SWA vs Airtran

[wwallydoc]

what would you do? traveling with DW and DS Nov 30-dec 9 out of PGH PA. Airtran has current flight offer for 69$ ea way--nonstop. SWA has nonstop flights but prices haven't come down yey. have read so many bad things about airtran (trip reviews,cancellations etc) should I wait for SWA fares to come down (we really like to fly SWA) or take a chance with Airtran?

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well-ANY airline is liable to mess things up for you these days. All I can say is that we've flown Airtran (out of Baltimore) these last 2 trips and had no problems whatsoever with the schedule or the flight.

 

[beccasmom]

I am a big fan of SWA; I think their customer service is great, for the most part. I've never flown AirTran, so I can't comment about them. I know they are experiencing some $$$$ problems, but they all are to some degree. The two deal-breakers for me would be price and schedule, in that order. But flying non-stop has its advantages as well....And, of course, weather can always put a chink in anyone's plans. Do as much research as you can about both airlines and go with your gut, if all else seems equal. Competing airlines in the same territory usually match each other's prices.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

If the price and the schedules are the same, you have to go with Airtran over Southwest. Why? Because Airtran always have a smoother flight than SW while in the air. For some strange reason, SWA's flights are always a little bumpy.

Also Airtran has assigned seating. They have newer planes. And they have satellite radio on their plane that you can listen to while on the flight- which is awesome.

Southwest is like riding Greyhound in the air. You have no assigned seats. The ride is bumpy. And you have absolutely no frills.

But SWA has great prices, and that's why I ride them.

 

[wwallydoc]

called SWA and they wouldnt match airtran, just booked airtran for 69$each way--NONSTOP and SW wanted 123$ each way NS--airtran flight times were better too---thanks for input everyone

 

[StampMom]

I was in the same situation you were -- wondering whether to grab the $69/each way fare from Airtran or take a chance on waiting to see if SW's fares came down any. I made the same decision as well -- just booked Airtran today! (It was a tough call, since my comparison for flights from Baltimore was $69 each way with Airtran vs. $79 each way with SW. But I went with Airtran because the flight times seemed a bit better, plus with 5 travelers, that $10 difference each way ends up saving me $100.)

Wahoo, my trip is really official now!!

Now I need to decide whether to pay the $5/pp each way to reserve our seats on Airtran. That will eat up half my savings, so I'm not sure whether or not it's worth doing. I remember that there was a thread about this recently, so I'll go look -- but I'm thinking of just rolling the dice on getting seat assignments when we check in. We don't care that much about the 3 adults sitting together, and I can't imagine they would make -- or even allow -- my 5 y.o. or my 9 y.o. to sit alone, right?

 

[ktkerber]

We were debating the same exact thing out of Pittsburgh. We checked and checked rates. We are traveling nearly the same dates you are, Nov 29-Dec 9. We knew we would definately get $138RT on Airtran compared to $246Rt on SW. We don't know that SW will ever go that low especially on the Sunday return flight. Let's face it $138 RT is a good rate!!! We heard all the same schedule changing rumors and we hope we don't regret the decision, but that is a large sum of money to save.
We also liked the flight times on Airtran better than SW, the fact we can choose our seats, the free XM satellite radio, and the fact that we check our luggage at the resort desk and not worry about taking it with us on ME. All of that combined seemed like it was worth taking a chance that there wouldn't be any major schedule changes.

 

[slmcn66]

I booked w/ Airtran 12/6-12/14 5 people for $644 from Philly to MCO and that was choosing seats for both flights. For the $50 extra I didn't want to worry about seating. I am hoping they open up some of the blocked off seats prior to check-in so we can be closer to the front of the plane.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

All I can say is Good Luck on Air Tran.

Last time we flew with them, will be our absolute last. They are the pitts with customer service also. They changed our flights to these ridiculous times and we lost almost 2 whole days of vacation.

XM satellite radio isn't enough to get me back with them and not all their planes have it anyhow. I would sooner fly Useless airways.

I hope you don't have the same problems we did, but we waited it out, paid a little more but got SWA for $99.00 plus with my $192.00 credit, we did OK.

Good Luck with Air Tran!

 

[Mousema]

I've always had good luck with Air Tran. Never have liked SouthWest. Air Tran has always treated me right, even when they did change flights, they worked with me to get me what I wanted.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I've always had good luck with Air Tran. Never have liked SouthWest. Air Tran has always treated me right, even when they did change flights, they worked with me to get me what I wanted.

Well looks like you had better luck than me. And it seems that our flights on SW are never higher then Air Tran anyhow.

I also like SWA cancellation policy. If we could just get some assigned seats, even if I had to pay a little extra that would be .