AirTran?

[Mickeysooner]

I have never flown AirTran and I was wondering if anyone flies with them.
We are going to WDW in December and all of the airfare out of Knoxville is very high right now. We have been flying with Independence but all of their flights are out of sight. I would be willing to drive to Atlanta if need be. I've checked with flights out of Nashville ( everytime I look at SWA the discount flights are always not available) but they are not as cheap as AirTran. Any comments would be much appreciated.


Thanks

 

[LAH]

I was concerning flying with them also for our January trip. We've never flown with them either but two friends of mine have and they said they had no problems and everything was fine. I was wondering what other people have to say.

LAH

 

[JulieEck]

We've flown with AirTran before and will be flying them again in December from Atlanta to Orlando. We've never really had any problems either. The only thing I can think of was a delay in boarding/taking off from Milwaukee to Atlanta, but it was because the weather in Atlanta was bad and the plane coming in was delayed, etc. We just hung out in the terminal for another 45 minutes or so. We also had a stroller/car seat. We gate checked the stroller and used the car seat in dd (almost 2 at the time)'s seat. The plane had 2 seats on one side and 3 on the other so we had a row of three for us. We were able to check our luggage at the curb - the line was long, but moved quickly. If you drive to Atlanta - there are a lot of park n ride lots you can do that aren't at the airport, jsut next to it. We love those. Go to www.parkingcompany.com then click on Atlanta in the drop down box. This is the place (Prestige parking) that we always use. On the next page click coupon and there will be a coupon that you can print out and use. They pick you up at your car and you and your luggage get on. They then drop you off right next to your airline curbside check in (multiple stops possible if more than you on the bus and different airlines). After your curbside check in, go inside and go through the security check in.

Sorry about getting long winded!

Let me know if you have any other questions!

 

[Mickeysooner]

Thanks so much for the great information. It was very helpful.

 

[ChrisAlli]

We just flew Airtran out of Philly to Orlando two weeks ago. No problems at all. Although it was kind of wierd, we checked out bags inside and they gave them back and we had to take them to another spot to be x-rayed and onto coveyor belt. Not a big deal, just surprised we had to do that. Anyone else I've flown they check it and put it behind them on the belt. I guess this way you know everything is being x-rayed. First time we're flown since 9/11.

But they were great no problems and they have Satellite radio on all flights now.

 

[CarolA]

A few other considerations....
1. parkiong is MORE expensive in Atlanta. Plan on that.
2. Driving in Atlanta is MUCH MUCH worse then driving in Nashville. Give yourself LOTS of extra time. Coming from Knoxville, you have to go THRU the town to the airport in Atlanta where in Nashville the airport is before the city.
3. Airtran charges $50 for each change. SW doesn't...

I fly Airtran since I now live in Atlanta, but much perfer Nashville and SW.

 

[glass slipper girl]

If you fly AirTran out of Atlanta, you can always consider heading down the night before and staying in a hotel near the airport that offers a "Park and Fly" package where you can spend one night and then leave your car there w/o paying for parking at the airport. You catch the hotel shuttle over to the airport in the morning. We do this when we have flown Southwest out of Birmingham or Nashville (I live in metro Atlanta). When we fly back, DH takes the shuttle to go back to the hotel to get the car and I take the kids to the bathroom, get the luggage and meet him at the curbside pickup lane. Works well for us. We aren't rushed on our way to the airport and we don't have expensive long term parking to pay!

 

[disneynutt1225]

Another advocate for Airtran here! They're the only airline we've flown in years and the only problems we've had with them was our delayed flights this last trip. Flying from Newark to Atlanta (then to Orlando) our flights were delayed because of bad weather in Atlanta. Other than that, we've never had a problem. They're almost always on time - I think I read somewhere that they have one of the best records out there. Anyway, I love them!

 

[keishashadow]

We switched to AirTran when flying US Air became dicey. Despite the following, they seem to offer value, especially when we compare the price of airfare out of PIT. I won't jump thru the SW hoops for the fares...midnight calls, line A, B & D - not for me!


