Airtran Ticket Question

[huskies90]

Hi - I have flights booked at about $150pp rt for end of August on AirTran. It is me, my two daughters and my wife on the tickets. Unfortunately, my wife and I are splitting so she will not be joining us. What do I do with her ticket? Can someone else go in her place? Or is my only option for her to not show and we eat the $150?

 

[uva185]

Hi - I have flights booked at about $150pp rt for end of August on AirTran. It is me, my two daughters and my wife on the tickets. Unfortunately, my wife and I are splitting so she will not be joining us. What do I do with her ticket? Can someone else go in her place? Or is my only option for her to not show and we eat the $150?

The ticket is in her name and can only be used by her. You may try to call Airtran and plead your case and see if they can change the name on the ticket so someone else can join you.

If there is a schedule change you could call and have them split the record and just cancel your wifes ticket and ask for a full refund.

Off the record, if all else fails, you could have someone fly under your wifes ticket. Check in online, buy a refundable ticket for the new person to get through security, cancel it, and board the Air Tran flight with your wifes ticket. Sounds tricky but its actually quite simple.

 

[Inkmahm]

Off the record, if all else fails, you could have someone fly under your wifes ticket. Check in online, buy a refundable ticket for the new person to get through security, cancel it, and board the Air Tran flight with your wifes ticket. Sounds tricky but its actually quite simple.

I've never considered doing anything like this so I have no idea if it would work. My first thought is how could you cancel a ticket that was already used to get through security?

 

[uva185]

I've never considered doing anything like this so I have no idea if it would work. My first thought is how could you cancel a ticket that was already used to get through security?

The ticket is not used until you board the plane.

 

[nordkin]

You can cancel the ticket and Airtran will issue a credit for a future flight to the person who paid for the ticket with their credit card minus the $75 change fee. They did this for me twice and the interesting part is one time they charged the change fee and the other time they did not. You can do this up to one hour before the flight. If they have a schedule change they will refund the money with just a phone call. The change does not have to be much for them to do this.

 

[huskies90]

You can cancel the ticket and Airtran will issue a credit for a future flight to the person who paid for the ticket with their credit card minus the $75 change fee. They did this for me twice and the interesting part is one time they charged the change fee and the other time they did not. You can do this up to one hour before the flight. If they have a schedule change they will refund the money with just a phone call. The change does not have to be much for them to do this.

So if I paid ~ $150 for the ticket and if I call them and cancel, I will get a $75 to spend on a future flight? So, I can use it for myself or does my wife have to use it? Seems like a no brainer to cancel and get the credit.

 

[huskies90]

You can cancel the ticket and Airtran will issue a credit for a future flight to the person who paid for the ticket with their credit card minus the $75 change fee. They did this for me twice and the interesting part is one time they charged the change fee and the other time they did not. You can do this up to one hour before the flight. If they have a schedule change they will refund the money with just a phone call. The change does not have to be much for them to do this.

So if I paid ~ $155 for the ticket and if I call them and cancel, I will get a $80 to spend on a future flight? So, I can use it for myself or does my wife have to use it? Seems like a no brainer to cancel and get the credit.

 

[DianeV]

It would be in whoever's name the credit card used for the tickets was in..

 

[huskies90]

It would be in whoever's name the credit card used for the tickets was in..

Well, the credit card I used is in both of our names...she won't use the flight because she hates to fly.

 

[uva185]

It would be in whoever's name the credit card used for the tickets was in..

Unless Air Tran does things differently the credit will be in your wifes name.

 

[NancyIL]

AirTran credits are transferable to others - at least credits issued for a reduction in airfare. I was able to use my sister-in-law's $200 credit for my plane ticket. It helped them because they weren't planning another trip in the timeframe to use the credit, and I reimbursed them.

I would NOT advise anyone to try to use someone else's ticket by buying a full-fare ticket to get through security and then cancelling it! You would have to purchase a full-fare ticket each way, and if you got caught - you'd be out a LOT of money.

