Ever hear of Airtran Airways????

[tss2]

I am trying to help my parents find an inexpensive, fast but good airlines to fly from northern lower Michigan to Orlando. We usually fly out of Detroit metro (DTW), but my parents can fly out of Flint (FNT) or Saginaw (MBS) (Much closer to their home) and all flights from major airlines are not direct. I checked thru Orbitz and found a flight with AIRTRAN AIRWAYS direct from Flint to Orlando for less than $200!!!! Sounds great but we've never heard of this airlines. Does anyone know of them? Has anyone ever flown them??? Any info or advice would be helpful! Thanks in advance!

 

[castmbr]

I believe Air Tran was previously Value Jet. They are new to the midwest area. I know they will start flying direct out of Milwaukee to Orlando on 6/19 for much better prices than we have seen around here for quite a while. Some one from another part of the country may be able to help with their reputation, etc.

 

[dtuleya]

A friend who is a pilot told me that the aviation license is the only thing left over from Value Jet. He said they have a new fleet of planes and wouldn't hesitate to fly with his family on this airline. He also said what happened on the Value Jet flight (explosion over the everglades) could have happened with any airlines. I was going to book our November flights with them, but when they released their dates, I missed the good fares and now they have nothing under $400 pp. I really wanted to try them out since they do assign you seats at checkin (no cattle call like Southwest) and they are the only other carrier than Southwest that flies non-stop to MCO from BWI. Hope this helps.

 

[Kellym]

Go to www.southwest.com/cgi-bin/buildItineryMaker Southwest is running a "Friends fly free" airfare. You should be able to find a flight that's a lot cheaper than $200/person. You might even find some direct flights, which are more convenient than layovers. Airtran has only one direct flight to Orlando that I'm aware of - it's on Sat. Otherwise they always fly into Atlanta and then on to Orlando. I've flown Airtran twice and will be flying with them again in June with my family. We flew Aug. of 2000. We had a delay coming back and got free one-way tickets that we used June of 2001. June 2001 we had a delay coming back and got free round-trip tickets that we're using June 2002. Airtran has been swapping out the older planes for newer ones. I like flying with them, they certainly have been good about free food coupons and free flights when we were inconvenienced, and the location for us is better (Flint rather than Detroit). But I'd fly Southwest if I had to pay for it because their rates are so great right now. Also be careful when you're pricing tickets. Some tickets include the extra security fees, taxes... and other tickets add that stuff to them making them more expensive.

 

[Kellym]

Click Home Page and then Friends Fly Free-
Kelly

 

[Kellym]

Also - Click Home Page and then Friends Fly Free-
Kelly

 

[nuthut]

I find Delta matches all the flights out of Flint at less than $200. Not sure about your date, but check Northwest website as it is offering two tickets DTW_MCO at $273. for both, not one. Make sure you put in 2 adults when seaching.

 

[HunnyPots]

We flew Airtran from DFW to Myrtle Beach with a connection in Atlanta. Great prices, flights were on time, nice comfy seats (for coach) and friendly attendants. I would not hesitate to use them again if the price was right.

 

[tss2]

Thanks for all your input on Airtran Airways and other ideas for flights! I'm checking the other airlines now!

The great deals some of you mentioned don't seem to be showing up for me. I'm looking for flights Nov 9 & 16...seems like most of the great deals are for flights sooner than that. If anyone notices otherwise, please let me know! Thanks again for the help!

 

[cbrfan]

We flew AirTran out of Flint to MCO last Nov. We were pleased with Airtran's service and plan to book our next trip with them. The non-stop flight to Orlando is a recent addition to their schedule. We fly out of Flint whenever possible and will even pay a higher fare to avoid DTW. It's the least crowded airport I've ever been in and a snap to navigate.

 

[laurenk]

dtuleya- So am I out of luck for cheap air with them for November? When did they have a special for November?

 

[dtuleya]

Apparently when they released the extended dates (about a month ago). The good fares sold out immediately. If I wanted to purchase my tickets now it would be $1600 for the four of us. A rep at AirTran told me there would be more sales coming out and to watch for them. I think she mentioned sometime in summer. Hope this helps!

 

[laurenk]

Thanks!

 

[cbrfan]

I don't know if you could consider last year to be an indicator, but we purchased our AirTran tickets for our Nov. trip in August. I had been checking the fares since we reserved our rooms in April and continued to check them until the time of our trip. We got our tickets at the lowest fare. The prior year we booked our tickets for our Dec. trip in Sept. So watch closely at about 3 months out.

 

[tss2]

cbrfan,

What price did you pay for your ticket last November? Our trip is November 2002 and I thought anything under $200 was a good price. Just curious what your tickets cost. Thanks!

 

[Ajax]

My wife & daughter flew AirTran from Flint to Miami last December. Their luggage never made it, and was never found. Their expierience in Miami with AirTran support was very poor. Many of the people on the flight were in the same boat.

Upon their return, we filed our luggage claim and wrote a letter of complaint to Airtran. They followed up with a profuse apology, an a check that was more than adequate to cover our losses.
I'd fly AirTran, but I recently got a direct round-trip flights out of Detroit for this December 30-January 4 for $266 thru Northwest.
I researched AirTran for the same dates from Flint, and came up with a $247 fare. What stopped me was a plane change in Atlanta on the flight down. That's where we think our luggage dissapeared to, and the $19 difference was a fair price for peace of mind.

 

[manhattan]

I have used ATA 3 different times and was only delayed once for about 90 minutes-either due to a mechanical problem or weather problems at our destination. I would fly on their airlines again for their low prices.

 

[travelcoupons]

Originally posted by manhattan
I have used ATA 3 different times and was only delayed once for about 90 minutes-either due to a mechanical problem or weather problems at our destination. I would fly on their airlines again for their low prices.

ATA is a different airline from Airtran, by the way.

 

[cbrfan]

We paid $173 last Nov. for our tickets. I've found the tickets were cheaper on AirTran's website than you can find on Travelocity or Orbitz. Also if you are flexible on flight dates and times, keep checking the different dates and see what you can find.

 

[tss2]

Thanks for all your help everyone! I just purchased tickets for my family on a direct flight on Airtran Airways. I'm very happy to say I only paid $183 per person!