What?? You have to pay on Airtran to pick your seats?

[Shagley]

I just booked Airtran flights through Disney. How do I pick my seats? I am traveling with my DH and two DDs. Do I call Airtran or Disney?

Call Disney and ask for the "record locator" number for the flight that you booked through them. Then you can use that to go on Airtran.com to book your seats.

 

[ktmo]

Call Disney and ask for the "record locator" number for the flight that you booked through them. Then you can use that to go on Airtran.com to book your seats.

Thanks so much. I'll give them a call.

 

[pigletto]

Hi there,

We normally fly out of Toronto with Canadian airlines, so all these extra fees for baggage and paying for picking your seats is new to me.

Thinking of flying out of buffalo or detroit with AirTran as they have the best price. However, I am wondering about these costs I see mentioned to pick your seat.

We are a family of 4, and we don't care where we sit, as long as the kids don't sit alone. Do we actually have to pay for that?

You fly out of Toronto and your worried about paying for seats?
I worry a little more about the thousands more it costs to fly from Toronto!

(ETA.. point of reference.. I could not find ANYTHING out of YYZ for less than 2000 for the 4 of us on our dates.. and we booked on Airtran out of Detroit for 760. I'll happily pay bag fees and 6 bucks a head to pick a seat for that difference).

 

[aubriee]

Absolutely false information. Please don't spread rumors with no basis in fact.
:

Excuse me: Fact: I was sitting right next to the desk this past Sept when I heard the repeated announcement asking for volunteers to be bumped. They did get some volunteers, but not enough, even when they finally offered two round trip flights to anywhere Air Tran flies and a night at a hotel. Fact: when they couldn't get enough volunteers they called two men up to the desk and informed them they both were going to be bumped. Fact: it was mentioned that neither of them had paid for their seats. Fact: one of the men got very loud and said that he didn't realize that he'd get bumped just because he chose not to pay for his seat. I don't remember the exact words of the gate agent, but the fact that they hadn't paid for their seats and that the flight was overbooked so no seats were available for them was mentioned several times. So not a rumor. I know what I saw.

 

[prncess674]

Excuse me: Fact: I was sitting right next to the desk this past Sept when I heard the repeated announcement asking for volunteers to be bumped. They did get some volunteers, but not enough, even when they finally offered two round trip flights to anywhere Air Tran flies and a night at a hotel. Fact: when they couldn't get enough volunteers they called two men up to the desk and informed them they both were going to be bumped. Fact: it was mentioned that neither of them had paid for their seats. Fact: one of the men got very loud and said that he didn't realize that he'd get bumped just because he chose not to pay for his seat. I don't remember the exact words of the gate agent, but the fact that they hadn't paid for their seats and that the flight was overbooked so no seats were available for them was mentioned several times. So not a rumor. I know what I saw.

There is no way they would start involuntarily bumping when you haven't even boarded or before anyone has boarded. By your own admission you mention boarding early or at least when your early paid for zone boards. You have no idea what happened once the boarding process began. There could have been misconnecting passengers or there could have been passengers tied up at security there could have been passenger who overslept/had a flat tire or they could have just changed their mind and decided not to take that flight.

What you probably heard was they MAY be denied boarding, but who they bump is based on check in time and many other factors that a casual traveler eaves dropping on a conversation couldn't understand from her prowler's perch. Since you had already boarded you have no idea what officially happened and what the final offer was to these men. Airlines hate involuntary bumps since it is reported. More than likely they made them a very lofty offer (not the one heard over the PA) and seats in a premium cabin a few hours later so that it become a voluntary instead of involuntary bump.

 

[Lewisc]

It's a good idea to review the contract of carriage so you know what procedure the airline is suppose to follow if the flight is oversold.

Smart passengers won't accept a voluntary bump unless they're offered a confirmed seat on a flight that's acceptable to them. Terms like priority standby don't cut it.

Airtran says the first passenger to be bumped will be:

The last passenger to present him/herself at the boarding gate.

I'd be prepared to state my case.

 

[prncess674]

Just thought I would give the official website where the COC is located and spells out the rules for IDB.

http://www.airtran.com/common/pdf/AirTran_Contract_of_Carriage.pdf

Volunteers and Boarding Priorities
If a flight is oversold (more passengers hold confirmed reservations than there are seats available), no one may be denied boarding against his or her will until airline personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservation willingly in exchange for a payment of the airline's choosing. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with the following boarding priority of AirTran Airways:
1. The last passenger to present him/herself at the boarding gate.
2. Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate disabled, elderly, or infirmed passengers needing assistance, unaccompanied children under 12 years of age and connecting passengers.

