Airtran or Southwest?

[justloveit]

Southwest will not let young children be separated from a parent even with unassigned seating. We have been on flights where they have said the plane will not take off until someone moves to accomodate parent and child.

 

[brehan9403]

Southwest. They hardly ever change the flight times on you, Airtran does this frequently. They allow 2 checked bags per person for free. There are no hidden fees for canceling or changing your flights if necessary.

 

[wezee]

We are trying Airtran for the first time this Oct. The fees don't really bother me since we have $59.00 (non-stop) fare. I like the idea of assigned seats, plus SW fare was much higher and they have no non-stop flights out of Detroit. In addition to only having connecting flights...SW departure times were horrible.
I also do not want to play the "24hr. rush for seating" game with SW
We booked Airtran over 4 mos. ago and so far no flight changes (I check weekly).

 

[kevgraub]

I think you just have to sit down and decide what is best for your family.

For us, sitting together is very important, and I don't like the thought of making sure I'm in front of my computer (or blackberry) precisely 24 hours before my flight to make sure I get an A boarding pass. I would much rather spend $12 per person round trip to have guaranteed seats next to each other near the front of the plane. If you are not picky about where you sit, or don't mind the chance of being split up, then SW would probably be a better option.

The luggage fee thing just cracks me up when people get so upset about it. Look - Airtran charges $15 per checked bag. Our family of 4 will get by with 2 checked bags, at most. Just add the fee into the cost of tickets. Why is that such a big deal to people? We got $59 tickets. With 2 checked bags, those $59 tickets turned into $66.50 tickets. Move on.

Airtran, like most other airlines, is known to make changes in flight schedules. Really, SW is about the only one I have seen that does not change schedules once they come out. That is a major plus for SW, but Airtran is really not much different than anyone else, and most of the flight changes are pretty minor. Not always, but most of the time.

As for Airtran always being late - SW's ontime rating for 2008 was 80%, compared to 76% for Airtran. If that 4% is a major issue, then choose SW.

Some other pros for Airtran. Airtran's mishandled baggage in 2008 was quite a bit better than Southwest's, and Airtran's denied boarding (such as oversold flights) was quite a bit better than Southwest as well. As with the ontime arrivals, the differences are not big enough for me that it sways me one way or the other, but if people are going to complain about Airtran not being on time, they should also factor in that Southwest is twice as likely to lose your bag, and three times as likely to bump you from an oversold flight.

There are pros and cons to both airlines. I like both, and fly both. When flying with our small kids, I like to be have assigned seats and would take Airtran. Flying alone, that makes no difference to me. The luggage fee thing is a huge non-issue for me, as I am able to just add the cost of checking a bag into the equation when comparing rates. On time rating is a wash, the fact that 4% more of SW's flights show up on time than Airtran's is just not a big enough difference to me. We do not fly all that much (at least when I am paying for it), and chances are if I get a SW credit for a reduction in fares after I book, it will go unused anyway. If you fly more often, that is something to consider.

 

[Missytara]

jopie - if you book through a site like kayak.com, you don't have to pay the seat fee, unless you want an exit row seat. It saved me another $12.00.

And I cannot remember who commented on how hard it is to get a confirmation on the way back at WDW; I traveled with a few friends on Southwest a few years ago, and the concierge desk at POR printed them out for us.

I prefer Airtran, since I fly out T-giving weekend and I know I have a seat. Even if it is $20.00 or $30.00 more, which it has been for me each year, I would rather pay the extra on Airtran, and not have to handle my luggage on the way back. When I went with friends a few years ago, on the way home, the line for Southwest was a mile long. We ended up paying a skycap to take our bags through for us, which made the difference even less. And on T-giving weekend, I have seen more than a few people get bumped on Southwest, while I know I am almost certain of keeping my seat on Airtran.

Now I just tip Valentino at POR for bringing my bags up to the lobby!

 

[Coconuts]

...The luggage fee thing just cracks me up when people get so upset about it. Look - Airtran charges $15 per checked bag. Our family of 4 will get by with 2 checked bags, at most. Just add the fee into the cost of tickets. Why is that such a big deal to people? We got $59 tickets. With 2 checked bags, those $59 tickets turned into $66.50 tickets. Move on...

Unfortunately, some of us aren't as lucky to get your fantastic price on airfare, and when you may be paying $200/rt or more, an extra $15/bag may make a difference. I have a family of 5, with an 18mos old, so I will be checking way more than 2 bags with all of the baby gear(my guess is 4 bags=$60). We aren't light packers, hate doing laundry, and usually go for at least 7 days.

$59 is awesome and I'm jealous.

