AirTran schedule change.

[Carriemel]

So, I had a non-stop flight booked on AirTran. Get an email on Sunday night telling me that the non-stop had been changed to a 4-hour stop in Atlanta. This is NO good. I have an almost two-year old, that's why I booked the non-stop.

They changed us from a 1:48pm departure, getting in at 4:45pm to leaving at 11:15am and getting in at 7:10pm. We knew that wouldn't work and we didn't accept the change. Monday morning I get on the phone with AirTran and told them I didn't accept their change. The representative said "Well, let's see what we can do for you". I told her, "Cancel the flight and REFUND my money, INCLUDING the money I spent for seat fees!". Whaddaya know, they agreed to do that, with NO argument at all.

I might also add that they did the SAME thing to us last year, except the change wasn't all that bad.

Moral of the story, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Therefore, no more AirTran.

PLEASE check your AirTran flight schedules at least weekly.

 

[helenk]

You will find that this occurs with a lot of the airlines, Airtran is not the only one. There have been posts lately with Delta and Jet Blue doing the same thing.
I like Southwest because once they post their schedules it does not change, except for weather delays etc. Soemtimes their fares may not seem as good as the other airlines, but they do not charge a luggage fee and of course there is not a fee to pick your seat. So most of the time the prices ends up being similar.

 

[pumba]

we just got another air tran change. The second one in a few weeks. we leave the same time but first was getting to orlando at eleven and then twelve and now ONE.....I dont think my husband saw this last night as it was on my computer and he was on his.....oy oy oy..
I would like to see them getting their act together and if someone books that far in advance to at least try to find something that is close to the time we were wanting

 

[keishashadow]

So, I had a non-stop flight booked on AirTran. Get an email on Sunday night telling me that the non-stop had been changed to a 4-hour stop in Atlanta. This is NO good. I have an almost two-year old, that's why I booked the non-stop.

They changed us from a 1:48pm departure, getting in at 4:45pm to leaving at 11:15am and getting in at 7:10pm. We knew that wouldn't work and we didn't accept the change. Monday morning I get on the phone with AirTran and told them I didn't accept their change. The representative said "Well, let's see what we can do for you". I told her, "Cancel the flight and REFUND my money, INCLUDING the money I spent for seat fees!". Whaddaya know, they agreed to do that, with NO argument at all.

I might also add that they did the SAME thing to us last year, except the change wasn't all that bad.

Moral of the story, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Therefore, no more AirTran.

PLEASE check your AirTran flight schedules at least weekly.

up until day prior to departure (the most last-minute change i've encountered).

I had same situation this weekend (never did get an email, only found out by checking site). So many reports floating around, it appears as though AT did a big schedule tweak. btw, I refused the long connecting flight & requested the earlier NS. Interestingly enough, said flight was triple the price i paid for the original later NS when i priced it out & even pricer now. Guess I got a bargin lol. Still, I wouldn't be surprised to see my June flight change yet again, already happened twice in the last month...sigh.

Many look at this sort of thing as an opportunity to shop aroundding. From what I understand, there is no time restriction on cancelling or changing res whether u do it asap or wait until closer to the flight.

 

[elgerber]

This is not just Airtran, I had Delta change my flights several times in the last year also. Both airlines have done very well with making me happy, so I am not too upset by it. The fact that Airtran will refund you is pretty good customer service on their part I think. They did that for me last year no problem, which saved me $150 per person, as the flights were cheaper when I rebooked and that $25 off coupon was floating around!

 

[jagafen]

This is not just Airtran, I had Delta change my flights several times in the last year also. Both airlines have done very well with making me happy, so I am not too upset by it. The fact that Airtran will refund you is pretty good customer service on their part I think. They did that for me last year no problem, which saved me $150 per person, as the flights were cheaper when I rebooked and that $25 off coupon was floating around!

My understand is that if THEY change your flight and the times no longer work for you , you can decide to cancel and get a refund without penalty.

 

[elgerber]

My understand is that if THEY change your flight and the times no longer work for you , you can decide to cancel and get a refund without penalty.

That is what I have found with Airtan. I have not tried to cancel with Delta, but they have put me on more expensive flights with no charges when they have changed my schedule also.

 

[mousefan1972]

It seems lots of people say "It's not just Airtran; all the airlines change flights"

Not the ones I fly: Jetblue and Southwest. I have never had either airline change anything to any of my flights, and we have flown at least 12 round trips in the past 3 years.