 

[huskies90]

I would NOT advise anyone to try to use someone else's ticket by buying a full-fare ticket to get through security and then cancelling it! You would have to purchase a full-fare ticket each way, and if you got caught - you'd be out a LOT of money.

Didn't that happen on Seinfeld once? George got stuck paying for the tickets and then also got stuck on the plane when Kramer was trying to chase down a guy who owed him money?

 

[uva185]

Didn't that happen on Seinfeld once? George got stuck paying for the tickets and then also got stuck on the plane when Kramer was trying to chase down a guy who owed him money?

LOL! Yes, that was a funny episode. I think Kramer bought Super Savers because they were cheaper.....but non refundable

I only mention this as an option because I have successfully done it. You don't need a full fare ticket, just a refundable ticket. For instance IAD-ORD o/w is $270 refundable which is nowhere near the full fare price. In my experience United processes refunds in 2-3 days.

 

[disfreak2]

You can cancel the ticket and Airtran will issue a credit for a future flight to the person who paid for the ticket with their credit card minus the $75 change fee. They did this for me twice and the interesting part is one time they charged the change fee and the other time they did not. You can do this up to one hour before the flight. If they have a schedule change they will refund the money with just a phone call. The change does not have to be much for them to do this.

I agree with this. I was told that my extra ticket credit would be minus a $75 fee and a new ticket could be purchased at the current price (always higher by the time these things come up) with the credit. I agree that sometimes they charge fees and sometimes not. Once we decided to upgrade to non-stop flights @ a $50 increase x 4 tickets and they never charged us a dime. If you paid for the tickets by credit card the credit is yours - should go back on your card. Hope this helps a bit.

 

[NancyIL]

I agree with this. I was told that my extra ticket credit would be minus a $75 fee and a new ticket could be purchased at the current price (always higher by the time these things come up) with the credit. I agree that sometimes they charge fees and sometimes not. Once we decided to upgrade to non-stop flights @ a $50 increase x 4 tickets and they never charged us a dime. If you paid for the tickets by credit card the credit is yours - should go back on your card. Hope this helps a bit.

If you cancel a ticket, the credit isn't refunded to your credit card unless the airline made a schedule change. It is available to be used on a future ticket that is booked within one year of when the original ticket was issued.

 

[gduvall]

Airtran will credit your original confirmation number, then when you go to use the credit, you just reference the original confirmation number to get the credit. Hope it's not too confusing.

 

[NancyIL]

Airtran will credit your original confirmation number, then when you go to use the credit, you just reference the original confirmation number to get the credit. Hope it's not too confusing.

Correct. And if you don't use the credit within one year of the original booking date, you lose it.

 

[huskies90]

*UPDATE*

So, my daughter has a friend who is 14 who agreed to join us. So can't I just check in as normal and say she has my wife's name? She could be my daughter's sister as all the last names are the same. I don't believe they ask for id that young and I don't remember if I gave my wife's age...

I have still yet to call Aitran. I will as soon as this kids parents give the thumbs up because the easiest is for them to just change the name on the ticket...

 

[NancyIL]

*UPDATE*

So, my daughter has a friend who is 14 who agreed to join us. So can't I just check in as normal and say she has my wife's name? She could be my daughter's sister as all the last names are the same. I don't believe they ask for id that young and I don't remember if I gave my wife's age...

I have still yet to call Aitran. I will as soon as this kids parents give the thumbs up because the easiest is for them to just change the name on the ticket...

You might get away with doing so, but it isn't something I would attempt.

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm not sure that would still be possible now that TSA is using Secure Flight; a birth date has to be assigned to the ticket. I'm not sure whether or not that shows up on the boarding pass, but it might.

Call the airline and ask what your legitimate options are. If you can write the ticket over to the 14 year old for the change fee, that's what I'd do.