Why I'm Really Going to Miss AirTran

[Christine9125]

One of the big reasons that Southwest is absorbing AirTran to expand into routes and airports not currently served by Southwest.

Chances are very good that you'll continue to have service from Dayton, except that the planes will be painted in Southwest colors and the tickets will be sold with Southwest policies, such as two free bags per passengers and no reserved seats.

I hope they do, I do not want to have to drive to Columbus or Cincinnati to fly

 

[Minnesota!]

I'm happy SW is acquiring AT.

I luv SW. And I don't luv AT, but I will when the merge is over.

The last AT flight we took was baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. They charge to check bags, the seats were cramped. I had to check my carry-on after boarding because there wasn't room in the overhead compartment since EVERYONE ELSE didn't want to pay to check their bag either ($$)... but at least they did that for free. Good thing there wasn't anything in there that I NEEDED during the flight. I'm not a tall person (5'6'') and I felt VERY cramped. DH is 6'1"... I can't even imagine how he was feeling. He had to sit with his knees apart the whole time. At least the crew was super nice- that was the ONLY good thing about the flight. The passengers were... well... really rude to each other! It was pretty strange.

But in any case, I'm sure that was just a fluke. SW is a great company, and I'm sure the AT folks will be well cared after!

My DH is 6'6 and has never had an issue on an AT flight....

AT is my carrier of choice, even after a flight from hell with them. They bent over backwards to make things right with us, and because of that, I have been loyal to them.

I will be a Sun Country and Delta flyer only now. SW will not get a dime from me...

 

[dioxide45]

and no reserved seats.

Personally I don't think this is a benefit of SW. I prefer the assigned seating on AirTran and don't mind paying the extra for it.

We too fly out of DAY and I expect SW to continue service. Perhaps it will bring prices down on other airlines, we are willing to take a connection to avoid SW.

 

[aubriee]

We also fly out of DFW....or DAL. Even with bag fees, Southwest is not always the lowest fare. American has become highway robbery as of late.

I've never found Southwest to be cheaper, even including the bag fees that Air Tran and American charges. In fact, Southwest has always been ALOT more expensive. I always check their fares every time I'm searching for airfare, but have yet to purchase through them. They are always at least $100.00 higher than any other airlines that fly out of Dallas.

I knew SW bought AT but I thought AirTran would still exist, no? or is it just stopping service from certain airports?

Southwest will be taking over Air Tran and will be stopping service from certain airports. Dallas is one of those. I don't think anyone in Dallas is happy right now with the situation. Air Tran and American were the only two airlines that had nonstop/direct flights to Orlando. They were able to keep each other in check. Now with Air Tran no longer flying out of Dallas after Nov 22nd, American can charge whatever they want. I fly to Orlando at least four times a year and usually pay $148.00-$198.00. For my upcoming Nov 26th-Dec 4th flight I am paying $277.00 on American. However, I was happy to get that, because except for a couple of days there where they dropped the price, it had been running over $300.00 and that same flight is now $387.40. At the time I bought the $277.00 flight on American, Southwest was running $610.00. That flight now is $549.30 with a layover in Houston. Delta is $300.30 with a layover in Atlanta and Continental is $451.30 with a layover in Chicago. My $277.00 American flight is direct/nonstop to Orlando. Again Southwest is at least $100.00 more than any other airline out of Dallas, plus I'd have to fly out of Lovefield as they can't fly out of DFW.

With Southwest pulling Air Tran out of Dallas, we have lost our cheap airfares, the ability to choose our seats beforehand, our A+ Reward points that made it so easy to upgrade to first class, and the only airline that now has nonstop flights to MCO is American, who can now charge whaterver they want, since Air Tran won't be around to keep their prices in check. I refuse to fly Southwest, but if I did, I'd also have to change airports from DFW to Lovefield.

 

[dioxide45]

With Southwest pulling Air Tran out of Dallas, we have lost our cheap airfares, the ability to choose our seats beforehand, our A+ Reward points that made it so easy to upgrade to first class, and the only airline that now has nonstop flights to MCO is American, who can now charge whaterver they want, since Air Tran won't be around to keep their prices in check. I refuse to fly Southwest, but if I did, I'd also have to change airports from DFW to Lovefield.

I don't think the loss of AirTran from Dallas is the fault of Southwest. It has more to do with politics than anything else. If Southwest was able to fly from DAL, they would.

 

[cheerful chickadee]

I do like AT for their non-stops and prices so I will miss that. We do not have SW out of my home airport so I'm a little worried now that we'll lose AT and have no other "low cost" carrier other than Jetblue which is certainly not low cost lately. Is there any info on what airports will have be stopping service and when?

