AirTran Questions

[Butler_chic07]

Hi everyone!

I have a few questions about AirTran. I have known people to fly with AirTran and have had fine trips and ones not so fine (which I think happens with all airlines). I have also heard that it is fine for short flights, but wouldn't be ideal for longer flights.

1) If you've flown AirTran recently will you share your opinion?

2) Do you know anything about their a+ rewards system?

3) I've heard of some "hidden" fees... are these true? I know there is of course baggage fees.

4) Is the travel insurance worth it? Some places it is and some it's not...


I know these are not very many questions, but I am curious...

I've never flown AirTran before, but am leaning this way as they are the cheapest tickets I've found... and are nonstop leaving at decent times. Flight to Orlando non-stop arrives around 10:30 am. Flight coming home departs at about 8:00 pm. I like these times because it gives us freedom with our days. We can relax, go to parks.


I'd just really like some personal thoughts...

Thank you!

 

[cjnix29]

We fly airtran about every time we fly. Love them. They have been known to switch flight times. So you kind of need to check that every so often. BUT....IF they switch your flight time, and it doesn't work for you, you can switch flights without any fees! Plus, if your flight price goes down, they will give you flight credits for the difference! As far as fees, there are the baggage fees, and also if you want to select your seat, it is $6 per seat, each way. Never had any problems with them.

 

[Butler_chic07]

We fly airtran about every time we fly. Love them. They have been known to switch flight times. So you kind of need to check that every so often. BUT....IF they switch your flight time, and it doesn't work for you, you can switch flights without any fees! Plus, if your flight price goes down, they will give you flight credits for the difference! As far as fees, there are the baggage fees, and also if you want to select your seat, it is $6 per seat, each way. Never had any problems with them.

Thank you for your input! It makes me feel better. They are easily $50 cheaper for our dates than anywhere else and no where else has non-stop... Also thanks for the heads up about them changing flight times and paying extra for seats. However even if I add in "seat choice" and baggage fees they are still cheaper than anywhere else, plus we will be in the air for 2 1/2 hours instead of 5 hours... It shocks me...


Thanks again!

 

[vacationclub]

Been flying Airtran for years....the best experience we've ever had. Best prices, best flights to MCO, the only daily non-stop from our city. They specialize in MCO from the northeast (they are based in Orlando).

A+ rewards is the best in the entire industry in my opinion because it's so easy to earn a free flight. I've done it many times. Instead of counting the number of miles (the distance) you fly, or the price you paid, they simply count how many one way flights you booked. After 8 one-way flights (4 round trips) you get a free one-way flight. Nobody else can beat that. Southwest used to come close, but required you to accrue twice as many flights (16 one-ways) before giving a reward of 1 round trip. Same reward per flights traveled, but took twice as long to earn. Now SW has gone with a new system that counts points per flight based on what you paid for the ticket, potentially making it harder to earn a free flight....especially after only 8 one way trips. It will be a sad day when SW gets rid of this when they swallow up all of Airtran's identity.

Also, if you have the credit card you get 1 point for each $1000 spent on the card. If you put up to $1000 a month on the card, you get a free flight in 8 months without even flying. Also, Hertz give you a A+ credit for a weekly rental (half point for a daily rental). You can buy points, transfer them to others, etc.

There are no hidden fees....not any more than any other airline. Basically they have luggage fees, I think $20 for the first bag, and a $6 fee if you want to choose which seat you have before the 24 hour check in. You can still choose it for free at check in (or take what they give you) but you have less chance of your preferred set of seats since others have been positioning themselves before that point in time.

They do have a habit of changing the flight times slightly, but never more than about 15 minutes or so...at least for our routes. They always email us when this happens and require that we acknowledge the change or call to make other arrangements, which you can do for free. One time they did this, and I used it as an opportunity to switch to a direct flight that had not been available when we first booked. Free change. If we don't acknowledge the emails they keep sending them to make sure we know about the slight flight change. Other people have reported that some airlines don't tell you even if they change flights by hours....you just have to keep checking.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

We <3 Airtran!

We fly the first direct flight out of RIC and take the last direct flight home.

We've been delayed once for about 45 minutes on the way home. But TONS of airlines had delays that night. There was bad weather.

We love the A+ rewards. This past trip we used 3 credits each to upgrade to first class (since we knew we weren't going to fly until 2013 or so.) First class was great, I may have gotten a little spoiled. We had no baggage fees when we upgraded to first class.

We've also seen offers to upgrade to first class for $XX dollars same day. We haven't taken those.

We wait until the 24 hour mark and then call in/get online to pick our seats. We've always managed to get seats in groups of two. (The time we went as a family, my boys were lapbabies.)

 

[Fire14]

I personally Haven't flown AT but have booked for friend. My only complaints are Her flight times changing at least twice from booking to take off, The charge for luggage ( but when flight is cheaper u just deal). Every single seat I've picked for her at 24 hr mark has not been her seat on plane d/t someone claiming they chose same seat, pd for whatever ( it's more of a frustration than anything else). The one time she missed her connecting flight d/t weather the gate agent was not helpful in directing her where to go to get on a flight, and than telling her luggage was on plane thgat she'd missed ( we all ?'d that one, how can a person not make connecting flight but luggage could), The luggage was on same plane as her.

 

[Butler_chic07]

Thank you all!

You've greatly reassured me!

I can't tell you how much i appreciate the support!

I guess the only thing to really worry about is if we get to sit together. My DH hates flying so much I may just pay the extra $ to sit together.

