Tell me I'll love AirTran

[disny_luvr]

Well, I bit the bullet and booked our airfare for June. After watching Southwest's prices, AirTran was a much better choice for us price-wise. We love Southwest. I am a little nervous about flying AirTran but we were able to book at $87/ticket vs. $171/ticket on Southwest. Even paying the baggage fees (we'll only check two) we are still way ahead on AirTran.

Tell me I'll be happy with AirTran.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

We have had no problems with AirTran.

Sign up for their rewards program. We were able to cash in points and get a first class upgrade for our most recent trip.

Have fun!

 

[DebbieB]

AirTran seems to have a habit of changing flight schedules and it always seems to less favorable times. There are alot of posts on this, here is a recent one:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2841974

 

[ancestry]

I've always had a really good experience with AirTran as far as the travel day goes and the in-flight experience goes.

HOWEVER, in my opinion, they have a extremely high rate of changing flights and flights times. Yes, every airline makes some changes here and there but AirTran seems to be the worst with increasing the length of layovers and cancelling direct flights and putting people on layovers.

Chances are fairly high that your flight times will change somewhat between now and June.

P.S. Wanted to add, I see that you have small children. I *highly* recommend that you purchase seat assignments. AirTran will not make other people who have paid the seat assignment fee move so that your family can sit together. You could end up split all across the airplane. Only way to ensure that this doesn't happen is to pay for seat assignments.

 

[coltsfanatic]

We're also booking Air Tran for our one flight because the cost and schedules are so much better! Plus, I HATE not having assigned seating!!

 

[disny_luvr]

AirTran seems to have a habit of changing flight schedules and it always seems to less favorable times. There are alot of posts on this, here is a recent one:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2841974

I've heard some not-so-good stories about AirTran changing flight schedules. That said, as long as we get there on our scheduled arrival day, I'll be happy. I'd probably be a little more "upset" if our flight went from non-stop to a layover, but our local airport only flies one flight to/from MCO a day and it has always been a non-stop. I stalk their website regularly and have never seen it change to a layover. I also know several people (neighbors, friends, family, etc.) that have flown on this one non-stop to/from flight before and while sometimes their time has changed by an hour or so it has never changed to a layover. I'll keep my fingers crossed. I guess there is always a first time for everything.

 

[disny_luvr]

I've always had a really good experience with AirTran as far as the travel day goes and the in-flight experience goes.

HOWEVER, in my opinion, they have a extremely high rate of changing flights and flights times. Yes, every airline makes some changes here and there but AirTran seems to be the worst with increasing the length of layovers and cancelling direct flights and putting people on layovers.

Chances are fairly high that your flight times will change somewhat between now and June.

P.S. Wanted to add, I see that you have small children. I *highly* recommend that you purchase seat assignments. AirTran will not make other people who have paid the seat assignment fee move so that your family can sit together. You could end up split all across the airplane. Only way to ensure that this doesn't happen is to pay for seat assignments.

I did pay for the $6 seats at time of booking. We are in row 17. That is one thing I am liking more than SW.

 

[owtrbnks]

Have flown them several times without incident. If you want to splurge, you can pay around $75 to upgrade to business class when you check-in (depending on availability) and get a big seat and free drinks!
It's a nice birthday or anniversary surprise!

 

[kristenrice]

Have flown them several times without incident. If you want to splurge, you can pay around $75 to upgrade to business class when you check-in (depending on availability) and get a big seat and free drinks!
It's a nice birthday or anniversary surprise!

...and 2 free checked bags!

We try to upgrade en route to MCO every time we travel. That way, we can check some of our "carry on" size bags and let DME deal with the majority of our luggage.

 

[Inkmahm]

We LOVE Airtran. Just flew them today to MCO. Did the upgrade to Business Class and got our luggage here for free. I always book the exit row, just in case I can't get an upgrade. That way I still have more leg room even if my butt has to be in a smaller seat. But my butt loves business class!

If I pay $20 for my exit row seat ad $20 for my suitcase, it is only another $29 to get the nicer seat in business class ($69 per upgrade for us from MKE to MCO.) Or, we use 4 A+ rewards for our upgrade.

 

[TheWog]

I found the seats to be really cramped. The upgrade to business class was well worth it.

 

[maxiesmom]

...and 2 free checked bags!

We try to upgrade en route to MCO every time we travel. That way, we can check some of our "carry on" size bags and let DME deal with the majority of our luggage.

Maybe this is a really stupid question, but in order to do this, do you have to wait and check in at the airport? You don't check in on-line? Or do they issue a credit for the baggage fees?

 

[Inkmahm]

Maybe this is a really stupid question, but in order to do this, do you have to wait and check in at the airport? You don't check in on-line? Or do they issue a credit for the baggage fees?

YOu can upgrade for cash when you do online checkin. It's an option given to you. I most often use A+ rewards points so I call the day before and do it over the phone.

Yes, you get a credit for the seat fees you've already paid. I don't pay the baggage fees in advance if I plan to upgrade at the airport for some reason. Then I just upgrade there and pay for the business class. You would get a refund though if you'd paid for the baggage fees in advance. The only issue I think is that the credit may be to your A+ rewards account rather than a credit to your credit card. That works for us since we fly Airtran often.

 

[nkereina]

I flew AirTran round trip from NY to Seattle over the summer. Aside from the bag fees and the fees to reserve your seats, I was happy with them. Our flight was not full so we were able to spread out, and all of our flights left on time and in one instance we arrived early. No lost bags. It was a success

 

[kristenrice]

Maybe this is a really stupid question, but in order to do this, do you have to wait and check in at the airport? You don't check in on-line? Or do they issue a credit for the baggage fees?

For our recent October trip, I'd paid $15 for a "premium" seat in row 12. Then, at the 24-hour mark, I checked in online and purchased the BC upgrade for $69. Since I had already paid $15 for my seat, my credit card was only charged $54 for the upgrade. When I got to the airport, I was able to check 2 bags at no charge, even though I only had 2 bags with me and both of them could have been considered carry-ons.

 

[nkereina]

For our recent October trip, I'd paid $15 for a "premium" seat in row 12. Then, at the 24-hour mark, I checked in online and purchased the BC upgrade for $69. Since I had already paid $15 for my seat, my credit card was only charged $54 for the upgrade. When I got to the airport, I was able to check 2 bags at no charge, even though I only had 2 bags with me and both of them could have been considered carry-ons.

FWIW, depending on where you're flying to, the BC upgrade could be more. I tried to upgrade to BC when flying from NY to Seattle on AirTran and was quoted an additional $120. They have different zones for pricing, and that route was in the highest tiered zone.