Delta vs. Airtran and additional fees???

[MomtoEmIs&Ow]

I have a dilema so I thought- "Oh I better go to the DIS boards"

This might become a novel, but I am trying to decide which one I should book. And cost of course is a factor. And this is really starting to stress me out, so I am not in the frame of mind to figure it all out, so please feel free to help, and weigh in....

I will start off saying that we are already paying alot more than I would like to pay for flights, and we have never flown Delta before. I know that there are quite a few Air Tran 'haters' , but we have had good expeiences with them.

All flights are non-stop: To book with AT is $1273 out of a smaller airport (Flint, MI). A 7:00a.m departure to mco and a 9:00p.m return from MCO.
To book with Delta is $1257 out of Detroit, MI. A 8:30a.m departure to MCO and a 6:00p.m return flight from MCO. So my questions are....

Do they charge you for seat selection on Delta and if not do you have to wait till check in at the 24hr mark to choose your seats?

I know that is something like $6 to choose AT seat before the 24Hr point, and we would only pay this for our return flight. There are 5 of us so $30. Can anyone tell me if that is still the price, I can't seem to find it?

I know that Delta charges $30/checked bag, as where AT charges $15 so big difference there. I think that if we go with AT we will check 3 or 4 bags. And with Delta I would only check 2. I am not willing to pay more than $60 for luggage

Airport parking is cheaper in Flint- $40 for the 9 days and DTW it would be $75. I should also add that the AT flight is so early that we would stay at a hotel the night before in Flint. ($55-65 on Priceline.) Otherwise both airports are an hour from us. Are kids are to young to wake up for the 7 a.m flight and then drive an hour.

THen there is the time at WDW to factor in. A few hours difference...
Leaving WDW @ 3:00 p.m or 6:00p.m.....

WHat would you do??? Thanks for any feed back & suggestions

And if anyone can find me cheaper direct flights with good times, fairy dust is always good And I have done my research, and it is killing me, I just want to book and be done with it!

 

[taitai]

I would go Delta. I would book with my Amex and get free bags. I would select my seats the moment I booked.

DTW is a hub for Delta. If there is a problem, you have a LOT more options on a bigger carrier going into a hub. They need that plane there to keep their system moving and to guard against additional delays elsewhere.

 

[jessrose18]

We like flying Delta better. Tried Airtran for the first time a few months ago, it was fine. But, we will be sticking w/ delta because of their non stop flight from our city and frankly their service was much better. Good luck! I know baggage fee's stink, factor for us as well!

 

[azdizzymom]

Just flew Delta and it was $23 to check a bag if you do online before flight or $25 at airport. You can choose seats for free after you book. We flew Airtran to Orlando 2 years ago. Yes, they changed our flight times but I was able to book for a better time no issues. If I had to choose I would go Airtran hands down. Delta canceled our flight and didn't notify us ... this happened day of flight and was weather related which they knew the night before because flight crew wouldn't have adequate rest. This resulted in a $270 rental car bill to drive to Cincinnati. The Delta CSR's and flight attendants on way to were fantastic no complaints, on return it was a nightmare. They changed flight time so layover went from 1 hour to 45 minutes---no biggie except when plane is late leaving, arrives close to normal time but you have to wait 10+ minutes for a gate (which happened when we landed on original flight also). I have never had to wait for a gate at any airport on any airline except twice this time...two different airports on Delta. The flight attendants and CSR's on return were rude and nasty. I would take Airtran hands down!

We all have different opinions and views on airlines. I would go with what works best with you financially and your schedules. It is probably a fluke what happened on our return this trip and outbound flight, but we were not notified by Delta at all of any changes. Airtran did have the courtesy to send me an email. I verified my email with Delta several times....

Have a fun trip!!!

 

[snowpixiemn]

If you are an hour away from the larger airport with the delta carrier I would go with that, esp. if you have a delta American Express Card. With the card you get the first bag check free for up to 5 people under the reservation used on the card. If already have the card or are up to applying for one and using it to reserve your tickets you will save money right there. Plus like with any credit card if you pay it off in full then you don't have to pay the interest charges. Delta lets you choose your seats after you book the tickets. The only seats that they release later are the emergency exit seats those are 24 hrs before boarding.

 

[skiingfast]

Delta bags are only 23 check if you check in online the day before 25 if you do it at the airport. You can book your seats when you book your ticket.

I would really like those extra 3 hours at WDW. That will make for a relaxed day versus getting up packing and seeing just a couple attractions and then having to get back to the resort to meet DME.

