Tell me about Airtran

[westjones]

Airtran is offering a very good rate for nonstop flights in June when we go on our trip. We have never used them. Can anyone tell me:

1. Do you get to pick your seat ahead of time (or do you run for them like on Southwest)?

2. How is their service? Anyone have problems with them?

3. Anything unusual about them compared to other carries like NWA (we have been using them for the past couple of years, before that we used ATA but they are no longer flying out of Indianapolis).


Thanks!
DJ

 

[CastMemberDWA]

You get to pick your seat when you check in.... They have good service. Pretzels/soda for snack.....
I have never had a problem. I like Airtran. I don't need special treatment, just need to get from point A to point B...why pay more?

 

[westjones]

You get to pick your seat when you check in.... They have good service. Pretzels/soda for snack.....
I have never had a problem. I like Airtran. I don't need special treatment, just need to get from point A to point B...why pay more?

Thanks! We don't need special treatment either, but I do like to sit with my kids (they are more comfortable with that, they are 12 (twins), so they are old enough to be OK, but they are uncomfortable and nervous when we are not together).

So when we go to the airport to check in, we pick seats? I guess that will work. I like knowing ahead of time so I can reassure them. A couple of times they have had to sit by themselves and they don't like it.

Thanks again!
DJ

 

[safetymom]

There have been several threads about AirTran lately. If you buy certain fares or book through a travel agent you can get assigned seats in advance. Several people have reported when they went to check in at the 24 hour mark all the seats had been assigned. Best advice is either way to get to the airport early if you want to switch seats around. They hold some seats to be assigned at the airport.

 

[erikthewise]

I was one who reported seats assigned to me prior to checkin, but our family was kept together nicely! My only complaint was no longer being able to choose the best seats by checking in exactly 24 hours in advance. I'm still a big Airtran fan.

 

[katallo]

Air Tran offers great service from Baltimore. We are going in April and I've given up waiting for Southwest to open their reservations.

 

[safetymom]

My daughter and I took separate trips. The four times in Nov. that I flew the seats had been assigned. Same thing happened with my daughter and 4 friends on the two legs of their flights they were assigned. I went on and checked them in and the only available seats were in the back of the plane. So I took those seats, when they got to the airport they didn't have seats all together like I had checked them in with.

We all would fly Airtran again.

 

[Blondiex46]

Glad someone asked...I like a pilot with information and a personality. Flew air tran down and the pilot never came on the loud speaker for anything. I like to hear them introduce themselves, just the little things like that makes the flight easy for me.

 

[westjones]

I was one who reported seats assigned to me prior to checkin, but our family was kept together nicely! My only complaint was no longer being able to choose the best seats by checking in exactly 24 hours in advance. I'm still a big Airtran fan.

Thanks! I feel better knowing they try to keep families together. I don't care where the seats are, just so my girls don't have to sit with strangers.

We booked with Airtran today for our June trip (the price was right, and you never know if it will go up). I guess we will find out for ourselves, but it sounds like they will be just fine!

Thanks everyone for reassuring me! I am so glad to know I won't be driving 17 hours each way either! That makes the trip all the more exciting!

DJ

 

[Disneyjosh229]

Glad someone asked...I like a pilot with information and a personality. Flew air tran down and the pilot never came on the loud speaker for anything. I like to hear them introduce themselves, just the little things like that makes the flight easy for me.

Had an EXCELENT Spirit pilot that cracked jokes and the whole nine yards.

I beleve his final saying was...

"On behalf of my mortgage company, wife and 3 children, I thank you for flying Spirit Airlines"

 

[travlnman1]

I prefer Air Tran out of Phila rather than Usairways because Air Tran has fewer flights out of Phila than Usiarways. The Air Tran terminal is always so quiet and non-stressful and the security lines are never long. Usair on the other hand is a mess in Phila. And Air Tran has always had great service whenI have flown them.

 

[John's Mom]

We're flying Air Tran out of Phila. Saturday. I hope everything goes well. I'm hoping to get our boarding passes and seat assignments Friday at 7 a.m. Will keep you informed.

 

[westjones]

We're flying Air Tran out of Phila. Saturday. I hope everything goes well. I'm hoping to get our boarding passes and seat assignments Friday at 7 a.m. Will keep you informed.

How can you get them on Friday if you don't fly out until Saturday? I thought they assigned seats when you checked in the day of your flight? Did I misunderstand? We have never used them before, so their process is all new to me.

Thanks!
DJ

 

[safetymom]

You can check in for your flight 24 hours in advance of your flight time.

 

[alicia68]

I love AirTran. I put most of my clients on AT if they have the proper city pairs. The advanced seat selection is nice however upgrading to biz class for $35.00 per leg is fantastic. The extra leg room comes in handy especially for tall passengers.

 

[Gary M]

We will be flying AirTran from IND to MCO for the first time 1/31-2/7. I now see where NWA has a lower fare for the same dates than AirTran. When I made the reservations NWA n/s flights were very high for that time. Below is a quote from the AirTran site.


"Passengers may check in online from 24 hours to 90 minutes before their scheduled departure time."

 

[dthogue]

We're flying Air Tran out of Phila. Saturday. I hope everything goes well. I'm hoping to get our boarding passes and seat assignments Friday at 7 a.m. Will keep you informed.

John's Mom,

Looks like we'll be on the same flight.

I just printed out my boarding passes and the seats were already assigned, but you could change them if you wanted to (it shows available seats), but I chose to keep our seats as assigned.

Tammy

 

[bedgraynexl]

We like AirTran too. Flew out of DFW in April. Best rate by far, plus by driving a couple of hours south we were able to go nonstop. No nonstop at that time out of okc. Only problem I had was at check-in. They had several flights leaving at the same time, for different destinations, but didn't have enough agents available. Fortunately we were there 3 hours in advance (because it is DFW) and made it to our gate with plenty of time to spare.

I would definately fly them again, especially if they come to OKC (here's hopin')

 

[John's Mom]

Tammy,

I got my boarding passes at 7 a.m. We were already assigned seats, so I decided not to change them.

I'm traveling with my husband and daughter. She goes to school in Phillie. She just finished her final early this afternoon and is on her way home.

Have a safe trip!

Kathy

 

[westjones]

Tammy,

I got my boarding passes at 7 a.m. We were already assigned seats, so I decided not to change them.

I'm traveling with my husband and daughter. She goes to school in Phillie. She just finished her final early this afternoon and is on her way home.

Have a safe trip!

Kathy

I am guessing they assigned your seats all together, right?

That is my only concern. I want to be with my kids. A couple of years ago, NWA assigned up seat and all 4 of us were in different places. I just couldn't understand why they didn't put us together. Then it happened again on the next flight.

So if Airtran is assigning seats keeping families together I won't have any problem with that at all.

DJ