AirTran lost one of our bags in Feb. & denied responsiblity for several weeks until the person that found it on their doorstep in Michigan, tracked me down via a HRH tag on the bag - politely inquiring if I had their missing bag. After some negotiation, AirTran shipped it home & coughed up 3 RT fares.

Said fares (capacity controlled, etc.) were a challenge to book; but we've managed to use 1/2 of them for this Dec. & hope to be able to book the remaining before they expire.

Their rewards program is one of the best I've seen, especially with the Wendy's promo they're running. We've also jumped on their air-miles card to earn points...sure hope we'll be able to use the vouchers.

Lastly, they've changed departure times on us twice...the last involved extending the only direct flight out of Orlando after noon from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Irritating, would have been nice to receive an email informing me instead of noticing it on their web site when pricing-out a reservation.

All in all, I can't believe I'm recommending them...sad state of affairs that this is what passes for acceptable customer service!

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

We have flown AirTran a number of times to MCO from Philly. They are pretty good and their people are mostly very friendly. The only complaint I have is that they like to change schedules. Unless you are on the first flight out (which they normally only move by a few minutes) they sometimes make drastic changes. One time while checking their schedules I noticed the flight we were on had been changed by a lot. The eventually sent me an e-mail telling me this but it was way after I spotted in on their web site.

 

[horseshowmom]

We've flown AirTran numerous times and will again if the price is right.

We've had some minor problems with them (just like we have with Delta and Northwest), but they've always made it right.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

I heard that AirTran was formed after the ValuJet incident, does anyone know about this? I've debated flying them out of Flint on their N/S to MCO, but Northwest has allways been cheapest or had the best times...

 

[MadHatter]

first things first Airtran does NOT serve the ATL area. 2nd right now with all the airlines going down you might have wait a while.

 

[erikthewise]

first things first Airtran does NOT serve the ATL area. 2nd right now with all the airlines going down you might have wait a while.

ATL is the central hub for the Airtran route system. There are 10-12 nonstops daily each way between ATL and MCO. Check it for yourself at www.airtran.com .

We are big Airtran fans. Doesn't hurt that they fly nonstop from Dayton to Orlando using fullsize aircraft and at great times (early morning down, late evening back).

 

[cindym]

Sorry Mad Hatter but I have a connecting flight that goes through Atlanta in 3 weeks!

 

[DebbieB]

I flew Air Tran PIT/ATL 3 weeks ago, everything was fine. I also flew out of Atlanta last Friday night on Delta, there were plenty of Air Tran jets at the airport.

I don't know the details, but Air Tran did take over Value Jet. That accident was over 10 years ago and they have since bought all new planes (717 and 737). I wouldn't hesitate to fly them.

 

[disneynutt1225]

first things first Airtran does NOT serve the ATL area. 2nd right now with all the airlines going down you might have wait a while.

That's pretty interesting considering their hub is in Atlanta and I just flew into Atlanta on Airtran twice in October....

 

[JulieEck]

first things first Airtran does NOT serve the ATL area. 2nd right now with all the airlines going down you might have wait a while.

I've flown AirTran out of ATL in the past and have flights scheduled from ATL to Orlando in 20 days! Atlanta is the Main Hub for AirTran. I'm not sure where you are getting your information from - do you know something the rest of us don't??? If AirTran pulled out of Atlanta, they would have to completely redo all of their schedules/flights since just about everything goes through there!

Secondly, if a person were to wait until no airlines were in bankruptcy (assuming that's what you mean by "going down"), you might as well never fly. It always seems like at least one of them is going through it and it doesn't necessarily mean they are no longer flying. Delta, for instance, is going through bankruptcy but they are still flying.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

MadHatter seems to have some interesting things to say. This is a quote from a thread wondering about how long is needed at the airport before your flight...

it really does not matter when you arrive in MCO. when you depart get the the airport a good 6 hours early b/c i went down for the food and wine and it was about an hour and 15 minutes who knows on for when you are going

 

[Lucky4me]

I've flown Airtran about 6 times in the last 3 years. Love them and love paying $130 for a rt direct flight out of Rochester NY to MCO.