AirTran - preboarding? seat assingment?

[JudithM]

I am debating flying Air Tran into Rochester, NY or Southwest into Albany, NY. (Don't get me started on how much more expensvie flying to Syracuse is nowadays . ) I have flown Southwest & am able to preboard due to a mobility issue. So I can get an aisle seat without a problem.

I have never flown AirTran. Do they allow passengers with mobility issues to preboard? Their website said one gets seat assignments at the gate. I'm not sure I would like that.

Does anyone have any experience with AirTran & seat assignments? Thank you.

 

[inky dinky doo]

Judith,

We flew AirTran this past December and loved it. You can select your seating online 24 hours prior to your flight. On our flight to Orlando we did that, printed out our boarding passes, and used curbside check-in. This was from Dayton.

Coming back, I had my laptop with me, so was able to select our seats, again, 24 hours in advance. I didn't have any way to print out my boarding passes, though. No problem! We used curbside check-in, again, in Orlando, and the guy who checked us in printed the boarding passes for us. It only took about a minute.

On both flights, they did pre-board those with mobility issues and folks with young children, just like they do on Southwest. Following that, they loaded the plane from the back to the front.

Hope this helps. I think you'll love AirTran. It's been our experience that their prices are hard to beat, and their staff are friendly.

Pat

203 days and counting . . . again!

 

[JudithM]

Pat, thank you for the info. Have you been talking to my friends in Naples, FL ? They basically told me the same thing you did about AirTran! Now I just have to coordinate things on the other end!

 

[SueM in MN]

Be sure to let them know that you need to preboard. Even if you have obvious mobility problems or have a wheelchair to gate check, we've found that many airlines don't automatically preboard unless you are using one of their wheelchairs to get on board.

 

[firemist]

how much time is it needed before the plane? 30 minutes before take off, arrival at airport enough?

 

[Jecca]

I use a wheelchair and always make sure to tell them that I need LOTS of time to board, even though I don't need an aisle chair. Also, you can call them in advance and ask to be seated near the front of the plane (row 10, I think, or whatever is nearest to that if those are already taken). Apparently, they hold the seats nearest to the front of coach for people with mobility impairments. It basically means you can dispense with the need for the 24 hour in advance check-in. I very much appreciate that! I've also been lucky enough to be upgraded to business class on more than one occassion. Now I'm spoiled and sometimes pay for it! I've had such great experiences with AirTran that I'm leary of flying USAir (my old stand-by) again!

 

[Jecca]

I use a wheelchair and always make sure to tell them that I need LOTS of time to board, even though I don't need an aisle chair. Also, you can call them in advance and ask to be seated near the front of the plane (row 10, I think, or whatever is nearest to that if those are already taken). Apparently, they hold the seats nearest to the front of coach for people with mobility impairments. It basically means you can dispense with the need for the 24 hour in advance check-in. I very much appreciate that! I've also been lucky enough to be upgraded to business class on more than one occassion. Now I'm spoiled and sometimes pay for it! I've had such great experiences with AirTran that I'm leary of flying USAir (my old stand-by) again!

 

[Jecca]

Eek! Sorry for the dup post. I didn't think the first one went through!