AirTran Steps Up

[Captgerryf]

Just booked RT flights on AirTran for the beginning of next year for a 5 day stay at BLT.

$49 each way from BWI (Baltimore) to Orlando which is dirt cheap. Unfortunately, they had no non-stops posted on the leg from Baltimore to Orlando, but I booked anyway because I figured the price was only going to go up.

Two days later, my wife checked the web site and they now have a nonstop from Baltimore to Orlando for the same $49 price which eliminates the stop in Atlanta.

I figured what the heck, I'll call AirTran and see if they will change the flight to Orlando without paying the $75 pp fee. I was looking at $225 as there were three of us booked.

The very friendly CSR was firm that it would cost the $225 to either change it or cancel and rebook. I asked to speak to her supervisor to plead my case and she placed me on hold for about two minutes and came back and said the change in flights was approved at no cost. Not sure if a supervisor was ever contacted but the end result was what I was looking for.

Congrats to AirTran for stepping up and correcting this. I just wish they would put in the RT flights at the same time as the others so as to avoid this type of problem.

 

[kevgraub]

[sarcasm]But don't forget that you will have to pay $15 per bag to check your luggage. Plus, if you want an assigned seat, you have to pay an additional $6. AND, if the price goes down, you can't get a credit for the difference. You should have booked Southwest, they are way better.[/sarcasm]

 

[mmackeymouse]

Just booked RT flights on AirTran for the beginning of next year for a 5 day stay at BLT.

$49 each way from BWI (Baltimore) to Orlando which is dirt cheap. Unfortunately, they had no non-stops posted on the leg from Baltimore to Orlando, but I booked anyway because I figured the price was only going to go up.

Two days later, my wife checked the web site and they now have a nonstop from Baltimore to Orlando for the same $49 price which eliminates the stop in Atlanta.

I figured what the heck, I'll call AirTran and see if they will change the flight to Orlando without paying the $75 pp fee. I was looking at $225 as there were three of us booked.

The very friendly CSR was firm that it would cost the $225 to either change it or cancel and rebook. I asked to speak to her supervisor to plead my case and she placed me on hold for about two minutes and came back and said the change in flights was approved at no cost. Not sure if a supervisor was ever contacted but the end result was what I was looking for.

Congrats to AirTran for stepping up and correcting this. I just wish they would put in the RT flights at the same time as the others so as to avoid this type of problem.

Congratulations......you are very lucky.

On a side note, just so you know, it absolutely drives me crazy when people call and ask me to bend the rules, and then when I just do my job, and enforce the rules, they ask/demand to go "above me" to get what they want.

I always think that I would NEVER talk to someone the way some of our clientale speak to me. If someone told me "these are the rules; it will be x amount of dollars," I would never try to pressure them into bending the rules or ask to speak to someone else until I get what I wanted.

Not saying there was something wrong with what you did....just venting.

 

[dacky041208]

[sarcasm]But don't forget that you will have to pay $15 per bag to check your luggage. Plus, if you want an assigned seat, you have to pay an additional $6. AND, if the price goes down, you can't get a credit for the difference. You should have booked Southwest, they are way better.[/sarcasm]

Well, I do have flights booked next week from BWI each way non stop at 49 each. No sarcasm needed.

Congrats to the OP for getting a great deal though.

 

[kevgraub]

Well, I do have flights booked next week from BWI each way non stop at 49 each. No sarcasm needed.

Congrats to the OP for getting a great deal though.

I agree, it is a great deal.

My post was aimed at those that constantly bash on Airtran and swear they will never ever even consider flying them because they charge baggage fees.

This is a great example of why Airtran can be a great option, even with the baggage fees. His fares are essentially $130 round trip, even if he checks one bag per person. That is a great rate, and that is why I am constantly telling people not to automatically ignore Airtran because of the luggage fees. Don't ignore the luggage fees, but don't exclude Airtran because of them either. You may cost yourself a lot of money by trying to save a few buck on luggage fees.

 

[SnowWhite2]

Airtran will lower your fare if the fare drops. I did it for a Christmas flight to Orlando last year. We got $384 dollars back as a credit and used it for a flight next month to Milwaukee. Because we did it over the phone instead of on line (which I didn't see how to do, but now it looks like it shows as an option) they did charge us the $15 phone change fee per person. When we called about using the credit, the customer service rep explained how to do the process on line so we wouldn't get charged the fee.

