Is Air Tran really that bad???

[nurseypoo5]

I booked through disney several months ago, and now i'm reading horror stories!

Already my flight leaving DFW airport has changed from a 7am nonstop to MCO to a 5:30 am flight with a stop in Atlanta to get us in at the same time as the nonstop 7am flight would have. This means we have to get to the airport by 3:30 to get checked in. My 10 yr old will love that ugh.

If we leave at 7am, we dont get in till around 1 pm. (longer layover)

I'm not going to have internet access for the week leading up to the return flight (well be at the beach) what if it drastically changes while im gone?

How do I get seats together for my family. My son has never flown and i would not let him sit alone, infact i was hoping to get him a window seat. My hubbys is large and i'm worried he will have to buy an additional seat. Am i worrying to much???

Do i have an recourse since the altered my flight so much?

I'm very disheartened. not to mention worried.

 

[jobie61]

Don't worry about Airtran. They are a great Airline. I've flown them a few times from Philly to MCO, and never had a problem. If you don't get seats together, they will generally try to make arrangements right on the flight to get you seats next to each other. Just ask the flight attendant.

Try to do the online checkin from your Hotel as soon as possible to book your seats. Most have some sort of paid internet access that you can use.

I'd prefer to fly airtran over southwest, but Airtran just didn't have the same rates as SW did for our August flight. I'd much rather fly Airtran, I'm just not keen on the boarding procedures for SW.

 

[dudspizza]

I totally agree that Airtran is not nearly as bad as they sound. If you look closely on the Transportation Board, you will see posts that say, "I hate airline XXX", for some reason or another. I just read one about Delta a bit ago. Airtan has been a popular target lately.

They do change their flight times, but the planes are newer and they will get you to your destination just fine.

One thing the Internet has done is that it has allowed people to keep a closer eye on their flights, which also causes all kinds of worry. Relax... your flight will be great! Now... off to check my Airtran itinerary for October.....

Duds

 

[JerJan]

AirTran Airways is AWESOME!!! We fly at least 4 or 5 times a year and 90 % of the time it's on AirTran.

You can have your Disney Resort (if your staying onsite) print your boarding passes 24 hours before your flight leaves. I'm sure pretty much any hotel can also do this for you as well.

As far as having seats together....we have NEVER had a problem and find that the FA's will go out of their way to help accomodate us. We are a family of 4 me, DH, DD14 and DD6.

Stop worrying and enjoy your trip!!

 

[nurseypoo5]

i'm not going to be at a hotel for a week prior to leaving MCO. Were driving to the gulf and staying in a private condo for a week. I'll have to visit an internet cafe or something i guess. I was just going to plan to get there 2 hours early, whats the best thing for me to do?

Also when we switch planes in atlanta, will we have the same seat assignments? How can I pick seat assignments? Can i do this the day before we leave or do i have to wait till we get to the airport?

Thanks so much for making me feel better

 

[CherCrazy]

Don't forget AirTran used to be called Value Jet. They changed their name after the horrible crash in the Florida Everglades. The skunks just changed their stripes.

 

[FigmentLover]

My son has never flown and i would not let him sit alone, infact i was hoping to get him a window seat.

Don't worry about not being able to sit with the kids. Most people are very understanding and are willing to trade seats with parents, so they are able to sit with each other.

As for everything else. If the flight times change, you can always call the 800 number for customer assistance for you air service and find out what the schedule is. But more that likely disney will be up-to-date with that information, if you are using Magical Express.

Don't worry, it's a vaca......relax, take your time and enjoy. Things are always bound to go wrong.

 

[Dis31]

"Don't forget AirTran used to be called Value Jet. They changed their name after the horrible crash in the Florida Everglades. The skunks just changed their stripes."

This is why I will never fly Airtran.

 

[cruiserkaren]

This is why I will never fly Airtran.

Curious...Do you not fly ANY airline that has a crash in it's history?

 

[Andrea]

we just flew airtran the past week and we just flew in last night. it wasnt bad the seats were small and the air was awful. but other then that we had great drink service and snacks... but on the way back my husband and i didnt get to sit together which sucked since that was only the second time i flew and the first time was the way to vegas lol.

dont worry it will be fine, we were on time and all but once we got back to atlanta it took almost 2 hours to get our stuff from the plane... but when we were in las vegas we got our stuff within 30 mins or so

 

[Dis31]

Curious...Do you not fly ANY airline that has a crash in it's history?

I have flown Delta, Continental, and AA. All have had previous incidents, but have never changed company names to survive. None of these airlines have been vilified or temporarily grounded and had its maintenance contractor convicted of criminal charges either. However I will say Air Tran has become much safer due to new planes and such, I myself would just not feel comfortable flying Air Tran knowing it was previous history.

 

[cruiserkaren]

I have flown Delta, Continental, and AA. All have had previous incidents, but have never changed company names to survive. None of these airlines have been vilified or temporarily grounded and had its maintenance contractor convicted of criminal charges either. However I will say Air Tran has become much safer due to new planes and such, I myself would just not feel comfortable flying Air Tran knowing it was previous history.

Makes sense. I remember reading a lot about that after the ValuJet crash. I knew that ValuJet acquired AirTran and changed it's name. I don't recall the other things you mention. I was probably better off not knowing!