Can you really make it to either airport in an hour? I'm sure the kids will be fine leaving early. They will just sleep in the car right?

 

[annacali]

More times than not, Delta has changed our flights and unassigned our seats leaving us with no seat assignments and telling us we have to wait until we get to the airport to get assigned seats(and then of course the plane is oversold and they don't have any seats together and it is our fault!). I kind of prefer the pay for your seats method on Airtran. At least I knew I had seats with my kids. When our flight did get changed one time, several months in advance, I called and they quickly reassigned me the same seats on the new plane very graciously. I find AirTran's customer service way more pleasant to deal with over Delta, and in contrary the complaints here, Delta has changed my flights more often that AirTran.

We are also 45 min away from the airport and our kids (ages 5 and 7) did fine with getting up at 4am for our 6:30 am flight last month. The late flight home was actually harder...they were soooo tired after a week at Disney and once we were done, they just wanted to be in their beds at home!!!

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Do they charge you for seat selection on Delta and if not do you have to wait till check in at the 24hr mark to choose your seats?

No Delta does not charge for seat selection - you can do that when you book your flight.

I know that Delta charges $30/checked bag, as where AT charges $15 so big difference there. I think that if we go with AT we will check 3 or 4 bags. And with Delta I would only check 2. I am not willing to pay more than $60 for luggage

Delta only charges $23 for the first checked bag if checked in online or $25 if checked at the airport. If you check a second bag it's $32 online or $35 at the airport.

THen there is the time at WDW to factor in. A few hours difference... Leaving WDW @ 3:00 p.m or 6:00p.m....

Keep in mind that if you are using Magic Express to and from the airport, you will need to be ready 3 hours before your flight for pick-up at your resort so that might help decide which time is best for your family.

 

[fsmith2845]

I would fly Airtran hands down over Delta... I used to fly a lot for a previous employer and everytime they booked me on a Delta flight i had some kind of issue (lost bags, stranded somewwhere for hours, etc.). Dureing those periods, customer service at the counter, etc. was HORRID.. now i understand that people tend to get very irate with the CSRs in this situation, but still.. Flew AT quite a bit and hardly had any troubles, however when there was some sort of issue, they usually bent over backwards to accomodate or make it up to us...

Also, from where i am, Delta is a connecting flight away from Orlando, where I can get a non-stop to Orlando... Very important flying with an 8YO.

Just my $.02 worth...

 

[Big J]

I fly out of the Flint airport every chance I get, both for work and our WDW trips. You will not believe how easy it is compared to Detroit. My family has taken the 7:00am flight out of Flint the last 4 years and things have always gone smoothly. As someone else mentioned, there is only one non-stop to MCO a day, so if there is an issue with your flight you will wind end up being routed through Detroit.
Parking is much cheaper in Flint as well (plus you can park right next to the entrance).

 

[itrek]

This is a nobrainer for me, definitely Airtran if you can fly out of Flint.

I've flown from both FNT and DTW many times to MCO on Southwest, Spirit, Delta, and Airtran. I love flying out of Flint and Airtran out of Flint has been my best experience by far. The lines are short, the distance you have to walk is short, the farthest point away you can park at Flint is closer than the closest point you can park at DTW, parking is less expensive, the parking shuttle is usually right there waiting for me when I park, and half the time the bags are already coming out on the carousel before you can get off the plan walk there even though it's short walk.

I have to agree with other posts that Airtran can be a pain sometimes and I've experienced that at other airports but never between Flint and MCO. I've been at Flint once when there was an equipment problem but they brought in another jet from DTW and it was only ended up being a 10 minute delay for take-off and we ended up landing 10 minutes early anyway. They don't have as much equipment as Delta but it doesn't seem to be that big of a deal.

The overheads compartments on the planes Airtran flys out of Flint are definitely larger than most of the Delta planes I've flown from DTW to MCO so if you carry on you might want to consider that.

I've always just booked my seats 24 hours in advance instead of paying the extra to reserve in advance. You do have to remember to do this but I've always been able to get my party of 4 together. I usually set up an alarm on my phone so I don't forget. When I'm in Orlando I just reserve our seats using my cell phone (using the web not calling).

Those non-stop flights times out of Flint have changed slightly over the years but Airtran has had that non-stop schedule for at least 10 years so I don't think you should worry much about Airtran changing the flight schedule.

I'm not sure if it makes sense dollar wise since you want to get a hotel in the Flint area but if the time and cost isn't an issue for you I'd definitely take the Flint flight.