Would you take a chance on AirTran?

[Sammy]

With so many horror stories of cancelled and changed flights, would you still book AirTran if the price was right? They seem to have lower prices available for our December trip....much lower than SW or JB. Our schedule doesn't allow for a lot of flexibility, so I'm worried about flight changes. Any thoughts?

 

[RumpleMom]

I like AirTran. They do change schedule times for our non-stop flight, but never by more than 30 minutes or so.

I had to cancel a ticket for a family member who was too ill to fly and they gave me a full credit because the cardiologist wrote a note.

Now that we have an Owner's Locker, we fly with carry-ons and avoid the baggage fee.

 

[Missytara]

I fly them every year, and neither of my flights has ever been changed....

 

[Darcy03231]

I booked with Airtran for our December trip. Flights were $74/each way and I had the $25 off coupons so it definitely made it the most inexpensive option for us.

 

[Lewisc]

You're flying from the NE to FL in December? I hope your schedule is flexible enough to accommodate not just schedule changes but also weather related delays.

I wouldn't plan on going to a hard ticketed event at a park the day I arrive.. I might chance it if I booked the first flight of the day. I certainly wouldn't book a flight scheduled to land at even 1p and pre-pay for a hard ticketed event. A schedule change OR a flight delay will cause problems. No problem booking an ADR that is penalty free if you don't show up.

 

[crashbb]

Honestly, I worry about any airline if I have little flexibility. Not so much for schedule changes, but delays/cancellations on the day of the flight.

How tight is your flexibility?

 

[Lewisc]

NOT THIS POSTER but we've seen many thread titles complaining about XXX Airline ruining their vacation. Read the post and a schedule change of only a few hours made it impossible for them to get to the MK in time for XXXX party.

Scheduling anything critical the day you arrive is a mistake. Scheduling anything within 4-6 hours of your scheduled arrival time is crazy.

 

[aubriee]

With so many horror stories of cancelled and changed flights, would you still book AirTran if the price was right? They seem to have lower prices available for our December trip....much lower than SW or JB. Our schedule doesn't allow for a lot of flexibility, so I'm worried about flight changes. Any thoughts?

I have reservations with Air Tran for both my Sept/Oct and my Dec trips. I also just flew them this past May and also last Jan and last Sept. Other than an occasional small change in time, I've never had a problem with them.

 

[robinb]

Sure, I would have no problem booking with Airtran. All airlines change flights so it's not a big deal.

 

[MariDisney]

We love Air Tran and try not to fly anyone else. I have never had a bad experience with them. All airlines change flights and have cancellations. (maybe Southwest doesn't change flight, I seem to remember something about that) The customer service I've had with Airt Tran has been amazing.

 

[Sammy]

You're flying from the NE to FL in December? I hope your schedule is flexible enough to accommodate not just schedule changes but also weather related delays.

I wouldn't plan on going to a hard ticketed event at a park the day I arrive.. I might chance it if I booked the first flight of the day. I certainly wouldn't book a flight scheduled to land at even 1p and pre-pay for a hard ticketed event. A schedule change OR a flight delay will cause problems. No problem booking an ADR that is penalty free if you don't show up.

LOL...just for some clarification: I just meant that with DD's college exam schedule and DH's work schedule, we aren't flexible in being able to move the dates around too much. Because we can't leave even one day earlier, I would hate to have our flight cancelled and moved to an even later one. If the weather turns on us (exactly the reason we are taking trip insurance out for the very first time), I guess we'll just have to deal with that as it comes.

I would never take a chance and book a hard-ticketed event on an arrival day...that's just asking for trouble!

Thanks for all the replies! If the price is indeed right, I guess we'll take the chance!

Darcy: What were the $25 coupons?

 

[cbrfan]

LOL...just for some clarification: I just meant that with DD's college exam schedule and DH's work schedule, we aren't flexible in being able to move the dates around too much. Because we can't leave even one day earlier, I would hate to have our flight cancelled and moved to an even later one. If the weather turns on us (exactly the reason we are taking trip insurance out for the very first time), I guess we'll just have to deal with that as it comes.

