SWA vs. Airtran?

[disneyfan2kids]

Leaving from PHL... Airtran is beating SWA by $200 AND has better times! I've ONLY every flown SWA so I'm nervous. I know Airtran has bag fees, but they wont' equal $200!
Plus, Airtran has resort checkin.

I'm just hesitant b/c I've never had reason to fly anyone by SWA, they are ALWAYS cheapest by far! CAn't believe Airtran beats them?!

Thoughts on airtan?

 

[Missytara]

It is a no brainer for me - Airtran. I love the convenience of dropping my bags at BWI and not handling till get home.

I have only flown Southwest once and the only advantage I can see to it is that you are always closest to the baggage claim. Other than that, I love, love, love Airtran.

Last time, I paid about $40.00 more on Airtran and it was worth it to me not to have to handle my luggage getting back to the airport. This year, with the baggage fees, it still ended up being $30.00 less, so I am happy.

 

[ntz4disney]

We too fly out of PHL and we typically fly SW but have been on Airtran twice without any problems at all. The one thing I will tell you, not sure if you booked a non-stop flight with Airtran but many posters have said they have had their non-stop flights changed over to flights with a layover mostly in Atlanta ...Airtran has fewer direct flights to MCO then SW ...but for what you are saving in the final cost, go with Airtran! We always shop around and go with the carrier with the cheapest fares at the time we book ...we leave in 2 weeks and found USAir to be cheaper then both SW and Airtran even with paying the baggage fees so you never know!

 

[loveysbydesign]

Airtran flies out of LVIA now too and the prices are pretty darn good!

 

[mlacreta]

did you factor in the airtran coupons to your price also? i am also trying to cost compare sw and airtran..a little more complicated here though cause sw flys out of a nice smaller airport just 15m from my house but airtran is only out of boston which has a considerable bigger airport and we hate driving there! in the end we may not have much of a choice since we need 6 tickets and they add up!!!

 

[iluvepcot]

don't forget about the cost of seats. For SWA everyone has the same level playing field when it comes to seat assighnments. You are all logging on 24 hours prior. For Air tran some will pay extra for seats so those left logging on the day before only have the option of what is left over.

There is a trick that has been posted here with Kayak.com You search your flights for airtran and it will put you into the either airtran or orbitz. Pick your seats and you will not be billed. Some of said it works, others have said they were billed. I tried it recently and was not billed for seats on my August trip.

 

[jkid721133]

my only concern would be the sometimes over taxing resort check in procedures.........

inside joke.

 

[magicalfoursome]

We just flew from Philly to Orlando in June. We flew AirTran down and Southwest back. No problems with AirTran-- non-stop flight and the flight time was not changed. Just factor in the $15 per bag fee and I think it is about $6 each to pick your seat ahead of time if that is important to you. Just pick the flight that leaves more $$ in your pocket for WDW!!

 

[kevgraub]

Leaving from PHL... Airtran is beating SWA by $200 AND has better times! I've ONLY every flown SWA so I'm nervous. I know Airtran has bag fees, but they wont' equal $200!
Plus, Airtran has resort checkin.

I'm just hesitant b/c I've never had reason to fly anyone by SWA, they are ALWAYS cheapest by far! CAn't believe Airtran beats them?!

Thoughts on airtan?

Airtran has been consistently cheaper for our trip out of Kansas City as well. We booked Airtran for $59 each way, and Southwest has not gotten below $100 each way (currently about $119). Even with $15 per bag and $6 per seat, Airtran is way, way lower for our trip than SW.

It sounds like some markets, Airtran is really undercutting Southwest. I know its not the case everywhere, but it is worth checking.

 

[TaraPA]

Airtran flies out of LVIA now too and the prices are pretty darn good!

We fly out of LVIA/ABE as well - AT does have great prices but did you see their schedule - terrible! They only fly 4 days of the week, and like at 3pm....those times & days just don't work for us! Hopefully they'll expand their service in the near future. Right now Continental out of ABE is only $139 RT - I've never seen it that low!

 

[1Prince3Princesses]

I too am flying AirTran for the first time in Oct. I usually fly out of PHL on SW but since ABE is 20 minutes from my house and with FREE dining in Oct plus flights that were $54 each way PLUS I used the $25 coupons, I had to go with AirTran. I hope all goes well. I flew Allegiant in May but had to pay ALOT for private transfers from Sanford Airport to POR. I ended up paying $456 on AirTran for 5 RT tickets with 10 of the coupons. So, no way SW could have beat that.

 

[panfan]

If someone could explain, how does the "resort check in procedure" work with the luggage? Is it thu DME only?

Thanks!

 

[DonnaL]

We have flown on SWA out of PHL exclusively for the past 5 years.....and we live in NE PA (a bit south of Scranton) ........a two hour drive from PHL.......with a regional airport (AVP) practically in our backyard......but, can't get a decent flight from here to there out of our airport.......not to mention the high cost..... However, with Airtran now at LVIA (ABE) I'm really torn about what to do for our January trip........I just love SWA.......their customer service is the best in the business.......BUT.......it is a 2 hour drive in the middle of winter and it seems our return flights to PHL are always delayed (not the airline, but, all flights into PHL) which is not fun in the winter months......I'm just about ready to commit with Airtran for this trip and see how it goes......the only thing holding me back is the fact that I know they're famous for changing flight times and nonstop flights. We're leaving on NYD and the AT flight at 3:30 p.m. flight works great for us since we won't do any parks until the 2nd anyway...... return on the 8th is scheduled to leave MCO about 12:30 p.m. arriving at ABE about 2:45 p.m........which is also good......since it gets us in our driveway before dark. I really wish either AT or SWA would decide to fly into AVP since my decisions would be so much easier if it were a 3 minute drive to the airport!!!!!

 

[Dizzyworld]

Leaving from PHL... Airtran is beating SWA by $200 AND has better times! I've ONLY every flown SWA so I'm nervous. I know Airtran has bag fees, but they wont' equal $200!
Plus, Airtran has resort checkin.

I'm just hesitant b/c I've never had reason to fly anyone by SWA, they are ALWAYS cheapest by far! CAn't believe Airtran beats them?!

Thoughts on airtan?

This is the same issue we had on our upcoming Oct. trip. Flying down on SW from BWI. I couldn't fly home on SW for under $209 plus fees per person, so we went through www.Kayak.com for AirTran that got us no seat fee, and also used the coupon. SW couldn't even get near that price. I was thinking that the flights were cheaper to get you to WDW but they knew you had to get home, so there wasn't that need to drop the price. If anything it kept going up, so I gave up and booked AirTran. I love SW, but the price difference was was too big for me to ignore.

 

[maraki527]

I was just at WDW and SW now does resort check in

 

[justcantwait]

SW only has resort checkin on a trial basis at Pop Century, so don't count on it whenever your trip may be.

 

[uva185]

don't forget about the cost of seats. For SWA everyone has the same level playing field when it comes to seat assighnments. You are all logging on 24 hours prior. For Air tran some will pay extra for seats so those left logging on the day before only have the option of what is left over.

There is a trick that has been posted here with Kayak.com You search your flights for airtran and it will put you into the either airtran or orbitz. Pick your seats and you will not be billed. Some of said it works, others have said they were billed. I tried it recently and was not billed for seats on my August trip.

Maybe its just me but $6 each way seems like a very low cost to save yourself the hassle of being in front of a computer 24 hours before checkin (especially if you are trying to have fun on your vacation!)

 

[TJA]

I was just at WDW and SW now does resort check in

Was this at Pop? Just curious if it has spread to other resorts yet.