flying airtran... what to expect???

[mickeymousefan]

Hi all,
Doing a last minute trip with DH, DD6 and DD4. We got a great deal on AirTran for Dec 14th through 18th out of Philly. Problem is, no preassigned seats and no guarentee of seats together, and no mention of the size or type of plane we are booked on. The only thing we know about AirTran is that it used to be ValuJet . What should we expect??

TIA...

 

[Straitlover]

If you go look your flights up at kayak.com, you can click on "Details" to see what kind of plane you'll be on. Then you cna go to SeatGuru.com to check out the seating plans for that particlular plane.

Can't help you out w/ the no preassigned seats thing, though.

 

[CarolA]

Hi all,
Doing a last minute trip with DH, DD6 and DD4. We got a great deal on AirTran for Dec 14th through 18th out of Philly. Problem is, no preassigned seats and no guarentee of seats together, and no mention of the size or type of plane we are booked on. The only thing we know about AirTran is that it used to be ValuJet . What should we expect??

TIA...

That "ValueJet" story is not exactly true so I wouldn't let it worry me. It's a long convulted story that some guy on the internet has made into a story to trash AirTran for his own purposes that he chooses NOT to disclose.

If you are connecting in Atlanta expect to be delayed. I have yet to have an AirTran flight on time here!

Also, you can get seats assigned 24 hours in advance.

 

[mickeymousefan]

That "ValueJet" story is not exactly true so I wouldn't let it worry me. It's a long convulted story that some guy on the internet has made into a story to trash AirTran for his own purposes that he chooses NOT to disclose.

If you are connecting in Atlanta expect to be delayed. I have yet to have an AirTran flight on time here!

Also, you can get seats assigned 24 hours in advance.

Fortunately, we are flying non-stop . I plan on getting my seats assigned as soon as I can.

Straitlover ....
Thanks for the tips on the other web sites!!!!

 

[caribn7]

We are a family of four also, and love flying Airtran. Flying nonstop is definitly preferable over going through Atlanta. The Only negative I can think of is the Schedule Changes, But I highly doubt they change things for a flight in Dec at this late date.

Enjoy the free XM radio! They even give out free earbuds, although they are really cheap and the sound quality is really bad, you may want to bring your own earphones.

Have a great time!

 

[CleveRocks]

I flew AirTran nonstop PHL - MCO on 11/4 and 11/10. I thought the whole show was run really well. Our flight out of PHL was a full flight. We were boarded so efficiently that we took off 10 minutes EARLY and landed something like 25 minutes early.

I got lucky with the seating thing. I booked through Disney, so I had paper tickets. I'd read here on the DIS that if you have paper tickets you can't even check-in online 24 hours in advance to get seats. I thought I was in really bad shape. Until ....

I called AirTran customer service to find out if this was true. She said, basically, that it was true, but after having me on hold for a while, she said she could pre-assign me seats, anyway. She did it right then and there while I was on the phone with her, for both flights! She then sent me an e-mail confirming all of this.

I get the feeling she wasn't supposed to do this but did it anyway. Who knows, maybe you can get lucky too!

 

[CleveRocks]

That "ValueJet" story is not exactly true so I wouldn't let it worry me. It's a long convulted story that some guy on the internet has made into a story to trash AirTran for his own purposes that he chooses NOT to disclose.

I know nothing about false rumors, but usatoday.com has an article explaining AirTran's geneology, which includes ValuJet. Check it out at http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/features/2003/2003-08-18-airtran.htm if it's important to you.

Personally, I don't really care. Remember the movie RainMan, when the title character would only fly Qantas because they were the only airline to never crash? Well, that movie became outdated soon enough. Every airline has had tragic accidents. So has every highway, major road, and make and model of car.

 

[CarolA]

There is some truth to the ValueJet story, but the Internet Story makes it sound like ValueJet still exists and flies as AirTran. (It's not the USA Today site, it's some guy who thinks you should not fly AirTran because they aren't safe... I am not going to search for it and post the link because his sight has SO many untruths etc that it's a joke and he doesn't deserve the publicity! )

 

[TDC Nala]

I want to know why CleveRocks didn't also remove the lady in the gray shirt from the photo.

 

[CleveRocks]

I want to know why CleveRocks didn't also remove the lady in the gray shirt from the photo.

Thanks for the suggestion ... DONE!

 

[CarolMN]

I just checked in for our AirTran flights a few minutes ago - about 23 1/2 hours before scheduled departure. It was quick and very easy.

We actually had seats assigned when I logged on to the AirTran site. I changed the seat assignments for the first leg but the second leg's assignments were just fine. Actually, so were the first set - but since the plane has 2-aisle- 3 seating, and there are only two of us, I wanted to sit in the 2 section rather than in the 3 section. (We were originally assigned an aisle and a middle, but we were assigned to sit together).

Again, it was easy and there were lots of seats to choose from. On the web, all but the most expensive seats appeared to be sold out. I checked, LOL.

Anyway, hope we have better luck in Atlanta than CarolA - I don't want to miss out connection!

 

[MagiKitty]

BF is booked on AirTran on Dec 5th. Went online today to reconfirm ressie, only to find entire intinerary "updated"--really meaning all messed up! Now layover in Atlanta is extended to five hours, and departure from Orlando is 6am, instead of 11:30! Worse yet, we weren't even informed of these changes...called Customer service and said not to worry too much, changes happen all the time. In fact, with this reservation, flight times had been changes 8 times already (!!!). All without notifying the passenger. Was told that all changes will be finalized by next week, seven days before we're to fly out. When complained about, was told that there is a disclaimer that the airlines is permitted to change flight reservations. Too bad that the customer is serviced $50 for any changes to the same reservation!

