AirTran is offering A+ credits for GC again :)

[mommyoftwinfants]

just thought I would give everyone a heads up.

From their website:

NEW! Limited Time Offer: Earn A+ Credits When You Purchase
Gift Certificates!
From November 19, 2009, through February 10, 2010, earn 1 A+ credit for every $100 in AirTran Airways gift certificates you purchase. Gift certificate orders cannot be combined to qualify for A+ credits.

No registration is necessary, but be sure to enter your A+ Rewards number in the designated field during check-out. Please allow up to 7 days for A+ credits to post to your account.

 

[tlenzendorf]

I haven't used Airtran before, but we are debating it for our March trip. Do you know if we buy GCs and get the credits, then can we use the GCs to book our trip and get more credits?

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

You sure can.

Just to let you know it takes 4 A+ credits for a business class upgrade and 8 A+ credits for a free flight, you recieve 1 credit for each one way flight.

I use my credits for a business class upgrade since it cost $69 to upgrade and I have been getting my flight for $59 and using a $20 or $25 coupon

ETA:
It only cost $49 to upgrade from most airports but $69 from DFW

 

[Funwith4kids]

What does "Gift certificate orders cannot be combined to qualify for A+ credits. " mean?

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

I think it means that you cannot order $250 + $250 and get 2.5 credits you would have to order $100, $200...etc.

 

[Sammy]

Please bear with me....this is the first time I've ever heard of this promotion.

There are 8 of us traveling in April, so total airfare will be approx. $1600, and I will be booking it all myself. Would I just purchase a $1600 GC, or do I have to break it out in smaller amounts in order to maximize the credits?

And....are there restrictions on the free flights?

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

The free flights do have blackout dates but are usually just on holidays

Are you planning on flying again within the year?
Are you wanting to use the A+ rewards for a free flight or upgrade.

If I was not flying again within the year I would purchase a $1600 gift certificate and use the 16 rewards for two one way flights, but if you are planning to fly again within the year I would purchase a$600 gift certificates using 3 A+ accounts and the next time you fly you will be able to cash in for 3 one way flights and use the remaining $200.

ETA
in order to earn A+ credits for flights each person needs to have their own A+ rewards account

 

[Sammy]

The free flights do have blackout dates but are usually just on holidays

Are you planning on flying again within the year?
Are you wanting to use the A+ rewards for a free flight or upgrade.

If I was not flying again within the year I would purchase a $1600 gift certificate and use the 16 rewards for two one way flights, but if you are planning to fly again within the year I would purchase a$600 gift certificates using 3 A+ accounts and the next time you fly you will be able to cash in for 3 one way flights and use the remaining $200.

ETA
in order to earn A+ credits for flights each person needs to have their own A+ rewards account

At this point, we have no specific plans to fly again within the year, I'm guessing these rewards have a 12-month expiration?

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

At this point, we have no specific plans to fly again within the year, I'm guessing these rewards have a 12-month expiration?

Yes they do but as long as you book before they expire, you don't have to fly before they expire.

 

[dioxide45]

We received the e-mail about this promotion and are considering taking advantage of it. We will be flying to Orlando again next May. My wife has the AirTran Visa card so we will likely purchase them all on her account since they won't expire for 24 moths.

 

[Sammy]

I'm sorry...one more question: I've heard that you can book AirTran through Kayak and not pay for seat assignment. Do you still get reward points if you book this way?

 

[dioxide45]

I'm sorry...one more question: I've heard that you can book AirTran through Kayak and not pay for seat assignment. Do you still get reward points if you book this way?

Yes, you still get A+ credits for flights booked by clicking through Kayak. Though you can't book a reward flight through Kayak and get the seat selection without a fee.

 

[TaraPA]

Ok ok more questions...sorry, this seems like a very simple concept but I just think it sounds too good to be true so I keep second guessing myself! I plan to fly Airtran to WDW in March totalling around $1000. So if I buy 10 $100 gift certs now I will get 10 A+ credits to use withint 12 months, correct? Is there any fine print that says I can't be the purchaser of the gift certs AND the redeemer of the gift certs to buy my own ticket?

If I am the purchaser of all 10 GCs, do I personally get all 10 A+ credits on my own Airtran account, or are they split amongst the ticker holders (family members) when they redeem the GCs?

I plan to go to WDW again later in 2010 by myself, so this would be incredible if I can get all the credits on my account to use for a free flight.

