AirTran HELP!

[alohamom]

Hi everyone, we are flying AirTran for the first time in early May and I am wondering if I NEED to pre-purchase my seat assignments. I was reading about the pre-boarding and seat selections and yikes, my head is swimming with confusion. I assumed it was similar to Southwest as far as the 24 hour window for boarding passes but it seems to be different. Is it worth the extra $$ to pre-purchase the seats? I am travelling with my DH and kids ages 11 and 13. Theya re experienced flyers but I dont think I want them sitting alone all throught the plane, it is just not as fun! What has been your experience with Air Tran-please help me out gang! Thanks in advance

 

[irishtigger]

We have always purchased our seats. We like to sit in the front of the plane. However, my student didnt purchase a seat assignment and the other family she was flying with did. Airtran had overbooked the flight and since she didnt have a seat assingment she was bumped to the next flight out. One member of the other family stayed behind so she didnt fly alone. To be safe and make sure your family sits together I would spend the extra money on the seats.

 

[alohamom]

WOW-thanks for that Irish Tigger, I never thought of that scenario!

 

[jillianml]

Its only like $6 per person

 

[Tower]

We too paid for assigned seating on our December flight. We're a family of 5 and we wanted to all sit together. It could not be guaranteed if we waited. Glad we did!
Remember to pack well as Airtran charges per bag and are very strict on the weight tolerances. Paying for 2 bags is cheaper than paying an overweight charge.

 

[Ted in Halifax]

I paid $6 too ... was worth it.

Ted

 

[irishtigger]

You are very welcome. Have a great trip.

 

[TheBig2na]

ITs a shame you have to pay for assigned seating nowadays. wouldnt they assume you want to sit together? hahahaha

Any way to make a buck. We tend to book them just in case, even though we know its a money grab.

 

[ccgirl]

Hi everyone, we are flying AirTran for the first time in early May and I am wondering if I NEED to pre-purchase my seat assignments. I was reading about the pre-boarding and seat selections and yikes, my head is swimming with confusion. I assumed it was similar to Southwest as far as the 24 hour window for boarding passes but it seems to be different. Is it worth the extra $$ to pre-purchase the seats? I am travelling with my DH and kids ages 11 and 13. Theya re experienced flyers but I dont think I want them sitting alone all throught the plane, it is just not as fun! What has been your experience with Air Tran-please help me out gang! Thanks in advance

ITs a shame you have to pay for assigned seating nowadays. wouldnt they assume you want to sit together? hahahaha

Any way to make a buck. We tend to book them just in case, even though we know its a money grab.

Even with the seat assignments they are less expensive than the other airlines. They could just roll the seat selection into the price of the flight but then people would complain the price was too expensive. This way they let people decide what is important to them.

It is very different than Southwest. With Southwest you check in and get a boarding position, not an actual seat. With Airtran you get an actual seat. I will tell you, the majority of the people pick/buy the seat so you will just be left with what people haven't purchased 24 hours in advance. Most likely, this will be scattered middle seats. The FA's will not have people move as they have paid for those seats. If you want to sit together, definitely pre-purchase the seats. Just like SW, they will give you a credit if your price goes down so keep an eye on it.

I loved them. Knowing I was going to an actual seat rather than scrounging around for seats was awesome.

Have fun!

 

[mtmbyck]

Buy your seats in advance. It will be a packed flight and odds of sitting together will be slim.

 

[alohamom]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

 

[RainbowsMist]

We returned a week ago today from our vacation and flew for the first time with Airtran. We too pre-purchased our seats ($6 each). We are a family of five and wanted to make sure we were together.

As for the luggage, we all took one carryon suitcase and a personal item (ie: laptop, purse/bag) and we checked one large suitcase that we put all our shoes, towels, toiletries in. We were never checked for weight or size but I heard others have been. We also used the curbside baggage check-in that made things so easy!

 

[disneychristinec]

Hey RainbowsMist did you print off etickets and when did you get them sent to you? I have bought and reserved seats online thru cheapoair online website, I am unsure as too what to take to airport going to Buffalo.
Any help would be appreciated thanks.

 

[RainbowsMist]

Hey RainbowsMist did you print off etickets and when did you get them sent to you? I have bought and reserved seats online thru cheapoair online website, I am unsure as too what to take to airport going to Buffalo.
Any help would be appreciated thanks.

I printed off our itinerary..then did the online check in at the 24 hour mark. When we got to the curbside check-in they printed our boarding passed right there for us as I didn't have access to a printer from the hotel the night before. Then we were directed to the gate. It was a VERY easy process.

Hope that help

 

[disneychristinec]

Thank you Rainbowsmist
That is great that they will print them off, I read somewhere they might charge but they didn't charge you then great.
I am petrified that I won't have proper paperwork and not be able to get on plane yikes!!!

 

[RainbowsMist]

Thank you Rainbowsmist
That is great that they will print them off, I read somewhere they might charge but they didn't charge you then great.
I am petrified that I won't have proper paperwork and not be able to get on plane yikes!!!

No we weren't charged anything however, the curbside check in guy did politely tell us it was a "tip service" they were offering.. so we tipped
DH and I just had to show ID for the two of us while the kids waited on a bench.

 

[alohamom]

OMG-thanks so much to everyone who contributed answers to my Air Tran question. As a result, I went ahead and pre-booked the seat assignments for the flights and thank goodness I did. Going down wasnt too bad, quite a few seats open BUT coming home there were only 6 seats that had not been pre-assigned!!!! I was able to get two and two so we will be able to each sit with one child but all I could think about was being bumped off because I hadnt pre booked the seating!!! Thanks again my fellow Canadian Dis'ers!!!

 

[phabric]

Keep checking your flight times. I bought our tickets Feb 9 for flights Aug 21-27. On their site, they mention that they would email with any time changes. I have had only 1 email and they have changed the flight time 4x since buying the tickets.

 

[RainbowsMist]

Keep checking your flight times. I bought our tickets Feb 9 for flights Aug 21-27. On their site, they mention that they would email with any time changes. I have had only 1 email and they have changed the flight time 4x since buying the tickets.

Yes they do like to change and they often don't email. Saturdays seem to be the day they change. Airtran is VERY accomodating. They will let you switch flights and even days at no extra charge when they make a change to your flight. We took advantage of this on our recent trip

 

[alohamom]

Yeah, my flights have changed once alreday. It wasnt by much but still, kinda weird as it is a regular route