AirTran - fill me in!

[codygirl5150]

Hi all! I've booked a cruise for June 2011 and have started getting some ideas of how much airfare is. I estimate we can save about $800 by flying through AirTran out of Branson, MO, but I have never flown with them and have absolutely no idea about this airline. I'm thinking that there's a catch- why else would the tickets be so much cheaper than the major airlines?

A few things I've read thus far and some questions:
-I'm traveling with DD9 and family, so I should be sure to pay the extra price to pick my seats so we can be sure to set together. What are the different tiers for? (I read there's $15, $12, and $6 reserved seats).
-I can prepay baggage fees or pay at check in. What is the allowance for carry ons? For some reason I couldn't find this on their site.
-They cancel flights. How often does this happen? My return flight has to be after noon due to returning from Port Canaveral, so what if they cancel my flight? Do they automatically rebook you, or do you get to choose the flight time?

So please fill me in on all the things I need to know about booking & flying with AirTran. Any details about BKG (Branson Airport) would be greatly appreciated too!

Thanks!!

 

[westjones]

I am not expert, since we just used them yesterday for our flight back from WDW, but all went well for us. We did pay the extra to pick our seats (I can't remember how much it was, I bought the tickets several months ago). We checked in at the machine in the WDW resort lobby and was able to pay for our bags then (since I didn't know how many bags we would have before).

They have satellite radio (bring your own earphones, or they have them for you I think, but DH had his own). They also had internet service onboard! Now it was free yesterday (and for the next 2 weeks) because they are testing it, so I am not sure what the cost will be after that. But DH had his iTouch and was able to go through lots of emails from work and basically spent the whole flight online and listened to the radio. I, on the other hand, just read my magazine.

I have heard they change flight times a lot. That didn't happen to us. It moved by 10 minutes a couple months ago and we got an email letting us know, but that was it.

Hope this helps.

 

[jaysmom4285]

See here: http://www.airtran.com/policies/carry-on_checked.aspx for information about baggage allowances and charges. They do charge $15-20 per flight, I forget which, for exit rows and rows toward the front of the plane which board first. Most of the other seats are $6 per flight. I have seen others say that AirTran changes flight times a lot, but it hasn't happened to us to any significant degree. One flight was moved up an hour once, and a few flights have changed by a few minutes, but that's it. We usually upgrade to business class when we check in, which can be done for a very reasonable rate, considering how much it costs to book a business class seat.

 

[zimaaaaah]

We flew from Branson to Orlando back in November and loved it. No hassle whatsoever and when you add in fees they are cheaper even than Allegiant sometimes. However, they changed our flight coming back and really messed up our schedule since we were doing a cruise also. They moved it up by 2 hours which caused us to cut it too close getting off the ship and making back thru MCO security etc. in time. They did refund our money but it was very frustrating. We ended up flying Allegiant back to Springfield on the next day instead. I think the flight back has more potential to be changed since they have more flights coming out of Orlando and can mess with the schedule more. Going from Branson, there are only 2 times, so they can't do much with that.
Having said that, we are flying them to Orlando again in May, but are again flying back on Allegiant due to pricing and schedule. You may need to consider if you have any flexibility in when you fly and see if you are comfortable knowing you may need to switch the flight back at some point. $800 bucks is a lot of money to save if you ask me!
PS - The Branson airport is tiny but just as nice as Springfield and easy,easy to get in and get gone.

 

[polyforme]

I have never flown airtran before but have them booked for our trip to orlando in august- they have already changed the times twice but have been very accomodating-we could pick any flight the day before, that day or the day after. We actually got a better flight than i had originally booked because it was more money so it worked out for us-hopefully they won't change it again. I don't know that i will chance it when we book for our cruise next Feb.

 

[kteesmumma]

We have our flight for May booked through Airtran. First time using them as well.

We have 6 of us going and 2 of those being children..so we paid the 6.00 per person per seat assignment so that we would have no issues in not having seats together. Our flights have already changed twice. First change was just a 10 minute earlier departure both ways. When we initially booked we picked NON STOP Flights. The second flight change is the one that we are truly upset over...our NON STOP flight down to Orlando was canceled and we had to pick yet a different flight. We are now having a 40 minute layover and having to leave Boston an hour earlier than originally planned. My mom booked our flights through a TA and was at work when they called and was all flustered so she just picked the best flight she could find. I was unaware that you could actually pick a different flight for the day before...if that was the case that is what we would have done.

 

[codygirl5150]

Thanks everyone for all of your replies! I feel a lot better booking with them now knowing the potential hazards.

We flew from Branson to Orlando back in November and loved it. No hassle whatsoever and when you add in fees they are cheaper even than Allegiant sometimes. However, they changed our flight coming back and really messed up our schedule since we were doing a cruise also. They moved it up by 2 hours which caused us to cut it too close getting off the ship and making back thru MCO security etc. in time. They did refund our money but it was very frustrating. We ended up flying Allegiant back to Springfield on the next day instead. I think the flight back has more potential to be changed since they have more flights coming out of Orlando and can mess with the schedule more. Going from Branson, there are only 2 times, so they can't do much with that.
Having said that, we are flying them to Orlando again in May, but are again flying back on Allegiant due to pricing and schedule. You may need to consider if you have any flexibility in when you fly and see if you are comfortable knowing you may need to switch the flight back at some point. $800 bucks is a lot of money to save if you ask me!
PS - The Branson airport is tiny but just as nice as Springfield and easy,easy to get in and get gone.

I didn't realized Allegiant flew through Springfield - is that to MCO or Sanford? I'll have to check them out as well-thanks! I can't book for a few more months, so everything is still guesswork on my part. The flight to MCO won't be a big deal to have to be flexible on since we are flying in a couple days early to have a day at WDW. But coming home I will have to really watch it due to the cruise. What if they changed the return time while I'm on my cruise?? How would I know? (no internet/cell - well, I won't be paying the extra $$ for it anyways!)

How long before a flight does AirTran cancel/change times? Are we talking a month, weeks, or days? And how do they notify you of the change? (I'm guessing an email).

 

[codygirl5150]

See here: http://www.airtran.com/policies/carry-on_checked.aspx for information about baggage allowances and charges. They do charge $15-20 per flight, I forget which, for exit rows and rows toward the front of the plane which board first. Most of the other seats are $6 per flight. I have seen others say that AirTran changes flight times a lot, but it hasn't happened to us to any significant degree. One flight was moved up an hour once, and a few flights have changed by a few minutes, but that's it. We usually upgrade to business class when we check in, which can be done for a very reasonable rate, considering how much it costs to book a business class seat.

Thanks! I don't know why that was so hard for me to find.

 

[codygirl5150]

How long before a flight does AirTran cancel/change times? Are we talking a month, weeks, or days? And how do they notify you of the change? (I'm guessing an email).

Bumpitty bump. Does anyone know??

Thanks!