AirTran return and resort check in

[magbol99]

We will be using the DME and flying on AirTran when we return in early April. I was a little confused on how the check in and/or fees for baggage will be handled. Are we able to use the resort check in when leaving and go ahead and have feed paid and boarding passes obtained?

Coming into Disney will not be a problem as we will have paid when checking in at hime airport. We will be staying at All Star Music.

 

[bjscheel]

Your ME papers that you get the day before you leave will have a phone number for BAGS. You need to call them and pay for your luggage with a credit card over the phone. They will give you a confirmation number that you take to the resort airline checkin. I just did it last month and it worked just fine.

 

[Stumpy]

Bjscheel is right, the day before checkout you'll get papers delivered to your room with a number to call about paying the baggage fees and then the morning of you can take your bags to the front desk for weighing in.

We got back Saturday and a few words of advice regarding Airtran... First, if you purchased new luggage I would not recommend taking it - find something old you don't mind being destroyed. I used to travel much more frequently and for over 25 years never had a major problem with bags until my last 2 airtran flights. Since then, one bag on each trip has literally been destroyed. Handles ripped off, huge oil stains on them, large gashes in the side of the luggage (it was soft luggage, so the gashes went through to the interior), broken wheels, etc. Airtran employees seemed to not care about this, either. In fact, after one flight one bag had to be tossed.

Also, if you are traveling with others and you did not pay extra to select your seats they will deliberately separate your party. The gate attendants will, if available, reassign your seats together but you have to specifically ask for this at the time of check-in. In fact, during both our departing and returning flights the gate attendants were helpful and both times acknowledged that the seat either next to me or my wife was available and then moved us so we could sit together.

While it may sound like I'm deliberately bashing the airline, I'm really not. Just calling it like it is.

 

[magbol99]

Any other postive or negative experiences with Air Tran. We have a short flight from NC to FLorida that is direct and saves us the 9 hour drive time.

 

[Buzz's Buddy]

We've used AirTran numerous times and never had a problem. As already mentioned, you can pay for your bags via the number on your ME paperwork.

Make sure you bring headphones so you can listen to the satellite radio on your flights. Even though you have a short flight, it still helps the time go by.

If you didn't on this trip, make sure you book your future AirTran flights through kayak.com so your seat assignments will be free.

 

[bjscheel]

We had no problems. They got us to Orlando and back to KC. I guess our return flight was running a little late. Our luggage survived fine! The flight attendants passed out cheap headphones- I thought we had to return them so I did and DH said that they were disposable ones so we should have kept them.

I also started at kayak.com- go there and choose the Airtran flight and then you book directly with Airtran, but the seat selection fee is $0. Worked for our November flight anyway!

I'm so excited they are now going to fly out of Des Moines so we don't have to trek to KC!

 

[jerseygirl81]

We just returned from Disney and flew on Airtran our flights were on time both ways and everything went well we got a great rate with them and we also booked through kayak to avoid seat assignment fees. This was our second time flying them and we will fly with them again if the price is right. Our airline check-in process at the Pop went smoothly as well. Linda

 

[aubriee]

We just got in late last night from WDW using Air Tran. I go to WDW several times a year and fly Air Tran pretty much exclusively and have never had a problem with them. Planes are always clean and employees are always very nice. We've also never had any problems with our luggage. As someone already said, book through Kayak to avoid paying the seat fees. We paid our luggage fees at 24 hours out, when we checked in online. At WDW, the night before check out a DME letter was hung on our door handle telling us the DME pick up time. It had a paragraph at the bottom, giving you the BAGS number to call to pay your outgoing luggage fees.

One thing we noticed the day we checked out, was that apparently not every one reads that DME/BAGS letter. There was a very irate family that arrived just as the bus pulled up, wanting to check their bags, paying their luggage fees right then, and also expected to get their boarding passes printed right before boarding the DME bus. They were trying to insist that every one standing in line move aside, because their bus had just arrived and they had apparently done nothing beforehand, as instructed in the DME letter that had been placed on their door the night before. The man angrily admitted that they had done nothing, other than barely glance at the letter for their pick up time, then tossed it aside. They just assumed that they'd receive their boarding passes, pay their luggage fees, and hand off their luggage as they boarded the bus to the airport. They were furious saying that DME had screwed them, by forcing them to get their boarding passes at the airport and making them deal with their own luggage, when in actuality they had not done anything they were supposed to.

 

[Elana]

We just flew Airtran yesterday. When we got our ME documents to return, there were boarding passes in the package. We had planned to go to hospitality to print out the passes.
When we took our luggage to be checked in, we just paid the luggage fees then. We were at luggage check in about 2 hours prior to our ME pickup.