And even if our flight was changed an hour it would still get in to Orlando way before any of our other options. It is seriously the only non-stop to leave our airport and it leaves at 8:40 am and arrives around 10:30 ish... my other "early" options are to leave at 6:00 am and arrive around 11:30 ish. I think that is ridiculous.

Thanks again!

 

[cjnix29]

Thank you for your input! It makes me feel better. They are easily $50 cheaper for our dates than anywhere else and no where else has non-stop... Also thanks for the heads up about them changing flight times and paying extra for seats. However even if I add in "seat choice" and baggage fees they are still cheaper than anywhere else, plus we will be in the air for 2 1/2 hours instead of 5 hours... It shocks me...


Thanks again!

no problem....just noticed you are a Disney bride too!! It was the best! And abotu changing flight times, I was even able to switch airports once free of charge. They are great about that!

 

[Butler_chic07]

no problem....just noticed you are a Disney bride too!! It was the best!

Awe yay!! It was the best! I loved it! And I get to see another side as a bridesmaid in July! That's why we are going!!

 

[Butler_chic07]

I'm sorry to add in again, but I have one more question.

If you have flown airtran do you find their travel insurance to be worth it? O should I skip it? We will definitely be going because I am a bridesmaid at my best friends wedding...

Thanks again!

 

[Halle]

I'm sorry to add in again, but I have one more question.

If you have flown airtran do you find their travel insurance to be worth it? O should I skip it? We will definitely be going because I am a bridesmaid at my best friends wedding...

Thanks again!

I don't know about their travel insurance but be sure to pay for a seat assignment.

 

[AllesonWonderland]

We just flew Airtran for the first time and liked it just fine. I didn't buy seat assignments when I first booked. (I knew I would before we flew, I just waited until there was a price drop and then used the credit to get seats and pay my baggage fees.) I'd definitely use them again, though they will probably be Southwest by the time I have another trip planned.

 

[Ode]

Been flying Airtran for years....the best experience we've ever had. Best prices, best flights to MCO, the only daily non-stop from our city. They specialize in MCO from the northeast (they are based in Orlando).

A+ rewards is the best in the entire industry in my opinion because it's so easy to earn a free flight. I've done it many times. Instead of counting the number of miles (the distance) you fly, or the price you paid, they simply count how many one way flights you booked. After 8 one-way flights (4 round trips) you get a free one-way flight. Nobody else can beat that. Southwest used to come close, but required you to accrue twice as many flights (16 one-ways) before giving a reward of 1 round trip. Same reward per flights traveled, but took twice as long to earn. Now SW has gone with a new system that counts points per flight based on what you paid for the ticket, potentially making it harder to earn a free flight....especially after only 8 one way trips. It will be a sad day when SW gets rid of this when they swallow up all of Airtran's identity.

Also, if you have the credit card you get 1 point for each $1000 spent on the card. If you put up to $1000 a month on the card, you get a free flight in 8 months without even flying. Also, Hertz give you a A+ credit for a weekly rental (half point for a daily rental). You can buy points, transfer them to others, etc.

There are no hidden fees....not any more than any other airline. Basically they have luggage fees, I think $20 for the first bag, and a $6 fee if you want to choose which seat you have before the 24 hour check in. You can still choose it for free at check in (or take what they give you) but you have less chance of your preferred set of seats since others have been positioning themselves before that point in time.

They do have a habit of changing the flight times slightly, but never more than about 15 minutes or so...at least for our routes. They always email us when this happens and require that we acknowledge the change or call to make other arrangements, which you can do for free. One time they did this, and I used it as an opportunity to switch to a direct flight that had not been available when we first booked. Free change. If we don't acknowledge the emails they keep sending them to make sure we know about the slight flight change. Other people have reported that some airlines don't tell you even if they change flights by hours....you just have to keep checking.

I gotta ask this question. I myself, my spouse, and 2 kids (12, 17). If we each sign up for Rewards program and then each take a RT flight, then 3 of us transfer their rewards to the 4th, can the 4th get a free flight?

 

[TaraPA]

I gotta ask this question. I myself, my spouse, and 2 kids (12, 17). If we each sign up for Rewards program and then each take a RT flight, then 3 of us transfer their rewards to the 4th, can the 4th get a free flight?

Yes, however it is $19 a point to transfer. So it will be $114 in fees to transfer 6 points - and with 8 points you get a free ONE WAY, not round trip. Most one ways on AT are less than $114, so you have to do the math & figure out if that's really advantageous to you.

Another thing to consider is this - there's no guarantee that you will be able to then use the transferred points for the flight you want. Until you have 8 points in your account, you can't go in & see what rewards flights are available (there are black out dates, and many dates sell out for rewards travel very quickly). So you're taking a risk that you'll spend $114 to transfer the points, and then not be able to use them when you want. The transferred points still expire on their original expiration date - they do not get extended with a transfer.

I found this out the hard way, but thankfully I only transferred 2 points. I had 6, DS had 2 that were expiring at the end of the month & I had 4 one-ways to book for myself coming up. I paid $39 to transfer the points, but then all 4 flights I wanted had no rewards availability. Had I been able to see the rewards calendar prior to transferring, I'd have known not to transfer them. The points are about to expire shortly. I did see that I can get a magazine subscription with 2 points, so I'll probably do that. A very expensive magazine subscription!!

Does anyone know if you call, can they tell you if a flight is available with rewards points (if you don't have enough points in your account at the time?) That would have saved me $39. Or maybe there is somewhere online you can see the rewards flights calendar without having enough points to book in your account, maybe I just wasn't looking in the right spot.

 

[Ode]

thank you TaraPA. Seems like a whole lotta work for one free 1-w flight and like you said can probably buy it cheaper.....thanks again.

ode