AirTran's Nov & Dec flights have been released...BUT

[Traveliz]

I wonder what's going to happen to AT here in Richmond. We don't and never have had SW flying in/out of here so AT & JB have been the big competitors for discount flights (United, Delta, Continental and USAir are just rediculously priced here). I'm sad to see an option go. Will all of our AT flights eventually become SW flights or will we lose the airline all together?

We lost AirTran forever about a year ago. Southwest was never here and said they aren't coming. I am not sitting waiting to go out on the replacement here... Frontier.... Which has maybe 4 flights a week compared to AirTran 4 a day (with connections. I don't like it at all.

Liz

 

[Doug7856]

I received an email from a travel web site quoting Airtran on December 1 for $134!!! Yeah. So I went to Airtran and found the flight was not $134 but $434! So....

I went to Priceline.com and the price was $134. thinking this is an awesome price I tried to book -- not bookable. I went to Orbitz and again found the $134 fare and tried to book -- not bookable.

So my guess is the flights aren't released yet and hopefully the price will be $134 when Southwest comes out. Not sure I'll be flying if the rate is $434 per person one way! I'd rather fly Southwest since they don't have baggage or change fees.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Frankly, it offends me that jetBlue is so many posters' backup - instead of first - choice.

It doesn't "offend" me, but it sure surprises me. We flew AirTran for the first time on December 23 and were severely underwhelmed. The plane was so old, the paint was peeling off the nose in large sections (and DH wondered if it would make it to MCO in one piece ). The inflight staff were far less friendly than on our past flights with JetBlue, and we missed our personal TV's . And this was flying business class!

I also don't see the appeal of Southwest, other than the second free checked bag (which we personally don't need....one large suitcase for checking per person, and a carry on per person is plenty for our family). The open seating thing seems to cause way more stress than benefits if most other posters on the transportation forum are any indication. And they don't have TV's on each seat, I don't think. Admittedly, we have never given Southwest a try (just Sunwing from Toronto, JB from Syracuse and Buffalo, and AirTran from Buffalo) but we sure won't be rushing to do so.

While it baffles me a ton, I am almost glad that JB is a second choice for many. Hopefully it will help keep their costs competitive .

 

[budafam]

I am having severe anxiety over this since yesterday. We have Southwest points to burn up so I have to wait till tomorrow to book anything but the whole AirTran merge makes me nervous. Our dates are showing some awful arrival times. The only decent one is arriving at 11:55am in Orlando which I would be fine with but there's a connection in Atlanta which is 40 minutes long. I'm not a frequent flyer and have never "done" a connecting flight. This is the ONLY flight that lands before noon. The next earliest lands at 3:15 and the ONLY non-stop flight lands at 7:30pm I was hoping to have at least a half day at the parks on our arrival day.. I sure hope Southwest impresses me at 5:30am tomorrow morning! Don't think I'll sleep at all tonight

 

[DebbieB]

I am having severe anxiety over this since yesterday. We have Southwest points to burn up so I have to wait till tomorrow to book anything but the whole AirTran merge makes me nervous. Our dates are showing some awful arrival times. The only decent one is arriving at 11:55am in Orlando which I would be fine with but there's a connection in Atlanta which is 40 minutes long. I'm not a frequent flyer and have never "done" a connecting flight. This is the ONLY flight that lands before noon. The next earliest lands at 3:15 and the ONLY non-stop flight lands at 7:30pm I was hoping to have at least a half day at the parks on our arrival day.. I sure hope Southwest impresses me at 5:30am tomorrow morning! Don't think I'll sleep at all tonight

Would you consider flying in the night before and getting an airport hotel? We did that one time and were at WDW by 8:30am. It was awhile ago but we found an airport hotel for under $100. It had a free shuttle, we shuttled back to the airport in the morning and got our rental car.

 

[jennyjinx3]

I just noticed that the prices are gone again off the November flights for Airtran. Blank again. Hopefully when they reappear they will be much more reasonable!

