How is Air Tran?

[even1]

Can anyone tell me how it is to fly Air Tran?
We always fly Song or Jetblue but I got a great fare from Air Tran at an airport close to home so I jumped on it.
Any opinions or info are appreciated.

 

[Rella Bella]

Air Tran is fine as long as you know how they work. They chronically overbook. SO... You MUST, I repeat MUST go on line to check in BEFORE going to the airport!

They will let you check in online beginning 24 hours before your departure time, you simply print out boarding passes for each member of your party. When you do this you will secure your seat. Then just be at the airport, passes in hand & on time and you're good. At our airport on time means 45 minutes before departure... at the Orlando airport that means at least 2 hours!!

We were bumped the first time we flew them because we didn't know this yet. (Which ended up okay for us because they gave each of us 2 free passes... and they even let us use them when we wanted to. But I've heard since that it is very rare to get two, and sometimes you don't get anything but a rerouted flight and no compensation.)

We have since flown Air Tran many times with no problem at all. We have friends in Orlando who print our return boarding passes for us... but there is a business center on property -- I think at the Floridian -- where you can do it.

Here's to hastle free traveling!!

 

[philaround]

Just wanted to say that the concierge desk in the POFQ lobby printed our AirTran boarding passes for us last May for free.

 

[even1]

Thanks for the replies

How are the seats?

I'll miss the tv monitors that Jetblue & Song provide

They really make time fly!

Do they provide soda & snack or should we bring our own?

Thanks.

 

[keishashadow]

You get a "free" beverage & snack (pretzels or crackers).

Satellite radios are nice & planes in good shape.

Biggest complaint I have is their constant tinkering with flight times (w/o e-mail notification). Booked June trip last Nov. & they've changed the arrival & departure times 4 or 5 times (I've lost count!).

 

[Mermaid4me]

Air Tran is fine as long as you know how they work. They chronically overbook. SO... You MUST, I repeat MUST go on line to check in BEFORE going to the airport!

They will let you check in online beginning 24 hours before your departure time, you simply print out boarding passes for each member of your party. When you do this you will secure your seat. Then just be at the airport, passes in hand & on time and you're good. At our airport on time means 45 minutes before departure... at the Orlando airport that means at least 2 hours!!

We were bumped the first time we flew them because we didn't know this yet. (Which ended up okay for us because they gave each of us 2 free passes... and they even let us use them when we wanted to. But I've heard since that it is very rare to get two, and sometimes you don't get anything but a rerouted flight and no compensation.)

We have since flown Air Tran many times with no problem at all. We have friends in Orlando who print our return boarding passes for us... but there is a business center on property -- I think at the Floridian -- where you can do it.

Here's to hastle free traveling!!

Yikes!!!! We are flying AirTran for the first time on Thurs. I had planned to print boarding passes out 24hrs in advance. I certainly hope we don't get bumped. I will be with my 3 young DS and DH.. We have been planning this trip for a very long time. I hope all goes well.


Mermaid4me


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[ameraumi]

This was my first ever experience flying but I thought the airline was decent. The XM radio was nice and we did take our own DVD player for the kids.

Online checkin was a breeze. If you booked with a TA you have assigned seats, otherwise you pick your seats when you check in. I made sure to do this as close to 24 hours as possible, just to be safe.

Snacks were Coke products, juice, coffee, and cheese flavored whale crackers. They served the drinks in plastic cups but they do give refills.

 

[jjjbennett]

OK I'm a bit confused....
I booked airtran through Disney for the Package deal they are currently running with the Free dining plan ( got $157 RT PPafter taxes from PHL to MCO nonstops. Anyway..... Disney has mailed me my paper tickets. So how do I get my seat assignments. I can't check in 24 hours in advance since I don't have an e ticket. I assume I will be assigned my seat at check in but will that put everyone with E tickets that checks in online before me on the seat assignments

My concern stems from flying with children. I want to do my utmost to keep an adult with the 9 and 4 year old. ( I also don't want to be bumped off my flight... as a previous poster stated happens with Airtran often) Will I be in trouble since everyone with E tickets will be picking seats 24 hours out and I will just be arriving at the airport with my paper tickets.

 

[ameraumi]

I didn;t think Airtran did paper tickets. All I know is when you do the online check in you are printing your boarding pass, not your ticket.

 

[OzFan]

I'm alittle confused too, we booked our group fare with Air Tran and we were given seat assignments when we gave our deposit. Do these change or do we get new ones when we check in? There are 11 of us and we were all given our seat numbers. If anyone can shed some light, please do!

 

[LittleMermaidsMom]

JJJBennett,

Do your paper tickets have your seat assignments on them?

I'm worried about this now too.. we also booked with Airtran thru CRO and we really need to sit together (small children). On the Airtran website it says people booking through a travel agent can receive assigned seats, so I wonder if we will receive them. I hope so. I guess if that's not the case, I could probably run up to the airport the day before we fly and check us in at the counter and get our seat assignments that way - at least we're not too far away from the airport.

 

[DisneyFan09]

I have flown Airtran about 5 times, twice in the last couple of years and I have never checked-in on line, I just show up at the counter and they let me pick my seats then and I've never had any problems. Maybe it's because I fly out of a regional airport but I've also never encountered any problems in Orlando coming back.

