Seats on Airtran: Buy now or wait until online check in

[Lewisc]

ALL Airlines oversell, not just Air Tran. Delta does, Continental does, United does. They all do.

Jet Blue, as a matter of policy, doesn't overbook flights. A few small airlines don't overbooks.

 

[Redarrow5150]

Gee and I wonder why people think Jet Blue is one of the better run airlines.

Jet Blue, as a matter of policy, doesn't overbook flights. A few small airlines don't overbooks.

 

[ccgirl]

Gee and I wonder why people think Jet Blue is one of the better run airlines.

SW is continually rated as #1, yet you can't purchase an actual seat. Their boarding process seems to take longer than any other airline and, lately, they have been continually delayed for the flights I have been on. In one case it was they didn't have a crew and I missed my connecting flight. However, I realize this happens on all airlines. I don't hold it against them.

It does come to the point of overbooking because airlines want to fly full so they tend to account for cancellations, people missing flights connections etc. Does it happen all the time; no but most airlines do it.

To the OP - pay for the seats if it's important to sit together.

 

[maxiesmom]

Gee and I wonder why people think Jet Blue is one of the better run airlines.

Maybe it has something do with their being a bit smaller too. And for me, the hassle of having to drive at least 2 1/2 hours to get on a Jet Blue flight is much more than the hassle of paying for a seat assignment, and flying out of the airport only 20 minutes away.

 

[keishashadow]

I have my flights on Airtran for this October. This is the first time I have flown Airtran only because their schedule was far better than Southwest. I have already factored in the baggage costs and it is still within my budget. What is not within my budget is the $6 or $15 advance seats.

How many of you Airtran flyers out there have waited until the 24 hour mark at check in to get your seats? When you did, were you able get seats together? There are six of us flying with two kids and I am just worrying about if we can sit together.

Should I bite the bullet and pay for the seats or wait it out?

Thanks very much.

if the seat fees are busting your budget for all of you why not just pay for 1 adult & 2 kids, i.e. 3 vs 6

Then why AM I paying for when booking a flight? You are taking my money with the idea that I will have a seat. I better not get bumped from a flight because I didn't pay for an advance selection. That's what AT does and they are notorious for overselling a lot of flights.

overselling depends on the market/season. Be aware there is a segment of flyer who volunteers for the 'opportunity' to be bumped. If i'm not in a rush to get anywhere i'm @ the counter asap. btw, southwest is ahead of AT in overbooking based upon my personal experience.

op no offense but i assume you booked the flight knowing their policy as to fees? if not, i'm sure if you call their customer service & you could try to request a refund & then be free to book another airline. Discount carriers offer low fares w/optional ala carte services, at least the opportunity is there to fly bare-bones for many on really tight budgets.

As somebody posted (dudspizza?) AT is being assimilated by SWA much to the dismayof those of us who view it as a negative/curtailed service & likelihood of increased fares from our home airports.

 

[aubriee]

Yes I have! And it didn't cost any extra money to do so! Have flown Southwest and Delta. If 80% of the people (your claim not mine) want or preferred selection then why does the value only reach $15? If the demand is that great why doesn't AT charge more for advanced selection since they know what seats are in demand for every flight? To say seats have an assigned value is just not true since every flight for AT has a $15 charge for advance selection.

I've got no problem with them charging more, especially if you want your seats together but don't tell me the ceiling is $15 to do this. The problem is if you have a demand that your customers are wanting the advanced seat selection than price it that way.

Seats on Air Tran are $6.00, $13.00, $15.00, and $20.00. Even if I'm flying solo I choose to pay for the $13.00 or $15.00 seats that are close to the front of the plane. They have free GoGo and guarantee you Boarding Zone 1. I've seen enough people forced to gate check their carryons that it is important to me to get Boarding Zone 1. Also due to claustrophobic issues I do not do middle or window seats, nor do I sit in the back of the plane. Consequently I pay for an aisle seat close to the front which is what I need. Those $20.00 seats are exit rows and are usually in the middle. I don't want those, but know there are others who are more than willing to pay the $20.00 for the extra leg room. If they were in the front of the plane, I'd pay it gladly also. Families also need to pay for the seats they need and not expect others who paid for theirs to give them up. Yet, I see it happen every single flight.

Ohhh please give it a rest. I've stated and will continue to say If AT takes my money and I don't decide advance seating then go ahead and give me the worst seat but you should not bump me. Yes I will say once the seats are filled or established then move around (even the 20%) who did not take the advance seat selection. This is my point by providing customer service and not having to put passengers on the spot in having to do this.

