Anyone ever fly Air Tran?

[booklady1017]

Comments? Do you rec or not? There is about $100 difference between that and Delta but I never flew Air Tran and don't know if its any good. Thanks. Just to also clarify, we would be flying out of LGA (NY) if that helps with your input.

 

[dudspizza]

Comments? Do you rec or not? There is about $100 difference between that and Delta but I never flew Air Tran and don't know if its any good. Thanks.

They are one of my top choices to fly. Their prices are very competitive, their planes are newer, and they fly non-stop from my location to MCO.

Keep in mind they tinker with flight times and your flight times will most likely change. If you are looking at them and Delta you might as well book Air Tran as Delta messes with their flight times a ton too!

duds

 

[canwegosoon]

Welcome Booklady-

I flew Airtran for the first time this past summer(out of Newburg). And was very happy with the experience. Our plane was older but no worse than Delta or USAir etc(maybe just a little older). The flight staff was fantastic- on the flight down they went above and beyond- to help passengers with a very disruptive passenger's medical conditions. They served sodas and cookies/crackers on my flights...there were no sandwiches to purchase that you might find on another airline. The ticket agent at SWF was great-he let my sons(who are 9) process our tickets.

Is it is different than Delta,US Air, United? Yes- In my experience the flight staff was not as physically conforming as they would have been on a legacy carrier. On Airtran there was a better mix of population representation(eg-there were some older attendants, attendents of nationalities I had never seen before on legacy carriers-although they might have flown other routes-etc)-But as I said earlier the flight staff was excellent on my flights, and I enjoyed to non-cookie cutter look and experience.

They pass out headphones for inflight radio, there are no TV's like there is on JB. All in all I thought it was a great value(I had gotten $59 filghts for August) and I have rebooked with them for Easter.

I pay for the seat selection since that is important to me...I am looking forward to another great flight in a few months. I would say give them a try, if you don't like them, book someone else next time.

 

[clandrum]

Airtran is great. I flew them on our last trip and did not encounter any problems and now disney has added them to there advance air line check in service. I am flying Delta this time, we leave in 17 days I will let you know how it goes. But as of this time they have changed our flight times about 20 times.

 

[Harvest02]

Another vote for Airtran. I have flown them 3 times now since last summer, and we have been very happy with them. On my trip to Houston a few weeks ago, my reading light did not work. The flight attendant told me to go sit in the back of the plane!!!(Another lady in the same row didn't have a working reading light either). So, I e-mailed Airtran with my complaint to let them know what happened. They gave me a $25 credit on my next flight. Guess it pays to complain if you have any problems! They are responsive to any e-mails I send them, and their satellite radio is nice too! My kids love that! Don't hesitate to fly Airtran!

 

[klstiger]

I contacted Airtran's reservations once regarding a round trip flight from New Orleans to Atlanta.... and then back. The girl was giving me the details and we she got to the return trip it should only 36 minutes of flight time. I said well that it is actually 1 hr and 36 minutes b/c of time change. She argued with me that there was not a time difference between the two... I never booked the ticket!!!! I will stick with Delta.

 

[OlderMan]

I had good experiences on Air Tran until my last trip on them. (Granted, this was about 8 years ago.)

About a week before our trip, I looked at their web site and got confused. Instead of a 7:00 AM flight, our flight was listed as 7:00. PM

When I called them, they said yes, the flight time was changed by approximately 12 hours, and we should have gotten called about the change. Needless to say, we had never received a call. I've never had an airline make such a change in flight times.

Since it was Easter time, I was unable to book on another airline, and my DW missed the first afternoon of the conference she was attending.

Thanks Air Tran! We'll NEVER fly you again--and we haven't.

 

[december]

I'm flying them for the first time Friday and next week on Thanksgiving. The prices are great -$59 each one way. I booked a nonstop flight on Friday and it has only changed 6 minutes from the original time. I wanted to be in WDW for as long as possible on Thanksgiving, so booked the latest flight out, which had a layover. I had 2 adrs planned for that day, and was going to enjoy a long day in dtd. I checked a few weeks ago, and the time had changed by 6 hours! I got no notification either. I canceled my last 2 adrs (we will leave that morning straight from the resort), and was able to find good alternatives earlier in the week to use up my dining plan credits. I also called and asked to be switched to a nonstop flight leaving one hour earlier than my flight. We didn't have time to do anything anyway, so an hour won't matter much. But this gets us home 3 hours sooner! I was able to switch with no problem-and was told I should have been notified of the change.

I did reserve seats, since it is just me and my 2 kids and I wanted us together. I'm just hoping for no more changes and a smooth flight on Friday-heading to MVMCP!

 

[brittsmum1998]

We are flying them for the first time this Friday. We originally booked from Boston to MCO w/ a layover on both ends $114 each way. Our flight changed by approx 15 mins or so (?) on the outbound leg. When I called they offered a full refund or I could change my flights. We ended up w/ a NON STOP !! down at 9am arriving at MCO around noon and NON STOP coming home leaving at 1:30P (instead of 7am ) arriving at 4:30P due to the fact that I booked rt - I was able to change both flights) . The customer service (at least so far) has been wonderful.

