Airtran or Southwest?

[goodferry]

We are heading to the World in mid December from Pittsburgh, Airtran has released their flights and pricing for our dates, $99 each way non stop. The non stop part of it is important to me because traveling with four kids is enough fun without adding on the stress of an extra couple of hours travel time, that's why we haven't considered Jet Blue, they don't have any non stop flights out of Pittsburgh. Should I book now or hold out for Southwest until June. Or should I pay the extra $50-60 per ticket to fly USAir? We have never flown Southwest because of the fear of not sitting together.

 

[maciec]

Personally, I would wait for Southwwest. I think that as long as you are smart with Southwest then you will be able to sit together. Make sure that you do your check-in right at the 24 hour mark to get your A boarding pass and line up as soon as you get to the terminal. If you have kids under 5 then you are able to pre-board and I definitely wouldn't worry about not being able to sit together. With that though, I would still get in line when you get to the terminal.

 

[justplaingoofy]

What is the other airline??

Title says AirTran, but in the body says U.S. Air?

 

[WillCAD]

I don't know if they do it in Pit, but SWA and AirTran always seem to have about the same fare from BWI to MCO, so money is not the deciding factor for me.

I have flown both SWA and AirTran, and I like them both. What always decides it for me is the fact that SWA does not charge fees to change your flight, whereas all other airlies do, so unless your schedule is set in stone at time of booking, SWA is a little better.

As far as the sitting together thing goes, don't let it get you paranoid. All of the planes you're going to fly for any airline from Pit to MCO are going to have rows of three, so your family is going to have to sit in two rows anyway. And as long as you check in early enough with SWA and all get group A boarding passes, you will all be able to get on the plane together and sit in two rows next to each other or across from each other.

Advice - and a plea - Since you will have a family of 6, PLEASE just go all the way to the rear of the plane as soon as you get aboard. The rear of the cabin fills up slowest, so you will have the best chance of getting two rows of 3 either across from each other or next to each other if you go to the back immediately. But this also means that your group of 6 with 4 kids, who will likely take a long time to get your carry-ons secured and get the kids buckled in and set up with books, toys, snacks, DVD players, or whatever you bring to keep them from getting bored, will not block the isle for the rest of the passengers getting on the plane after you.

I love sitting in the rear of the plane for late evening flights, because it seems to be the quietest part of the cabin and I can usually get some sleep. On flights that are not full, I also have a better chance of getting a row of seats to myself in the back of the cabin.

This will require only one small sacrafice - you will be the last to get off the plane when you land. But when you land it will likely take you a long time to get your carry ons out of the overhead bin, stow the kids' toys, books, snacks, etc, and get ready to deplane anyway, so it probably won't be much of a delay.

 

[goodferry]

Thanks for the help! I am such an advanced planner that it seems counter intuitive to me to wait until six months out to book our flight! We have flown AirTran before and liked it, actually better than the USAir portion of the flight, the problem with them is I am not crazy about the schedule, only two non stop flights and not at the times we wanted.
One final question, does anyone know if Southwest indeed will let you pre-board with children under five? It has been our experience that none of our flights to Orlando (which seem to be full of children, of course!) allow pre-boarding with toddlers, just for those with medical conditions.

 

[WillCAD]

Thanks for the help! I am such an advanced planner that it seems counter intuitive to me to wait until six months out to book our flight! We have flown AirTran before and liked it, actually better than the USAir portion of the flight, the problem with them is I am not crazy about the schedule, only two non stop flights and not at the times we wanted.
One final question, does anyone know if Southwest indeed will let you pre-board with children under five? It has been our experience that none of our flights to Orlando (which seem to be full of children, of course!) allow pre-boarding with toddlers, just for those with medical conditions.

The official SWA policy is to allow families with children under 5 to pre-board.

MCO has a particular problem with this policy because such a huge percentage of passengers are families with kids vacationing at WDW and Universal. I have seen some pretty huge pre-board lines at MCO over the years, and sometimes the gate agents will limit the number of adults who can pre-board with a kid under 5.

I've never seen a child under 5 actually refused pre-board status on SWA, however. Sometimes the gate agent will only let the parents pre-board with the kid if the pre-board line is full, but most of the time they don't bother the pre-board line at all.