I've also noticed that the connecting flights between BWI and Orlando I priced yesterday are through Charlotte, not Atlanta. That may actually swing me into looking at a connecting flight.

 

[jobie61]

I agree, it is a great deal.

My post was aimed at those that constantly bash on Airtran and swear they will never ever even consider flying them because they charge baggage fees.

This is a great example of why Airtran can be a great option, even with the baggage fees. His fares are essentially $130 round trip, even if he checks one bag per person. That is a great rate, and that is why I am constantly telling people not to automatically ignore Airtran because of the luggage fees. Don't ignore the luggage fees, but don't exclude Airtran because of them either. You may cost yourself a lot of money by trying to save a few buck on luggage fees.

I feel the exact same way you do ....
I'm sick of the Airtran bashing as well ....

Airtran is a great airline, and I actually prefer their policies over SW. So what I have to pay 15 dollars for a bag .... I just raised my cost from 49.00 to 64.00...oh wait the 6.00 seat fee brings it to 70.00 one way.

Gee that makes it 140.00 round trip !!!

 

[cdrn1]

I feel the exact same way you do ....
I'm sick of the Airtran bashing as well ....

Airtran is a great airline, and I actually prefer their policies over SW. So what I have to pay 15 dollars for a bag .... I just raised my cost from 49.00 to 64.00...oh wait the 6.00 seat fee brings it to 70.00 one way.

Gee that makes it 140.00 round trip !!!

I LOVE Airtran! Don't get me wrong, I always check SW too and have always had great prices/experiences with them as well, but AT is my preference for Orlando. Great prices, great customer service (in my experience, anyway) and the chance to upgrade to Business Class for a modest fee.

 

[kevgraub]

Airtran will lower your fare if the fare drops. I did it for a Christmas flight to Orlando last year. We got $384 dollars back as a credit and used it for a flight next month to Milwaukee. Because we did it over the phone instead of on line (which I didn't see how to do, but now it looks like it shows as an option) they did charge us the $15 phone change fee per person. When we called about using the credit, the customer service rep explained how to do the process on line so we wouldn't get charged the fee.

I've also noticed that the connecting flights between BWI and Orlando I priced yesterday are through Charlotte, not Atlanta. That may actually swing me into looking at a connecting flight.

I've not done it, but there have been several reports lately that Airtran is now charging $75 per person to change the flights if the fare goes down. I know in the past they would change them for free (or the $15 phone fee), but it sounds like that has changed in the last few months.

 

[cbrfan]

Airtran will lower your fare if the fare drops. I did it for a Christmas flight to Orlando last year. We got $384 dollars back as a credit and used it for a flight next month to Milwaukee. Because we did it over the phone instead of on line (which I didn't see how to do, but now it looks like it shows as an option) they did charge us the $15 phone change fee per person. When we called about using the credit, the customer service rep explained how to do the process on line so we wouldn't get charged the fee.

I've also noticed that the connecting flights between BWI and Orlando I priced yesterday are through Charlotte, not Atlanta. That may actually swing me into looking at a connecting flight.

AirTran discontinued the practice of issuing a credit for a lower fare without the change fee in February. I haven't heard anything about them changing it back, but it sure would be nice!

 

[JanDave]

Congrats to the OP for getting a great deal on Air Tran. I'm looking at a flight in late January 2010, Detroit-MCO, but lowest published fare one-way is $104. I'm hoping they'll discount those dates soon.

Jan

 

[Alexander]

[sarcasm]But don't forget that you will have to pay $15 per bag to check your luggage. Plus, if you want an assigned seat, you have to pay an additional $6. AND, if the price goes down, you can't get a credit for the difference. You should have booked Southwest, they are way better.[/sarcasm]

This would be very difficult to do if Southwest doesn't fly from an airport near your home! We would have a 3.5 hour drive to get to an airport from which they fly!

My post was aimed at those that constantly bash on Airtran and swear they will never ever even consider flying them because they charge baggage fees.

What airlines other than SW and JetBlue don't charge for bags? I haven't found any that fly from our home airports.

 

[dacky041208]

I agree, it is a great deal.

My post was aimed at those that constantly bash on Airtran and swear they will never ever even consider flying them because they charge baggage fees.

This is a great example of why Airtran can be a great option, even with the baggage fees. His fares are essentially $130 round trip, even if he checks one bag per person. That is a great rate, and that is why I am constantly telling people not to automatically ignore Airtran because of the luggage fees. Don't ignore the luggage fees, but don't exclude Airtran because of them either. You may cost yourself a lot of money by trying to save a few buck on luggage fees.

