Anyone Flown AirTran?

[kjblovesdisney]

I am looking at booking a flight from Boston to Orlando on AirTran. On the website you cannot reserve seats for the lowest airfares so I am concerned about overbooking. There are five of us going out from Boston and hopefully picking up a sixth in Va onthe same flight...(pretty cool) Has anyone flown with them who would like to share their experiences good or bad? We are flying out in January for the 1/20 Magic Eastern Carribbean and are looking at booking air very soon.

Thanks

 

[MikeN]

I am looking at booking a flight from Boston to Orlando on AirTran. On the website you cannot reserve seats for the lowest airfares so I am concerned about overbooking. There are five of us going out from Boston and hopefully picking up a sixth in Va onthe same flight...(pretty cool) Has anyone flown with them who would like to share their experiences good or bad? We are flying out in January for the 1/20 Magic Eastern Carribbean and are looking at booking air very soon.

Thanks

My co-worker did. He is the one who told me that they fly from White Plains (HPN) to MCO. I booked the flight the day before our cruise (2/23/07) on them. The one thing I've noticed is that the time changed a bit. There was a thread a couple days back about flight times moving around (not confined to AirTran).

 

[JandD Mom]

My opinion is if getting in at a certain time is important to you, then don't fly Airtran. The best option if don't care about flight times changing is Southwest.

Many carriers, will change their flight times from time to time. USAir, on occasion, has changed my flight times from 30 to 40 minutes. However, I have never experienced a carrier that changes the flight times as wildly as Airtran. For example, I have family members meeting us in WDW in Nov. They were on a flight leaving at 11:45 am. That flight was changed, and then they were put on a 9 am flight without notice from Airtran ( saw it and told them). They were able to change to a later, more convenient flight.

Another family member had their flight time moved back by 1 hour and 45 minutes. Again, with no notice from Airtran.

I had a flight moved up by 4 hours on Memorial day weekend costing us a family cookout.

Maybe they avoid overbooking by changing the flight times so people who don't stay on top of it miss their flights?

 

[CleveRocks]

Bought my early-November AirTran tickets in May. I've had 2 time changes, both no more than 15 minutes in either direction.

I've had HUGE schedule changes in the past with Spirit (which worked in our favor last year, it gave us 3 more hours in WDW on our last day!!!), US Airways, Continental, and maybe others I can't recall. I'd be surprised if there aren't similar tales with EVERY commercial airline.

I don't think the non-assignment of seats has anything to do with increasing the risk of overbooking. ALL AIRLINES OVERBOOK, it's part of their business model -- they "know" a certain percentage of people will change, cancel, or be no-shows, so overbooking protects them against flying with too many empty seats.

Anyway, whether they assign seats or not, they know how many seats there are on each aircraft. They will attempt to sell a certain percentage over 100% of available seats whether seats are assigned or not. It's not like every other airline that pre-assigns seats stops selling tickets once all of the numbered/lettered seats are assigned, know what I mean???

 

[The Mayor]

Check out this thread I started a couple of weeks ago...there are a lot of oipinions...good & bad.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1234128&referrerid=&highlight=

 

[MikeN]

The times of both of my flights changed since I originally booked them. My outbound flight was changed to 8 minutes later, and my home bound flight was changed from 6:20 to 5pm. I'm pretty much happy about both, but if you're cutting your return flight close, Then a significant time change could be a real PITA.

 

[kimszath]

I flew AirTran last year for the first time--Orlando to Indianapolis roundtrip. My child and mother were with me (at the time, Mom was about a month shy of her knee replacement surgery, and basically could not walk). We had ordered a wheelchair to meet us at the plane in Indy, as Mom was then unable to walk more than about 100 feet, and even that was with pain. We got off the plane--no wheelchair. The captain noticed us standing there as he was about to head to his next flight, and asked if he could help. I mentioned that we had been waiting for the wheelchair we'd ordered, and that someone was making some calls to try and help us out. He said, "Well, that could take forever!" He said he'd be right back--left us in the walkway, and was back in about 60 seconds flat with a wheelchair. I said "Thanks!" and planned to push, but he saw the carryons I had to carry, so he pushed my Mom all the way to baggage claim, chatting all the way, waited until we got our bags and then got us over to the rental car area (she could get from there to the curb when I came back with the car). The whole time I'm worrying he'll be late for his next show time (I'm a pilot, too--military--so I knew he didn't have a lot of time. I'm sure he missed his lunch and a potty break to do this for us!) Besides this (which was a BIG deal to us), the crew and flight attendants were incredibly happy, helpful, entertaining... a lot like Southwest. They love their airline. Our return leg was quite the same. Our planes were full, but I didn't hear of anyone being bumped on either leg (all airlines overbook--they must have hit the nail on the head). Both planes looked like new--spotlessly clean. Both crews offered my son the cockpit tour. I can't wait to fly with them again. Oh, and we had no schedule adjustments/ time changes on either leg. For the record, I've always been a big fan of Delta and have had great service form them always. AirTran went above and beyond any service I've ever gotten with Delta.

 

[Tarabra]

We always take AirTran. I booked our flight to Orlando about 2 weeks out in August. We got a pretty good deal the closer we got. Sign up for the internet specials. We were unable to get a good deal on a flight home due to needing to take an afternoon flight since we were on the cruise, but were able to book Delta on the way home. You can do that now. You don't need to purchase round trip or have a Sat. stay. So keep playing around and you will get a good deal.