If in fact AirTran violated its own COC then there is reason for lawsuit.

 

[Lewisc]

The question is who is the last passenger to present himself at the boarding gate. Can a passenger walk over to the employee and present himself? Do you "present yourself" when your boarding group is called? In that case the pp is correct, and the poster I quoted is not correct. People without a BP would be the last people to be called, if ever, and would be the first passengers to be bumped.

Check and at T-24 and get any BP and you should be OK. Wait until you get to the airport and you may be the one bumped.

The poster I quoted is mistaken. Some airlines don't want to bump passengers (OK no airline wants to bump passengers) and will give some high offers to entice volunteers. Almost like an auction. The offers seem to keep getting higher until they get a volunteer. Southwest rarely increases the offer by anything significant. They'll bump a passenger rather then pay much more the the required IDB compensation. SW won't generally accommodate you on a later flight via overbooking more then normally allowed. They'll offer you "priority standby" which may not mean much.

Jet Blue as a matter of policy doesn't overbook. Jet Blue's contract of carriage states JBs will pay passengers IDB $1,000. My guess is they'll get a volunteer for less.

Just thought I would give the official website where the COC is located and spells out the rules for IDB.

http://www.airtran.com/common/pdf/AirTran_Contract_of_Carriage.pdf



If in fact AirTran violated its own COC then there is reason for lawsuit.

 

[Brian Noble]

Yep - and this is why we refuse to fly Airtran. If the bags, even the 1st one, were free, I could maybe consider - but all of their fees are just TOO MUCH!

With all due respect, this could be cutting off your nose to spite your face. The right way to think about this, IMO, is: What is the total cost to fly with comparable services? Sometimes, AirTran will be your best deal even after you factor in the ~$75 pp roundtrip for one checked bag and a confirmed seat assignment.

 

[prncess674]

Delta does a better job of spelling out its boarding priority for IVB

The priority is set forth in the Contract of Carriage, excerpted below:

C) Involuntary Denied Boarding
If an insufficient number of passengers volunteer to give up their seats in response to Delta’s
offer, Delta may involuntarily deny boarding to one or more passengers on the oversold flight
according to the following boarding priority rules:
1) Passengers Holding Tickets for Travel in Premium Cabin and SkyMiles members
identified with an EP elite status designation
Passengers holding tickets for confirmed space in the First or Business class cabin and
SkyMiles members identified with an EP elite status designation will be accommodated
before other passengers holding tickets and/or boarding passes for confirmed space in
the coach cabin.2) Passengers With Boarding Passes
Passengers holding boarding passes who check in and present themselves at the
departure gate in compliance with Rule 135(c) will be accommodated before
passengers traveling in the same cabin who have not been issued boarding passes or
who fail to comply with applicable check-in requirements. Subject to the availability of
seats on the aircraft, boarding passes may be obtained by passengers who hold tickets
for confirmed reserved space in the following manner:
a) for passengers traveling on electronic tickets, through the Online Check-in feature
on delta.com within 24 hours of scheduled departure
b) for passengers traveling on electronic tickets, through a Delta airport kiosk within
four hours of scheduled departure
c) from a Delta airport ticket counter and/or the check-in desk located in the departure
area.
3) Passengers Without Boarding Passes
Delta Domestic General Rules Tariff Page 51 of 57
Passengers with confirmed reservations who have not been issued a boarding pass
and present themselves at the departure gate in compliance with rule 135(c) will be
accommodated in the order that they check-in for their flight.
4) Special Needs Passengers
Because of the special needs of physically disabled passengers, unaccompanied
children and aged or infirm passengers, Delta reserves the right to accommodate such
passengers without regard to the boarding priorities established by this provision.
5) Passengers Offered Voluntary Denied Boarding Compensation
If a passenger requesting to volunteer is in danger of being involuntarily denied
boarding, Delta will inform him/her at the time he/she volunteers of the compensation
Delta is obligated to pay if he/she is involuntarily denied boarding.

 

[Lewisc]

Absolutely false information. Please don't spread rumors with no basis in fact.

The information was correct. The fact that the airlines you fly do it differently is irrelevant to this discussion.