I would never take a chance and book a hard-ticketed even on an arrival day...that's just asking for trouble!

Thanks for all the replies! If the price is indeed right, I guess we'll take the chance!

Darcy: What were the $25 coupons?

I'm not Darcy, but I'll jump in here. If you go to www.airtran.com/sunshine and enter your e-mail, AT will e-mail you a code for $25 off your flight. Some here (myself included) have used multiple e-mails to get more than one coupon for additional passengers and/or flights.

 

[kristenrice]

I live 15 minutes from the Grand Rapids airport but I will gladly drive 2.5 hours to Detroit so I can fly AirTran!

I used the $25 coupons (had one sent to me and one to my 6 year old DD) and I was able to book round trip to Orlando for a total of $69.20!

I am hoping that they move my inbound flight earlier (but it is currently scheduled for a 1:40pm departure so it is not too late) and I REALLY hope they move my return flight later. I am not looking forward to a 10:30am flight, but since I need to be back in GR at a reasonable time (kids have school in the morning) I can tolerate the early flight.

Just keep an eye on their schedules and call them as soon as you see a time change that won't work for you. They will let you switch to a different flight for no charge. For our June trip (2009) I had booked the afternoon non-stop for $59 even though I wanted the morning non-stop ($129). I was OK with the afternoon flight, but I was hoping that it would change times so that I could get the morning flight. When I saw that it changed by 13 minutes, I called and they gave me the morning flight at no charge. Every time AT has changed my times, it has ended up working out to my advantage in the end so I have no complaints. You just have to be prepared and know your options if they make changes on you.

 

[CanadianPaco]

Take a chance? We've had more problems with other airlines but never with Air Trans! For customer service they are great!

 

[mlayton14]

We flew Airtrain last year from PHL ... no problems whatsoever.

 

[bear_mom]

I live 15 minutes from the Grand Rapids airport but I will gladly drive 2.5 hours to Detroit so I can fly AirTran!

If I were you, I would look into flying AT out of Flint instead of Detroit. Much easier and usually not any more expensive.



We have flown AT and Northwest and have had many more schedule changes with Northwest than AT.

Emily

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I would not. We got burned by them last year and I wouldn't take a chance again. To me, it's worth paying a little more for the peace of mind not having to constantly check back to make sure my schedule hasn't changed. (they never notified me of the changes so I found out about them on my own when I was checking their site)

 

[PoohsFan1]

I booked with Airtran for our December trip. Flights were $74/each way and I had the $25 off coupons so it definitely made it the most inexpensive option for us.

We got the same deal for our December trip. We normally fly AA but they didn't have a flight schedule that we liked (we always fly nonstop and they didn't have any). So since my In-laws swear by Airtran, my DH checked them out and was amazed by the deals that they had. I will let you know, come December, if we will be flying Airtran again.

 

[hsmamato2]

we've flown airtran from the NE to Fl every winter for a few years.they are great,flights have never altered more then a few mintues,and they always leave the gate earlier than planned,we are NEVER late! they are pretty good as far as we're concerned,and the rates are great!

 

[kristenrice]

If I were you, I would look into flying AT out of Flint instead of Detroit. Much easier and usually not any more expensive.



We have flown AT and Northwest and have had many more schedule changes with Northwest than AT.

Emily

I do like that Flint is closer, but the nonstop outbound flight is at 7am and the return nonstop doesn't get in until 11pm (or something like that). It would be necessary to spend two nights in a hotel, before and after the flight, since we would not want to drive in that early or drive home that late.

Detroit usually has two non-stops to choose from. For our upcoming trip, we've opted to drive over the night before and take the 1ish flight. We could have chose the 6ish flight and skipped the hotel stay. I prefer the first option because we do not have to worry about traffic causing us to miss our plane.