 

[Viki]

We like Airtran - there is a perceptible difference in terms of increased efficiency between their crews and other airlines. I happen to like efficiency, even if it sometimes comes off as a bit more "legalistic," some folk might not. I find they are a nice combination of friendly and no-nonsense. (And have never had an issue with changes in flight times, must just be lucky)

 

[pbharris4]

We flew Airtran is June. Our flight didn't change until we were at the airport and only because the flight coming in was 15 mins late or so. It wasn't a big deal and we allowed plenty of time (probably too much). The flight crew was very nice and the flight was fine. Coming back it was even better!

 

[Mommaraven]

We flew AirTran for our 9/30 cruise and it was a nightmare. We had direct flights scheduled down and back...but lo and behold two days before the cruise we get an email that our flight was cancelled and we were moved to a flight that changed in Atlanta and got us in much later than we intended. So we had to do some quick finagling and rearranging of schedules to get us on an earlier connecting flight that would get us in around the same time we had originally planned on. It was a mess and very stressful.

I would recommend Delta, American, United or one of the other airlines that has curbside check-in at the port terminal. That is so awesome when you know that you don't have to lug your bags around! We saw that as we were leaving the ship and with our bags loaded down with souvenirs we really wished we were on one of those airlines.

 

[lrychlik]

Have you looked into Southwest Airlines out of Manchester? I used them for my last six trip to Orlando without any problems. Granted we had two young ones so we got pre-boarding.

Just moved from North of Boston to Ohio and miss those inexpensive flights.
Going down on Friday, but we are driving because we could not find affordable airfare.

 

[disneyldwjr]

We flew AirTran for our 9/30 cruise and it was a nightmare. We had direct flights scheduled down and back...but lo and behold two days before the cruise we get an email that our flight was cancelled and we were moved to a flight that changed in Atlanta and got us in much later than we intended. So we had to do some quick finagling and rearranging of schedules to get us on an earlier connecting flight that would get us in around the same time we had originally planned on. It was a mess and very stressful.

I would recommend Delta, American, United or one of the other airlines that has curbside check-in at the port terminal. That is so awesome when you know that you don't have to lug your bags around! We saw that as we were leaving the ship and with our bags loaded down with souvenirs we really wished we were on one of those airlines.

Delta? They are the worst for cancelling and changing times. Curbside is wonderful, ONLY if you have the plane to fly in.

 

[cdrn1]

I flew from Chicago to Boston and back last month on AirTran, my first experience with them and I have to say I was impressed! Both legs were on time, the personnel were friendly and attentive, and here is the best part: I was able to upgrade to Business Class for only $35!!!!!

 

[maddhatir]

We have flown AirTran several times and have never had a problem. They did change our time coing home this last trip- but only by a few minutes. I just kept a check on the website (b/c of the advice I got here on the Trasportation boards- thanks everyone! )

Anyway- I booked my Sept flight several months ahead of time and I did choose the price where you can not reserve your seats. 24 hours before our flight I thought I would just "try" to check in on the internet and it let me check in AND choose my seats- I am a a+ rewards member- I wonder if this is why I was able to.

We are going to Disney again in Nov and AirTran, so far, has the best price 99.00 round trip. So we might be using them again.

 

[dudspizza]

Anyway- I booked my Sept flight several months ahead of time and I did choose the price where you can not reserve your seats. 24 hours before our flight I thought I would just "try" to check in on the internet and it let me check in AND choose my seats- I am a a+ rewards member- I wonder if this is why I was able to.

We are going to Disney again in Nov and AirTran, so far, has the best price 99.00 round trip. So we might be using them again.

Anyone with a paperless ticket can check in online up to 24 hours in advance and choose their seats at that time. The only people who have to wait until arrival at the airport to check in are people holding paper tickets or needing special assistance.

Duds

 

[hsmamato2]

I'm glad so many of you liked airtran! We're trying them for the first time in January,and got great rates of $84 per trip out of white plains, I hope our schedule remains the same!

 

[LeesyUD]

So far I have found airtran to be reliable and good service. I do prefer it over Southwest. With that said, there are schedules changes on every airline out there at any given time. I have seen Delta, AA, USAir, and alot more changes there flight many times. It will happen on any airline including airtran.

 

[disneyscuba]

My opinion is if getting in at a certain time is important to you, then don't fly Airtran. The best option if don't care about flight times changing is Southwest.

Many carriers, will change their flight times from time to time. USAir, on occasion, has changed my flight times from 30 to 40 minutes. However, I have never experienced a carrier that changes the flight times as wildly as Airtran. For example, I have family members meeting us in WDW in Nov. They were on a flight leaving at 11:45 am. That flight was changed, and then they were put on a 9 am flight without notice from Airtran ( saw it and told them). They were able to change to a later, more convenient flight.

Another family member had their flight time moved back by 1 hour and 45 minutes. Again, with no notice from Airtran.

I had a flight moved up by 4 hours on Memorial day weekend costing us a family cookout.

Maybe they avoid overbooking by changing the flight times so people who don't stay on top of it miss their flights?

I fly airtran out of MIL and my flight's have never been changed up tell this year. But I got a e-mail from them telling me of the changes and if I like the changes, there was a button to push to confirm it. I didn't like the 4 hrs lay over in ATL on the way back, so I called airtran and they put me on a flight that I wanted with a shorter layover.

later,

DisneyScuba