Please help am I doomed?

[LOLA2]

Last time we Went to Disney and cruised we spent the week at Disney the week before. We booked airtran. We booked very early in the day so we would have the whole day when we get down there plus who wants to pay $400.00 for a hotel room when they get in late at night. Well 2 months before we left airtan changed our flight so we would not be getting in until 7:30 as opposed to 11:00 arrival originally. I was very upset and called airtan and they said they could put us on a different flight that woulg have a layover in Kansas City. My husband said no way - he did not want to go though take off and landing 2 times (first flight in long time -chicken) plus didn't want to go through a layover. So very reluctantly I kept the new time they gave us. We got in around 7:45 waited for luggage, lost 1 piece, had to go to baggage lost counter fill out forms, had to find shuttle to rental cars, took shuttle to rental car, waited at rental car, went to wallgreens for all the bathroom stuff lost in our luggage. We got to our hotel at 10:30- still had to eat dinner. Ordered out fiinally in bed at 12:00 phone rings they have our luggage waiting at front desk (Thank Goodness we did not have to go get it.) I know we usually have to do most of that stuff anyways car rental and such but I want to do it early especially since if there are problems we are not dealing with it at night when everyone just "wants to get threre already!!" Well I thought I am not going to book airtran next time (no problem with the plane and expensive) just don't want my times changed that dramatically again. I want to be in Florida before noon.

Now fast forward time again to make arrangements for next trip for October. I asked many people who they flew with that they booked out for in advance and didn't get there times changed. Many said Midwest or Southwest. Well Southwest does not fly out of airport so midwest it was. I just booked a flight yesterday to leave at 7:30 and arrive at 11:20. Perfect.

Turn on the t.v. this morning and Midwest is being bought out by Airtan!! What??? O.K. not laughing to much seems like cruel joke, if I only waited one more day and saw that commercial.

Please tell me what this means??? Am I screwed? Do they change things to how Airtran ran things, and I get to look forward to my times being changed again? Or is it one of those silent take overs where Midwest keeps their name and policies and such? AND THOSE DANG GOOD CHOCHOLATE CHIP COOKIES????? What should I expect?

 

[Jestocost]

All airlines change their flight schedules on a fairly regular basis and the longer ahead you book your flight the more likely it is that you will be hit with a change. Most of the times these changes are minor and won't affect your plans all that much. Sometimes, as was the case with your previous AirTran flight, the changes will be more significant. Likewise, all airlines lose luggage from time to time.

IMO, AirTran made a reasonable offer to accomodate your schedule requests and you elected not to accept that offer. You certainly had your own reasons for doing so and I'm not suggesting that AirTran's changes didn't create a major headache for you, but at least they offered an option. It's really impossible to say that you couldn't have the same experience with another carrier.

I guess my bottom line on this is that I wouldn't get too worked up over the possibility that you may wind up flying on AirTran again.

In any event, I believe that as of today AirTran has just upped its offer to acquire Midwest. There's no certainty that Midwest will accept that offer, but even if they do there will be regulatory approval required and it will take some time to complete. I can't imagine that AirTran would do the deal and not absorb Midwest's operations and practices into its own, but that process wouldn't start until the merger was officially completed. As a result, even if the acquisition goes through I doubt that all of that integration work would be done by October.

 

[philaround]

Since you have flown AirTran before I am assuming that both AirTran and Midwest fly out of your airport. This will mean problems for you. They will have to merge thier scheules which will mean canceled flights and rescheduled flights to avoid duplications.

 

[LOLA2]

Great - the news gets better

 

[dis-happy]

Well, other than the schedule change (which you knew about beforehand) the rest of your trip issues were unusual (lost bag) or not Air Tran's fault (time it took to get to gate, wait for rental car, trip to Walgreen's (carry your essential toilietries in your carryon and don't forget that most hotels will have what you really need free of charge although you might need to ask the front desk for a toothbrush or razor).

My dh flies AirTran every single week for work and has only had a lost bag issue once, so it really was an unusual thing to have happen to you. Make sure you check in extra early so the bags have plenty of time to get on the plane. All airlines will deliver your lost bag to you, you never have to go pick it up.

Hope the flight schedule works out better for you this time!

 

[McKelly]

Keep watching the news, Airtran hasn't bought Midwest out yet! It might drag out awhile! I know I am watching because we always fly Midwest and our flights have never been changed. We have also flown Airtran twice and will never fly them again. Delays both times, 7-8 hours, because there was not a pilot or mechanical trouble!! I hate to see what will happen if Airtran does buy out Midwest....ugh!

 

[LOLA2]

Keep watching the news, Airtran hasn't bought Midwest out yet! It might drag out awhile! I know I am watching because we always fly Midwest and our flights have never been changed. We have also flown Airtran twice and will never fly them again. Delays both times, 7-8 hours, because there was not a pilot or mechanical trouble!! I hate to see what will happen if Airtran does buy out Midwest....ugh!

Thanks - I seem to have at least someone who understands

 

[TMB1203]

These Airtran reviews make me nervous!! We are using them for the first time for our Feb trip. Keeping my fingers crossed everything goes smooth!