Airtran

[brockash]

I'm considering flying airtran out of dallas for our upcoming Disney trip, because it's soooo much cheaper. I saw that the baggage fees are $15 for the first bag (which seems pretty good, compared to others.) Can anyone tell me the good/bad about Airtran. It looks like you can't get assigned seats without paying a fee (which I don't intend on doing.) I'll be flying with my 2 kiddos by myself, but I can't imagine it'd be too hard to get seats together when we check in??? Anyone that's flown airtran if you could give me your thoughts, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!!!

 

[Inkmahm]

Do a search. There are many threads here about how Airtran WILL separate you from your children if the plane is full and you haven't paid to get assigned seats together.

On my Airtran trip at the end of March, I personally saw a family of parents and two sons (one about 4 or 5 and the other maybe 10 or 11) split into four middle seats in different parts of the plane.

If you want to be sure to sit with your children, pay the fee to reserve your seats. It is really that simple.

 

[goofy4tink]

It may very well be 'too hard' to get three seats together at the gate. Depends on how crowded the flight is. I just flew AirTran, for the first time, last week. I did pay extra for my seat...exit window seat cost me an addtl $20. But for just any old seat it's only about $6...at least that's what it was when I booked.
I had no issue with AirTran, even though I was expecting to. I had heard many negative thoughts here, so figured I wouldn't complain since I got a decent fare. But, everything went just fine..no complaints whatsoever.
But....I will maintain, that if being able to find seats together is important to you, then you need to plan accordingly. If flying an airline that has you pay 'extra' for specific seats, you would be well advised to pay for them. Rather than thinking of it as paying 'extra' for assigned seating, think of it as paying rock bottom for non-assigned seating. Or fly SW where everyone is on a level playing field.

 

[tinka-belle]

ALL airlines are guilty of this, but over the past couple of years AirTran seems to be the one most frequently changing flight times several times before your trip, sometimes changing from a nonstop to a change of planes, sometimes changing flight times by several hours.

 

[Checkers]

We have flown AirTran both out of Baltimore and Harrisburg. We have not had any problems. I, too, think it would be wise to pay the extra $12 (rt) for your seats if it is important that you sit together. The only complaint I would have is the flight change from time to time but in our case it has not been for more than a few minutes. We were also notified promptly when the times were changed. We like flying nonstop and that is one of the reasons we fly AirTran (plus the lower fares and being able to get assigned seats) but that would change rapidly if ever our flight changed to a flight that had stops.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

ALL airlines are guilty of this, but over the past couple of years AirTran seems to be the one most frequently changing flight times several times before your trip, sometimes changing from a nonstop to a change of planes, sometimes changing flight times by several hours.

YES they DO make many, many changes to their schedule. If you will be using them be sure to go online regularly and check to see if they made any changes to your flights. They normally will advise you via email, but the email (when you do get one) comes way after the changes have been made.

Many people on these boards have had problems with AirTran changing their schedule so be aware!

 

[hygienejean]

Gee I think you can book through Kayak and get the seats for free can't you?

 

[DeadHead]

We've flown almost exclusively on AirTran for the last couple of years out of PHL. They have never changed our flight by more than a couple of minutes. However, I have read here of others that have had multiple changes by more than a few minutes to hours difference. If you're intending to fly with your children, spend the $6.00 each way to get your seat in advance it's worth it, for peace of mind. As far as booking through Kayak, I believe I read here that you can no longer book through them and not have to pay for the seat assignment. Hope this helps.

 

[Daddio]

Pre-seat booking fees have increased. When we flew in March, the front section ahead of the wing had two different prices -$15.00 closest to the front and $12.00 just in front of the wing. Both fares included zone 1 boarding.

None of the airlines seem to want to disclose the additional seat fares untill you actually book your tickets.

David

--

 

[dacky041208]

Gee I think you can book through Kayak and get the seats for free can't you?

I'm pretty sure that loophole was closed a few months ago.

 

[brockash]

Thanks so much for everyone's replies. I actually ended up finding a roundtrip American flight out of Dallas for the same price, so I think I'm going to go with them so I can pick my seats with no charge ahead of time, and I'd really hate to have my flight times change, and I've never had a problem with American in regards to that. Thanks so much for all the input!!

 

[squirrel]

The other thing you can do is find a $25 voucher and apply it to your booked flight and use it to choose seats.

You also have the option of going online 24 hrs from your flight and picking your seats.

 

[santa's surpriz]

I had a horrible experience, a delay was causing me to miss a connecting flight and there was no assistance at an already busy counter. The girl actually left the service kiosk to board people on the flight that about 10-15 were inquiring about. Myself and another family really got screwed in the situation, finally we got assistance from the customer number and landed in first class, but ended it up high tailing from one end to the other at Atlanta.

I did pay for assigned seats and they did not honor them when I did the gate check in, it was a waste money.