Minimum flight departure change for free rebooking on Airtran?

[ranthony]

Does anyone know if there is a minimum # of minutes for a flight to change departure time before Airtran will let you rebook on another flight?

TIA

 

[seashoreCM]

There are probably some guidelines but if the change is more than one hour and you ask vewy vewy quietly you will likely get the change put through.

Another hint, hand pick some alternate flights you would like.

 

[Lewisc]

A few posters were accommodated when the change was only a few minutes. I wouldn't ask unless the change was an hour.

 

[rhiansmom]

Our departing flight was changed by 4 hours and our returning flight by about 20 minutes and they let us change both.

 

[byrd328]

Hi

My flight changed by about 4 minutes and they let me change it.
I went from a late flight to an earlier flight, so I was happy

Thanks

 

[kevgraub]

On our flight home, the first leg was changed to about 10 minutes later, and the second leg to about 10 minutes earlier - which cut our layover from an hour to 40 minutes.

I called and asked about it and they were more than willing to change us to an earlier flight that worked perfect for us. They even reserved our seats up in the third and fourth rows (usually reserved for higher fares/and frequent fliers) without asking since the seats we had originally booked on the first flight (fifth row and sixth row) were booked on the new flight.

They do like to change their flight schedules around, but I have found them to be extremely easy to deal with if you need to change something after they have moved your flight around.

 

[kristenrice]

I reluctantly booked an evening flight to MCO because it was only $54. I would have preferred the morning flight, but it was $129. I diligently watched my flight to see if it would change. First, it changed by 3 minutes, then another 2 minutes and finally 6 minutes. Even though the total change was only 11 minutes, the folks here on the Dis encouraged me to "call and ask". I called AT and told them that "my flight time had been changed and I was wondering if it would be possible to get on a different flight." The rep did not bat an eyelash..."Sure, Ms. Rice...which flight would you like? I see we have another non-stop that day. Would you like that one instead?" The whole call took 5 minutes.

Now, if I could just get my return flight for October moved a little later than 10:30am.

 

[momtocnc]

I did the same thing. I booked a later flight because the rates were really good. My time changed by about 30 minutes. I called and said I noticed that my flight time had changes. The Airtran rep immediately asked would I like to make a change. I am now on an early afternoon flight! It was very easy and there were no questions at all. This will be so much better - I just hope it does not change again, not flying until Thanksgiving week!

 

[bowlingchicaroo]

quick question...we were originally scheduled to leave on an evening flight due to work, however we are now able to leave earlier...nw airlines changed our departure time by 10 mins. so could i possibly call them and see if we could get a much earlier flight? what about a fee? would they charge us?

 

[kaytieeldr]

You can call and ask, but you will likely NOT have the same results as the AirTran passengers in this thread. More likely, Northwest will assess its $75 (or $100, or $150) per ticket change fee.

 

[vicb]

I have never flown Air Tran, always NW out of hub in Detroit.

But I am considering Air Tran as it is half the cost of NW for my Feb. trip.

A couple of questions:
Does Air Tran frequently change flight schedules? If I book an evening flight would there be a chance it would be cancelled or do they usually just change the times?

How does seating work on Air Tran? Do you get boarding passes and seat assignments ahead of time? I wouldn't want to have to worry about getting bumped due to overselling.

Tell me anything else you think I should know about Air Tran. Thanks so much!

 

[nifferearly]

To previous poster who usually flies NWA:
Try Airtran - they are so much better than NWA! We live in Lansing, so we prefer their non-stops out of Flint but we have flown out of DTW. My husband actually was in charge of construction on the new terminal there - it's a great building to fly out of!

I've never had Airtran cancel a flight. They change their times around, but not more than NWA/Delta.

I've had GREAT luck getting new flights when they changed my time. I booked a connecting flight because it was way cheaper than the non-stop out of DTW. They moved my outbound flight by an hour and changed my return flight by 10 minutes. I called about the outbound flight and they happily moved me to the non-stop (that would've been twice as much) for free. Then the gentleman asked about my return flight. I said it was okay - only changed by a few minutes. He volunteered to see if there was a better time for me and offered me the non-stop!

And here's my best story about Airtran's customer service: We took a family trip in March, flying out of Flint, MI. I gave my brother the details and thought he could handle booking his tickets on his own. He mistakenly booked out of Detroit! I told him to immediately call them and explain the situation but he never did. 3 months later, we were discussing it and I decided to call Airtran. The Flint flight was now signicantly more money than he paid. I wasn't holding out much hope. Explained the situation and the agent said "I see we changed his Detroit flight by a couple of minutes. I can move him to the Flint flight at no charge." This made me an AirTran customer for life! NWA/Delta would never do this.

 

[daileyad]

What is the rule for rebooking on a new day due to schedule change? Could I move a flight from one day to the next, is it a 24 hour booking window? Meaning if the flight I wanted is within 24 hours of the departure time of the one I had could I move it even if its to a different day?

 

[rhiansmom]

What is the rule for rebooking on a new day due to schedule change? Could I move a flight from one day to the next, is it a 24 hour booking window? Meaning if the flight I wanted is within 24 hours of the departure time of the one I had could I move it even if its to a different day?

Actually they have a seven day window if they change your flights then they will change it to any other day seven days before or after the original flight.