Is Airtran pretty good.

[misshilda1]

My family and I live in east TN and we always fly outta the Airport closest to us and we usually fly Delta. This year we are driving 1 1/2 hours to Knoxville and we are flying Airtran. We have never used them before and they just opened in the Knoxville airport earlier this month. They had a far better price and seemed like a good carrier. I was just looking for some reassurance I guess. I know some people have said they are bad to change your flight around so we are going a day earlier and coming back a day later and both times lodging near the Orlando airport to prevent this from being an issue with our time in WDW. Other than this is there anything else I should be aware of that some of you might wanna share??? Thanks

 

[a1tinkfans]

Don't want to Rain on your parade, but
PLEASE


check, re check and re check your flights with Airtran....
They

DELAY, cancel, change times and many times without telling you! They often do this and there may still be threads on the issues people have had....Personally we avoid them, but others say the cost factor was the determining factor....especially with "new service" I'd be watching every day for atleast 2-3 weeks before you are scheduled to leave.........
Best of Luck and have a safe trip!

 

[serene56]

You will have that with no matter what airlines.

People need to take responsibity for their vacations. Check and recheck and check again. (if changes are made and they are not to your satifcation you can call and have it changed- that is why you check-- to give yourself time for changes before they are gone)

But I have had flights change on me using Airtran/ USAir and Delta.

 

[misshilda1]

Thanks so much I will stay on top of it..That's what I wanted to know some honest input.... Thanks for your time Sending some Disney love your way

 

[kevgraub]

You will have that with no matter what airlines.

People need to take responsibity for their vacations. Check and recheck and check again. (if changes are made and they are not to your satifcation you can call and have it changed- that is why you check-- to give yourself time for changes before they are gone)

But I have had flights change on me using Airtran/ USAir and Delta.

About the only airline you do not have that issue with is Southwest. Pretty much any other airline you run the risk of changes if you book early enough. It is definitely something to keep an eye on though.

As for Airtran's service, the recently released 2009 Airline Quality Rating, which is an objective look at airlines' performances in several different areas (on time performance, customer complaints, lost baggage, denied boarding, etc) had Airtran rated second overall in domestic carriers, behind Hawaiian Airlines. There are certainly people that will have their complaints about Airtran, but that is true with any airline. Overall, they appear to be an excellent airline.

Here is a link to that report: http://aqr.aero/aqrreports/2009aqr.pdf

 

[CarolA]

Basically in this day and age you are getting what you pay for. Since most of us aren't paying much.... well the planes take off and land safely and anything else should be considered a bonus!

 

[MrToad_at_BLT]

Don't want to Rain on your parade, but
PLEASE


check, re check and re check your flights with Airtran....
They

DELAY, cancel, change times and many times without telling you! They often do this and there may still be threads on the issues people have had....Personally we avoid them, but others say the cost factor was the determining factor....especially with "new service" I'd be watching every day for atleast 2-3 weeks before you are scheduled to leave.........
Best of Luck and have a safe trip!

I can second this...when we arrived at Orlando Airport for Magical Express and they were confirming our return flight for the next week, the departure time had been pushed out by 2 hours

Then when we went to check in the night before it was pushed back another half hour.

Overall though, I had no complaints about the flight...but I would recommend upgrading to business class during check-in if possible as it only cost me 70 dollars per person flying out of Philly

 

[thepwa]

Basically in this day and age you are getting what you pay for. Since most of us aren't paying much.... well the planes take off and land safely and anything else should be considered a bonus!

I think you are so right! Perhaps expectations should be higher, but if I can get to Orlando for under $200 (with bag fees..which I am ok with, by the way!), I don't care if I get peanuts, pretzels, a Coke, water, if my flights schedule gets jumbled around, if I get moved to another carrier, or whatever! It's still a lot easier, and cheaper, than driving for 14 hours and using two days of my vacation.

A PP is wise...fly in the day before and leave the day after the scheduled time at Disney, if possible. Then schedule changes are not critical at all.

 

[misshilda1]

You will have that with no matter what airlines.

People need to take responsibity for their vacations. Check and recheck and check again. (if changes are made and they are not to your satifcation you can call and have it changed- that is why you check-- to give yourself time for changes before they are gone)

But I have had flights change on me using Airtran/ USAir and Delta.

we've had Delta change on us alot in the past also

 

[misshilda1]

About the only airline you do not have that issue with is Southwest. Pretty much any other airline you run the risk of changes if you book early enough. It is definitely something to keep an eye on though.

As for Airtran's service, the recently released 2009 Airline Quality Rating, which is an objective look at airlines' performances in several different areas (on time performance, customer complaints, lost baggage, denied boarding, etc) had Airtran rated second overall in domestic carriers, behind Hawaiian Airlines. There are certainly people that will have their complaints about Airtran, but that is true with any airline. Overall, they appear to be an excellent airline.

Here is a link to that report: http://aqr.aero/aqrreports/2009aqr.pdf

oh thanks so very much that is a very big help

 

[lessit]

I fly infrequently now but I booked AT from Milwaukee to Orlando 9 months in advance. In 4 months I probably had 7 or 8 schedule changes, some significant. I called and asked for a refund on a non-refundable ticket and they gave it to me no problem. Rebooked a better flight and saved another $150.

 

[VAN]

I've flown them a couple of times and have had a very positive experience.

 

[horseshowmom]

You will have that with no matter what airlines.

But I have had flights change on me using Airtran/ USAir and Delta.

Absolutely! If you fly much at all, it happens. I've had it happen with every airline I've flown on (you can add Northwest to the list above).

As for Airtran's service, the recently released 2009 Airline Quality Rating, which is an objective look at airlines' performances in several different areas (on time performance, customer complaints, lost baggage, denied boarding, etc) had Airtran rated second overall in domestic carriers, behind Hawaiian Airlines. There are certainly people that will have their complaints about Airtran, but that is true with any airline. Overall, they appear to be an excellent airline.

Here is a link to that report: http://aqr.aero/aqrreports/2009aqr.pdf

AirTran is my favorite airline! They have new planes and free XM satellite radio (you can either carry your own headset or use one of their free disposable ones). You can usually upgrade to business class for a good price 24 hours out if you're interested. I always do, but it's not worthwhile to everyone (if you drink, the drinks are free in business class - I don't drink but love the extra space and pre-boarding).

ETA: I haven't done this yet, but I read on these boards that if you go through kayak.com (only a search engine that takes you to the actual AirTran site), you can go ahead and select your seats at no extra charge when you make your reservation.

 

[kevgraub]

Absolutely! If you fly much at all, it happens. I've had it happen with every airline I've flown on (you can add Northwest to the list above).




AirTran is my favorite airline! They have new planes and free XM satellite radio (you can either carry your own headset or use one of their free disposable ones). You can usually upgrade to business class for a good price 24 hours out if you're interested. I always do, but it's not worthwhile to everyone (if you drink, the drinks are free in business class - I don't drink but love the extra space and pre-boarding).

ETA: I haven't done this yet, but I read on these boards that if you go through kayak.com (only a search engine that takes you to the actual AirTran site), you can go ahead and select your seats at no extra charge when you make your reservation.

I have done the kayak.com thing, and can verify it worked great for me. I double checked about a week later with Airtran to confirm that we really did have our seat assignments, and they confirmed that we did.

I would also add that Airtran now offers wireless internet on all of its planes now. I think the cost is around $10 per flight, but I can't remember for sure.