And the one time I booked Airtran? They changed our flights 3 times after I booked, the last change being from a nonstop to a flight with stops. Unacceptable. They refunded our money and we booked w/Jetblue. I will NEVER book Airtran again.

 

[cg1200]

It seems lots of people say "It's not just Airtran; all the airlines change flights"

Not the ones I fly: Jetblue and Southwest. I have never had either airline change anything to any of my flights, and we have flown at least 12 round trips in the past 3 years.

And the one time I booked Airtran? They changed our flights 3 times after I booked, the last change being from a nonstop to a flight with stops. Unacceptable. They refunded our money and we booked w/Jetblue. I will NEVER book Airtran again.

Amen. I too have never had any other airline do to me what Airtran has done to me twice. They did the same thing to me. Changing the departure time slightly is one thing but adding a stop on a 2 hour flight from NY is just plain wrong. I did the same as you, canceled and re-booked with JB but it was more money.

I'm nervous for my next trip around thanksgiving. I'm afraid if I see a good fare from Airtran I will take it and hope for the best. JB can sometimes be quite expensiv during peak travel times.

 

[NancyIL]

They changed us from a 1:48pm departure, getting in at 4:45pm to leaving at 11:15am and getting in at 7:10pm. We knew that wouldn't work and we didn't accept the change. Monday morning I get on the phone with AirTran and told them I didn't accept their change. The representative said "Well, let's see what we can do for you". I told her, "Cancel the flight and REFUND my money, INCLUDING the money I spent for seat fees!". Whaddaya know, they agreed to do that, with NO argument at all.

Before you demanded they cancel your flight and refund your money - did you ask if they had any other non-stop flights?

I have had AirTran drop the only non-stop from BMI-MCO after I bought my ticket - 3 times. The last time (December) they put the non-stop flights back a few weeks later. My flight times have changed a few times for my April flight to MCO. It now arrives in Orlando about 40 minutes earlier than when I booked it - yay!

 

[Carriemel]

Before you demanded they cancel your flight and refund your money - did you ask if they had any other non-stop flights?

!

They did have another non-stop...one that left at...wait for it... SIX AM! No, thank you!

 

[NancyIL]

They did have another non-stop...one that left at...wait for it... SIX AM! No, thank you!

Well - you would've arrived in Orlando nice and early!

 

[mousefan1972]

Before you demanded they cancel your flight and refund your money - did you ask if they had any other non-stop flights?

I have had AirTran drop the only non-stop from BMI-MCO after I bought my ticket - 3 times. The last time (December) they put the non-stop flights back a few weeks later. My flight times have changed a few times for my April flight to MCO. It now arrives in Orlando about 40 minutes earlier than when I booked it - yay!

In our case Airtran elimnated both nonstops on our departure day from Boston. So our only choice was a one stop, which with our kids (who were 4 and 2 at the time) was not an option. The agent was very agreeable to refunding our money, which was a surprise. What stunk was by the time this happened, a couple of months had passed since I originally booked and Jetblue's prices had gone up. Oh well. It was worth it to have nonstops both ways. I just can't see every booking w/Airtran again. Checking every day to see if our flights have changed is not my idea of fun.

 

[cg1200]

In our case Airtran elimnated both nonstops on our departure day from Boston. So our only choice was a one stop, which with our kids (who were 4 and 2 at the time) was not an option. The agent was very agreeable to refunding our money, which was a surprise. What stunk was by the time this happened, a couple of months had passed since I originally booked and Jetblue's prices had gone up. Oh well. It was worth it to have nonstops both ways. I just can't see every booking w/Airtran again. Checking every day to see if our flights have changed is not my idea of fun.

Totalyl agree. Same thing happened to me. And I did the same thing as you.

My resolve will be tested if/when 2010 Thanksgiving fares are published and Airtran is significantly cheaper than jetBlue. I don't know if the potential cost savings will tempt me into giving them another shot.

 

[mousefan1972]

Totalyl agree. Same thing happened to me. And I did the same thing as you.

My resolve will be tested if/when 2010 Thanksgiving fares are published and Airtran is significantly cheaper than jetBlue. I don't know if the potential cost savings will tempt me into giving them another shot.

You will be a better person than me if you do. We are waiting for December fares (over Christmas-ugh) but we can fly Jetblue from Boston or Southwest from Manchester, NH, so between the 2 I can usually get a decent fare. I don't care how cheap Airtran is; I'm not taking the chance again.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Yikes...you guys have me scared now! We're planning to book AT for the 1st time so we can fly out of LVIA instead of Philly or Newark...but we're booking far ahead for Nov.
We need nonstop too, since we have 3 kids and the in-laws goign along with us. So if they change our flight from non-stop to one with stops we will get all our money refunded with no penalties???

