, but at least if you checked in right at 24 hours out, you'd pretty much always end up together.

This new $5 seat assignment is what's putting the kink in it. No one knows on any given flight how many people are going to have business class (with assigned seats) tickets and how many people are going to opt to pay to be together. About all you can do is follow the seating on your plane and when it gets tight, pay if that makes you more comfortable. In general on flights I think you can always wait until you get on the plane and ask if anyone will change with you. DH travels a lot for business and moves frequently for families to be together. Plus some seats open up then as folks switch to exit rows so even when you check in at the airport there might be more available. However, I HATE dealing with this kind of stress and the $5pp is worth it to me not to have to.

We booked our flights months ago and just paid for seats this last week when it looked like there were only about 7 seats left on our flight (and there are 5 of us). My kids are older and could sit by themselves if they needed to (at least the older 2 - hopefully we'd have gotten at least 2 seats together and then one of us would have sat with the 12 year old who lives in his own world and probably wouldn't notice when we got to Orlando! ), but we just felt more comfortable being together. I would say a lot of passengers (and flight attendants) would work hard to make sure one of you was with your 5 year old, but at 9 I think a lot of people would feel that they could sit themselves for a couple hour flight and that if you felt they really NEEDED to be with an adult, you'd have paid the money. JHMO. Good luck!

 

[slmcn66]

I really don't think anyone knows. When we booked this a couple months ago, I looked on this and a couple other boards (including an air travel board) and the consensus was that they'd always leave kids with an adult. You might be across the aisle, or right in front or behind at worst, but at least if you checked in right at 24 hours out, you'd pretty much always end up together.

This new $5 seat assignment is what's putting the kink in it. No one knows on any given flight how many people are going to have business class (with assigned seats) tickets and how many people are going to opt to pay to be together. About all you can do is follow the seating on your plane and when it gets tight, pay if that makes you more comfortable. In general on flights I think you can always wait until you get on the plane and ask if anyone will change with you. DH travels a lot for business and moves frequently for families to be together. Plus some seats open up then as folks switch to exit rows so even when you check in at the airport there might be more available. However, I HATE dealing with this kind of stress and the $5pp is worth it to me not to have to.

We booked our flights months ago and just paid for seats this last week when it looked like there were only about 7 seats left on our flight (and there are 5 of us). My kids are older and could sit by themselves if they needed to (at least the older 2 - hopefully we'd have gotten at least 2 seats together and then one of us would have sat with the 12 year old who lives in his own world and probably wouldn't notice when we got to Orlando! ), but we just felt more comfortable being together. I would say a lot of passengers (and flight attendants) would work hard to make sure one of you was with your 5 year old, but at 9 I think a lot of people would feel that they could sit themselves for a couple hour flight and that if you felt they really NEEDED to be with an adult, you'd have paid the money. JHMO. Good luck!

Very well said - I am in total agreement with your thought processes.

 

[madge]

Just bumping in case anyone has any experience with flying with kids and NOT paying to reserve seats in advance. Is it safe to assume that they'll make sure that each of our kids is with a parent, even if we don't all get to sit together? Or do I really have to pay the extra fee to ensure that my boys (5 and 9) don't have to sit alone?

I sucked it up and paid the fee for our October flight. I booked the flight earlier this month, and did not pay for seat assignment. I thought I'd wait and see how things played out. I checked the flight today, and there was only row left that had 3 seats next to each other and one directly across the aisle. So, I decided to pay. My kids are older than yours, but not old enough that they'd enjoy sitting next to a stranger on a 2-hour flight (5 & 11).

 

[disnut1149]

Hi
I made my reservations months ago, but I just found out about paying the $5.
I paid $60.00 for 6 of us to get rows 15 and 16. I hated to pay the extra money, but on our return trip last year, we had good seats going down, since I got them 24 hrs. ahead. Then coming back, I forget why I didn't print the boading pass out 24 hours ahead, but they assigned us row, and we were in the very last row. It was horrible. No window and I had my DGD 3 1/2 at the time, with us. My DD gets claustrophobic, and she was miserable. We asked if we could move, but it was a full plane. It really didn't bother me, since I take Xanax to fly and I slept the whole way home. Anyway, I feel like it's worth it to me to pay this year, so we'll be together.

