Anyone familiar with AirTran fare types

[robind]

I've only flown AirTran once, not a huge fan, but it's the only one with a direct morning flight from Richmond to Orlando, so they win. Anyway, I see several prices on their website - web special, discount coach, regular coach etc. I've clicked on all the fares and they all seem to have the same rules - non-refundable, $75 change fee, baggage fee and charge for seat assignment - so what is the difference between the fares. Why would I pick the $109 fare versus the $84 or $69 fare?

Of course I would pick the $69 web special but just don't want to realize later that there is some additional restrictions.

Thanks for your help.

 

[dioxide45]

I've only flown AirTran once, not a huge fan, but it's the only one with a direct morning flight from Richmond to Orlando, so they win. Anyway, I see several prices on their website - web special, discount coach, regular coach etc. I've clicked on all the fares and they all seem to have the same rules - non-refundable, $75 change fee, baggage fee and charge for seat assignment - so what is the difference between the fares. Why would I pick the $109 fare versus the $84 or $69 fare?

Of course I would pick the $69 web special but just don't want to realize later that there is some additional restrictions.

Thanks for your help.

We always book the cheapest fare available. As those fares sell out they won't be available. Always pick the web special if available.

 

[Missytara]

I watched the trending on Airtran for three weeks before I booked my tickets.

The low web special fare seems to come up on Tuesday - Thursday. The low web special fare seems to disappear on Friday through Monday.

My guess was that most people that book will do so over the weekend when they are all at home.

I booked mine by myself when I got to work at 6:00 am on a Wednesday morning and got the web special going up and coming back.

When I rechecked it on Friday morning, just out of curiousity, and they were gone again. So the $69.00 appears and reappears during the week.

I explained this to my friend, whom I helped book for his family of four - and he said, sure enough it worked. When he checked it on a Friday, it would have been $890.00 rt for all four of them; when he booked it on a Wednesday, it ended up being $730.00 for all four of them.

Check it out.

 

[PlutoPony]

You might want to ask that question over at Flyertalk on the AirTran board. The people over there fly AT regularly and probably have a lot of experience with their fare classes and what the "real" differences are.

 

[robind]

Thanks everyone, that's a good idea, I'll try over at flyertalk, I forget about them.

I was leaning towards just buying the $69 rate, since it's a short direct flight w/ checking no bags.

 

[MickeyEars]

I was just wondering the same thing!!! Why would you pay the other prices when the $59 fare is there? I have been keeping an eye on Air Tran's schedule so I can book airfare for our May 26-June 4 trip. I can't wait until they release our dates!!!

Carla

 

[mrscoobs]

The only difference in rules and restrictions between all the fare classes are the two to the far right and the most expensive. These are the full Y and J fares which are refundable and J is business class seating (normally about $360 one way). Everything else to the left has the non-refundable, 75 dollar cancellation, 75 dollar change fee, etc. rules and regulations attached.

 

[Minniekins]

I was just wondering the same thing!!! Why would you pay the other prices when the $59 fare is there? I have been keeping an eye on Air Tran's schedule so I can book airfare for our May 26-June 4 trip. I can't wait until they release our dates!!!

Carla

You know, the first time I checked out AT I said the same thing! I couldn't believe how they had a fare that was so much lower than the other major airlines, first of all, and then I was confused at why there were so many choices to pick from regarding price per ticket. I couldn't, and still don't for the most part, understand why anyone would pic anything but the absolute lowest price offered! Why would anyone pick the 3rd or 4th choices there that are offered instead of the lowest price to the left. I guess I could see choosing the business one, but still. Anyway, that first time I thought there must be some trick of sorts or something, that if I picked the low price, something would wind up being wrong, I even wondered if it was a fake AT site trying to get suckers to buy. I watched that site for at least three weeks before deciding it must be a legit airline! I'd never heard of AT before that, lol! I finally bought my tickets, happily at that low price and had a great experience with them and have used them since then! I still don't understand the different prices and who would possibly choose anything but the lowest(other than the business class, or little notice), price but I guess it doesn't really matter. I like their low prices and services so far, and just make sure to keep checking often for any flight changes!

 

[dioxide45]

There are at times where those lower priced columns don't have fares available in them. There are even times that several of the first columns are blank, not just the web fares.

 

[Minniekins]

Yeah, that's true for my flights going down to WDW right now. But, I've seen that before but usually there are soon lower priced fares showing again within the day, at least in my experiences. This time it's had the first couple of lower priced columns empty for I think for maybe 10 days or longer. I've not actually seen that before, myself. Sure makes me curious how it all works that's for sure, lol!