 

[Anal Annie]

The upgrades to Business class are $69 not $49 from BWI too. We used our A+ rewards to upgrade one of our flights last summer. I was hoping to use them again in March for RT flights but only booked one leg with them as SW beat the pants out of them for our flight down so we'll only have 3 points accrued.

ANYWAY...Note that although the A+ Reward points expire 1 yr. after the flight you can also redeem the points before they expire for an upgrade VOUCHER which is ALSO good for 1 year from the date you redeem it. That's what I had to do. Let me elaborate a little more. Our orig. flights were in July 2008. Round trip - accrued 2 A+ Reward points for each of us which would expire in July 2009. Flew Air Tran again in May 2009. Accrued 2 more points each for a total of 4 points - enough for an upgrade. Next trip was going to be in August 2009 which was a month after the orig. 2 points would be expiring. A few days before those first 2 points were to expire, I went online, in each of our A+ accounts and redeemed all of the points together by designating them to be used for a Business Class upgrade. This creates a voucher that cannot be used for anything else besides what you've selected. THEN 24 hrs. before our Aug. flights I called and used the vouchers for the upgrade. (It's all electronic - you don't really get a paper voucher - just a number. You have to call to use the vouchers though.) But just wanted to say that this is another way to get even more time out of the points beyond the original exp. date. You can essentially get 2 years out of them. All you have to do is redeem them one way or another to keep them from expiring in exactly 1 year.

I also usually book thru Kayak and do not pay for the seat assignments when booking online like that.

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

Ok ok more questions...sorry, this seems like a very simple concept but I just think it sounds too good to be true so I keep second guessing myself! I plan to fly Airtran to WDW in March totalling around $1000. So if I buy 10 $100 gift certs now I will get 10 A+ credits to use withint 12 months, correct? Is there any fine print that says I can't be the purchaser of the gift certs AND the redeemer of the gift certs to buy my own ticket?

If I am the purchaser of all 10 GCs, do I personally get all 10 A+ credits on my own Airtran account, or are they split amongst the ticker holders (family members) when they redeem the GCs?

I plan to go to WDW again later in 2010 by myself, so this would be incredible if I can get all the credits on my account to use for a free flight.

Yes you can purchase all 10 $100 GC but I would just purchase 1 $600 GC in your name and 2 $200 GC in someone else's name. This would give you 8 A+ rewards to use on your second trip to redeem for a free flight and trade in the other 2 people that now have 4A+ rewards for a business class upgrade (since they just email you the codes anyone can use them). On your solo second trip you will be able to fly business class both ways and only pay for 1 flight instead of RT. Hope this makes sense.

 

[Sammy]

Yes you can purchase all 10 $100 GC but I would just purchase 1 $600 GC in your name and 2 $200 GC in someone else's name. This would give you 8 A+ rewards to use on your second trip to redeem for a free flight and trade in the other 2 people that now have 4A+ rewards for a business class upgrade (since they just email you the codes anyone can use them). On your solo second trip you will be able to fly business class both ways and only pay for 1 flight instead of RT. Hope this makes sense.

So someone else can use the rewards points in my A+ account? That would be sweet if I'm understanding this correctly!

 

[mommyoftwinfants]

I have cashed in 8 A+ rewards for a free flight and used the flight for my mother. When I cashed in 4 A+ rewards for a upgrade I was emailed the voucher code number. Now if each person in your family has 2 A+ credits you will not be able to combine both of them to make 4 A+ credits without paying a pretty hefty fee.

 

[tinkermom23]

I also usually book thru Kayak and do not pay for the seat assignments when booking online like that.

Does this mean that if you book through Kayak, you can get seat assignments at no charge but if you go to the Air Tran website, (or any other website) you must pay for seat assignments on Air Tran?
Doesn't Kayak direct you to the airline's website anyway?

 

[dioxide45]

Does this mean that if you book through Kayak, you can get seat assignments at no charge but if you do to the Air Tran website, (or any other website) you must pay for seat assignments on Air Tran?
Doesn't Kayak direct you to the airline's website anyway?

They Kayak website directly links you back to AirTran.com. I don't know if other third party sites get you free seat assignments though.

 

[Sammy]

....Now if each person in your family has 2 A+ credits you will not be able to combine both of them to make 4 A+ credits .....

Got it...and of course, as I'm booking everyone's flights, each of those bookings only earn Rewards points on the individual person's own A+ account. When all is said and done, I will be able to get one of our round trips for free. I'll take it!