Heads Up - Airtran Seating

[Darcy03231]

PSA: If you need seats togther make sure you buy them ahead of time. Don't count on your flight not being full or being able to get seats together when you check in at the airport.

I flew Airtran last week. Of the four legs of the flights only one wasn't full. In fact, on the flight back from Orlando on Sunday morning they were encouraging people to gate check their carry-on luggage for free. I bought my seats as I was traveling with my niece so it wasn't an issue for me, but there were some upset travelers because their family couldn't get seats together and parents were separated from their children. The flight attendants asked people to move voluntarily, but didn't make anyone change seats. If you really need to sit together make sure you buy your seats ahead of time.

 

[RMulieri]

Thank you for posting this here...I saw your post on the transportation board.I agree with you 100% and always purchase my seats ahead of time.

 

[bavaria]

(That's a piece of chocolate in my hand for you OP, not a flower, by the way - red Reber chocolate from Upper Bavaria)

 

[Disney Ella]

It's definitely worth paying extra for assigned seats. We flew Air Tran to Orlando last month and both flights were oversold. There was a woman complaining to the gate attendant that her family was separated but he told her that there was nothing he could do. It is very important to check your flights every day or at least a few times a week in case they move you to another plane and you lose your seats. We were moved to another flight, but I noticed right away and we actually got better seats.

 

[Darcy03231]

(That's a piece of chocolate in my hand for you OP, not a flower, by the way - red Reber chocolate from Upper Bavaria)

Ohhh - Thank you! I love chocolate!

 

[bjscheel]

Hint: At least this worked in November. Go to Kayak.com, select the Airtran flight you want, and it takes you to Airtran's website. When you got there through Kayak, there was no charge for seat selection, but you still are purchasing direct from Airtran.

 

[WantToGoNow]

We discovered this last week as well. My cousin's family (2 adults and 4 kids) and my dd25 and dd5 flew to WDW and dh, ds8 and I drove. When they got their boarding passes, everyone was sitting in a different row except the 2 y/o who was with my dd25 not either of her parents. My cousin's dh got on the phone and got all 8 of them together. After they checked back in at POR, he got back on the phone and got them all together for the flight back. It is possible with a phone call not to pay the fee to have your seats assigned but there was a chance that someone else could have been sitting with one or all 5 of these children unsupervised.

 

[nilseks]

We have booked out tix online before and then just called to have seats assigned. If you get a nice agent on the phone and explain that you are flying with young children, they will assign the seats for you. I got to chatting with our agent and was talking about how my son has some sensory problems--she started telling me about her autistic grandson--next thing I knew she had assigned us seats on the bulkhead both ways so we'd have extra room. All for no charge. It's worth a try to just make a phone call and put on your nicest voice.

 

[AlternateEgo]

We have booked out tix online before and then just called to have seats assigned. If you get a nice agent on the phone and explain that you are flying with young children, they will assign the seats for you. I got to chatting with our agent and was talking about how my son has some sensory problems--she started telling me about her autistic grandson--next thing I knew she had assigned us seats on the bulkhead both ways so we'd have extra room. All for no charge. It's worth a try to just make a phone call and put on your nicest voice.

Totally OT- but my youngest daughter has sensory issues... And I am scared of taking her on a plane. Is there anything you do to prepare your son?

 

[tloveswdw]

The hardest part is, I paid for seat assignment, and even with the plane booked half full, somehow all the middle seats were booked, (that seems fishy to me!). So, our family of six on the way back, is sitting very split up, and the children are just 8 just6 3, and 1... I think someone is going to WANT to give up their middle seat, not to have me hand Mickey mouse cookies, and the like across them for two hours!

 

[The Hendies]

As adults, sitting together is not a priority, so we did not pre-select seats for January. However I would ALWAYS switch seats if it meant families could travel together.

Our Airtran story is...
In 2006 we all traveled to WDW in stages, but we were all coming back together. The 'kids' were checking in under their ressie at one desk while DH and I checked in at another. We were offered to upgrade to First Class for an additional fee, but we turned it down. The kids came running up and said "Yeah!!! They overbooked and we got put in First Class FREE!!" If our agent had been juuuuust a little slower.....

 

[peemagg]

If the picture for seating choices shows 3 rows on both sides, and the middle seat is marked out on the left side of the plane, that is so that if they need to they can switch easily to their plane with the layout of 2 on one side and 3 on the other. I believe you can look again at the seating at the 24 hour mark when you do online check in that it should show all open seats. You can then try and move everyone around if need be.

 

[tloveswdw]

If the picture for seating choices shows 3 rows on both sides, and the middle seat is marked out on the left side of the plane, that is so that if they need to they can switch easily to their plane with the layout of 2 on one side and 3 on the other. I believe you can look again at the seating at the 24 hour mark when you do online check in that it should show all open seats. You can then try and move everyone around if need be.

Thank you!

 

[nilseks]

Totally OT- but my youngest daughter has sensory issues... And I am scared of taking her on a plane. Is there anything you do to prepare your son?

This is by no means the cheapest solution, but I have found the best thing with my son is to bring something with headphones. We have a portable DVD player and a Leapster--we bring both. Having the headphones on tunes out the noise AND keeps him occupied so he's not so worried about everything going on around him. The key is, he's already used to the headphones, because we let him use them in the car too. I guess your daughter would have to be okay with wearing headphones. And like with all other children, we bring food. SPECIAL food, something that's really a treat.

My son has gotten used to flying now and it's not a problem. The first couple of flights he was a bit of a wreck, but I guess that is like anything else when you have a child with sensory issues. We figure it out as we go along, right? Good luck!