Any ever fly Air Tran ?

[4our4kids]

I keep looking for a deal on air fare, from Phila., all that keeps coming up is Air Tran. I only know of 1 person with experience with this air line and it wasn't good.
Did they just have bad luck that day or is it the air line???
Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I've had pretty good experiences with AirTran. I've also had bad experiences with some of the larger carriers. I think in the past people had mostly poor experiences with them but they've gotten better in recent years.

There have been several threads here on the Transportation board about AirTran. Try doing a search using "AirTran" (all one word).

 

[Pat_Elliott]

I just flew Airtran for the first time. It's one experience, and during a slow period, but I found them very satisfactory. We purchased the tickets four months or so ago, when the rate was $49 per leg, BWI to MCO. We originally had a 5:30 PM flight on Friday the 20th, but were blessed with an extra day's vacation time. So we went in at 6 AM and tried to do standby on the 8:30 AM to give ourselves a full extra day.

I've been watching a thread on SW standby policy and it doesn't seem favorable. Since the majors are all either charging for standby or considering it, I imagine Airtran will follow suit soon, and it doesn't make sense to pay a hundred dollar upgrade to standby on a fifty dollar ticket. However, we had NO problem doing this. Due to the light load on the 8:30 AM plane, we didn't even standby. The man at the ticket counter just put us on the 8:30 flight and told us to have a nice time.

The flight down was right on time. The flight back was a little late, but that was due to the plane coming in from Atlanta, where Isidor was starting to be a factor on September 26.

The flight itself was non-descript. The seats seemed a touch smaller than US Air, who I've used most of the time, but nothing major. The flight attendants, ticket people, and pilots seemed pretty much like flight attendants, ticket people, and pilots. Can't say a bad word about the experience, period.

The two major pluses were the standby thing and as I say, for all I know that will soon disapear, and the quick movement in the ticket lines, which was probably due to light loads. But they had as long a line as anyone else and seemed to be moving faster. All in all, a pleasant experience.

pat

 

[mousewardbound]

I have flown Air Tran without incident as well. Can't remember much about the specifics, but as far as I'm concerned, an unmemorable flight is a good flight!

 

[4our4kids]

Thank you for your input. The people I know who flew Air Tran compained of overcrowed, tight quarters, lots of rude people and a filthy cabin. No one else here though describes anything like thier complaints. Glad to hear of you good flights!!

 

[want2go]

we're using AirTran coming back from orlando to Newark in November. I was curious too..glad to read about unmemorable flights

 

[mochabean]

The legroom is somewhat (2-4") less than other carriers, but other than that, no problems to report here!

 

[goofy4tink]

My sister-in-law is a TA and uses AirTran all the time. But, she doesn't mind making a ton of connections either in order to get the cheapest airfare!!! But, she hasn't had any issues with them and they have always been on time.

 

[wbk]

We've flown AirTran consistently out of Moline, Illinois. They are certainly no frills, but I'm not that interested in frills. The leg room is a bit skimpy, but I've seen people taller than my 5-10 frame sit in the seats. You just can't slouch down.

We've never noticed dirty cabins. They are supposed to be cleaned at the end of each leg of a flight. Usually, even if you're continuing on with the same plane and crew, they make you get off the plane so it can be serviced.

 

[MaybeFall]

To WBK - Hi neighbor! I live in the Quad Cities and I'm flying out of Moline to Orlando for the December RADP meet. Glad to hear that you had no problems. The leg room won't be a problem for me as I am only 5' tall.