Delta does a better job of spelling out its boarding priority for IVB

The priority is set forth in the Contract of Carriage, excerpted below:

This thread isn't about Delta. It's about Airtran. Airtran seems to put passengers without seat assignments first on the list of passengers to get bumped. Southwest has a similar policy. Wait until you get to the airport to get your BP and you may get a security document instead of a BP. Passengers without a BP are the first to get denied boarding.

 

[crashbb]

You fly out of Toronto and your worried about paying for seats?
I worry a little more about the thousands more it costs to fly from Toronto!

(ETA.. point of reference.. I could not find ANYTHING out of YYZ for less than 2000 for the 4 of us on our dates.. and we booked on Airtran out of Detroit for 760. I'll happily pay bag fees and 6 bucks a head to pick a seat for that difference).

That and the fact that WestJet (and Porter, but they don't fly to Orlando) charge for seats. As do CanJet, Air Transat, and Sunwing (and that is assuming you are even able to select a seat before check-in). Only Air Canada doesn't. So, I don't really get the OP's comment.

 

[n2mm]

Yep - and this is why we refuse to fly Airtran. If the bags, even the 1st one, were free, I could maybe consider - but all of their fees are just TOO MUCH!

I stopped for the same reasons. I can't wait for the SW/AT merger to see if a non-stop comes back to Dulles. We had a few non-stop on SW, but they ended last July. There are currently non-stops on AT, so maybe there will be a few non-stops out of Dulles again. I generally fly exclusively with Jetblue, but it's nice to have options when JB doesn't fit our times.

 

[prncess674]

The information was correct.

Umm, I believe if you read the letter of the COC it states that the last person to present themeselves at the boarding door will be given IVB, so if you dilly dally and come to the boarding door you can be denied boarding even though you paid for seats and checked in 24 hours in advance.

 

[maxiesmom]

With all due respect, this could be cutting off your nose to spite your face. The right way to think about this, IMO, is: What is the total cost to fly with comparable services? Sometimes, AirTran will be your best deal even after you factor in the ~$75 pp roundtrip for one checked bag and a confirmed seat assignment.

I have found that a lot lately. Even after adding in all of the fees I can fly Airtran a lot of the time cheaper than I could fly Southwest. And I only have to drive 30 minutes to get to my Airtran flight, I would have to drive 150 minutes to get to Southwest.

 

[Redarrow5150]

Well stated and my wife just experienced what you said but they (Airtran) took it too a whole another level. I don't want to get into the situation but let me just say I'd be willing to pay extra or fly out of another airport to avoid what I've read about Airtran and what she went experienced. The funny thing she is willing to fly Airtran again because of the prices and they fly out of our closest airport. We are going around the Christmas season and after her experience, I don't want to deal with the headaches that could pop up because of flights being oversold.

You have been very, very lucky then. I always arrive at the airport early and sit in one of those seats right next to the desk. Every single flight, without exception, I've seen at least a couple of families raising heck with the person at the desk, demanding that other people be moved, so they can sit next to their young child. They are always told that there is nothing they can do and that they had the option to purchase their seats and chose not to. The response is always the same (almost word for word), "No we didn't purchase seats. We didn't dream Air Tran would separate us from our kids, so we didn't think we needed to. Now you have to move someone so we can sit next to our child". The response from Air Tran is always the same. 'Ask when you get on, but we can't make anyone move if they choose not to'.

Another problem with not purchasing seats is that most of the flights I've been on have been oversold. In fact, every single Air Tran flight I've been on this entire year has been oversold. The people that didn't purchase seats are the ones to get bumped if they can't find enough people willing to voluntarily give up their seats for one on a later flight. This past October we saw security called when a man was having a screaming fit because he was being bumped. Security told him he could either calm down or he could leave the airport. He yelled that he didn't know that just because he didn't purchase a seat that he'd be one of those bumped. He finally calmed down and hopefully got a seat on a later flight. I fly solo alot, but still purchase my seat. Due to claustrophobic issues I don't like the back of the plane, nor do I like middle or window seats, nor do I want to be bumped to another flight, plus I want to know that there's enough room in the overhead for my carryon, so I pay for the more expensive $15.00 seats that are toward the front of the plane. I get my preferred aisle seat that I need and am in boarding zone 1. It's just an extra $30.00 that I count into the price of the flight. Almost every flight I am asked to give that seat up for some middle seat in the back of the plane for some couple or parent who chose not to pay for their seats. Sorry, not happening!