People can take the chance and go in at the 24 hour mark and choose the seat they want for free from the ones left over. However, if I went in at exactly 24 hours and was able to find a nice aisle seat close to the front, I'd be really pissed if after I chose it, the airline took it away to seat some family together.

Personally I love how Air Tran has their fees seperated out. You pay for what you use. If you can do carry on only then you don't pay a luggage fee because you don't have a bag taking up space in their cargo hold. If you don't care where you sit on the plane, you don't pay a seat fee. You pay only for what you use. For me some trips I can do carry on only, but I'll still pay for that $13.00 or $15.00 seat I need. If I need a checked bag, I just add that fee and the seat fee both into the stated price and count that when comparing Air Tran's prices to others that don't charge the fees. Flying out of DFW, Air Tran will still always beat the other carriers (even counting the seat and luggage fees). I'm really dreading when Southwest takes over. Here in DFW I'll be paying higher fares, will lose my direct/nonstop flights to MCO, and will lose the ability to choose my seats.

 

[dadinkansas]

I have my flights on Airtran for this October. This is the first time I have flown Airtran only because their schedule was far better than Southwest. I have already factored in the baggage costs and it is still within my budget. What is not within my budget is the $6 or $15 advance seats.

How many of you Airtran flyers out there have waited until the 24 hour mark at check in to get your seats? When you did, were you able get seats together? There are six of us flying with two kids and I am just worrying about if we can sit together.

Should I bite the bullet and pay for the seats or wait it out?

Thanks very much.

The non-stop flight I have out of Kansas City to Orlando next Saturday, I paid for seating assignments to sit myself, the fiance, and my 2 two kids together. That flight does not have much left in terms of open seating. However, the flight coming back to Kansas City from Orlando I did not get assigned seating because the seating map still shows a wealth of open seating left, but trust me, I check that seating map often to make sure that there is still a good amount of seats open and will pay the $24 for 4 people if assigned seats become an issue... Personally, I'd rather spend that $24 on something tangible.

 

[Amstar]

For those who picked the $6 dollar seats and didnt get priority seating. i will be going with my DW and DD (8) DD (2). We each are going to have a carry on (to help bring back all the stuff we buy).

Is it safe to assume (and I know what they say about assuming) that if all of the over-heads are full then I will just have to check the luggage at the gate (which Im fine with)

 

[aubriee]

For those who picked the $6 dollar seats and didnt get priority seating. i will be going with my DW and DD (8) DD (2). We each are going to have a carry on (to help bring back all the stuff we buy).

Is it safe to assume (and I know what they say about assuming) that if all of the over-heads are full then I will just have to check the luggage at the gate (which Im fine with)

Yes.

 

[TaraPA]

For those who picked the $6 dollar seats and didnt get priority seating. i will be going with my DW and DD (8) DD (2). We each are going to have a carry on (to help bring back all the stuff we buy).

Is it safe to assume (and I know what they say about assuming) that if all of the over-heads are full then I will just have to check the luggage at the gate (which Im fine with)

Yes. I've had to gate-check my bag on a few Airtran flights when I only had the $6 seats or hadn't pre-paid for seats - and on every single flight I've been on in the last 2 years with them, someone always had to. So be prepared!

 

[Jestocost]

Then why AM I paying for when booking a flight? You are taking my money with the idea that I will have a seat. I better not get bumped from a flight because I didn't pay for an advance selection. That's what AT does and they are notorious for overselling a lot of flights.

Read the contract of carriage and then get back to us. Your arguments reflect no understanding of the situation and no willingness to do anything except continue to argue from that foundation.

 

[dudspizza]

For those who picked the $6 dollar seats and didnt get priority seating. i will be going with my DW and DD (8) DD (2). We each are going to have a carry on (to help bring back all the stuff we buy).

Is it safe to assume (and I know what they say about assuming) that if all of the over-heads are full then I will just have to check the luggage at the gate (which Im fine with)

Yes, you may have to check your carry on.

For all 3 of my Airtran flights, they made an announcement at the gate saying they would gate check carry ons thru to the final destination for free. I waited for this announcement and gladly got my carry ons tagged. It was a way to save some money on checked bags, yet they were still checked thru to my final destination and appeared with my other luggage at the carousel.

People who were not prepared for this had this look of horror on their faces as they had to give up their carry on bags. I listened to one girl who said, "they offered to gate check it for free, but my LAPTOP is in there and I want it on the plane". Guess what? She had to gate check that bag as she was one of the last on... she was in a panic to get that laptop out.

I always bring that carry on suitcase AND a backpack I can put under my seat. That backpack has my laptop and other electronics, along with magazines, gum, etc..... If you are prepared, you can really use the system to your advantage.

