Tell me all about AirTran!!!

[Debi]

I always fly Spirit out of ACY (I live 25 minutes from ACY - the convenience is great!). I'll be flying to WDW in December (the week between Christmas and New Years - the most expensive time to fly ), and AirTran out of PHL will save us approximately $600 over Spirit. Please tell me all about AirTran! What's good? What's bad? Are their flights on time? Thanks!

 

[DebbieB]

I've flow AirTran PIT/MCO several times and was always pleased. My flights were on time. With most fares you can't get assigned seats until 24 hours before but I've got good seats by jumping on line at the 24 hour mark. The one time I waited until we got to the airport in Orlando, we ended up in the uncomfortable last row. The only downside I can think of is they don't have curbside check-in in Pittsburgh (they do at MCO).

 

[safetymom]

I have had good experiences with AirTran. Can't think of anything bad.

 

[etink67]

We also have nothing bad to say about air tran. If they have availability, you can upgrade to first class for 50 dollars. The seats are roomier. You should go online 24 hours ahead to check in and pick your seats.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We also have had great experiences with AirTran. We did have a weather delay once, but that can happen on any airline (it was the day after X-mas, too!). Great airline, great people. They are our first choice.

 

[mom23boys]

We just flew Airtran in August. No problems at all. We all sat together (6 in all). We did have a delay coming home, but we were landing at Philly at 6PM, I guess it was rush hour at the airport.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

We've had great experiences on AirTran, Debi. I would definitely recommend them.

 

[wdwgoofeeee]

The only complaint I have is that AirTran likes to change schedules. We had this happen to us and I have read other posters that were upset when their flight times were changed or just removed completely from the schedule. If you fly the first flight out to MCO you should be OK. They don't seem to switch that one around much. Any of the early afternoon flights can be changed to another time or just dropped. Overall though we have been satisfied with AirTran. We did the upgrade for $50.00 to business class on both sides of our trip in June. It's great with more room and being able to exit the plane so quickly. Just be aware there were only three rows of business class on our flights so the seats are extremely limited. You can upgrade at the airport counter or at the gate.

 

[starwood]

OK - here is the bad. We flew AT Newark to Tampa in April. The flight down was fine with no problems at all. The flight back was a nightmare. We had a connection in Atlanta. There was bad weather in Atlanta so our flight to Atlanta was delayed because the plane was late coming in. When we arrived in Atlanta our connection had left (not their fault - it was weather related). However, they couldn't get us on another flight to Newark for 3 days! We arrived Saturday night and they wanted us to leave on Tuesday night! It took them 2 hours to find our luggage so we could go to a hotel (I understand there were about 80 people heading to Buffalo who also missed their flight BUT their luggage did make the flight). We ended up taking a flight the next morning to Baltimore and renting a car to drive the rest of the way home. It cost us an extra $200 and Air Tran refused to reimburse any of our costs. Sometimes it isn't worth it to save a little money on the fare. Next time I'll fly a larger airline (and try to avoid Atlanta).

 

[JandD Mom]

The Good: They have always been on time when I have flown them, the planes are new, onboard service is efficient.

The Bad: The Schedule changes. Don't pick your flight based on time because chances are, by the time you fly, the flight will be changed by several hours (that happened to us on several occasions). On our last flight into PHL, it took well over an HOUR for our luggage to arrive. Baggage staff was unhelpful except to tell me since it was a holiday weekend (Memorial Day) a lot of baggage handlers had called in sick. To that I replied "you mean, like USAir?" And the lady told me "Yes, something like that." They were unappologetic.

When we flew them to PHL from Ft. Lauderdale after a cruise, it was a mob scene at the airport JUST TO CHECK LUGGAGE. They had nowhere near enough staff working at a peak time.

If I were coming to PHL to fly a discount airline, I would go with Southwest in a heartbeat. I avoid Airtran, and would look into USAir, who sometimes matches Southwest's fares. Some folks also have good things to say about USA3000.

One big plus for Southwest: If the fare goes down you can re-book and get a credit for the difference. Also if you cancel, you get a credit. I like that because sometimes my plans change and I want to leave on a different flight, or the fares go down after I book.

 

[shelly3girls]

Debi,
We are flying around Christmas also and found SW was much cheaper for our dates. We are flying Airtran for the first time this month. I booked them b/c they were cheaper then of course SW offered a sale that was even better. Unfortunately with Airtran you cannot get a credit like you can with SW.

