AirTran Flight Changes

[krissyh]

OK - airlines adjust schedules.
OK - if you book four months ahead, it's likely to happen.
OK - you get what you pay for.
OK - we've flown Airtran before and the flight times changed.

BUT - when they change your flight, it is customary to notify you. They changed our flight down. Now (provided we are ontime, through Atlanta mid-day, in Feb.) we get in at 4:39PM, not sure going to a park that night is worth it now. Don't start with the nasties, I know it is their right to change the flight times.
The thing is, the didn't notify us (we checked severl times) but ME goes by flight number so - we would be fine.
The problem was our flight home - the flight no longer exists! So, on a new flight number (not the one we gave Disney) we'd have to be at the airport an hour and a half earlier (screws up the night before and morning) to get back at the same time and they took away our pre-selected seats. So I start looking into it to find that the original flight disappeared in favor of a DIRECT flight into Buffalo, 8 minutes earlier. Did they put us on or offer us that? No, because the didn't notify us!

The good thing? I did call to complain (nicely) and two different WONDERFUL booking agents (hey it wasn't their fault to begin with) put us on the direct flight (no change fee) and gave us assigned seats for the flights down that should have been assigned at check in.

Why do I write all of this -
A warning to recheck both the times and the number.
A reminder to tell ME is your number changes.
A way to go to the operators at Airtran who made up for the screw up.

 

[helenk]

I check Airtran every Sunday, that seems to be when they make their changes.
We flew them last year and our flight home was cancelled and they moved us to a flight that left earlier in the day. I had not rec'd notification, but had seen the change on line and I called right away. We were able to re-book on a better flight than they had put us on with no charge as well. It is my understanding that if your flight times change 2 hours or more the airline will not charge you a fee when you make a change to their rescheduling.
..
Also, as far as Magical Express goes, the flight changes are not a problem, when you get to the counter to check in, they confirm your return flight info then, just tell them of the changes they input it in the computer and everything for your return flight is changed.

 

[CarolA]

They might have EVENTUALLY notified you.

Airlines notify in ORDER. SO if they change and/or cancel those with flights next week get called first. Folks with Feb flights might not get called until late January or Febuary....In AirTran's mind you had LOTS of time to be notified.

 

[krissyh]

Actually, they claimed that all notifications went out in October for the first change and mid-December for the second. We, however, never received them. I know the email was correct because we did receive an update almost immediatley yesterday. I am guessing that this has been a common occurance since they were so willing to make changes for us.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

I fly frequently, mostly for business. Most airlines don't notify you of changes, whether major or minor ones, until a week or two prior to the flight. United tends to be the most proactive of the airlines I fly -- they notify me anytime a change is made, even if it's just a couple of minutes (for example: departing at 11:06 instead of 11:04).

 

[kjs1976]

AA did this in Aug with our Oct flight. I noticed right away and called. It was an hour change to a later flight which woiuld've given us about 20 min to get to our connecting flight. Since the airline changed us, we were able to reschedule on an earlier flight with no fee or penalty. Pheeewwww!

Hope Airtran doesn't do this to us for our June/July flights! One is non-stop, one home is connecting.

 

[Esmerelda]

Hi Krissyh...
We flew down to Orlando about 4 years ago. It was myself and my two sons at the time (I was still a single mom then) and they were 6 and 10 at the time. I phoned Delta late the night before to VERIFY our flight so there would be no mix ups. Our flight was to leave Orlando @11:00a so we were in line at the counter around 9am. Rental car had already been returned. The lady at the counter says to me "oh...that flight was cancelled...we put you on the 4pm flight..." :::::blink::::::::: Here I stand with luggage and two small children and 8 hrs to spend at the airport...yikes!! They told me there was nothing else they could do. (yeah...right..) I got out of line...boys and luggage in tow and went to the side and used my cell phone to call Delta directly. They did get us on a flight that we basically ran too but made it onto the plane. The rest of the story was a nightmare and I won't bore you with it but I DID call at 9pm the night before and was never told anything was cancelled. I have never flown Delta since (keep in mind, that was not all of the story) and I've never had an issue such as that. (flown AAA, US Air, Airtran, and Southwest). I'm sorry this happened to you...its VERY frustrating to those of us who do plan accordingly the day before. I hope your next trip is much smoother.

have a great new year,
Esmerelda

 

[safetymom]

Everyone should be checking flights once you have reservations. The sooner you catch the change the more likely you are to get the flights you want.

I don't depend on the airline calling me.