 

[ribbot]

Hi
I made my reservations months ago, but I just found out about paying the $5.
I paid $60.00 for 6 of us to get rows 15 and 16. I hated to pay the extra money, but on our return trip last year, we had good seats going down, since I got them 24 hrs. ahead. Then coming back, I forget why I didn't print the boading pass out 24 hours ahead, but they assigned us row, and we were in the very last row. It was horrible. No window and I had my DGD 3 1/2 at the time, with us. My DD gets claustrophobic, and she was miserable. We asked if we could move, but it was a full plane. It really didn't bother me, since I take Xanax to fly and I slept the whole way home. Anyway, I feel like it's worth it to me to pay this year, so we'll be together.

I have a question---when you flew home last time and the plane was full and you didn't check in 24 hours in advance, are you saying they did not keep you all together, or they did? I know you said you had crappy seats, but you were still all together?

 

[disnut1149]

I have a question---when you flew home last time and the plane was full and you didn't check in 24 hours in advance, are you saying they did not keep you all together, or they did? I know you said you had crappy seats, but you were still all together?

Hi
We were together. Also, the seats don't recline at all. Make sure you don't get the last row on the plane!! Good luck.

 

[ribbot]

Hi
We were together. Also, the seats don't recline at all. Make sure you don't get the last row on the plane!! Good luck.

According to the flight seating--the last 3 rows are booked on our plane---I found that kinda strange. Who actually WANTS those seats??

And also strange is that you didn't even check in 24 hours in advance and they still kept you together-----so this $5 that they're charging, you don't find it to be just a crock? I mean....

I could see wanting to be where you want to sit for paying the $5 a person, but you are living proof that there are still seats available together---even though they might not be where you want.

I don't care where I sit on a plane, I just want us 3 to be together. Thanks for the info!

 

[sharonmickey]

Just out of curiousity has anyone who has paid the $5 for assigned seating been given seats towards the front of the plane? Or are your seats in the middle/back section of the plane?

The plane diagram I looked at for my flight shows 3 seats on the right side of the aisle and 2 seats on the left of the aisle. Both of my flights show that seating arrangement.

 

[momto2inKC]

Just out of curiousity has anyone who has paid the $5 for assigned seating been given seats towards the front of the plane? Or are your seats in the middle/back section of the plane?

The plane diagram I looked at for my flight shows 3 seats on the right side of the aisle and 2 seats on the left of the aisle. Both of my flights show that seating arrangement.

I paid the extra $5 for our seats for our upcoming trip. We got the first available rows on all our flights, which is row 15. There is first class, then 4 or 5 rows before ours.

 

[sharonmickey]

The reason I'm asking is we also have the assigned seats. Our seats are in row 11, which I believe is the 2nd row in coach. I've had these seats since May. The flight is in August.
Is it unusual to have seats that far forward?

 

[marciemi]

This may change as the plane fills. As I said earlier in the thread, when I called about a month ago, even though it showed seats available further forward in the plane, the agent told me that these were reserved for business class customers and seat assignments 24 hours out. She could only sell me row 24 (right behind the exit rows) and back. (Boeing 717). I decided to wait and see what happened

A couple weeks later, I looked and saw that all these seats were reserved and the only completely open row was row 15 (we have a family of 5). When I called then, they had no problem selling me the seats in row 15, which is the 5th row in coach (4th available row since row 10 is reserved for handicapped and day of assignment). So it may make sense to wait!

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

Ribbot, I think the poster was recalling an incident that happened last year, that was before you could pick seats on Airtran. Believe me, I fly a lot for work, and I see families split apart all the time, even on carriers that assign seats (USAIR, United, etc) Depending on your fare and when you book, and how full the flight is when you book, even with those airlines you don't always get your seat when you buy your ticket. Sometimes your seat is assigned at the airport.

The airlines are in no obligation to ensure that your family stays together. If it is that important, I'd pay the 5 bucks. If it isn't that important to you, then take the gamble. It is not a crock, I see it all the time, just not sure how the recent change will work with Airtran, since now many of the seats are being spoken for, and charged for. And when families are split up, if you ask the attendant, they may try to get people to move around. But if people paid extra for those seats, the chances are they are not going to. Other destinations probably would not be affected as much, but the majority of people going to MCO are families (and not as many business travelers, other destinations it is the reverse) who do not want to be split up either.

That being said, I think if you check in 24 hours ahead of time, I think you have a very, very good chance of getting three together. I just know for me, when things can go wrong, they usually do, so I try not to leave too much to chance!

 

[ribbot]

Ribbot, I think the poster was recalling an incident that happened last year, that was before you could pick seats on Airtran. Believe me, I fly a lot for work, and I see families split apart all the time, even on carriers that assign seats (USAIR, United, etc) Depending on your fare and when you book, and how full the flight is when you book, even with those airlines you don't always get your seat when you buy your ticket. Sometimes your seat is assigned at the airport.

