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

[Jestocost]

You haven't a clue as to my wife's situation. I didn't want to comment anymore and didn't want to hijack this thread but your statements are off base. She checked one-hour before her flight and as a matter of fact they wrote down her gate number wrong! So when they went to the gate when they were boarding they weren't allowed on. They showed the attendant the incorrect gate number on THE AIRTRAN ticket but were not allowed on even though they were paid for that flight. They offered not only no apologies but didn't even offer a reimbursement. My wife's friend missed an event for a fundraiser that cost her personally $200 and they later gave her a $50 voucher.

So, the plot thickens.

Regardless of how you want to characterize it, your wife checked in relatively late (most airlines recommend being at the airport at least 90 minutes before a flight, so checking in 60-minutes in advance of departure is late by most standards) and then was late to the gate. Given that the passengers in question were offered no compensation, it doesn's sound as if AirTran considered this an involuntary bump but and treated it as if the passengers in question actually missed the flight.

IMO, being at a different gate than what was provided at check in isn't ideal, but I always recheck the gate assignment on the monitors as soon as I clear security and I check again at the gate as soon as I arrive. If your DW hadn't been late to begin with and had taken those steps, who knows what would have happened.

Could AirTran have provided better customer service? Maybe. Do you deserve to be annoyed by the situation? Absolutely. But when passengers arrive late to the gate and the plane is full, or boarding has been completed and the door is closed—or whatever—they can't put people on the plane.

 

[Missytara]

Similar thing happened to me on American where seat assignment are not paid for. I was on an MD-80 with 2x3 seating. I had A and C was still open right up until the flight. I boarded and a dad was sitting in C with his 2 year old in A. He said, "the airline didn't put us together. Her seat is over there, you can have that one". It was an aisle directly across, so I did switch, but I didn't like how I was put in the position of the bad guy if I had complained and wanted the window seat. Maybe I needed that window, he didn't know. He just plopped his daughter down and "stole" my seat.
Duds

I had a really wierd situation a few years back, traveling with two very, very tall friends. They booked us in the very front row so we had plenty of leg room.

The gate agent called us forward and asked if we would switch seats with another couple. We said absolutely not. It was a five hour flight and they weren't going to move out of the seats we paid for.

Lo and behold, we are obviously the last to board and there is a very young couple sitting in two of our seats. We asked them to move and they said the lady out front (didn't even know to call her a gate agent) told them to move to that row. We asked again very politely, and the young kid said, get this - "Too bad, the lady told us we could have these seats, so those are your seats now." He was pointed about six rows back. It escalated quickly.

We were arguing with them to get up so we could sit down and the FA came over, admonished us for not sitting down and if we didn't sit in our seats, we would be asked to deboard. We tried to show her our boarding passes, but she was just fit to be tied (must have had a bad day already).

Finally the pilot heard all the ruckus, looked at our tickets, told this young couple to take their rightful seats, allowed us to sit down, and asked to see the FA in the galley immediately.

She wasn't very happy the rest of the trip, so I am sure she got quite the tongue lashing!

 

[Redarrow5150]

on time...not relatively late. It's pretty clear from your posts you feel this isn't an Airtran issue. They failed at so many levels as it just wasn't one area but several.

So, the plot thickens.

Regardless of how you want to characterize it, your wife checked in relatively late (most airlines recommend being at the airport at least 90 minutes before a flight, so checking in 60-minutes in advance of departure is late by most standards) and then was late to the gate. Given that the passengers in question were offered no compensation, it doesn's sound as if AirTran considered this an involuntary bump but and treated it as if the passengers in question actually missed the flight.

IMO, being at a different gate than what was provided at check in isn't ideal, but I always recheck the gate assignment on the monitors as soon as I clear security and I check again at the gate as soon as I arrive. If your DW hadn't been late to begin with and had taken those steps, who knows what would have happened.

Could AirTran have provided better customer service? Maybe. Do you deserve to be annoyed by the situation? Absolutely. But when passengers arrive late to the gate and the plane is full, or boarding has been completed and the door is closed—or whatever—they can't put people on the plane.

 

[Donaldswife]

on time...not relatively late. It's pretty clear from your posts you feel this isn't an Airtran issue. They failed at so many levels as it just wasn't one area but several.

Actually, checking in one hour before a flight is NOT on time, most airports say to check in 90 minutes to two hours before a flight. They usually will not even accept baggage once you are 45 minutes from the flight departure. Sorry, but your wife was late checking in, that was NOT Airtran's fault.

 

[dudspizza]

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

That's why I said "nearly every airline".

Duds

 

[Redarrow5150]

Good grief than why at the counter did AT give them a boarding pass? Really come on. It also states on the website check-in 60 minutes before the flight which she did. Sorry but according to AT she was not late checking in. Hey flight XYZ we've got two passengers who are headed your way as they just checked in. No PA of letting the two passengers know they were boarding and the AT counter gave them the wrong boarding ticket number. Again customer service failing at so many levels.

Actually, checking in one hour before a flight is NOT on time, most airports say to check in 90 minutes to two hours before a flight. They usually will not even accept baggage once you are 45 minutes from the flight departure. Sorry, but your wife was late checking in, that was NOT Airtran's fault.

