Airtran reviews?

[hygienejean]

When does Airtran generally release their fares? I am looking for April vacation 2008. All I can see past November is all flights are in the 289 + range. That is all flights...even the ones with 2 stops to get to MCO. When do they usually release their web specials and other cheaper fares? 3 months out maybe? I am looking everyday but it is a bit of a bummer to only see the really expensive fares. I am starting to wonder if I'll be stuck paying the big bucks to get to WDW on our school vacation....

Anyone have good news for me?

 

[wdwmouse]

I know that really low August fares were released about a month ago, so I'd say 1-2 months before your trip will be a good time to check. Sign up for their e-mail notices. They will notify you when things go on sale.

Tuesdays and Wednesdays seem to be the cheapest days to fly. Fridays and Sundays the most expensive. Try to book around that if you can.

I'm holding out for low November fares. (not Thanksgiving week) Right now they are discounted for the first part of the month.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

We are very loyal to AirTran. We fly them exclusively from Milwaukee to Orlando and usually pick the non-stop flight. They have been moving their flight times around a lot lately (this wasn't the case a few years ago) and that is annoying.

However, I feel their customer service is top notch. One great example is when we were flying free this past Christmas from points and my MIL died quite unexpectedly on Dec. 27 - only 2 days into our 11 day holiday trip. I was worried the airline would be the hardest thing to change since we were flying free and now going home on Dec. 28 would put us in one of the black-out times.

I called and the agent was so nice and sympathetic. She changed our flights to the first direct flight the next morning. Gave us great seats - together and asked if she could do anything else for us. The entire phone call took about 2 minutes and we were not charged one penny.

Honestly between working with Disney, our rental car and AirTran for getting refunds/making changes - AirTran was by far the simplest!

 

[Mrs Grumpy]

When you guys are mentioning they change their flight times a lot is usually just by 30 minutes or less or are you talking hours?

 

[momof2disprincesses]

When you guys are mentioning they change their flight times a lot is usually just by 30 minutes or less or are you talking hours?

Unfortunately for us this trip (Aug. 2007), the changes were significant. We originally booked an 8am direct flight getting us to MCO at 11am and now we're leaving at 11:30am and arriving at MCO at 3:30pm!

On the way home, we were supposed to leave around 11am and get into Milwaukee around 3:30pm. Now our new flight has us leaving MCO at 4:10pm and arriving in Milwaukee around 6pm.

They did keep us on direct flights both times though.

 

[december]

We might have to give them a try next time. The only thing I didn't care for was that you couldn't pick your seats when you purchase tickets. I have been reading where you can pay $5.00 and go ahead and reserve certain seats. Can you do this immediatly after you buy the tickets or is only a certain time period before the actual flight?

I booked for 11/16 this morning, and chose my seats before payment. They give you a diagram of the plane, and you click on the seats you want. I'm flying with my 2 kids so I definitely wanted 3 seats together. I came on this board to research Airtran, because I've only flown SW. But SW flights for 11/16 (Fri before Thanksgiving) are sold out in the lower 4 price categories. It is 2.5 hours south to the airport with SW, and 2 hrs north to the one with Airtran. That day seems to be popular, so I went ahead and booked.

I'm trying to decide if I want to wait on Southwest or Airtran, or book with Airtran now, for our return trip home on Thanksgiving. Anyone think I will get a better price than $119 for 11/22?

And I'm a little worried about the schedule changes I'm reading about. We are supposed to arrive at MCO at 1:06, and I have a 4:30 reservation at 1900 Park Fare before MVMCP. I thought this would give us plenty of time to check in and get to the GF. If the time is changed I'm not so sure. And I'm tempted to go ahead and book Airtran for the return because I can get an 8pm flight, giving us a whole day in WDW. I guess I'll just hope for the best.