Southwest Or Airtran????

[shilomoon]

So i started researching flights for our July trip.
We are flying July 1-10th from Baltimore to Orlando.

Currently it would cost $633.60 for four people for Airtran (doesn't count checked bags which we will have 3)

It would cost $1100 to fly Southwest.... this seems like such a HUGE difference.

I like Southwest but Airtran seems to be so low. I flew Airtran once to Atlanta a year or so ago and had no problems... Should I just book with Airtran or wait it out to see if Southwest fares go down.

What would you do??? Thanks for your help in advance.

 

[Glencora]

Remember, that if you book now and the SW flights do go down, you'll get a credit voucher for the price difference with no change fee. Some people have been able to do this on AT, but from what I've seen here, it's been kind of hit or miss. Also, SW is just an all over better airline. You didn't mention whether one had better times - that's a huge consideration for me. HTH

 

[shilomoon]

Thanks. We only fly maybe once a year so would the credit expire after a year or so if we don't use it??? Actually Airtran had better times, more of a variety for morning/afternoon and coming back which was pretty surprising to me... Do you think the prices are high because this right before a holiday?

 

[dioxide45]

Seeing that AirTran is almost half the cost and it has better times that work for you, I would go for AirTran. Link to your flights through Kayak though and preselect your seats for free. You will have to pay for your first checked bag on AirTran. But that won't cost as much as another $500 that it would cost to fly SWA.

 

[dburg30]

The only thing I've really seen people complain about AT was they sometimes change flights from nonstop to layovers in ATL. Or somehow else change their flight schedule.

 

[gduvall]

Seeing that AirTran is almost half the cost and it has better times that work for you, I would go for AirTran. Link to your flights through Kayak though and preselect your seats for free. You will have to pay for your first checked bag on AirTran. But that won't cost as much as another $500 that it would cost to fly SWA.

How do you get to preselect your seats for free on Kayak. I priced some airtran flights, and it said there were 4 websites with the price I was looking at, if I click on airtran, it takes me to airtran website, how would I get to pick seats for free then.

 

[dioxide45]

How do you get to preselect your seats for free on Kayak. I priced some airtran flights, and it said there were 4 websites with the price I was looking at, if I click on airtran, it takes me to airtran website, how would I get to pick seats for free then.

Just go through the booking process once you get to AirTrain.com. The charge shown for the seats will be $0. Nothing special has to be done except to link through Kayak.

 

[gduvall]

Just go through the booking process once you get to AirTrain.com. The charge shown for the seats will be $0. Nothing special has to be done except to link through Kayak.

That's easy enough, I think even I can do that. Thanks

 

[charissemp]

I just booked with southwest for late May/early June. I was also seeing higher rates, but they just plummetted. The four of us are flying for $700 with no bag fees.

 

[loveswdw]

This is our dilemma too, looking for June 2-3 thru June 12-14th. AT has a nonstop right around $700 for the 4 of us (including seat selection fee & 2 checked bags). SWA same days is $1491! I saw charissemp's thread about SWA dropping but it hasn't changed for us so far. I'm totally tempted to go ahead and book the AT flight and not look back. We luv SWA but that's a HUGE difference in price.

We've not flown AT before, SWA lots of times.

 

[chuckml]

So i started researching flights for our July trip.
We are flying July 1-10th from Baltimore to Orlando.

Currently it would cost $633.60 for four people for Airtran (doesn't count checked bags which we will have 3)

It would cost $1100 to fly Southwest.... this seems like such a HUGE difference.

I like Southwest but Airtran seems to be so low. I flew Airtran once to Atlanta a year or so ago and had no problems... Should I just book with Airtran or wait it out to see if Southwest fares go down.

What would you do??? Thanks for your help in advance.

We flew Airtran for our trip to AKL last month. We wanted to fly out of BWI, but when we checked rates out of DCA--(Reagan National)--it was about $25 cheaper each way per person. Something you may want to check out.

 

[Missytara]

We flew Airtran for our trip to AKL last month. We wanted to fly out of BWI, but when we checked rates out of DCA--(Reagan National)--it was about $25 cheaper each way per person. Something you may want to check out.

I also fly out of BWI. I have always used Airtran for the convenience of using the RAC to handle my bags on the flight home.

I have been lucky in the last five trips, they have never changed or dropped my non-stop flight.

It also turned out to be cheaper than Southwest, even with the baggage fees, so it was a slam-dunk for me.

And I didn't pay the seat fee either.

I love Airtran.

 

[lilunsure]

I also fly out of BWI I have flown both Airtran and Southwest to MCO and we prefer Airtran. The times and rates are usually better. Yes, they have changed my flight times but when I have called if the new flights did not work they always reacomadated me. They have never moved me from a non-stop flight to one with a connection.