 

[dudspizza]

Actually, checking in one hour before a flight is NOT on time, most airports say to check in 90 minutes to two hours before a flight. They usually will not even accept baggage once you are 45 minutes from the flight departure. Sorry, but your wife was late checking in, that was NOT Airtran's fault.

Sounds like a lot of weird circumstances happened.
*very tight schedule checking in only 60 minutes prior to departure
*going to wrong gate that was printed on the ticket
*not arriving in time to board at the proper gate. If Airtran offered no compensation, then the party must have arrived less than 10 minutes before the flight or were the last to present themselves at the gate.
*sounds like not pre-purchasing the seat has nothing to do with this.

It sounds like Airtran followed their CoC. I am sure things could have been handled better from a public relations standpoint, though.

I will say that the wrong gate is printed on my boarding pass quite often. I always check in at the 24 hour mark and the boarding gate is printed on there. I always check at the airport and it changes quite often. I have had many connecting flights where the connecting gate has changed. Heck, the connecting gate changes from the time they make the announcement on the plane to when we get off........ I will also say gates can be changed while you are sitting at the gate. AA changed a gate in LA once. I got the text message before they made the announcement. We moved to the new gate before anyone knew and got nice seats near the window!

Here is what people should take from this thread:
*Pre-purchase seats if you want to sit together
*check in early
*arrive to the airport early
*arrive at the gate early
*remember that 10 minutes before the flight is scheduled to leave, the door closes
*double check gate assignments to make sure there have not been any changes.

 

[nkereina]

Didn't read the whole thread, did notice there was a back and forth so I'll stick to the original question... I always pre-pay for my seats on AirTran. I have a flight from Atlanta to Seattle booked on AirTran in June and paid for exit row seats and then on the Atlanta to Buffalo segment, I paid $6 for the standard seats. If sitting together is important to you, pay for the seats. If you don't mind sitting apart, then don't. I wouldn't risk it if you really want to sit together.

Missytara - that story is crazy!!!! I don't even know what I would do. It reminds me of being at a concert or sporting event and someone is sitting in your seats. You'd think all you have to do is look at each other's ticket and figure out who is supposed to be there. I can't believe how the FA acted!

 

[Redarrow5150]

Agreed and doubt this is how AT typically does things but it just wasn't handled very well at all and perhaps it was one of those fluky things. Here's hoping no one has to go through this experience.

Sounds like a lot of weird circumstances happened.
*very tight schedule checking in only 60 minutes prior to departure
*going to wrong gate that was printed on the ticket
*not arriving in time to board at the proper gate. If Airtran offered no compensation, then the party must have arrived less than 10 minutes before the flight or were the last to present themselves at the gate.
*sounds like not pre-purchasing the seat has nothing to do with this.

It sounds like Airtran followed their CoC. I am sure things could have been handled better from a public relations standpoint, though.

I will say that the wrong gate is printed on my boarding pass quite often. I always check in at the 24 hour mark and the boarding gate is printed on there. I always check at the airport and it changes quite often. I have had many connecting flights where the connecting gate has changed. Heck, the connecting gate changes from the time they make the announcement on the plane to when we get off........ I will also say gates can be changed while you are sitting at the gate. AA changed a gate in LA once. I got the text message before they made the announcement. We moved to the new gate before anyone knew and got nice seats near the window!

Here is what people should take from this thread:
*Pre-purchase seats if you want to sit together
*check in early
*arrive to the airport early
*arrive at the gate early
*remember that 10 minutes before the flight is scheduled to leave, the door closes
*double check gate assignments to make sure there have not been any changes.

 

[ccgirl]

Sounds like a lot of weird circumstances happened.
*very tight schedule checking in only 60 minutes prior to departure
*going to wrong gate that was printed on the ticket
*not arriving in time to board at the proper gate. If Airtran offered no compensation, then the party must have arrived less than 10 minutes before the flight or were the last to present themselves at the gate.
*sounds like not pre-purchasing the seat has nothing to do with this.

It sounds like Airtran followed their CoC. I am sure things could have been handled better from a public relations standpoint, though.

I will say that the wrong gate is printed on my boarding pass quite often. I always check in at the 24 hour mark and the boarding gate is printed on there. I always check at the airport and it changes quite often. I have had many connecting flights where the connecting gate has changed. Heck, the connecting gate changes from the time they make the announcement on the plane to when we get off........ I will also say gates can be changed while you are sitting at the gate. AA changed a gate in LA once. I got the text message before they made the announcement. We moved to the new gate before anyone knew and got nice seats near the window!

Here is what people should take from this thread:
*Pre-purchase seats if you want to sit together
*check in early
*arrive to the airport early
*arrive at the gate early
*remember that 10 minutes before the flight is scheduled to leave, the door closes
*double check gate assignments to make sure there have not been any changes.[/QUOTE]

Very good summarization. Things that those of us that are familiar with flying do regularly. I am sure there are many on the Boards that do not fly regularly so this is a good reminder for all of them.

*I would also mention that they are not going to hold a flight if you are late. Other passengers have connecting flights to make. The exception to this is that if it is a segmented flight and the original delay is that of the airline, they will often hold the second connecting flight especially if there are many passengers.

Another good reminder why it is important to arrive at the airport a little early so that if the perfect storm happens, you will have time to deal with it.