Can't get a refund at this point, but the handling by AirTran of our reservation definitely has lost this customer!

 

[kaytieeldr]

I called AirTran customer service to find out if this was true. She said, basically, that it was true, but after having me on hold for a while, she said she could pre-assign me seats, anyway. She did it right then and there while I was on the phone with her, for both flights! She then sent me an e-mail confirming all of this.

I get the feeling she wasn't supposed to do this but did it anyway. Who knows, maybe you can get lucky too!

So, um, you are about to write a non-specific e-mail or letter to AirTran, complimenting this Customer Service Rep, right? If you haven't already done that, I mean Little bit OT: Everybody at JetBlue is great (including the pilot who pushed me-in-a-wheelchair up a ramp!) but I got an amazingly great CSR last week when I called to get a fare-drop credit. So, without telling JetBlue exactly what he did - because, like you, I have a feeling he really wasn't supposed to do what he did - I wrote a really nice e-mail. They wrote back, thanking me and saying that both he and his supervisor will get copies. I'm happy

In fact, with this reservation, flight times had been changes 8 times already (!!!). All without notifying the passenger. Was told that all changes will be finalized by next week, seven days before we're to fly out

Well, yeah. When bicker gets back online, he'll point out that all you're actually purchasing is air transportation on a given date or set of dates - that as long as the airline transports you on those days, you have no recourse. Flight times aren't guaranteed, seats aren't guaranteed. Given the huge difference in departure times, you could try calling back to see if they'll let you change your flight at no charge... FIRST, go to the Airtran website and find specific options to which you'd like to change, then ask for that or those particular flight/s.

 

[MagiKitty]

I have called and spoken to AirTran several times about the so-called reservation, but since the "changes" have not been confirmed yet, I cannot bargain for the flights originally booked. I was told that when the final booking is arranged, I can then try to adjust flight times as needed without fee. I understand that airlines have these reservation policies. My concern now is not that AirTran is not providing transportation as purchased, but when. The large discrepancies in times will require alterations in arrangements to be picked up to/from the airport. Now I just have to wait until the "final booking" and just proceed from there. The months of planning involved are just moot.

 

[Disneyjosh229]

According to Wikipedia:

ValuJet Airlines (IATA: J7, ICAO: VJA, and Callsign: Critter) was a low-cost carrier that operated in the Southeastern United States during the 1990s. After a series of safety problems and the fatal crash of ValuJet Flight 592, the company executed a reverse merger with the much smaller regional airline AirWays Corp., now known as AirTran Holdings; thus, ValuJet now operates as AirTran Airways.

 

[CarolA]

According to Wikipedia:

ValuJet Airlines (IATA: J7, ICAO: VJA, and Callsign: Critter) was a low-cost carrier that operated in the Southeastern United States during the 1990s. After a series of safety problems and the fatal crash of ValuJet Flight 592, the company executed a reverse merger with the much smaller regional airline AirWays Corp., now known as AirTran Holdings; thus, ValuJet now operates as AirTran Airways.

Another great souce of info....

What these "souces" fail to point out is that (A) there is an ENTIRELY new management team running Air Tran and (B) Air Tran has one of the newer fleets in the skys...

From the USA TODAY article

""Six years ago, you had old planes, poor service, weak management," said Ray Neidl, an airlines analyst with Blaylock & Partners L.P. in New York. "Everything has completely changed.""

Now the truth is I don't like AirTran since in my Atlanta experiences I have YET to arrive or depart anywhere close to on time. (I think they still have "poor service") I don't however think that they are at all unsafe.

 

[TDC Nala]

Thanks for the suggestion ... DONE!

Nice job!

 

[CarolMN]

Just got back from WDW last night. Thought I'd check back here to let everyone know we had a very good experience with AirTran out of MSP/

Our plane left MSP on 11/24 a few minutes early and arrived in Atlanta a few minutes early. Changing planes was easy - the plane to MCO was departing just a few gates down. That plane left on time and arrived either on time or a few minutes early (can't remember). Plane home was non-stop - it left a few minutes late and arrived a few minutes late. Weather in Atlanta, MSP and Orlando was very good for trip down. Weather for return trip was very good in Orland and MSP - even though it ws very bad for the east coast and the midwest. (I wouldn't want to fly through Atlanta or O'Hare if the weather were not good - huge possibility of delays, IMHO. Of course, no one can predeict the weather severl months in advance so I know we were lucky in that respect).

AirTran light attendants and all airport personel were pleasant and competent. Planes were clean and seemed to be very new - I had absolutely no safety worries and think the ValuJet reference irrelevant to AirTran's current operations and management teams.

Negatives - They do not participate in the Magical Express resort check in service (for boarding passes & bags on return trip) and only offer one non-stop flight to and from Orlando. You do have to keep an eye on them for schedule changes, but they are very willing to change your reservation to other flights if you call (at least in my experience).

I would fly them again - another bonus is that in MSP, they fly out of the HHH terminal, which is much less congested and easier to navigate.

 

[MagiKitty]

Leaving day after tomorrow and had to check the AirTran website for flight times and changes. The itinerary booked several months ago had completely changed by several hours, both for departing and arrival. Received no email regarding such changes. Called AirTran and was able to get original travel plans back, which was a good thing, but just seems like a waste of time for everyone involved. They should have just kept the original reservation...

Hoping service onboard AirTran goes much better, seems that everyone who has flown them has enjoyed the experience. Wish us luck!

 

[mickeymousefan]

CarolMN.... thanks for checking back in and the report.......

Since AirTran is not participating in ME check in, how do we check in the day before we leave Orlando to go home?????

Also, does anyone know when the AirTran flight schedule becomes set. We are 11 days from leaving, and our flights have not changed at all. I hope this is a good sign...

TIA