The airlines are in no obligation to ensure that your family stays together. If it is that important, I'd pay the 5 bucks. If it isn't that important to you, then take the gamble. It is not a crock, I see it all the time, just not sure how the recent change will work with Airtran, since now many of the seats are being spoken for, and charged for. And when families are split up, if you ask the attendant, they may try to get people to move around. But if people paid extra for those seats, the chances are they are not going to. Other destinations probably would not be affected as much, but the majority of people going to MCO are families (and not as many business travelers, other destinations it is the reverse) who do not want to be split up either.

That being said, I think if you check in 24 hours ahead of time, I think you have a very, very good chance of getting three together. I just know for me, when things can go wrong, they usually do, so I try not to leave too much to chance!

I guess it's just the gambler in me. When I purchased my tickets, back in May, there was no such thing as being able to pay extra to actually buy the exact seat you wanted. So when I found out about it, most of the plane was showing not available---and it stayed that way for about a month or more. The seating chart is just marked too "neatly" if you ask me. There is not 1 loner seat available in the first 16 rows. Seems weird to me that it's so perfectly filled. I was told the first few rows were for ff's or for higher paying customers----but that doesn't mean those seats are sold, right?

This flight isn't going to MCO, it's coming home from MCO to Pittsburgh----that's why I'm so leary I guess in paying the extra. I don't think the plane is as sold out as it appears to be on the seating chart and I wouldn't care if I got bumped for a free airline ticket anyway--so that's another reason I don't want to pay. But then on the other hand....I guess I just would like to hear some more opinions from people that have been there and done it.

And another question--if I do pay the $15, do I still need to check in 24 hours in advance? or is that taken care of when I pay the money and I don't have to worry about it?

 

[JanB]

And another question--if I do pay the $15, do I still need to check in 24 hours in advance? or is that taken care of when I pay the money and I don't have to worry about it?

No, you do not have to check in at the 24-hour mark. If you already have your seat assignment AND if you are not checking any bags, then checking in at the 24-hour mark will save you from having to get in a line at the airport. But if you've got bags to check, then you've got to get in a line anyway, and you can get your boarding pass at that time.

If you have not paid for a seat assignment, then you will receive the seat assignment and a boarding pass when you do the 24-hour check-in.

It would be interesting to know whether the 24-hour check-in works for you or against you if you are hoping to be bumped.

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

Ribbot, you know what is funny, is that I am usually a gambler as well, but this time I chickened out. The seats I paid for are also MCO to PIT (on the 19th though). I haven't checked the flight diagram lately though. Maybe I'll check tonight just for curiousity sake.

 

[crazy_for_the_dis]

On my flight, there are about 20 seats still available (on the seating chart), and 5 in the bulkhead. At some point they must have opened up the rows towards the front, because now there are singles here and there that show up as available (and they are not middle seats either, one window and one aisle). For three together, there are five rows left that would still have that. I think the plane must be close to being full, since the only rate available is $414 I think, one way. We paid $59!

 

[abk96]

Just wanted to reply back and let you all know that the new seat assignments with Airtran works perfectly. We had a great flight with them and I'll be happy to fly with them again in Nov.

We even used the Resort Airline check-in on our last day and it was so easy and it made our trip to the airport a lot more enjoyable. No worrying about hauling bags through the airport. We received our tickets with the seats I picked out online.

Everything went smoothly. The FA's were great too.

 

[ksumn1]

I was told by those same reps that the seats that are showing as "full" are being held for higher paying customers or ff customers. I thought the speech was rather good too---especially since they could be selling me an "insurance plan" for $5 per ticket. It's funny that neither one of the reps I talked to pushed for it. You would think their managers would make them "sell" this new option. Apparently, they're not pushing it since there haven't been any new seats taken in almost 2 months.

I'm jumping onto this thread kinda late, but the insurance is not a major upsell point. You're supposed to ask, but your main upsell (or it was when I worked there) was Hertz rental cars, and Disney. You are required to do the Hertz or some other upsell at the end of the call. You will get points taken off your Quality assessment if you don't.

 

[Jenn Lynn]

We are back (last Monday) from flying Airtran. I selected our seats ahead of time and had no problems except a guy trying to sit there, but he moved. (He tried this on other empty rows as well. I selected the same row and both flights and it all went smoothly.

LOVE RAC! What a great service, especially with kids.