Boo to Airtran - (edited) sort of

[Henlady]

I purchased airfare from Airtran for our mid May trip last Wednesday. The round trip airfare had been $158 per person, and then 4 days later it was up to $202 per person, so I figured I'd better get it before it went up anymore. Now today, exactly 1 week later, it is back down at the $158 figure. Guess I should have waited, but with my luck it would have gone even higher. Oh well. I guess I'm the sucker!!!

 

[Jestocost]

You can play the airfare chicken game with any and all of the airlines. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The only time it's mostly risk free is on Southwest or one of the (very few) other airlines who will provide you with a credit for the difference without charging you a change fee. Otherwise, unless the fare drops A LOT, you can't benefit when it goes down. You always can enjoy a sense of smug satisfaction when you buy and the fares go up, however.

 

[dznyacct]

If it is your exact flights/dates you can call AirTran ands receive a credit for the difference.

 

[Henlady]

Yes, they are the exact same flights. I didn't realize Airtran did this, I knew Southwest did. I will call Airtran when I get home from work and see what we can work out. Thanks dznyacct.

 

[LIFERBABE]

With Airtran it is a timing issue. Their sale days are normally Tue, Wed and Thur, then the fares will go up for the weekend and come back down on Monday after midnight. If you buy your tix on a Wednesday, you will normally get the lowest price.
You may want to watch the pattern for your airport for the next time you need tix.

They could sell out, but if you are flexible, you may want to give it a try next time.

 

[pasta]

I flew Airtran last February and was suprised when my friend had informed me that I had to pay $6.00 to confirm my assigned seat. I thought for sure she had been misinformed. Isn't that what you are buying???? Sure enough, she was correct!
When we were at the airport, I saw a very angry family at the the front desk. Apparently they didn't know about confirming their seats and were bumped.
Also, they charge $15.00 for a bag (as do many airlines now). To be on the safe side, make sure you have a confirmed seat.

 

[Henlady]

I contacted Airtran and they did indeed give me a credit for the fare difference - $132 to be exact. DD and her friends are flying Airtran this summer, since she already purchased her ticket maybe one of her friends hasn't and I can let them have the credit.

I will try to see if I can use a portion of the credit to "pre select" the seats for the May trip.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I flew Airtran last February and was suprised when my friend had informed me that I had to pay $6.00 to confirm my assigned seat. I thought for sure she had been misinformed. Isn't that what you are buying???? Sure enough, she was correct!
When we were at the airport, I saw a very angry family at the the front desk. Apparently they didn't know about confirming their seats and were bumped.
Also, they charge $15.00 for a bag (as do many airlines now). To be on the safe side, make sure you have a confirmed seat.

Airtran charges $6 for pre-assigned seats. If you do not purchase a seat at time of purchase, then they will assign a seat to you free of charge at checkin whether you check in online or at the airport with no guarantee of seating together. They dont bump you for not buying a seat or not confirming a seat if you check in on time. What most likely happened with that family is they either lost their seats due to late checkin or did not pre-purchase seats and were split up around the aircraft and did not like that. They were most likely offered seating together on another flight, if the one they were assigned to was full.

If you purchase your tix thru www.kayak.com from Airtran, you can pre-select a seat without the charge.

The only airlines that do not charge a fee for the 1st checked bag is Southwest and Jet Blue.

 

[ldrprn]

Airtran charges $6 for pre-assigned seats. If you do not purchase a seat at time of purchase, then they will assign a seat to you free of charge at checkin whether you check in online or at the airport with no guarantee of seating together. They dont bump you for not buying a seat or not confirming a seat if you check in on time. What most likely happened with that family is they either lost their seats due to late checkin or did not pre-purchase seats and were split up around the aircraft and did not like that. They were most likely offered seating together on another flight, if the one they were assigned to was full.

If you purchase your tix thru www.kayak.com from Airtran, you can pre-select a seat without the charge.

The only airlines that do not charge a fee for the 1st checked bag is Southwest and Jet Blue.

You can check in online with Air Tran 24 hours in advance of your flight and choose your seats then. Air Tran will assign you a seat, but you can change them when you check in. If you check in right at the 24 hour mark you will probably be able to get your seats together, but if you are a large family, and nee to sit together you should probably pre select your seats. We are a family of 4 and have always been able to get 4(2 and 2) seats together when we check in the day befoer our flight.