 

[JerJan]

We LOVE AIRTRAN and tend to use them almost exclusively!!! Never have we ahd a problem with any type of schedule change...we fly Akron/Canton to Orlando and Ft Lauderdale.

 

[Laurajean1014]

Like any airline, they overbook constantly. About 5-8% of the plane is overbooked. So, they offer lots of vouchers (free flights). Also, their flights or nearly all, have stops.

We fly out of NY and I'm not being too difficult by saying, from NY or Phila - it's so close to FLA (in air miles) that I prefer non stops.

We had a tough time with Airtran in trying to use our vouchers for next April -they would not allow vouchers on the flights. So, we opted to go in December and use the free vouchers. That worked out fine.

Their on-time ratio is 80%.

They are not my favorite airline, but I would use them again.

 

[Iluvthemouse]

We are scheduled to fly AirTran for the first time this coming Friday 9/16. I keep checking our flight times to make sure we are leaving as scheduled because I have heard rumors that they like to change flights. So far so good but we still have 3 days to go..


We flew USA3000 this past July for 10 days in Cancun Mexico and we loved that airline. The flights were fantastic. The food was good. Service was great. I would fly them again.

I have come to hate USAIR. They have screwed with our seats for the past 3 trips. They always separate DD from my husband or myself. We all have the same last name so what gives? Uggh, also the flights attendants are always complaining and jabbering. I do not want to fly with them again.

I havent been on Southwest yet. I dont like the gallery seating thing so be it.

I report back on AirTran if anyone would like.

3 more days...

 

[keishashadow]

At least you don't have to get up @ midnight & call to get placed in line A, B, or C

*No Curbside checkin @ PIT

*Have changed our schedules/cancelled flights every trip

*Although I'm told they're flying new planes, there must still be some old ones out of PIT

*1st airline to lose my luggage & deny it for 1 month until forced to pick it up in Michigan from another airtran customer - did cough up vouchers.

*Can book @ least 6 months ahead of flight

*Sale prices are grrreat!

As for flights being on time, we've actually arrived ahead of time to MCO.

 

[VelvetGloves]

For anyone who has flown out of Pitt, are we doomed to terrible seats since we can not check in online. Since Disney sent us paper tickets, we are not eligible for online check-in. We plan on getting to the airport two and a half to three hours early. Should we go even earlier than that? Can you call airtran to pick seats?

Thanks,

VelvetGloves

 

[keishashadow]

For anyone who has flown out of Pitt, are we doomed to terrible seats since we can not check in online. Since Disney sent us paper tickets, we are not eligible for online check-in. We plan on getting to the airport two and a half to three hours early. Should we go even earlier than that? Can you call airtran to pick seats?

Thanks,

VelvetGloves

We were unable to check in online @ AS Mo in Feb. (front desk said they were too busy???), Epcot didn't have internet access either; were rewarded with last row in plane: bumpy, noisy & dark.

AirTran insists that you check in online since you need to be able to print out your boarding passes/seat assignments.

I'd get to PIT as early as possible (there's a lot of shops & dining to occupy you) and hope for the best - pixie dust to you .

 

[dozeman]

We were unable to check in online @ AS Mo in Feb. (front desk said they were too busy???), Epcot didn't have internet access either; were rewarded with last row in plane: bumpy, noisy & dark.

AirTran insists that you check in online since you need to be able to print out your boarding passes/seat assignments.

I'd get to PIT as early as possible (there's a lot of shops & dining to occupy you) and hope for the best - pixie dust to you .

You can always go to Kinkos and use a rental pc to check in. Open 24-7. One located on 435 about 1 mi from DTD entrance.

 

[keishashadow]

You can always go to Kinkos and use a rental pc to check in. Open 24-7. One located on 435 about 1 mi from DTD entrance.

My complaint is that the WDW "business" hotels are happy to print boarding passes; but the AS's can pick & choose for whom & when they'll print them. I didn't request the passes during a busy time...it was very early in the a.m. and several CM's were standing chatting to each other (with no one in line behind me, either!). When I expressed my disapointment to the CM, it was suggested that I find a way to the Coronado and they'd help me or have them printed out @ Epcot. I wasted a good hour searching Epcot for computer access/printer; finally a CM informed me that didn't offer that service. You'd think @ one of the Innovations Buildings they'd put in one of those pay-by-the-minute computer kiosks.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

We checked-in at the airport both times. We did get seats together, and the flights were overbooked.