I guess you are right there, some people take it too far. Personally, I don't look at airtran first, and it isn't because of fees, it's because there is no way of knowing that the 8:00 flight I booked will actually be at 8.

 

[cbrfan]

Congrats to the OP for getting a great deal on Air Tran. I'm looking at a flight in late January 2010, Detroit-MCO, but lowest published fare one-way is $104. I'm hoping they'll discount those dates soon.

Jan

Have you checked their fares out of Flint? They're running $80 one-way. FNT is probably a shorter drive, has lower parking fees and is extremely easy to manuever. AirTran has a non-stop flight to MCO that leaves in the morning and comes back in the evening so you would be able to maximize your time at WDW. Might be worth your time to check it out.

 

[jobie61]

I guess you are right there, some people take it too far. Personally, I don't look at airtran first, and it isn't because of fees, it's because there is no way of knowing that the 8:00 flight I booked will actually be at 8.

Where do you fly out of, In fives years of flights to WDW I've never had a flight changed more than :20 minutes. I'd say thats 10 trips or so.

But Airtran out of PHL, seems much more stable than than some other airports.

 

[kevgraub]

I guess you are right there, some people take it too far. Personally, I don't look at airtran first, and it isn't because of fees, it's because there is no way of knowing that the 8:00 flight I booked will actually be at 8.

Yeah, that is a very valid reason to look at SW rather than Airtran. For us, its not a huge deal if they change our flights times around, but there are times it can be a big deal. If we were worried about our schedule not being changed, SW would be where we would start looking as well.

 

[dacky041208]

Where do you fly out of, In fives years of flights to WDW I've never had a flight changed more than :20 minutes. I'd say thats 10 trips or so.

But Airtran out of PHL, seems much more stable than than some other airports.

I live in Lancaster, PA, so I use PHL or BWI usually. But just look at the next couple of threads on the transportation board:

AirTran cancelled flight what are my rights?

Air Tran changed my flight

and threads with similar titles aren't exactly rare.

Personally, I've flown AT twice (two roundtrips). One was BWI, one PHL. Both had minor changes (one 10 minutes, the other 30). If Airtran was clearly less expensive than other carriers, I'd consider them again, but recently that hasn't been the case.

 

[NancyIL]

I like flying AirTran, especially on their non-stop flights from Bloomington, IL to Orlando. Unfortunately, just days after I bought my roundtrip ticket on AirTran to Orlando for December, they dropped the non-stop flights. I don't care for their connecting flight times, so I may ask for a refund and book my flights on American - as soon as American's flights are back down to $69 each way.

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

Congrats to Airtran for breaking the posted rules for the fare terms to which you agreed? I can't wait to hear what your reaction will be when they eliminate that flight and you want a change...

Just booked RT flights on AirTran for the beginning of next year for a 5 day stay at BLT.

$49 each way from BWI (Baltimore) to Orlando which is dirt cheap. Unfortunately, they had no non-stops posted on the leg from Baltimore to Orlando, but I booked anyway because I figured the price was only going to go up.

Two days later, my wife checked the web site and they now have a nonstop from Baltimore to Orlando for the same $49 price which eliminates the stop in Atlanta.

I figured what the heck, I'll call AirTran and see if they will change the flight to Orlando without paying the $75 pp fee. I was looking at $225 as there were three of us booked.

The very friendly CSR was firm that it would cost the $225 to either change it or cancel and rebook. I asked to speak to her supervisor to plead my case and she placed me on hold for about two minutes and came back and said the change in flights was approved at no cost. Not sure if a supervisor was ever contacted but the end result was what I was looking for.

Congrats to AirTran for stepping up and correcting this. I just wish they would put in the RT flights at the same time as the others so as to avoid this type of problem.

 

[maggieb9975]

Have you checked their fares out of Flint? They're running $80 one-way. FNT is probably a shorter drive, has lower parking fees and is extremely easy to manuever. AirTran has a non-stop flight to MCO that leaves in the morning and comes back in the evening so you would be able to maximize your time at WDW. Might be worth your time to check it out.

I live in Canada and usually fly with Airtran out of Detroit. I just found out about Flint and am excited re flight timesas you mentioned...gives me almost an extra day at WDW!

It is a 4 hour drive for me so I always stayover at a hotel...any recommendations?

Thanks!