AirTran fliers... question about seat assignments

[Ariel on Land]

This will be our first time flying AirTran, so I'm not familiar with how things work. I see that you can pay a fee to reserve your seats, or wait until 24 hrs prior to checkin to do so for free. We're a family of four, including two 3 year olds. Obviously, we'd want to have seats close together. Is this usually an issue when you check in at the 24 hr mark, or is it worth paying the fee for the advanced seat selection?

 

[kaytieeldr]

It's worth paying the fee. The many passengers who did pay to choose their seats are, understandably, going to be unwilling to give up those seats, so it's extremely possible all that will be left when you check in is individual middle seats.

 

[Ariel on Land]

Thanks-- I actually just found a thread lower on the page that addresses this issue further into the post and it seems to be an overwhelming, "pay for the seat pick!" Plus, I had forgotten if we do resort check in, we won't have the luxury to pick seats then anyways... So looks like I know what to do!

 

[Missytara]

I would definately do it now - my flight isn't for another 12-1/2 weeks and the plane is nearly full and there are only about 10 seats, but they are scattered through out the plane. Same with the plane coming back.

 

[Gary M]

http://www.airtran.com/DwightVoucher/

If you are leaving before Dec. 16 you might use the $12 off vouchure. This was posted on another thread.

 

[ccgirl]

I asked the same thing when I booked my first AT flight as I had flown SW pretty exclusively until then. It was an overwhelming pay for the seats with a lot of people saying they did see people split up. I chose the $6 seats. Even with the fees the flight was much cheaper than SW. PLus, with SW EBCI it is $10 just for a chance at a better boarding position; it is not even an assigned seat.

I wish I had that discount code before we booked. Our flights have gone up significantly so I don't want to rebook. I know you can use that code to pay for seat assignments as well. Use multiple emails and you can get seat assignments for free. Have fun!

 

[Donut23]

I fly Southwest and AirTran for work.....and pleasure. I always pay the advance seat fee for AirTran (early bird for Southwest).

For me and my DH....we both have waaaaaaay too much stress in our lives. It seems a small cost (compared to a disney vacation) to add a little peace of mind - we know where our seats are.

With AirTran, I KNOW we will sit together and probably in a section of the jet I prefer. I HAVE also changed seats at the 24 hour mark (moved so we would not have a person sitting between us.....farther back in the jet you will find more open middle seats if the flight is not sold out).

Have a great flight and a great trip!

 

[Native NYer]

I agree! I say pay for seat selection, especially when traveling with young children. We payed to select our seats because we're traveling with a 6 yr old and a 2 yr old. And even with the fees, our Airtran flight was still significantly cheaper than flights on other airlines.

 

[WeLuvTink!]

http://www.airtran.com/DwightVoucher/

If you are leaving before Dec. 16 you might use the $12 off voucher. This was posted on another thread.

IF you haven't booked yet, consider booking 2 one-way trips, instead of 1 roundtrip. Price on Airtran is exactly the same either way.

Then you can use one of the $12 off coupons PER PERSON, on EACH itinerary (i.e. $24 off per person roundtrip. This easily pays for seats and then you have no worries. The coupons also work to pay for seats if you've already bought your tickets. Just go in and check your reservation, choose seats, then at the end enter in your coupons (allowed one coupon per person).

Note you have to have a different email address per coupon, but you can use the disposable emails really quickly at this website: http://www.mailinator.com/

 

[aubriee]

IF you haven't booked yet, consider booking 2 one-way trips, instead of 1 roundtrip. Price on Airtran is exactly the same either way.

Then you can use one of the $12 off coupons PER PERSON, on EACH itinerary (i.e. $24 off per person roundtrip. This easily pays for seats and then you have no worries. The coupons also work to pay for seats if you've already bought your tickets. Just go in and check your reservation, choose seats, then at the end enter in your coupons (allowed one coupon per person).

Note you have to have a different email address per coupon, but you can use the disposable emails really quickly at this website: http://www.mailinator.com/

Thank you but I'm confused. If I book airfare for my husband and I, would I need four coupons (one for each of us going and one for each of us coming back or can one coupon be used for two people going then another for two people flying home)?

 

[ccgirl]

Thank you but I'm confused. If I book airfare for my husband and I, would I need four coupons (one for each of us going and one for each of us coming back or can one coupon be used for two people going then another for two people flying home)?

It is one per person per itinerary. That means if you have one confirmation number (round trip flight) you would need two codes (1 for each of you) and would get a total of $24 off your flight.

However, if you had 4 codes and you each booked a separate 1 way flight you could apply the code to each itinerary and save a total of $48.

Hope this helps.

 

[aubriee]

It is one per person per itinerary. That means if you have one confirmation number (round trip flight) you would need two codes (1 for each of you) and would get a total of $24 off your flight.

However, if you had 4 codes and you each booked a separate 1 way flight you could apply the code to each itinerary and save a total of $48.

Hope this helps.

Yes it does. Thanks!

 

[Galaxia516]

Do you know whether you can use the vouchers for checking luggage instead? (And if so, would I do it at time of online check-in?). Also, will this work if I originally booked my AirTran flight through Disney rather than through Airtran.com?