 

[bas71873]

I just noticed that the prices are gone again off the November flights for Airtran. Blank again. Hopefully when they reappear they will be much more reasonable!

They are MUCH more reasonable this morning, but for us, there are no longer any NONSTOP flight options, so I'm booking JetBlue today. Frankly, with all I have been reading here and elsewhere and seeing on the news about the AT/SW merger, I think flying JB is the right decision. I can't handle the stress of a botched flight. Just doesn't start a vacay off on the right foot.

Good luck to everyone who is waiting to book!

 

[budafam]

If it were up to me, I would fly in the night before but my sister has to work that day and can't get off. I bought through Southwest this morning (so glad to avoid AirTran and their weird boarding rules). We leave at 10:15am and arrive in Orlando at 1:55pm... not giving us a TON of park time the first day but I'll take it! So happy I can relax now..

 

[scjo68]

They are MUCH more reasonable this morning, but for us, there are no longer any NONSTOP flight options, so I'm booking JetBlue today. Frankly, with all I have been reading here and elsewhere and seeing on the news about the AT/SW merger, I think flying JB is the right decision. I can't handle the stress of a botched flight. Just doesn't start a vacay off on the right foot.

Good luck to everyone who is waiting to book!

I have been following this thread.
So you are going to go ahead and book Jet Blue already?
We are flying out of RIC as well, at Thanksgiving. I had been waiting for AirTran, but there is no way I want to have to make a connection. THat will add to the stress of traveling on the busiest travel days of the year, as well as add to the travel time.

So, I know I want the Jet blue flight. It is the only nonstop flight to ORlando on the day before T-giving. To me, that means I should go ahead and book it. Of course it's very expensive. DH says it's way too early to book- it will come down. But I am afraid that the law of supply and demand will not let it come down much.

 

[pigletto]

Southwest fares are reasonable for us this morning. Airtran is saying they have no service on that route. I don't know if they're changing the prices or eliminating it. I think it's probably being eliminated.

 

[bas71873]

I have been following this thread.
So you are going to go ahead and book Jet Blue already?
We are flying out of RIC as well, at Thanksgiving. I had been waiting for AirTran, but there is no way I want to have to make a connection. THat will add to the stress of traveling on the busiest travel days of the year, as well as add to the travel time.

So, I know I want the Jet blue flight. It is the only nonstop flight to ORlando on the day before T-giving. To me, that means I should go ahead and book it. Of course it's very expensive. DH says it's way too early to book- it will come down. But I am afraid that the law of supply and demand will not let it come down much.

I'm booking later today. I can get nonstop round trip for about $248 per person. I'm not taking any chances of a sell out or an increase. If they go down , oh well, my loss. I stress too much and just want it taken care of. This is about the rate I've paid in the past and I figure for holiday travel, it's a good price.

 

[greenclan67]

Southwest fares are reasonable for us this morning. Airtran is saying they have no service on that route. I don't know if they're changing the prices or eliminating it. I think it's probably being eliminated.

I found the same thing. I booked on Southwest, have never flown them, but got Dec 23rd from Buf to Mco, for $112 non stop. I thought that was reasonable. Not a big deal if we are together, my girls are older now, 13 and 11. But I did pay for EBCI. Noticed the same thing about Airtran. I would rather have booked them, over worrying about boarding with SW. I can pay for seat assignments on AT. Now I am waiting to see if the prices comes down for return on Jan, 1, 2, 3,or 4th. I think I will be able to play with them a little so left them.

 

[pigletto]

I found the same thing. I booked on Southwest, have never flown them, but got Dec 23rd from Buf to Mco, for $112 non stop. I thought that was reasonable. Not a big deal if we are together, my girls are older now, 13 and 11. But I did pay for EBCI. Noticed the same thing about Airtran. I would rather have booked them, over worrying about boarding with SW. I can pay for seat assignments on AT. Now I am waiting to see if the prices comes down for return on Jan, 1, 2, 3,or 4th. I think I will be able to play with them a little so left them.

