SWA vs Air Tran?

[Mouseaholic!!!]

The last few times I've flown it was on SWA and planned do try to book them again. However the $25 coupon for Air Tran has me thinking... I know AT has fees to check luggage and often changes flights. Is there anything else I'm missing that may give SWA an even bigger edge?

A biggie can be.....

No penalties for any changes on Southwest.

Yes, we LOVE the airline - I travel for work and it's my go-to airline.....great reward program!

What I DO like the most is .... if you are booking becauseof $$$$ (especially now when the airlines are begging for business), if the cost of your flight goes DOWN after you have made your reservation, just head back to the internet. You can modify your flight information and take advantage of the savings - no extra charges.

I have saved hundreds of dollars from single tickets I booked early....only to have fare reductions later.

If you book any other airline, it will be $75 - $100 before you do anything.

Northwest even tried to charge me $100 to re-book a flight when THEIR reservation agent spelled my name wrong once!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Airtran just changed our flight home from a nonstop at 11:45am (perfect time for post cruise) to having a 2 hr. layover. The next nonstop at around 4 was full so now we're on the 6pm flight which will hopefully stay non stop.

I'd rather kill 6 hrs in Orlando then fly nonstop than sitting around ATL dealing with connections.

For $59 pp, I can't complain too much. Still beats driving any day!

 

[Inkmahm]

My experience also. Airtran does not give you a hard time to cancel changed flights.
Southwest does not offer any nonstops out of DAL so I always try to book the nonstops with Airtran.

To me flight changes are my hedge against paying the $75 change fee. Airtran always changes before I do, which gives me a free change. Never had a nonstop completely eliminated, just time adjusted by a few minutes, but nothing major.

I can get away with carryons, and if I have paid baggage, I upgrade to Biz Class on Airtran which gives me 2 checked bags free! Plus I get a bigger seat and wine

Needless to say, I prefer Airtran over Southwest.

Same for me. Airtran has earned my loyalty to a point. They were the "enemy" when they were trying to take over Midwest a couple years ago. But after Midwest messed up 3 of my trips with all of their schedule changes and cancellations last year, I booked with Airtran. Now I fly Airtran when I can for the same reasons you listed.

In fact, I just canceled a flight with AirTran last night for my husband. He was supposed to go to a conference in early August and it was just canceled yesterday. I checked the original flight confirmation against the current AirTran flight times for him and sure enough, both the flight there and the flight home had changed by just a few minutes each. I called AirTran and politely asked if I could cancel the flight due to the time changes, even though they were only a few minutes. No problem, I now have the credit in my AirTran account.

I may try SW in the future just to see what the airline is all about since they just began to fly out of Milwaukee. But for most of my trips, I plan to stick with AirTran.

 

[KEichman]

The changes have me a little spooked, since we have non-stop tix booked for December during afterschool hours to reduce the number of days out of school for dd. We fly out of a small local airport, which has only one flight to Orlando each of the 4 days a week that they fly.

I wonder if we have a smaller-than-typical chance for changes, given that they have NO fights with stopovers, and only one flight out?

If it changes by too much, it could really screw up our plans.

 

[KJF]

No problem, I now have the credit in my AirTran account.

Question about this: When cancelling a flight, do you just get a credit back for AirTran that can be used in the future, or do you get back the actual money on your credit card?

 

[DVCBELLE]

Question about this: When cancelling a flight, do you just get a credit back for AirTran that can be used in the future, or do you get back the actual money on your credit card?

I believe they will do whichever you request