 

[booklady1017]

I read your replies and spoke to my husband and we both decided to go with Delta. But thanks anyhow.

 

[Applemomma]

We flew them this past Sept direct out of Portland, Maine and I have no complaints.

From reading all the posts here about them changing flight times I was constantly checking but they never changed it so much as a minute from the time we booked in July to the day we left. Both coming and going the flights left on time and our flight into MCO was actually early landing.

The plane was new and actually felt like there might have been a bit more leg room then some other flights I've been on. Free non alcoholic beverages and the "you've just got to laugh at how tiny they are" packages of mystery snacks.

We won't hesitate to fly with them again!

 

[LuvLeLe10]

I'm flying them for the first time Friday and next week on Thanksgiving. The prices are great -$59 each one way. I booked a nonstop flight on Friday and it has only changed 6 minutes from the original time. I wanted to be in WDW for as long as possible on Thanksgiving, so booked the latest flight out, which had a layover. I had 2 adrs planned for that day, and was going to enjoy a long day in dtd. I checked a few weeks ago, and the time had changed by 6 hours! I got no notification either. I canceled my last 2 adrs (we will leave that morning straight from the resort), and was able to find good alternatives earlier in the week to use up my dining plan credits. I also called and asked to be switched to a nonstop flight leaving one hour earlier than my flight. We didn't have time to do anything anyway, so an hour won't matter much. But this gets us home 3 hours sooner! I was able to switch with no problem-and was told I should have been notified of the change.

I did reserve seats, since it is just me and my 2 kids and I wanted us together. I'm just hoping for no more changes and a smooth flight on Friday-heading to MVMCP!

I think I'll be on that same flight, just a different day. (Is it out of Memphis?) We are flying down the day after Thanksgiving and staying until Thursday! I've never flown AirTran, because I usually fly Southwest since its nonstop from Jackson, but AirTran had the better prices and my sweetie lives in Memphis, so we're flying from there this time.

 

[Pigsty333]

All airlines constantly change their flight times. It depends on how booked that particular flight as it is not feasible to fly a half empty plane, so in that case they try to combine it with another flight. That is one way to keep costs down.

Air Tran is not bad - have never flied but booked plenty of clients and family on it (because of the convenience of flying from an airport closer to their home than traveling and dealing with the hustle and bustle of a major airline).

Does anyone remember ValueJet? That was the name of AirTran before they switched their name, so they have been around a while, just under a different name.

 

[december]

I think I'll be on that same flight, just a different day. (Is it out of Memphis?) We are flying down the day after Thanksgiving and staying until Thursday! I've never flown AirTran, because I usually fly Southwest since its nonstop from Jackson, but AirTran had the better prices and my sweetie lives in Memphis, so we're flying from there this time.

Yes, it is out of Memphis. I'm holding my breath that nothing else gets changed. I just moved from Scott County to Calhoun County (3 hours north), so Memphis was closer and Airtran was cheaper.

 

[airhead]

All airlines constantly change their flight times. It depends on how booked that particular flight as it is not feasible to fly a half empty plane, so in that case they try to combine it with another flight. That is one way to keep costs down.

Air Tran is not bad - have never flied but booked plenty of clients and family on it (because of the convenience of flying from an airport closer to their home than traveling and dealing with the hustle and bustle of a major airline).

Does anyone remember ValueJet? That was the name of AirTran before they switched their name, so they have been around a while, just under a different name.

Valuejet??? Isn't that the airline that crashed into the everglades a few years back???

 

[Sleepy]

Valuejet??? Isn't that the airline that crashed into the everglades a few years back???

That would be the same. My question is- Would something that happened 10 years ago make you fear an airline? Has there been another incident since then? I had no idea, until this thread, that these two airlines were the same. I was planning to use AirTran this summer because it is the only non-stop to where I need to go and it offers a good rate. I know I should not think back to 10 years ago and let that leave an overall bad taste in my mouth, but now I am left uneasy. Just looking for opinions of others.

 

[cbrfan]

I don't know the specifics of the ValueJet-AirTran merger, but I do fly AirTran pretty much exclusively. They have the newest fleet of Boeings of any airline. We've been very happy with them. I never felt any qualms at all when I found out they used to be ValueJet. I think every airline has had a crash at one point or another. To my knowledge AirTran hasn't had one since the Everglades disaster.

 

[erikthewise]

Airtran is fine. I prefer them to Delta and I used to be a big Delta fan. I believe that every single plane they fly today (Boeing 717's and 737-700's) was purchased after the ValueJet disaster.

 

[airhead]

That would be the same. My question is- Would something that happened 10 years ago make you fear an airline? Has there been another incident since then? I had no idea, until this thread, that these two airlines were the same. I was planning to use AirTran this summer because it is the only non-stop to where I need to go and it offers a good rate. I know I should not think back to 10 years ago and let that leave an overall bad taste in my mouth, but now I am left uneasy. Just looking for opinions of others.

I'm sorry,I didn't mean to scare you. Its just that I hate flying so much that I
I can't get stuff like that out of my mind!

 

[mla973]

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you check on your flight times? Do you have to call them? Is there a way to check online?