AirTran ???

[dancin Disney style]

Has anyone not paid to pre-select your seats??? What happened??? I'm wondering if they hold back seats for those that don't pre-select.

I'm traveling with my kids this time so we want to sit together but the added cost will be $60. I know it's not that much but it's still extra and there always seems to be enough extras that what starts as a cheap trip ends up being an expensive one.

 

[kevgraub]

Has anyone not paid to pre-select your seats??? What happened??? I'm wondering if they hold back seats for those that don't pre-select.

I'm traveling with my kids this time so we want to sit together but the added cost will be $60. I know it's not that much but it's still extra and there always seems to be enough extras that what starts as a cheap trip ends up being an expensive one.

Just a heads up, this has been discussed on here many, many times, and this thread is likely to turn ugly at one point or another.

Chances are you will probably be fine. But there is also definitely a chance that you will not be assigned a seat next to your children and that there will not be any available seats to move to. That is a very real risk. Not that it will necessarily happy, but if you choose to forego paying for the seats, you need to be prepared for it.

As will undoubtedly be said on here, there is no guarantee that the airline will assign you seats together, and there is no guarantee that people will be willing to move from seats they paid for to accommodate your family.

To me, it is just simply not something worth worrying about and possibly having to deal with for a flight to save a few dollars. If it were just me flying - I would not really care where I sat and I'd save the money. Travelling with my kids - not even a question, I'll gladly pay the $6 per person to guarantee I will sit next to them.

I understand wanting to cut extras here and there and save money where you can - but if you choose to do that here, it may result in you being separated from your kids for your flights. If it were me, I'd find another way to save that $60.

 

[dancin Disney style]

Isn't it sad that so many topics are getting 'ugly' on here. I'm not surprised by your statement on that.

I do realize that by not pre-assigning out seats that we risk sitting apart. I'm not the type to ask people to move either. I don't feel that's a fair request to make on strangers.I was just curious as to whether ATA, like other carriers holds back a block of seats for airport check-in.

My youngest is 10 so it's not a huge deal where we sit. I will have to toss this around a bit. I'm planning on booking tonight....or maybe now

 

[cbrfan]

AirTran does hold back a few seats (usually Rows 10-14 and some at the rear of the aircraft) for persons with special needs, VIP's and passengers paying the highest fares. Any seats not taken by those passengers are opened up at the 24 hr. mark. It seems to me that A+ Rewards members are usually assigned those seats first (although I can't say for sure). So if you're not a member now, I suggest signing up. When you check in, they will have already assigned you your seat. If it's essential that you be seated together, pay the fee and get preassigned seating. If you're willing to roll the dice, wait until the 24 hr. mark. But be sure to check right at that mark in case you want to change your assignment. And in any case, prepare your children to be separated. If they need to separate you for some reason, they will.

 

[raraloveseeyore]

This will get very ugly. Having said that, I will tell you that I spoke to someone at Air Tran and they told me that if you get your boarding passes at the 24 hour mark you should be able to get seats together. I am going in September and I hope to let people know if this is true.

 

[GRUMPY D]

we use air trans all the time and never buy are seats and are all ways together now it may be across from or behind each other and if your not when you do the on line check in ask when you check in at the desk they will try to put you together

 

[dudspizza]

I think the ugly things come out when someone comes on here and states they are not paying for assigned seating and that they still want to sit together.

I give the OP credit for saying they know it is a possibility and that they will be fine if that happens.

Problems arise when people refuse to pay the fees and then expect to be seated together.... then the people who paid for their advance seats get steamed... that is how things get ugly.

If you are willing to take the chance, OP, go for it. You may or may not get seats together at the 24 hour check in.

Best of luck.

Duds

 

[maciec]

if you use the search function you will find many answers to your questions

 

[RMulieri]

I am going to get flamed for this...But you should pony up the dough for a seat assignment, unless you don't care if you get separated. They may or may not have seats all together otherwise. I Know this and despite the cost i pre select our seats so that kids don't get separated, figure it as part of the flight cost. You can not expect Airtran to have seats together, nor is it right to presume that people that paid to pre select their seating assignment to move for you.

 

[cbrfan]

I am going to get flamed for this...But you should pony up the dough for a seat assignment, unless you don't care if you get separated. They may or may not have seats all together otherwise. I Know this and despite the cost i pre select our seats so that kids don't get separated, figure it as part of the flight cost. You can not expect Airtran to have seats together, nor is it right to presume that people that paid to pre select their seating assignment to move for you.