 

[quirty30]

Also love AT. And I live 3 miles from ORD, but have to drive to MDW or MKE to fly on AT. But I don't mind at all. The aspect of SW that scares me the most is the seating and boarding policy. I always pay extra for my seats on AT and frequently upgrade to Business Class when doing online check-in. And I've found AT employees across the board to be SO customer service oriented.

I hope that SW somehow manages to hold onto some of the best features of AT, but I'm not holding my breath. I will likely go back to flying the major carriers out of ORD.

 

[Inkmahm]

me too! Really wanted to give the reward employees a shout out, they deserve it for going the extra mile for myself and many others

I agree!!! I will miss Airtran so much.

 

[bdoyledimou]

Hold on! I just booked with Disney Vacations yesterday, and they put us on an AirTrans Flight on Sept 22nd out of Buffallo...

Is this still going to be valid? What other changes are happening?!!?

 

[TDC Nala]

I will miss it because some of the direct flights to Orlando from the DC airports will likely disappear or become too expensive. I will not be booking flights that go from DC to Chicago to get to Orlando. I love SW's boarding process though.

I'm already switching to using Jetblue pretty much exclusively.

 

[keishashadow]

I noticed the prices from PIT to MCO are now exactly the same for dates i've been checking later this year & early next

Can't say it's the same across the board in other markets but had a feeling it'd happen.

 

[MindyDean]

Same here. DFW airport is very limited now with direct flights to Orlando. Southwest flies out of Love Field and offers no direct flights to Orlando. I want to get on one plane and arrive 2 hrs. later. Will really miss AirTran. I also liked business class upgrade.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Hold on! I just booked with Disney Vacations yesterday, and they put us on an AirTrans Flight on Sept 22nd out of Buffallo...

Is this still going to be valid? What other changes are happening?!!?

You have tickets on AirTran, and you'll be flying next month on AirTran. At this time, the only thing that's changed is that AirTran is owned by Southwest Airlines, as of May 2, 2011.

For the rest of 2011, there will probably be very few visible changes. But there will a lot of work developing a plan to combine the two airlines into a single airline. The whole process will take several years.

Dallas is served by two commercial airports: Love Field and DFW. A law called the Wright Amendment will require Southwest to discontinue AirTran's service to DFW.

In January 2012, AirTran service will end at a few current AirTran airports: Moline, Asheville, Atlantic City, and Newport News.

For current news about the merger, see Southwest's "Spreading Low Fares Farther" website: http://www.lowfaresfarther.com/

 

[mom2brooke76]

For anyone who might think it, SW no longer has "cattle call" boarding like they used. Still no assigned seats, but now there is, what I consider to be, a very organized boarding system. Here's the explanation of it for those that aren't familiar:

http://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/airport-experience/boarding-school/


Also, just out of curiousity, for those of you that seem to not like Southwest, is it from personal experience or just from things that you've read from others? I flown many airlines and they're my favorite (and yes, I regularly (about 10 times a year) ) fly with a young child and we have never been separated and I've only bought EBCI twice). Plus, I love the fact that their FA's have a sense of humor

 

[Brian Noble]

From DTW on the routes I fly, SW almost never flies non-stop. Essentially, I need to be saving at least an arm, and the better part of a leg, to make a connection when I don't have to. And, usually, either DL or AT has had a non-stop flight that is competitive with SW all-in.

I still fly SW in the odd situation; for example, I recently had a combined business leisure trip DTW->BWI->MCO->DTW, and flew SW on the BWI->MCO leg. I do find the "new" boarding process to be a little unpleasant vs. DL's zone-based boarding with assigned seating, but it's not nearly as bad as the "old" one was.

Finally, SW doesn't have the market on funny FAs cornered. Perhaps my favorite one of all time was on Northwest in the post-9/11 travel slump: "We know you have your choice of bankrupt airlines on which to fly, and we're happy you chose ours."

If SW keeps AT's non-stop DTW/FNT routes, I may start flying them more often. We'll see.

 

[Inkmahm]

For anyone who might think it, SW no longer has "cattle call" boarding like they used. Still no assigned seats, but now there is, what I consider to be, a very organized boarding system. Here's the explanation of it for those that aren't familiar:

http://www.southwest.com/html/customer-service/airport-experience/boarding-school/


Also, just out of curiousity, for those of you that seem to not like Southwest, is it from personal experience or just from things that you've read from others? I flown many airlines and they're my favorite (and yes, I regularly (about 10 times a year) ) fly with a young child and we have never been separated and I've only bought EBCI twice). Plus, I love the fact that their FA's have a sense of humor

I don't have to fly SW to know that they already said they won't have business class seats. I LOVE the business class seats on Airtran.