I flew Air tran last May and it stunk! The planes were dumps and we were delayed from Indy, delayed in Orlando and delayed at our connection in Atlanta. I said never again but....when they are hundreds of dollars cheaper, it's kind-of like either fly'em or don't go! I'm hoping this trip goes much smoother.

 

[slbeaute]

Hi nurseypoo5! We live in Keller too! Small world! Unfortunately, we had a bad experience with Airtran, especially on our return flight into DFW a week ago. We still haven't even had a reply from them since we tried to contact them about the problem or letting us know they received it. I'm sure not all of the flights and experiences are like this or no one would fly them. The flight itself should be fine. I just wouldn't expect much customer service. I really don't think you'll have trouble getting at least two seats together. I think I had read that you can check-in online and if you can't print out your boarding pass, then you could do that at an airport; that would work if you could get to a computer somewhere. There were a lot of families seperated on our way to MCO, but it was a smaller plane. On the way back to DFW, we had a larger plane and there were more open seats available...flight attendants were letting people switch around to be with their family. Hopefully, it will be the same with your flight. Have a great time on vacation!

 

[nurseypoo5]

I'm so mad at my self for jumping on the airtran bandwagon

If you only knew how little we fly, to think we might not all be together sucks. Maybe its selfish, but both my DH and I want to sit next to my son, who btw is looking more forward to the airplane than disney.


I wish i could cancel as AA has the same prices on line right now

 

[Rella Bella]

I'm so mad at my self for jumping on the airtran bandwagon

If you only knew how little we fly, to think we might not all be together sucks. Maybe its selfish, but both my DH and I want to sit next to my son, who btw is looking more forward to the airplane than disney.


I wish i could cancel as AA has the same prices on line right now

Why do you think you won't be able to sit together? We fly AirTran frequently with our 10 yr old and have never had a problem getting 3 seats together on any flight. Well, I guess I should revise that to say ONCE we had a problem, but that was at Christmas, they were overbooked, there were only two seats left on the flight and we arrived late with no boarding passes. Unless you have all that going against you, you won't have a problem.

Be sure to print your boarding passes! You can print them up to 24 hours before your flight, the passes secure a seat #... so if you go on line the morning before you leave you can know you will have seats together and exactly where you'll be sitting. It's not like SW where it's every man for themselves to get a seat. Relax, just don't go to the airport without boarding passes and you'll be fine.

Oh, and as far as your return trip in concerned, arriving at the Orlando airport 2 hours before your flight is the MINIMUM -- and only if you have a boarding pass -- it is a very busy airport. Security is very tight and it takes a while, both when you check your bags and when you go through on the way to the gate. We missed a flight once... don't risk it.

 

[Mandabella]

As far as seats, I think you are worrying too much. DH and I have always got seats together on Air Tran, Southwest, etc. I never have had a problem checking in and getting boarding passes from hotels I've stayed at.

I've flown Air Tran from both PHL and BWI into Orlando & Las Vegas w/o an issue multiple times until last month...

About 3 months out, they changed our flight times to inconvenient times...so that forced me to do a later direct flight to Orlando, but on the way back to have the same amount of time in WDW as our original flights I had to move our flight to the last one out...which meant connecting in Atlanta. I was only doing a Fri-Mon trip so flight times were of the essence.

On our return flight, our flight was delayed. And because I wanted to take the absolute last flight out, I had to do a connection through Atlanta instead of flying directly to Philly. Since the flight to Atlanta was delayed, anyone connecting was forced to take a flight the next day because we would have never arrived in ATL in time to make a connection. So, Air Tran set us up in a Holiday Inn Express for the night, plus transportation to/from the hotel, and free roundtrip airfare for later use. That part wasn't too bad because at least we didn't have to be at work the following morning. However, when we got to the airport the next morning the morning flight they put us on to Philly got CANCELLED! So, then it was "back and forth and back and forth" between the supervisors and gate agents at Air Tran and Southwest. Air Tran assured us they'd get us on the Southwest flight, but the gate agent at Southwest wasn't having any of it. Fast forward 30 minutes later and with only 15 minutes to go, both the supervisors of Air Tran and Southwest showed up at the Southwest gate and go us onto the flight home....finally. And amazingly, we got seats together on Southwest considering we weren't even "C" tickets.

Now...I have had similar things happen before on other airlines. This is the first time I got a free hotel stay and free airline tickets out of it. In the past we've gotten "sorry, but you're screwed" attitude....no sorries, no offers for a hotel night, and no free tickets.

And unlike US Airways, Air Tran hasn't lost or damaged my luggage yet...which is amazing considering the PHL airport's track record. Air Tran has free XM satellite radio, so that kept me busy on the flight down.

I'll be flying Air Tran again come December, gotta use up those free tickets!

 

[phonyguy]

used them twice , both times flights arrived on time or early . good service free xm radio ! like them better than southwest and u.s. air !

 

[we3disneygo]

we have used Air Tran for our last 3 trips ! the planes were nice and new, the personal were nicer on the way home than on the way down, but hey everyone has an off day!! you can't beat the price ! have a great trip!!!!

 

[Esmerelda]

I have flown Airtran numerous times for business and pleasure and I've never had any sort of problem. They have always been on time (unless bad weather) and the folks were very courteous to me and or me/and my family.

have a great trip,
Esmerelda