 

[mousefan1972]

Yikes...you guys have me scared now! We're planning to book AT for the 1st time so we can fly out of LVIA instead of Philly or Newark...but we're booking far ahead for Nov.
We need nonstop too, since we have 3 kids and the in-laws goign along with us. So if they change our flight from non-stop to one with stops we will get all our money refunded with no penalties???

Yes, they will. But, in my opinion, you flights will change between now and November, it is just a matter of by how much. This is what happened to me:

1. In June '08 bought 4 tickets Boston-Orlando round trip for December '08. Price was great, way lower than any other airline.
2. Had 2 nonstops to choose from going Boston-Orlando. One was 7 am (too early) one was 9:15 am (perfect). There was only one nonstop returning, which was at 8 am. Too early, but for the price, we decided we'd deal.
3. About 2 weeks later, the flight home was changed to 2 pm. Huge time difference, but this was way better for us, so we accepted the change.
4. 2 weeks after that, the nonstop we booked to Orlando was eliminated and we were put on the 7 am flight. We have a 45 minute drive to the airport and our kids were 4 and 2 at the time. We figured we'd just spend the night before at the airport hotel.
5. Last straw: around the 1st week of August, our nonstop to Orlando was also eliminated (so now there are no nonstops at all that day) and our flight home was changed to 7 pm!! So first it was 8 am, then 2 pm, then 7 pm, arriving in Boston at 10 pm. And that was still the only nonstop that day. No freaking way was I accepting either change, so I called and got a full refund to my credit card.

Moral of the story: with 3 little kids, can you deal with all of the changes that may occur after you book? For me, there is no way I would book Airtran. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[loveysbydesign]

Yes, they will. But, in my opinion, you flights will change between now and November, it is just a matter of by how much. This is what happened to me:

1. In June '08 bought 4 tickets Boston-Orlando round trip for December '08. Price was great, way lower than any other airline.
2. Had 2 nonstops to choose from going Boston-Orlando. One was 7 am (too early) one was 9:15 am (perfect). There was only one nonstop returning, which was at 8 am. Too early, but for the price, we decided we'd deal.
3. About 2 weeks later, the flight home was changed to 2 pm. Huge time difference, but this was way better for us, so we accepted the change.
4. 2 weeks after that, the nonstop we booked to Orlando was eliminated and we were put on the 7 am flight. We have a 45 minute drive to the airport and our kids were 4 and 2 at the time. We figured we'd just spend the night before at the airport hotel.
5. Last straw: around the 1st week of August, our nonstop to Orlando was also eliminated (so now there are no nonstops at all that day) and our flight home was changed to 7 pm!! So first it was 8 am, then 2 pm, then 7 pm, arriving in Boston at 10 pm. And that was still the only nonstop that day. No freaking way was I accepting either change, so I called and got a full refund to my credit card.

Moral of the story: with 3 little kids, can you deal with all of the changes that may occur after you book? For me, there is no way I would book Airtran. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Thanks so much for the info.
We don't have any other choice other than Allegiant Air and I have not heard very good things about them out of LVIA. We have to take 2 vehicles to the airport so we don't want to have to drive to Philly or Newark this time...LVIA is only 20 minutes away for us. Right now the flight going down is later than we'd like but ok. I'm just happy to know that we can get our $ back if we get stuck having our flight changed to having a stop. We usually don't book this far in advance but my in-laws have never been to WDW and are chomping at the bit so to speak to get it all arranged soon.

 

[mousefan1972]

Thanks so much for the info.
We don't have any other choice other than Allegiant Air and I have not heard very good things about them out of LVIA. We have to take 2 vehicles to the airport so we don't want to have to drive to Philly or Newark this time...LVIA is only 20 minutes away for us. Right now the flight going down is later than we'd like but ok. I'm just happy to know that we can get our $ back if we get stuck having our flight changed to having a stop. We usually don't book this far in advance but my in-laws have never been to WDW and are chomping at the bit so to speak to get it all arranged soon.

In that case, book Airtran and hope for the best. Hopefully if they do make changes to your itineray, they won't be too disruptive for your family. In my case, they were, but that may be an extreme example. Keep checking their website after you book, because I never received an email notifying me of any of the changes. I found them myself by checking the site. Good luck!!!