Airtran-Well, you all warned me but I didn't listen

[zimaaaaah]

We booked with Airtran anyway because they had a better day to fly out then our other option, and guess what? They cancelled our flight at the very last minute. We were supposed to fly out at 5:38 pm today, checked the website early afternoon and no issues, drove hour to airport and found there was no flight. Mind you, this is a small airport so not only was there no Airtran flight, there were no other flights to any where at all. And Airtran gave us the only option of leaving late Sunday afternoon.
So, instead of starting our Disney vacation today, we get there late on Saturday night. This really stinks. I will never, ever give them 1 cent of my money again. Just venting.
At least we weren't going to our brothers' graduation (like the guy in front of us) or a wedding (like the man behind us) or worst of all, supposed to be on a cruise ship tomorrow morning like the family beside us. Airtran screwed us all! Next time I will listen to the Disboards.

 

[Inkmahm]

I don't think Airtran often cancels at the last minute. The comments at the DIS are about changes made by Airtran well in advance of the day of travel.
Was there bad weather or some reason that it was canceled at the last second tonight? What reason did they give you?

 

[zimaaaaah]

I believe there was a weather issue in Atlanta. I understand that part. The really frustrating part was that they weren't doing anything to get us out tomorrow either knowing that there were not any other options available.

 

[NancyIL]

Saturday flights are often full. so there was probably no availability tomorrow. I'm sorry your trip was delayed, but bad weather happens.

 

[Donut23]

Oh not I am sooooooo very sorry.

We flew on AirTran - BWI - LAX on Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend 2009. I struggled when we booked and then watched the flight for months----waiting for trouble. The rate dropped and I was SURE they would at least change is from non-stop to .. change in Atlanta.

We were lucky-our flight was fine.

I WILL say one BIG downside of flying with AirTran is.....you just never know and that is stressful.

Everyone wants every nano-bit of a Disney vacation to be perfect. I am sooooo very sorry yours will begin late.

Once you leave - let the Pixie Dust take care of you.

I'm sending my best wishes for a wonderful time once you arrive. My heart goes out to you.

 

[Traveliz]

My daughter flew Airtran today from IL to Orlando through Atlanta and had a slight delay in Atlanta due to the storms but they made it up in the air -- so I really don't think the you all warned me posts are fair.

Her flights were both full so I am sure if they were cancelled there would have been problems getting people on flights tomorrow - unfortuately things happen.

Liz

 

[maciec]

it's unfortunate that your flight got cancelled due to weather, but I am not sure how that is Airtran's fault. Saturday flights are always full so they probably got your family on the next flight that they had availability for. It can happen with any airline. It stinks I know, but there isn't much anyone can do about the weather as much as we would like to.

 

[Brian Noble]

Yes, unfortunately this is one of those risks in flying out of small airports with few flights. If weather or mechanical issues cancel a flight, it can take a while to find another with enough capacity to get folks where they are going. And, this can happen to any airline.

Here are some tips to minimize the chances of this problem in the future.

If you have a choice between airlines, and other factors are equivalent (time, price, etc.) pick the airline that has more flights from your airport. That gives you more options. If you have to fly out of a major airport instead of your local small one to do this, consider it. Major airports often have lower fares (thanks to more competition) many more choices of airline and time, and will be better able to accommodate a few cancellations here and there.

If you have a choice between airlines, and other factors are equivalent (time, price, and number of daily flights), pick the one who has more "interline agreements"---these are the agreements that must be in place for one airline to 'write you over' to another airline's flights. The legacy carriers all generally interline with one another. AirTran seems to have a very limited set. Southwest doesn't have any at all.

Finally, if you really get stuck, ask if you can be re-routed from the nearest major (large) airport to you. For example, if I normally flew out of Flint, Lansing, or Toledo, and I got stuck in this situation, I'd ask if it were possible to be re-routed to a flight out of Detroit. You'll still probably end up coming back to your original airport, but figuring out how to get from your local airport to the nearby major to pick up your car is probably better than starting your vacation two days late.

At the end of the day, these things only help, they don't guarantee. If a major weather event hits, it's going to take a while to get where you are going, because everyone is in the same boat. I got stuck in DCA for two days thanks to an ice storm a couple years ago that hit everything from Philadelphia through Newport News---and *no one* had room *anywhere* on any flights.

 

[disneyyes]

. . . I know that many people think it is only the smaller airlines that do this type of thing, but this happened in an even worse way to us in March when flying from Newark to California on United. Big airport, big planes, and the weather was nice that day . . . there was one stop in Denver and upon arrival we discovered that our connection to California was cancelled. Reason? Didn't have a crew available. With lots of scrambling, rearranging, and flying in to another airport we did get there, but it was quite the hassle.
Just wanted to share this because I know AirTran gets a bad rap for changing their flights, but the big carriers can put it to us sometimes too! It's just the nature of flying in general, these days, it seems.
AirTran has been much more reliable for me personally.

 

[Oglet]

There is a flip side to flying out of major airports such as usually higher fees and tax's which offset any savings from lower fees etc however the greater flight options are a huge benefit.

Airlines business practices have always confused me, long gone are the days where customers are treated with respect and dignity. Airlines treat their customers more like the electric company and other utility companies do, its no wonder they are always going belly up or needing to merge and change their names.

I'm sorry but I personally believe that they owe it to people to do everything within their power to assist the displaced traveler.

In a perfect word airlines would have agreements to help each other out in cases of displaced passengers, fares could be exchanged between airlines and options for flying out of a nearby airport even if it is standby on another carrier if needed could be used. Just do whatever is needed to take care of your customer.

