Any recent AirTran stories?

[DARDEVL'S SURPRISE]

I just purchased my airline tickets for our upcoming November 14-20 trip through AirTran. I haven't flown with them since 2002, when I was less than thrilled with the service, but....I was tempted with the low prices.( I know, I know, you get what you pay for!)

Just wondering if anyone has any recent stories to share about them, good or bad?

Thanks!!

[tundramom]

We fly Airtran yearly, never really had a problem with service. That being said, for $79 one way tix we don't expect much more that the drinks and pretzels. Check in counter is always courteous (my DH is on the "list" so we always have to check in in person- last Nov the employee at Kidani did some extra data entry and said we wouldn't have to deal with that hassle any more-we'll be testing it out in 60 days!). One caveat, we always buy tickets way ahead and do typically experience time changes as the dates approach, if they are significant I call and can usually get something approximate to our original times, but we tend to be quite flexible with these things.

[MindyMouse]

We've flown with them twice last year, both times to Orlando, and had great service. On our way home in June, there was a mix up with our seats (long story) and they didn't have our seats together despite having paid for it. We were upgraded to business class.

We'll fly with them again. Can't beat the prices and the location, non-stop from our local airport.

[doombuggygal]

Our last 5 trips we have flown AirTran and have never had a problem. The prices sure can't be beat!

[tinksmom02]

We flew Airtran last fall and enjoyed the flight, even more so than the Spirit flight we took home. However, Airtran has since stopped running nonstop flights from atlantic city to orlando, which is why we aren't using them for our next trip.

[jillluvsdisney]

We just flew Air Tran our recent August trip. We left on time from Milwaukee and departed on time from Orlando.

I have also flown Air Tran numerous times from Milwaukee to Boston. I've never had any problems/complaints. I had a 2 hour delay last August but that was related to the weather in Boston.

[DARDEVL'S SURPRISE]

Thank you everyone, hopefully our flight will go smoothly this time too

However, Airtran has since stopped running nonstop flights from atlantic city to orlando, which is why we aren't using them for our next trip.

Luckily for us, we live smack dab between Philadelphia and Atlantic City, so its easy to get to either airport, depending on which airline has better prices...in this case AirTran

[Checkers]

We flew AirTran out of BWI in May and flights were fine, however, they changed outgoing flight time by an hour and never notified us. Flying with small children this put us in the air over lunch time which was not a good thing but we packed lunches so it worked out. I heard recently that they have upped their checked luggage fee to $20 per bag, does anyone know if that is true? If so, flying SW seems the way to go from here on out as we have never had a problem with them.

[spoiledraf]

No problem on our last flight but the June trip to Disney was a bummer. Booked four months out for 9 of us. I took the family. 9am flight. They changed it to 10. Ok. They changed it to 11:20. Not happy but nothing else available got us there any earlier. Arrive at airport. No plane. Mechanical problems. Never got out of the airport til after 3. Got to the BC at 6:30 and hungry with cranky kids. By the time we got in our rooms it was too late to do anyting but go to dinner. Basically blew an entire day.

[brownie]

I've flown AirTran a couple times this year for work and have had no complaints. On one of the flights, the pilot did a blues rip on a harmonica to make his initial announcement. They also seem to have some fun with their other announcements, depending on the flight crew.

[g8rgirl29]

A friend and I flew Airtran in January with our two 5yo children. There were several time changes including changing a nonstop flight to a 1 stop flight on the first half of the trip. We ended up taking a flight the night before and staying at a value for one night(we were only going for 4 days so really didnt want to lose the time we would have). The one stop flight they put us on left us with a 40 minute layover in Atlanta. We moved as fast as we could with two children and when we arrived at the gate the attendant very rudely informed us that if we had been one second later she wouldn't have allowed us to board(we didn't even take a pitstop at the restrooms). We had to put our carry on luggage about 8 rows behind us. But we got through it and had a great return nonstop flight. I booked with them again for our upcoming September trip and our return flight has been changed twice. We are now leaving 2 1/2 hours earlier than our original book date. I have had to change our meal reservations for that day already and will now just end up cancelling them. We were not supposed to leave until 9pm, then it changed to 7:25pm, now 6:30pm so now DME will pick us up at 3:30p.
On a good note to Airtran though, I did send out an e-mail with the first change letting them know about our previous experience & displeasure with the current changes to our flight and they gave us assigned seats without a charge. Then when this last change came up my husband called and spoke with customer relations several times and they offered us several different options to make up for our changes. We chose to take an upgrade in seat assignment because we would not be able to use the vouchers they offered within the next year. So even though they have messed up some of our plans they did go out of their way to try to make us happy.