 

[dioxide45]

Someone would have to test this but I think it may be possible to get free seat selections for flights already purchased but where you did not pay up front for the assigned seat.

You should be able to go to Kayak and search for a flight, then link to AirTran. When you get to AirTran.com, click on My Account and then log in, go to My Bookings, click on the flight you want to select seats for. See if it shows $0 for the price to select your seats. If it does you should be able to select your seats for no charge. It may or may not work, but something similar works when buying a reward flight. I would try this out but we pre select our seats when booking all of our flights.

 

[SuzyQue]

Henlady you may want to edit (or add to) the title of your original post now that you have talked to AirTran.

 

[kaytieeldr]

If you purchase your tix thru www.kayak.com from Airtran, you can pre-select a seat without the charge.

Just to clarify - no purchases are made through/from Kayak.com. It's a travel search engine that makes its money when users click through to the provider's site. In this case, searching on kayak.com then clicking through using the AirTran link does, indeed, waive the $6 per passenger per direction seat selection fee.

 

[Missytara]

With Airtran it is a timing issue. Their sale days are normally Tue, Wed and Thur, then the fares will go up for the weekend and come back down on Monday after midnight. If you buy your tix on a Wednesday, you will normally get the lowest price.
You may want to watch the pattern for your airport for the next time you need tix.

They could sell out, but if you are flexible, you may want to give it a try next time.

I did exactly that - I watched the trending for about two weeks. I purchased my airfare around 6:00 am on a Tuesday and it was the lowest it ever got. By the time I called my two friends and they booked their flight around noon - it was up another $30.00. They are all like that - not just Airtran.

 

[Henlady]

SuzyQue:
I still say Boo to Airtran for having one fare listed, then overnight raise the round trip fare by $44 a person, then lower it again. And the fare I selected was what was listed on a Wednesday morning, supposedly a "good" time for fares per Liferbabe. I know fares are generally higher on weekends, and I realize airlines fares fluctuate, but that just doesn't seem right. Maybe because i got "caught" in the game. Oh, well, I guess you live and learn.
At least they were "kind" enough to give me a $132 credit. Just don't know if
I'll be able to utilize that credit, which in all essence will be "lost" money.

 

[Brian Noble]

Welcome to Airfare Roulette. It's like the stock market, only less certain.

 

[DVCBELLE]

I agree that every airline does this and at least Airtran was nice enough to give you a credit! Hardly any airlines do that anymore. You can use that credit to pick your seats and to pay your luggage fees so you definitely won't lose it and I am pretty sure it never expires.

Also - if they change your flight times - call and cancel and then rebook with your credit.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Any travel purchase is subject to change like that. There are entire sites devoted to getting the best travel deals.
If you check the cruise board, DCL prices have increased within minutes of opening the new ships and itineraries. I know our Panama sailing fluctuated wildly. I dont think there were 2 families on the entire ship that paid the same rate for the same reservation.
Although I am pretty familliar with Airtran, my strategy is to always purchase at a price that i think is fair to me and flights that offer the best itinerary and times for me.
There is not an airline on the planet that locks prices so boo to all of them

 

[cbrfan]

I haven't been on these boards very often lately, so maybe someone can fill me in. When did AirTran reinstate the credit for fare reduction perk? The last I heard, that was canceled last Feb. or so. Glad to hear it's back, though!

 

[SuzyQue]

I agree that every airline does this and at least Airtran was nice enough to give you a credit! Hardly any airlines do that anymore. You can use that credit to pick your seats and to pay your luggage fees so you definitely won't lose it and I am pretty sure it never expires.

Also - if they change your flight times - call and cancel and then rebook with your credit.

Well said DVCBELLE, I completely agree. I've been watching fares from DTW to MCO since before Thanksgiving, at one point they shot up to around $250 and I decided to take the risk and see if they dropped. AirTran was the first to drop to $189 so I booked it after reading good experiences from my friends on this board. The very next day Northwest/Delta dropped to the same price and had more choices and better times (darn). Two days later NW/Delta dropped to $145 and stayed there for about a week, today I see they are back up to $305. And this all happened within a month before our trip. AirTran only dropped about $16 a fare (and then went back up) during this time, and I did call and get a credit.~~

 

[hsmamato2]

we love airtran why boo them? sounds like normal flight price changes to me...you have to hit it right,and they refunded for you!