Another thought is to put the yellow ME tags on the carry on bags when flying Airtran. If you are allowed to gate check those bags, they will also be transported by ME to your resort....

Duds

 

[dudspizza]

Read the contract of carriage and then get back to us. Your arguments reflect no understanding of the situation and no willingness to do anything except continue to argue from that foundation.

Redarrow sounds like he knows someone who had an incident where they chose not to pay for a seat and was bumped from the flight. There are so many other things that come into play when people are bumped and if something like that happened to him, it was an extremely rare incident. Now, if he is assuming he will be bumped and has been arguing that point, then this whole discussion is worthless......

If you don't pay for your seat on Airtran, you will get a seat. The chances of being INVOLUNTARILY bumped are very low. It can happen, but rarely happens. Best bet is to check in early and don't be late getting to the airport and gate.

Duds

 

[TDC Nala]

Purchase the seats if you want your family to sit together. There's a possibility you might be able to place the kids with an adult but if you want the whole family seated together, buy the seats. Persons who purchased their seats are not likely to give them up to accommodate your family.

not just families with kids, but I've seen couples do this also

Reminding me of the late boarding couple (Southwest) who walked up to me in my aisle seat and the guy said "We're married. You'll have to move." No, I don't have to move. Maybe if he'd asked nicely instead of demanding, I would have - there were seats in the back of the plane they could have taken next to each other, but they apparently wanted seats in the front.

I've never purchased a seat on Airtran except for a couple of times when I had a coupon and used it to buy an exit row seat. And I've also never been bumped from an Airtran flight so I'm not sure how the fact that you haven't paid for seat selection gets you bumped. I wasn't aware that was a policy.

 

[Lewisc]

Redarrow sounds like he knows someone who had an incident where they chose not to pay for a seat and was bumped from the flight. There are so many other things that come into play when people are bumped and if something like that happened to him, it was an extremely rare incident. Now, if he is assuming he will be bumped and has been arguing that point, then this whole discussion is worthless......

If you don't pay for your seat on Airtran, you will get a seat. The chances of being INVOLUNTARILY bumped are very low. It can happen, but rarely happens. Best bet is to check in early and don't be late getting to the airport and gate.

Duds

I'm not going to check AirTran's CoC but with many airlines passengers without a BP are the first passengers to be involuntarily bumped. The "penalty" for not paying for an assigned seat should be a middle seat NOT being first in line to be bumped.

 

[dudspizza]

I'm not going to check AirTran's CoC but with many airlines passengers without a BP are the first passengers to be involuntarily bumped. The "penalty" for not paying for an assigned seat should be a middle seat NOT being first in line to be bumped.

My point is that if you check in T24 or even 3 or more hours before flight at the airport that you will most likely get a seat. If you check in 45 minutes before the flight or make it to the gate 15 minutes before departure (5 minutes before the door closes), then you are taking that chance of being bumped. Pre-purchase of the seat doesn't assure you that you won't be bumped. Being prepared and checked in early helps.

Duds

 

[onelilspark]

I don't pay for my seat ahead of time. When I fly solo or with my fiance. If we get split up, we spend 3 hours apart and it's not the end of the world. If I'm solo, I really don't care where I am on the plane (I'll check in ahead of time to try to get an aisle or window, but I've been known to give that up for a middle so people can sit together.) I've also been bumped up to Business Class on AirTran when flying solo (for free) so that they could seat a child and parent together. That was pretty sweet.

So for me, I don't pay. If I had a child, I would want to pay to sit next to them...but other than that, I don't particularly care where I sit on the plane. Oh...sometimes I'll pay for Business Class when I check in for the flight, but that's usually if I've had a particularly stressful week and I want the extra space

 

[Redarrow5150]

Exactly.

I'm not going to check AirTran's CoC but with many airlines passengers without a BP are the first passengers to be involuntarily bumped. The "penalty" for not paying for an assigned seat should be a middle seat NOT being first in line to be bumped.

 

[maxiesmom]

Exactly.

Ok, why? It does make sense to bump those who didn't pay for their seats first. Why would you bump people who did pay for their seats first?

It really makes no difference what any of us think, the airlines can do what they want with regards to who they bump first. Don't like the way an airline operates, don't fly them. It is our right to choose who we do and don't fly on.

 

[Redarrow5150]

So if we pay the same airfare rate but I don't pay for advance seats I should get bumped before you? If I pay a higher fare than you but don't select advance seats, you should get first preference?

Ok, why? It does make sense to bump those who didn't pay for their seats first. Why would you bump people who did pay for their seats first?

It really makes no difference what any of us think, the airlines can do what they want with regards to who they bump first. Don't like the way an airline operates, don't fly them. It is our right to choose who we do and don't fly on.