 

[mmackeymouse]

We are torn for much different reasons. It really kind of all depends on what the prices of flights or in a couple of weeks......after Southwest releases their fares.

AirTran- There IS a baggage fee, but if the price is significantly less than SW, it may not even be an issue. We do not mind layovers, but our layovers are always through Atlanta with AT, and that is a big negative to us. For the positives, there are definitely more options through our aiport (Indy) than SW, especially many more Nonstops, to Orlando. I think it will definitely fit our schedule better. Also, my parents already have some A+ rewards racked up from a previous trip, so it would be nice to add to that.

Southwest- We've never flown Southwest, but we've heard great things. Now, it is great that they offer the first two bags free, but we have noticed that their fares are usually a little bit higher, so it may not be that great of a bargain. However, if prices are the same, obviously it would be hard to NOT go with SW. As far as getting bumped, we are actually hoping for that, for the perks, so that would actually be a plus for us. Unfortunately, they usually only have 2 or 3 flights a day, usually one nonstop, to and from Orlando, and the times usually aren't great, so the schedule may not work that well for us.

We'll see next week, I suppose!

 

[kevgraub]

Unfortunately, some of us aren't as lucky to get your fantastic price on airfare, and when you may be paying $200/rt or more, an extra $15/bag may make a difference. I have a family of 5, with an 18mos old, so I will be checking way more than 2 bags with all of the baby gear(my guess is 4 bags=$60). We aren't light packers, hate doing laundry, and usually go for at least 7 days.

$59 is awesome and I'm jealous.

I completely understand that, but you still just have to factor in the cost of the bags when figuring the price. That was my point more than what we actually paid.

For example, if are paying $200 round trip for a family of 5, your total airfare is $1000. Now, suppose you need to check 4 suitcases each way on Airtran, that means that your total airfare is now really $1120 ($1000 plus $120 for luggage fees) - or $224 per person. So, compare the $224 per person number to what Southwest is charging you round trip and see which one is cheaper.

Some people on here swear they will fly nothing but Southwest because it charges no baggage fees. I think that is absolutely crazy. You just need to account for the luggage fees when calculating the total cost for your flight, and see what is cheaper.

For our upcoming trip in September, Airtran has consistently been waaaaay cheaper than Southwest out of Kansas City, even if we add $15 per person on for luggage. For others, the $15 per bag makes Airtran more expensive than Southwest and tip the scale to SW. For some, Southwest may be cheaper even without the luggage fee added in, and that makes it an even better choice.

I'm not saying that you should ignore the luggage fees, I'm just saying that those fees should just be added into the cost of the flight when you are considering everything else.

For those that say "Definitely fly SW because they do not charge you $15 for a checked bag" - I just have to ask "But what if Airtran is $50 per person cheaper to begin with?" Are you people really going to $50 per person more so that you can save $15 per bag?

Now, there are other reasons to choose SW over Airtran, such as the schedule changes, that I think are very legit. I just don't understand the hangup when it comes to luggage charges.

And yeah, we were pretty stoked about the airfare too!

 

[Missytara]

I have to say, I would rather pay the $20.00 difference between Airtran and Southwest, knowing that I don't have to haul my bags all the way back to the airport. I do the check-in right at POR. Sometimes it is a trade-off too.

 

[wdwgypsy]

Yep after you add seat fees then bag fees I doubt if Air Tran is any cheaper or not by much. I would go with SW. No seat fees and two bas checked each.

I hate add on fees! What next pay toilets and pay oxygen?

 

[kevgraub]

Yep after you add seat fees then bag fees I doubt if Air Tran is any cheaper or not by much. I would go with SW. No seat fees and two bas checked each.

I hate add on fees! What next pay toilets and pay oxygen?

I would not be so sure that SW would be close in price even with the fees added in. You need to check it out to be sure.

For our trip out of KC right now, Airtran's rates are $118 round trip and Southwest's cheapest rates are $204 round trip ($251 if you don't want to leave Orlando at 7:30 am).

We could pay for 2 checked bags per person and pay the seat fee (which is not even offered on SW), and still save $40 per person! To fly a somewhat similar schedule (I don't like leaving my resort at 4:30 am on the last day), the savings goes up to $87 per person. Again, that is already accounting for the add-on fees.

I don't particularly mind the add-on fees, especially if I can pay the fees and still save my family of 4 almost $350 on airfare.

Again, do not write off an airline simply because they have add-on fees. Take 2 minutes out of your day and do the math. If SW is cheaper and you want to fly them, then do it. But don't just assume they will be cheaper because they build the luggage fees into their pricing structure rather than separate them out.