If it helps you feel better I don't find the boarding procedure with Southwest bad at all, and if you bought EBCI on the day they opened I can almost guarantee you that you'll be all together. I've both bought and not bought EBCI and we've always been together. I don't think it will be a problem for you at all
In fact, I vastly prefer Southwest over Airtran.

ETA.. and I don't know if you are flying out of Buffalo, but if you are.. $112 is VERY good these days and I doubt it will go much lower.

 

[greenclan67]

If it helps you feel better I don't find the boarding procedure with Southwest bad at all, and if you bought EBCI on the day they opened I can almost guarantee you that you'll be all together. I've both bought and not bought EBCI and we've always been together. I don't think it will be a problem for you at all
In fact, I vastly prefer Southwest over Airtran.

ETA.. and I don't know if you are flying out of Buffalo, but if you are.. $112 is VERY good these days and I doubt it will go much lower.

Believe me I was very very happy with $112 being this is our first Xmas trip. We paid more then that for March Break this year! I can get $112 return on the 2nd. But I think we would like to stay until the 3rd or 4th. Our resort is booked the 23rd to the 1st, and we think we might head down to Tamp for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. So hopefully I can still get a good price for the trip home. If they start going up, I will book them return.

 

[keishashadow]

HOLY COW they are expensive ($425 each way. Um, no. I have to wonder if that's a typo or a glitch. I checked random dates in Nov & Dec too, not jsut the ones I need and they are all the same ). AND, worse yet, they no longer offer a NONstop flight from Richmond, VA to Orlando. Guess we'll be flying Jetblue instead!

AT puts what their customer service department indicates as "placeholder" fares in early, then adjust accordingly.

YMMV but i've noticed that AT has fares listed prior to SWA's official release date...very helpful to see what flight/times available as to planning.

 

[bas71873]

We ended up booking with Jetblue from RIC to MCO for $248/pp/RT. Airtran no longer has direct flights, but SW does, however, a RT flight on SW on the dates I want to fly were only $10 cheaper/pp than the JB flights I booked and we've always had great flights with JB, so JB it is for us. I do hope that SW continues offering a daily direct to Orlandoo so JB has some competition with pricing

 

[Scotch]

I have been following this thread.

So, I know I want the Jet blue flight. It is the only nonstop flight to ORlando on the day before T-giving. To me, that means I should go ahead and book it. Of course it's very expensive. DH says it's way too early to book- it will come down. But I am afraid that the law of supply and demand will not let it come down much.

Jet Blue has a great "refund" policy for nonrefundable fares. Like Southwest, if the price drops you can contact Jetblue (via phone -- no online process like SW) and it will give you the difference as a "credit" in your Jetblue account for use on future flights for up to 1 year. You can get more info from Yapta's website. I use Yapta to set up alerts after I purchase tickets so I will get an alert when the fare drops. We love Jetblue: good customer service, competitive fares, free 1 bag checkin, free digital TV/movies (but headphone not free so bring your own), and free unlimited and varied snacks (such as Popcorners).

 

[bas71873]

Jet Blue has a great "refund" policy for nonrefundable fares. Like Southwest, if the price drops you can contact Jetblue (via phone -- no online process like SW) and it will give you the difference as a "credit" in your Jetblue account for use on future flights for up to 1 year. You can get more info from Yapta's website. I use Yapta to set up alerts after I purchase tickets so I will get an alert when the fare drops. We love Jetblue: good customer service, competitive fares, free 1 bag checkin, free digital TV/movies (but headphone not free so bring your own), and free unlimited and varied snacks (such as Popcorners).

Thx for that website link. I'm going to look into that tomorrow!

 

[Melissahac99]

With the AirTran and SW flights released for Nov, I was hoping to start to see flight prices drop. Not the case so far :-( Right now non stop on Delta is $338 per person still :-(

 

[Promomx2]

Just checking in to see how flights are going for everyone? I just booked SW for $59 one way for dh and I. We've never flown SW so I hope it goes okay. But I'm excited that I got such a good deal and it's a non-stop flight.