AirTran Seating - Carry Ons

[email_shell]

For AirTran, if we buy the $6 seat assignments are we just asking for our carry-ons to be put into checked baggage? Has anyone survived the $6 seats and not had to check them? I have been hearing that you should buy the $15/20 seats in order to prevent checking.

What kind of a mess is that with ME?

Thanks!

 

[Poohs Pal]

I have always purchased the $6.00 seat and not had to check my carry on. This is flying out of Flint. Susan

 

[email_shell]

Thanks!

I will be out of MKE if that makes any difference.

 

[momof2disprincesses]

I fly Air Tran out of MKE all the time. Sometimes I choose to pay the $6 to reserve a seat, sometimes I don't. It has never had an impact on my carry-on luggage.

With Air Tran you board by zones based on where you are sitting in the plane. Of course business class boards first. Then those with window seats and those in the back board before others.

They will typically make an announcement that they will store carry-on luggage free under the plane but you will have to go to baggage claim to pick it up. ME will only pick up bags that have ME tags. So if you put ME tags on your carry-on luggage, it would show up in your room later.

I personally do not want to pick up bags at baggage claim OR have ME taking my carry-on bags so we usually try to chance it and hope there will be room on the plane for them. So far, so good with that strategy.

 

[dudspizza]

They will typically make an announcement that they will store carry-on luggage free under the plane but you will have to go to baggage claim to pick it up. ME will only pick up bags that have ME tags. So if you put ME tags on your carry-on luggage, it would show up in your room later.

This has happened on all of my recent Airtran flights. It also happened on my recent Reno-DEN-MSP fligths on United. I make sure to pack my roll-a-board as if I am going to check it through at the gate. I love not having to lug it through airports, especially when connecting.

Good suggestion on putting the DME tag on just in case... that way it will magically appear in the room.

OP, keep in mind, if you in the boarding group, there is a good chance your bags will be gate checked. Every Airtran flight I have been on lately has had to gate check bags. On one of my last flights, I heard a girl saying that Airtran offered to gate check her roll-a-board, but she said no because her laptop was in there. Sure enough, she was one of the last ones on the plane. The bins were full and she had to gate check it right there while standing in the aisle near the cockpit (I had been upgraded to business class, so watched the whole thing). She had this look of horror on her face and then scrambled to get out the stuff she needed.

My suggestion is to pack the back as if it is going to be checked and then I carry a backpack with my laptop, ipod, etc.. in it.

Duds

 

[email_shell]

OP, keep in mind, if you in the boarding group, there is a good chance your bags will be gate checked.

Can you explain the "if you in the boarding group" language? What boarding group are you referring to? We are in about Row 17.

Thanks!! I have never flown Airtran (or practically any other airline) before.

 

[seashoreCM]

Should have read something like "... in the last boarding group you might have to check your carryon ..."

Example of boarding groups: On southwest they are A, B, and C with A boarding first.

Boarding groups vary with airline and sometimes model of airplane. Some frequent travelers go to great lengths to learn the boarding groups for each trip they take and select seats accordingly. When tied to seat locations, boarding groups are often called zones.

You do not have to go to the carousels to pick up gate checked and non-yellow-tagged bags before 10 PM but you do have to go to the Magical Express welcoming counter. ... If they are not experimenting with roving pre-welcoming CM's directing absolutely everyone to the bus queues.

Caution: Gobbledegook follows.
Sometimes zones look random such as

front 1 7 5 3 6 4 2 rear

which actually translates into rhyme and reason as first-class, back, middle, back, middle, back, middle, whose purpose is to get stowing going in the middle as well as in the back and speed up the boarding (like burning a candle at both ends for more light)