If you can, book late evening flights. The later in the evening your flights are, the fewer kids there are, which means fewer pre-boarders, less crowded flights, and more empt seats to choose from. Your kids will also be more likely to fall alseep during the flight, which may make the flight easier on you but might make it tougher to deplane and get home when you land.

 

[Andrea from PA]

OK -- too late for me because I booked US Air, but in the future I want to tkae SW -- What is the 24 hour thing? I've heard that 24 hr before plane you can print a bording pass with a seat number -- Is this accurate?

I also heard this can ONLY be done for an INDIVIDUAL. So if I have a family of 5 instead of booking 1 party 5 people at SW I would need to book 5 times for 1 person. True?

 

[GoingtoSeeRella]

I'm trying to decide the same thing...book AirTran, wait for SW, or go with our old stand-by USAir.

I wouldn't worry about the sitting together thing. It happened to us last year on USAir...something got messed up with our seats and they didn't have us together. We're a party of 5...3 small children. I just figured that once I got on that plane and there were no seats to accommodate at least 3 and 2, someone would move. If I sat my 2 year old next to two strangers, and loudly gave her her crayons and juicy cup and told the people that I was sitting a few rows away and to just call me if there were any problems, I'm sure they'd switch lightening quick

As of right now, I'm holding tight for SW, but it's hard cause I'm OCD when it comes to trip planning

 

[Disneyof3]

Yes me to Andrea from PA I would love to know those answers too. Also do you print them from your computer or do you call SW? Flying back and won't be at the resort can you print them from any computer (will be at in-laws in Clearwater). My biggest fear will also be not having my kids with me and me very nervous flying (need a window seat). On another thread someone said that the stewartess will buy a seat so my kids can sit with me by giving the person a free drink. Usually people are understanding with parents and kids and nervous fliers.

 

[springandmac]

I've heard that 24 hr before plane you can print a bording pass with a seat number -- Is this accurate?

I also heard this can ONLY be done for an INDIVIDUAL. So if I have a family of 5 instead of booking 1 party 5 people at SW I would need to book 5 times for 1 person. True?

Your information is not accurate, you can print your boarding pass and your assigned a boarding group (A, B, C) not a seat number. When you get to the SW terminal you'll see signs that say A, B, C and people standing in line. Pretty much it's first come first serve. Also, you can print the boarding passes for your entire party, no matter how you book it (all together as 5 or individually).

We flew southwest in November Do yourself a favor and follow the advise of WillCad. While we had group A boarding passes, people were already in line when we got there so when it was time board 2 people would take up a row and instead of a single passenger sitting with the couple they would take a new row and since we needed three seats together we had to go Waaaay into the back of the plane with the C boarding group, so basically the A boarding pass was useless.

I love Southwest fares but I hate their seating procedure.

 

[WillCAD]

OK -- too late for me because I booked US Air, but in the future I want to tkae SW -- What is the 24 hour thing? I've heard that 24 hr before plane you can print a bording pass with a seat number -- Is this accurate?

I also heard this can ONLY be done for an INDIVIDUAL. So if I have a family of 5 instead of booking 1 party 5 people at SW I would need to book 5 times for 1 person. True?

Springandmac explained it pretty well. I'lll just add a little more about the 24 thing.

When you book with SWA, you can check in for your flight online up to 24 hours before your flight. When you check in, you are assigned to boarding group A, B, or C. You have the option of priting out your boarding pass at this time.

It is also possible to check in via a web-equipped cell phone, which is great if you are on vacation and have no computer access.

If you check in online from a device that has no printer, that's no problem. You will still be assigned to your boarding group; you can then print your boarding pass when you get to the airport via automated kiosks that SWA maintains in the airports.

 

[goodferry]

Is checking in and printing your boarding pass something the hotel concierge can help you with?

 

[Reese]

Is checking in and printing your boarding pass something the hotel concierge can help you with?

If you take your reservation number and photo ID to the desk they will print them down for you.

We've flown SW four times now and all the flights they allowed pre-boarding for those under 5. They even allowed our entire party to pre-board. As Willcad suggested as a courtesy to others proceed to the rear of the plane. It gives you more time to situate everyone and also with little ones in tow you are going to take longer getting off the flight also so this way you aren't holding anyone up.