I think in general we would all be more understanding and willing to use a carrier again if we felt they had bent over backwards to try and get us to where we needed even if its a standby flight from a airport or carrier 50 or 100 miles away.

 

[Brian Noble]

There is a flip side to flying out of major airports such as usually higher fees and tax's which offset any savings from lower fees etc however the greater flight options are a huge benefit.

This has not been my experience. Right now, flights from DTW to MCO for the month starting July 15th are around $200-$250. From TOL: $300-$340. From LAN: $320-$400. From FNT: $195-$250. The FNT and DTW flights are direct; the TOL and LAN are connecting. These include all taxes, but do not include luggage/seating/etc.

So, depending on where you are, DTW is either the same price/convenience (with more flights), or much less expensive and more convenient.

 

[dbal]

I am truly sorry for the OP's experience but I don't think it speaks of them as a whole.


I actually have a pretty positive Airtran experience. We were flying out a day prior for our cruise. We were jetting down the runway about to take off, when the engines shut down and we came to a stop. After a long wait on the plane they let us off back into the airport. After about an hour later they cancelled the flight entirely due to a de-icer malfunction.

The plane was filled with very unhappy Penn State fans on their way to the Bowl game.

Anyway my dh was persistant with the people at the desk and we ended up being put on another flight about 6 hours later. We were not happy. But we did get there in time.

The day after we returned home we received 6 letters from Airtran addressed to everyone in our traveling party. Inside was a FREE TRAVEL VOUCHER for all of us. This was totally unexpected.

Because of this nice little suprise, we our taking our soon to be 12 year old dd and her little sis for 12 yr old's b-day at the World!!!!


HOORAY AIRTAN!

 

[skiingfast]

We booked with Airtran anyway because they had a better day to fly out then our other option, and guess what? They cancelled our flight at the very last minute. We were supposed to fly out at 5:38 pm today, checked the website early afternoon and no issues, drove hour to airport and found there was no flight. Mind you, this is a small airport so not only was there no Airtran flight, there were no other flights to any where at all. And Airtran gave us the only option of leaving late Sunday afternoon.
So, instead of starting our Disney vacation today, we get there late on Saturday night. This really stinks. I will never, ever give them 1 cent of my money again. Just venting.
At least we weren't going to our brothers' graduation (like the guy in front of us) or a wedding (like the man behind us) or worst of all, supposed to be on a cruise ship tomorrow morning like the family beside us. Airtran screwed us all! Next time I will listen to the Disboards.

How did they compensate you for missing your planned travel?

 

[Brian Noble]

If it is a weather cancellation, they don't have to (and won't) do anything.

 

[zimaaaaah]

No compensation at all. And the flight we managed to substitue was 3X the price we paid with Airtran. Oh well, I plan on writing a letter to them when we get back, but it is what it is.

 

[NancyIL]

No compensation at all. And the flight we managed to substitue was 3X the price we paid with Airtran. Oh well, I plan on writing a letter to them when we get back, but it is what it is.

If AirTran rebooked you, there shouldn't have be any additional charge to you. Did you cancel and rebook on another airline?

**Rereading your first post - AirTran couldn't rebook you until Sunday so you booked a flight for today? If so, that was your decision, and I don't blame you, but it does come out of your pocket.

 

[DebbieB]

I saw something unusal on Continental last Monday morning. We were all boarded and sitting on the plane ready to go. The pilot made an announcement that we would be arriving late because of headwinds between PIT & Houston. Then the gate agent came on and asked if there were any volunteers to give up their seats for a $300 voucher. No one volunteered. So he came back and told 2 people to get off. He said they were the last ones to check in. Not sure why, but my guess was weight & balance due to more fuel needed because of the headwinds. So even if you are boarded and sitting in your seat, you are not safe. Taught me a lesson to always do online check-in even if you have assigned seats.

 

[dudspizza]

No compensation at all. And the flight we managed to substitue was 3X the price we paid with Airtran. Oh well, I plan on writing a letter to them when we get back, but it is what it is.

What are you going to say? I am the most important person in the world and Airtran should have flown another plane into my small airport so I can get to my vacation, even though we know that bad weather can put many people in harms way?

I feel your pain.... it sucks to have something like this happen. Airtran isn't singling you out. They are making sure their planes and passengers are safe. Weather can affect many people all over the world, even if the weather in their part of the country is nice.

This could have happened on any airline, at any time, anywhere. Your bad situation is that you are at a small airport where you have limited options.

It is too bad your vacation is starting this way, but it happens. Your anger or vent is mis-directed when you start bashing Airtran and saying, "you warned me but I didn't listen". This has nothing, zero, to do with Airtran making schedule changes. I have never read a single thing about Airtran cancelling flights at the last minute and leaving people stranded.

Take a deep breath, assess your situation and move forward. It is simple as that.

Duds

 

[dudspizza]

If AirTran rebooked you, there shouldn't have be any additional charge to you. Did you cancel and rebook on another airline?

**Rereading your first post - AirTran couldn't rebook you until Sunday so you booked a flight for today? If so, that was your decision, and I don't blame you, but it does come out of your pocket.

Sounds like that is what happened..... I agree with your comments.

 

[maxiesmom]

No compensation at all. And the flight we managed to substitue was 3X the price we paid with Airtran. Oh well, I plan on writing a letter to them when we get back, but it is what it is.

What are you expecting from Air Tran? NO airline compensates for a weather related delay. If you took it upon yourself to cancel your ticket and rebook on another airline, then that was your choice. Air Tran does not owe you for that money.

I'm not sure what on earth you think they should have done for a weather related delay. They happen on every airline. There is no way to avoid them, and I can't see complaining about an airline because of them.