Nor should it be expected that someone who DIDN'T pay for their seat will move. If they move as a courtesy, wonderful. If not, you (not the OP, just people in general) had your chance to obtain seats together and passed it up. If I required seats together on a flight and there weren't any available, I would select a different flight.

 

[DVCBELLE]

If you haven't already booked - you can book using Kayak.com and then you get your seat assignments for free....

 

[ancestry]

If you are willing to accept the potential consequence that you might not be seated together then I say save the money and don't pay for the advance seat assignments.

What also gets everyone started here (including me) is if a person decides to forego the advance seat assignments in order to save money and then expects that the airline will rearrange other people who have paid for their seats in their advance in order to accomodate the first party who didn't have the where-with-all to pay for their seats.

Personally, I normally don't pay for advance seat assignments unless I am traveling with my two younger children and since I do pay in advance to have my seat next to them all be darned if I would move in order to accomodate someone else who didn't pay in advance.

 

[dancin Disney style]

As I previously said I would never ask someone to move/give up their seat. I'm just not like that and I totally agree that once you have paid for a seat assignment it's yours.

I have to throw in a little story.....when my youngest was 5 we booked and all-inclusive trip through a TA. We were travelling with a premium airline and the TA failed to tell us that pre-booking our seats was even an option (it was not something that airline had done in the past). Well, we check in at the airport to find out that there are not even 2 seats together on the plane. So I'm not happy because my child is only 5 and it was a 6 hour flight. The airline staff were totally unwilling to even try and help. They were actually very rude to us and said that we should have checked in earlier....we checked in 2.5 hours before the flight. My DD had to sit alone through the entire flight. I kept getting up to check on her and most of the people sitting near me and her became aware of the situation....still no one offered their seat. The couple that she sat beside never even spoke to her.

Sometimes it's very sad the way people are.

 

[dancin Disney style]

If you are willing to accept the potential consequence that you might not be seated together then I say save the money and don't pay for the advance seat assignments.

What also gets everyone started here (including me) is if a person decides to forego the advance seat assignments in order to save money and then expects that the airline will rearrange other people who have paid for their seats in their advance in order to accomodate the first party who didn't have the where-with-all to pay for their seats.
Personally, I normally don't pay for advance seat assignments unless I am traveling with my two younger children and since I do pay in advance to have my seat next to them all be darned if I would move in order to accomodate someone else who didn't pay in advance.

Agreed....that's not fair or reasonable.

 

[dancin Disney style]

If you haven't already booked - you can book using Kayak.com and then you get your seat assignments for free....

I just looked at Kayak. As far as I can tell you have to go through cheaptickets or Orbitz etc. to book. Is that right? If not how do I book through them?

I've only ever used Kayak to compare fares. Never booked anything.

 

[kevgraub]

I just looked at Kayak. As far as I can tell you have to go through cheaptickets or Orbitz etc. to book. Is that right? If not how do I book through them?

I've only ever used Kayak to compare fares. Never booked anything.

I booked my tickets through kayak a few months ago. At the time, you would search for your flight and then it would link you directly to Airtran's website and you booked through them. You could then select your seats and the seat fee would not appear when you checked out.

However, someone mentioned the other day that they did this, and the seat selection charges stilled showed up on their credit card. I know mine were not charged, but it sounds like this might not work as well as it used to.

 

[Little Bit]

I booked my AirTran flight through AAA and they reserved our seat assignments free of charge.

 

[wezee]

Last time we booked through AAA there was no seat charge....but they charged us a set fee ( like $25pp) to book my flights. I think I would rather pay the $6pp and book online direct with Airtran.

 

[annnewjerz]

I just looked at Kayak. As far as I can tell you have to go through cheaptickets or Orbitz etc. to book. Is that right? If not how do I book through them?

I've only ever used Kayak to compare fares. Never booked anything.

I used Kayak to book our seats for December on AirTran and didn't have to pay a seat assignment fee. Also, I just took a peek at their site today to look for fares for an October trip, and I was able to book directly through AirTran's website (didn't have to go through CheapTickets, Orbitz, etc.). There should be a little box you can click that gives all of the available fares and it will show the link to AirTran's site there (or at least it did with me).

I went so far as to select my seats and no charges showed up on the total I would be billed. Didn't end up booking with AirTran for this trip, but using Kayak saved me the money on our December trip!

 

[Little Bit]

Last time we booked through AAA there was no seat charge....but they charged us a set fee ( like $25pp) to book my flights. I think I would rather pay the $6pp and book online direct with Airtran.

We weren't charged anything extra. I received the same rate that was offered online, without the seat charge.