AirTran Ticket Purchase Help Needed

[newtodis]

Can someone please explain to me purchasing plane tickets from AirTran or just in general??? I've been watching flights from ATL to FNT 12/19-12/26. They were $159 each way and have dropped to $129 each way. Should I buy now or continue to wait??? If I buy now and they drop in price, do I get the lower price or is it a big fight?? Also, DH has an AirTran credit card. I haven't read all of the fine print but I know he has "points" to use. Does anyone know anything about the points? I'm sure there's not enough for a free ticket or anything (I can't imagine since we don't use the card that often). I've purchased plane tickets in the past but really waited until the last minute to buy them or just bought them when we started planning and didn't pay attention to the prices after that.

Thanks so much for any help. It's greatly apprecaited!

 

[Bren's Mom]

There is a FAQ page in on the site under the Help heading. Most of the info you're looking for is there. If you buy any ticket except certain business class tickets you must pay a $75 change fee plus any applicable increase in fare. But it doesn't say if you can be refunded if the price goes down. I'd definitely call and ask.

As for the price: If $258 is a good price for the ticket you're looking to buy (as compared to other flights, etc.) then go for it. If it's not, keep waiting if you have time. There's really no way to tell if it will go up or down, it's always a gamble!

A couple of things I do know:

It's $6 per ticket to book seats. Otherwise they're assigned to you, and in my experience families aren't always seated together. We've gotten people to change with us but it's a pain. (On our last flight with my ds who is 3 they didn't put him with either my mom or us. )

You can get a $25 refund by paying with Paypal, see their website for specifics. And sometimes you can get a rebate when you sign up for their e-mail list.

 

[cbrfan]

I've always been able to get a credit for a reduction in fare if it goes down. Sometimes I have to pay the $15 phone fee, but not very often. I've never been charged the $75 change fee. That being said, not all agents know of the credit or are authorized to do it. It's not a policy, it's done as a courtesy. If you get an agent who wants to charge the change fee, simply hang up and call back to speak to someone else. I just got a credit a couple of weeks ago. So if they no longer do it, it's a very recent change.

We always fly AirTran out of FNT. Since you are flying over the Christmas holidays, I think $129 each way is a pretty good fare for that timeframe. You may want to do a flexible search if your dates are flexible. You might be able to do a little better on the way there if you can leave a day or so earlier. I doubt the 12/26 flight will go down. They do have the paypal option the pp mentioned. That would bring your price down a little.

The AirTran credit card give you points for each dollar you spend. If you purchase AirTran tickets with it you get more than on regular purchases. How many points you get depends on whether it's the free card or the one with the annual fee. Once you accumulate 1,000 points you get one flight credit. It's 8 flight credits for a free one-way. You can get a business class upgrade for 4 flight credits. Personally, I would use the PayPal offer if you deal with PayPal. But if you don't it wouldn't hurt to use the AT credit card. We've racked up a good number of free flights. Your DH probably received flight credits when he made his first purchase on the card.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

I had this question as well. I noticed many getting refunds on certain airlines when the price goes down. Does anyone know if Midwest gives you a credit if the price goes down after you purchase your ticket? I never thought about it before. I just assumed you were stuck with what you paid.

 

[Goobergirl]

Darn...why didn't I hear about the paypal discount sooner, I just booked my flight last week! Oh well...got a really good deal anyways.

 

[cbrfan]

Darn...why didn't I hear about the paypal discount sooner, I just booked my flight last week! Oh well...got a really good deal anyways.

Don't beat yourself up over it. The PayPal deal just came out a couple of days ago.

 

[kritter]

AirTran is now charging for a first checked bag::
http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/11/10/daily20.html?ana=from_rss