I also don't have to fly SW to know that they are more expensive flying out of MKE to MCO than Airtran. I was excited when SW finally came to Mke back in late 2009. Then I saw their fares and I was a whole lot less excited. SW is WAY more expensive than Airtran for my travel itinerary.

 

[Traveliz]

I am soooo going to miss the Business Class Seats. I never pay for them between my Airtran Visa, emiles, erewards. Not sure what I will do with those programs after the complete switch.

Liz

I don't have to fly SW to know that they already said they won't have business class seats. I LOVE the business class seats on Airtran.

I also don't have to fly SW to know that they are more expensive flying out of MKE to MCO than Airtran. I was excited when SW finally came to Mke back in late 2009. Then I saw their fares and I was a whole lot less excited. SW is WAY more expensive than Airtran for my travel itinerary.

 

[aubriee]

Also, just out of curiousity, for those of you that seem to not like Southwest, is it from personal experience or just from things that you've read from others? I flown many airlines and they're my favorite (and yes, I regularly (about 10 times a year) ) fly with a young child and we have never been separated and I've only bought EBCI twice). Plus, I love the fact that their FA's have a sense of humor

1. Southwest does not fly out of my preferred DFW airport.

2. Even if I was willing to go over to Dallas Lovefield, their prices are always significantly higher than Air Tran, American, Continental, or Delta. I do check their prices every time I'm looking to book a flight, but have yet to find them even close to the other airlines (even counting the free bags). For example I paid $277.00 for my nonstop flight on American for my Nov/Dec trip. For that same trip Southwest was $619.00. This past May I paid $148.00 for Air Tran. American was $198.00 and Southwest was over $400.00 for that same time. Southwest's prices have never even been close to Air Tran's or American's.

3. Southwest does not fly direct/nonstop to MCO. AirTran did and American does. I hate takeoffs and landings, plus want to get to WDW and back as quickly as possible so always book nonstop flights.

4. Due to claustrophobic issues, I always pay the $15.00 fee to get the aisle seat close to the front of the plane that I need, (if not upgrading to business class). That $15.00 seat also guarantees me Boarding Zone 1, so I'm sure there will be space in the overhead for my carryon. Now to get that seat, I'd have to pay the EBCI fee and pray an aisle seat close to the front is available when I board. I don't like the stress of not knowing.

5. I fly Air Tran enough to accumulate enough A+ Rewards credits that I upgrade to business class for free a couple of times a year. Southwest does not have business class.

6. Air Tran has a wonderful customer service department and some of the friendliest (and funniest) FAs. If your flight changes by just a few minutes, they have no problem moving you to a different flight, a flight on a different day, or even letting you fly out of a different airport at no additional charge (even if the flight they are putting you are on is a more expensive flight).

7. With both Air Tran and American flying nonstop/direct flights to Orlando, they competed for the same customers and kept prices down. With Southwest pulling Air Tran out of Dallas and no other airline having nonstop flights, that counterbalance is gone and now American can charge whatever they want. I paid $148.00 for my May flight, but am paying $277.00 for my Nov/Dec flight and was happy to get that. American had dropped the prices for a few days there and I grabbed it. Up until then that flight had been over $300.00. With Air Tran forcing American to compete with them, I've never had to pay over $220.00 for a r/t flight to MCO and usually get them below $200.00. Thanks to Southwest pulling Air Tran out of Dallas (and the Wright Ammendment) those days are gone.

With Southwest taking over Air Tran, people in Dallas are losing our nonstop flights, our ability to prechoose our seats, ability to upgrade to business class, and oh lets not forget in exchange for losing all of that we are getting to pay alot more money for our flights and if we do decide to fly Southwest we have to change airports to do so. Thanks Southwest!

 

[aubriee]

I am soooo going to miss the Business Class Seats. I never pay for them between my Airtran Visa, emiles, erewards. Not sure what I will do with those programs after the complete switch.

Liz

Like me, you'll probably lose them. I'll be using eight A+ Rewards credits to upgrade r/t to business class for my Sept trip, but since Air Tran will no longer be flying out of Dallas as of Nov 23rd, I won't be able to use them for my Nov/Dec trip. I miss them by three days, since I'm flying out on Nov 26th. I'll just be losing the rest of my A+ Reward credits.

 

[Traveliz]

Like me, you'll probably lose them. I'll be using eight A+ Rewards credits to upgrade r/t to business class for my Sept trip, but since Air Tran will no longer be flying out of Dallas as of Nov 23rd, I won't be able to use them for my Nov/Dec trip. I miss them by three days, since I'm flying out on Nov 26th. I'll just be losing the rest of my A+ Reward credits.

Wish you could give them to me. I think you can donate them though to Make A Wish. I did that once when I had one that was going to expire.

Although I would wait to see what Airtran/SW decides to do with leftover credits etc before making any decisions.

Liz