Question about what to do...Airtran related.

[KT27]

My husband currently is away at school for The Army in MD. He will be joining us in WDW a few days after I arrive in December. Today, he tells me the class end date has changed and he will be available a few days earlier.

I go into his Airtran reservation to change it/cancel it and rebook a new one. I used a credit to book the original reservation was $69.00 and ended up only paying $19.00 out of pocket. I understand Airtran has a $75.00 change/cancel fee. The new flight is $64.00 but to cancel and rebook I will be charged a $75.00 fee ontop of the new fare. So obviously I should just make a whole new reservation and pay the $64.00.

But do I need to call Airtran to tell them that he won't be on the original flight? I surely do not want to cancel and pay $75.00. Do I just leave the reservation "as is" and he just won't be there? I am not expecting the flight credit back or my $19.00 back but it seems silly to me to have this flight booked when he won't be on it or to have a seat unavailable that someone could use.

Any thoughts?

 

[RachelTori]

I would definitely call AirTran and explain the situation. I'm sure they can "forgive" the $75 fee in certain circumstances and this sounds like one of those times! You can book the flight as a new reservation, but ask them to cancel the original reservation and ask if they would forgive the cancellation fee; I don't think they'll refund the money you spent on the first flight, but they certainly could put a credit on your account -- credits are good for one year!

Good luck and congratulations on your December trip!!

 

[tkldisney]

I would call Airtran. On my return flight 10/28, we wanted to change so we could visit family in Ft. Lauderdale. I paid for my ticket with rewards points.
When I used the on line system it wanted to charge me more reward pts. or I had to select $ amt. I called and found out that you are allowed on complimentary change when using reward points. I got to change my flight at no cost!!
It may be less for you to purchase new flight, but you still need to notify Airtran that dh will not be on the orginal flight. If not, it may cancel his return flight.

 

[dioxide45]

If his flight has a connection in Atlanta. I would wait and hope for AirTran to change one of his flight times. Wait until about 4 weeks before departure. This is usually the time that they have settled everything and times are set. If they make a change in flight time, you may be able to change the outbound flight. AirTran has been doing a lot of consolidation of flights recently as we have seen two major changes (one of the two flight numbers canceled on a connecting flight) on our November trip.

If the flights are booked as separate one ways, it would be better just to rebook the flight and not bother canceling the original flight.

If you need to rebook you will be charged a $75 fee to change the reservation and since the fare went down there will be nothing more to pay. The policy is to pay the $75 fee plus any increase in far, not the new far entirely.

 

[DebbieB]

Is he active military? They may waive the fee.

 

[KT27]

Thanks for all of the responses I called Air Tran and they were no help. I couldn't cancel the flight without paying the $75 so I didn't even bother canceling. I told them I didn't expect a credit and in turn they could sell his seat to somenone else - they didn't care nor would they waive the cancellation fee. Luckily after WDW we fly to DFW for the holidays on a seperate airline so his return flight is not in jeopardy if he does not show up for this flight.

I did mention he was active duty but he is not flying on orders - its unofficial travel so it didn't matter. He is attending a school, finishing the school, then taking 30 days leave, we then will have to get him back to BWI to board he return flight home to Germany so this flight from BWI to MCO was not official travel.

I made a new reservation for his flight and was able to use a $25.00 off coupon and it came out to around $49.00 which wasn't too bad.

I appreciate all of the suggestions!