Really not happy with Airtran moving to Delta!

[momofsamandeden]

I received an email from Priceline today stating that my flight had changed from non stop to one stop. One stop would still be manageable but Airtran had us stopping in Atlanta and doubling our original non stop flight time so that we would not be getting to Orlando until 10:45 at night. Delta has a non stop for the same price and while it gets us in at 11 at night it is non stop but for 10 dollars more we have a variety of other non stop times. AIRTran had no nonstop for that day now. UGH so now I am waiting for Priceline to get the refund back on my card so that I can book Delta sometime this week

 

[kaytieeldr]

Are those your only choices? Delta changes flights too - and its hub is Atlanta as well.

Since AirTran's one stop was acceptable for you, is there a different set of connecting flights that would satisfy you, i.e. have you arrive a lot earlier?

And, if you don't mind my asking - why did you book through Priceline and not directly through an airline?

 

[momofsamandeden]

Airtrans one stop was not acceptable since I booked non stop. I booked through Priceline because I can pick seats for free that way. Plus it gave me the variety of other airlines before I made my decision. I will do a stop if it does not add time which just now I saw that SWA has flights that only add a hour to flight time and no plane change. To me that is the only acceptable way with three little ones. Delta in the past has changed my flight but always put me on another non stop when I called. Airtran however took all their non stops for that day away.

 

[cg1200]

I see so many threads about this. Airtran is famous for this junk. When they did to me, I canceled the reservation and re-booked with jetBlue. I really don't understand why Airtran does this so often. I would hesitate before I ever used them again.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I received an email from Priceline today stating that my flight had changed from non stop to one stop. One stop would still be manageable but Airtran had us stopping in Atlanta and doubling our original non stop flight time so that we would not be getting to Orlando until 10:45 at night. Delta has a non stop for the same price and while it gets us in at 11 at night it is non stop but for 10 dollars more we have a variety of other non stop times. AIRTran had no nonstop for that day now. UGH so now I am waiting for Priceline to get the refund back on my card so that I can book Delta sometime this week

UGH, another airtran Horror, any way you can fly SW????? Jetblue, ANYONE but them....they are notorious for this, at least you got Notified of the change, some do not!!!

 

[annacali]

Good luck with Delta...they changed our flight last summer so many times...eventually wanted us on a 2 stop 13 hour flight from Kansas City! Honestly they changed it every 4 weeks, almost like clockwork, in the 6 months between booking and actually leaving. I was never so frustrated...in the end we lost 2 days of vacation due to flights that got us there late and then left really early.


This time we are flying Air Tran...and yes, they have changed it once, and yes we did lose our nonstop, but they were soooo nice on the phone, and I didn't have to hold for 30 minutes to talk to a person, they transferred all our seat asignments and we are getting there earlier than we would have before. We don't leave until May, so I guess we will see, but so far, I am happier with Air Tran.

 

[cg1200]

I must lead a charmed life. I've never had any other airline change their flights as radically as Airtran and this is over my entire life. I've flown jetBlue over a dozen times and not once have they changed a flight on me (in a substantive way). I can't even remember Delta or American doing it to me years ago when they were the only ones around.

I've flown (or booked) 2 trips on Airtran. They changed my first flight from 8:00am departure to 6:30am and the second time they changed my flight from a non-stop to a 1stop. Go figure?

 

[momofsamandeden]

I am looking at Southwest however they are not non stop from Minneapolis. Luckily there are about 7 non stops out of MSP with Delta. I still have not booked anyone yet as I am waiting for my money to be put back on the card. I guess I will weigh options then.....

 

[kaytieeldr]

I've flown jetBlue over a dozen times and not once have they changed a flight on me (in a substantive way).

Oy! You want my JetBlue story? (I said in another thread, I have a [true] story/experience about pretty much everything!)

 

[seashoreCM]

Does Priceline let you bid for non-stops only?

 

[momofsamandeden]

no you have to allow at least a connection with name your own price feature. I just bought a regular ticket through them as it was the most convenient at the time. Now they are dragging their heels refunding my money UGH!
While I do not mind connections I will may more for a non stop with a five year old, two year old and nine month old!

 

[DVCBELLE]

Did you ask them to switch to a more acceptable flight? Is the non-stop still available? I have had them switch me off the non-stop they cancelled but there is still another one.

Also - I have been on Delta and they pushed my flight back so it arrived 45 minutes later at night - they didn't care one bit and made me stay on the later flight. Airtran is the most generous with working with you when they change a flight.

I learned my lesson about booking outside of Airtran last year when I couldn't get Travelocity to make changes that Airtran had approved. To me it is worth the extra seat fees to have control of my own reservation!

 

[uva185]

Good grief people. It is well known when you book in advance you run the risk of schedule changes. It is really "another Airtran horror" because they took away a (non-profitable) nonstop flight?? If you waited to book, the nonstop flight you wanted would be gone anyways and the change allows you to cancel.

I consider schedule changes a godsend (ironically I almost never get any). They allow you to make last minute changes or cancellations for free provided you never "accept" the changes when they are made.

 

[magiroux]

Good grief people. It is well known when you book in advance you run the risk of schedule changes. It is really "another Airtran horror" because they took away a (non-profitable) nonstop flight?? If you waited to book, the nonstop flight you wanted would be gone anyways and the change allows you to cancel.

I consider schedule changes a godsend (ironically I almost never get any). They allow you to make last minute changes or cancellations for free provided you never "accept" the changes when they are made.

Seriously? "Good grief people"? Obviously you don't have to travel with children in tow. If you did, you would know this is a huge inconvience to go out of your way to book non-stops only to be put on a 1,2, sometimes 3 stop flight. As far as re-booking/cancelling after a change is made being a Godsend, again, if you are a traveling party of 1 or 2 people I guess it's not a big deal. Try doing it for a family of 5 or 6.

Recently I had the chance to book AirTran at a pretty cheap rate on a non-stop flight. Nope. No way. This crap they pull with cancelling non-stops and rebooking everyone on 2-3 stop over flight borders on bait & switch, IMO.

 

[uva185]

Seriously? "Good grief people"? Obviously you don't have to travel with children in tow. If you did, you would know this is a huge inconvience to go out of your way to book non-stops only to be put on a 1,2, sometimes 3 stop flight. As far as re-booking/cancelling after a change is made being a Godsend, again, if you are a traveling party of 1 or 2 people I guess it's not a big deal. Try doing it for a family of 5 or 6.

Recently I had the chance to book AirTran at a pretty cheap rate on a non-stop flight. Nope. No way. This crap they pull with cancelling non-stops and rebooking everyone on 2-3 stop over flight borders on bait & switch, IMO.

I don't travel with children. I do however understand realty of air travel. The air travel system in this country is primarily a hub and spoke system. When an airline operates a nonstop flight between a non-hub and a non-hub that is an added bonus, but if it is not profitable they will pull it. It is much harder to make a profit on these flights because there are no connecting passengers and fewer business passengers. If the airline can not offset the low leisure fares with higher fares from connecting and business passengers it makes it even harder to turn a profit and thus they cancel the flight.

BTW, in regards to "bait and switch". When you purchase an airline ticket you are entering into a contract with the airline for transportation between two points on a given day. That's it. Take a look at the contract of carriage.