One of the biggest draws for me with Airtran is that they do not have small planes, they are all big ones even if you are flying out of a small town to connect somewhere else. I don't fly well and could not handle being on a "puddle-jumper" for even a minute.

I had one flight that changed return times once but it was no big deal for me. I just make sure I check my flight numbers on-line as I get closer to departure.

I think you'll be happy with Airtran, the planes are newer and very clean and service so far for me has been good. I just booked Thursday for my trip in September and I could've gotten flights for about $30 cheaper on Northwest but decided my peace of mind was worth that much!!

 

[even1]

We'll just check-in online and hope for the best.

Sounds pretty good to me and with the gas prices going up again, I'm so happy I got a good fare.

It seems like the trickiest part of planning a vacation is booking a flight.

Thanks to all!

 

[DaisyD]

We prefer Airtran to any other airlines! We have never been bumped due to overbooking or anything else so don't be alarmed. After flying over 30 flights with them we have always had nothing but good flights. We've never had a late flight either. The staff is friendly, professional and knowledgable. I also like that we can chose our seats 24 hours in advance of the flight. You can do this at any business center in WDW too. I would pay more, and sometimes do, for an Airtran flight just to avoid SW and all the others.

 

[jjjbennett]

JJJBennett,

Do your paper tickets have your seat assignments on them?

I'm worried about this now too.. we also booked with Airtran thru CRO and we really need to sit together (small children). On the Airtran website it says people booking through a travel agent can receive assigned seats, so I wonder if we will receive them. I hope so. I guess if that's not the case, I could probably run up to the airport the day before we fly and check us in at the counter and get our seat assignments that way - at least we're not too far away from the airport.

As far as I can tell my paper tickets do not have seat assignments on them. I guess I'll call Airttran when it gets a bit closer to vacation time. I most definitely do have paper tickets that came directly from Disney Travel. It even has a purple paper stuck to it that states "THIS IS AN ACTUAL PAPER TICKET AND MUST BE PRESENTED AT AIRPORT CHECK IN."

 

[jjjbennett]

JJJBennett,

Do your paper tickets have your seat assignments on them?

I'm worried about this now too.. we also booked with Airtran thru CRO and we really need to sit together (small children). On the Airtran website it says people booking through a travel agent can receive assigned seats, so I wonder if we will receive them. I hope so. I guess if that's not the case, I could probably run up to the airport the day before we fly and check us in at the counter and get our seat assignments that way - at least we're not too far away from the airport.

As far as I can tell my paper tickets do not have seat assignments on them. I guess I'll call Airttran when it gets a bit closer to vacation time. I most definitely do have paper tickets that came directly from Disney Travel. It even has a purple paper stuck to it that states "THIS IS AN ACTUAL PAPER TICKET AND MUST BE PRESENTED AT AIRPORT CHECK IN."

I hope that they assign the paper ticket seats ahead of time so that my party can sit together. I don't really mind being split as long as the 2 smaller kids can have an adult with them. We are 6 persons total but only two are under 10 but my DS is only 4 and most definitely needs an adult.

 

[elan]

I'm alittle confused too, we booked our group fare with Air Tran and we were given seat assignments when we gave our deposit. Do these change or do we get new ones when we check in? There are 11 of us and we were all given our seat numbers. If anyone can shed some light, please do!

Is there an extra discount for booking through group travel? What kind of a deposit? when is the rest due? Thanks.

 

[OzFan]

Our fare is 168.00 pp rt taxes fees and all. That is from Chicago Midway to MCO. We had to make a 50.00 deposit for each person and the rest is due Aug. 30th. There are 11 of us but I think you only need 10 for group travel. We were given our seats when they recieved our deposit. We got row 12 A-F and Row 14 A-E. When I checked the same fare online it was 90.00 down and 106.00 back. We have booked group travel the last 3 years on SW and it's ALWAYS cheaper! Our best fare was 45.00 each way! But with airfare climbing everyday, we thought 168.00 was a steal. It comes out to be 71.00 each way. There is a special number you have to call to get group travel. If you need it let me know!

 

[Rella Bella]

I didn't mean to alarm anyone. We have flown AirTran many times and as long as we printed out our boarding passes on line we haven't had a bit of problem.

If you have a paper ticket or a seat assignment I'd just call AirTran or your travel agent to see what they recommend... a seat assignment is not a boarding pass.

 

[SueM in MN]

We traveled with AirTran on our last trip to Orlando (got back on 4/4/06). We flew from Minneapolis to Chicago and then to Orlando. On the way back, we flew to Atlanta and then on to Minneapolis.

The flights were full, but as far as we knew, no one got bumped.
we had our seats assigned ahead of time. We did need to wait in line and stop at the check in desk because we had luggage to check in.

Between when we made our reservations and when we actually flew, we got 2 emails that the time changed, but it never changed by more than a few minutes (and I believe the airlines don't need to contact you if it changes by less than 10 minutes - I'm not sure).

Our flights were good, not problems with flights or the staff. The planes were nearly new - in fact, the pilot announced that one of the planes was "celebrating its one month birthday".

We had a good experience (even though changing planes is a hassle for us with a person using a wheelchair). We had flown AirTran at least one other trip and will use them again.