[MickeyandTink]

Interesting timing on your post. I just got an e-mail from airtran a few hours ago informing me that our return flight from Orlando to DFW, originally booked to depart at 5:03 pm, change in Atlanta, and arrive DFW at 8:44, has now been changed to leave Orlando at 4:00 pm, have a 4 1/2 layover in Atlanta, and arrive DFW at 11:26 pm.

It's bad enough losing at hour at WDW, but the extremely late arrival time now means trying to keep two young kids happy for over four hours in an airport, dealing with luggage for four and two (likely) sleeping children when we arrive at nearly midnight, and paying for a very expensive taxi ride to my parent's house (since my mom is afraid to drive late at night).

Hopefully we can make better arrangements when I call them tonight.

[MickeyandTink]

Talked to AirTran last night and although still getting in later than had planned (now 10:20), at least it is a non-stop so no layover issues and get four more hours at the World before having to leave.

I'm satisfied
(Now, hopefully, no more changes)

[BigRedDad]

There are no real issues with AirTran in general. However, their schedules are about as solid as water. Just be prepared for possible flight schedule changes, lay over changes, etc. If you do not care about those uncertainties, there is nothing to be concerned with.

[bouncer]

I have to deal with their flight time change for our December trip also. When I first booked our return flight was a non stop from MCO to MKE at 5:30pm getting back home at 7:45. They eliminted that flight and gave the option to have a 1 stop at Baltimore and not getting in until 10 pm. Other option was to leave later and get in at again 10 pm on a non stop or to leave at 9:45 am. Which I reluctantly chose to do for possible weather/flight scenarios. I don't like taking last flight out and keeping fingers crossed. So we pretty much lost our last day also. Don't think that I'll book though Airtran again.

[BellesRose]

I'm flying Airtran at the end of the month...hopefully it will all be ok. No changes yet! I recently flew Delta and was very disappointed.

[Jared]

I have used AirTran in and out of eight different airports -- LGA, HPN, SWF, BOS, MEM, PHF, TPA, MCO -- and have never had anything but a fine experience. I rarely book flights far in advance, so I have never dealt with a schedule change with them. I understand that is the airline's most frequent complaint.

I always compliment AirTran's customer service department, which helped out of a jam a couple years ago. I was scheduled to fly from Memphis, Tenn., to LaGuardia Airport in New York on Delta, but bad weather in the Northeast resulted in a flight cancellation. Meanwhile, I was supposed to fly from LaGuardia to Orlando, Fla., the next morning on AirTran.

Delta put me on a later flight in Memphis back to New York, but I feared weather would affect that one as well.

I called AirTran and explained the entire situation. The agent put me on a flight that afternoon directly from Memphis to Orlando and waived the change fee. I even received a $25 credit to make up the difference between the two flights!

Because my itinerary with Delta had been canceled, I received a full refund and arrived in Orlando an entire day before I was supposed to.

Thanks, AirTran!

[PinKy]

We use AirTran almost exclusively (except when they don't fly to our intended destination) and have always had a great experience with them. Even when there were delays (due to weather) or other plane issues - we've always been nicely compensated. The also have good customer service over the phone - a rarity these days! (we're booking them this week for our 2011 trip) Enjoy your trip!

[PinKy]

oh! I should add - if its just that you're used to flying more business/first class etc - you might try just upgrading when you check in 24-hours prior to your trip. Its quite affordable and you get a much larger seat and more leg room + snacks.

[Dopey's Girl]

For the most part I don't really have a problem with Airtran, my last 10 or so flights have been with them. They do change flight times on you about a million times, which is really annoying! The last time they moved me to a different flight than the 2 people I was traveling with (even though we were all booked on the same reservation)...even the people on the phone at Airtran weren't sure how that happened!

Southwest is new to my area of the world, so I'm trying them now. We are going for a week before Christmas, and I knew I couldn't get by without checking a bag for bringing home gifts!