Air Tran? Can I trust it?

[mouseketeer mom]

We usually fly Continental, sometimes Jet Blue. Well, I found a flight on Air Tran for a future trip out of Allentown, PA that is less expensive. Is it worth flying this unknown airline to me? Anyone used them?

[JenniferS.]

We have been on AirTran!! It was great! They make tons of jokes when on the mic to talk to the passengers! The only thing is when we went they changed our flight from a direct flight to one with connections. They happily helped us switch to another flight. I guess it can happen with any airline. I had a good flight experience with them.

[gaffz70]

We have always used AirTran and never had a bad experience. I'm pretty sure they have been bought by southwest. For now, airtran is still booking flights, but i am not sure when southwest will completely take over.

[Pirate Granny]

Southwest bought Air Tran...will be final in April

[sanaj2000]

Weve flown airtran several times. Great flight, great snacks, and great experiences. My only downside is that the seats are a bit tight.

[wildernesslady]

I have flown Airtran a couple of times and never had a problem. Flying out of Allentown is nice also since it's less crowded.

[MadMadamMim]

I live 10 minutes from the Allentown airport (ABE). Airtran is a fine airline, ABE is small but effective, I always fly out of there to Disney!

[Tink1]

I just returned from WDW. We always fly Airtran from ABE! Nice small airport, non-stop flights and cheaper parking. Never had a problem with them.


Hoping SW keeps planes there

Nanc

[azcavalier]

Yes, do it. We used to fly AirTran nonstop from Bloomington, IL to MCO when we lived in Illinois. AirTran is the *best* discount airline we've ever used. The planes were nice, free satellite radio built in to the seat (so the kids can listen to Radio Disney on the way to WDW!), decent snacks, and the stewards/stewardesses made a fun atmosphere.

[Madame Leona]

We've flown Air Tran several times with no issues. If they had the best price, I wouldn't have a problem in the world flying with them again.

[mouseketeer mom]

Oh this is great!! Thanks everyone for all your responses! I feel way less worried now and feel more confident about booking this airline. I liked hearing about Allentown Airport too which is another unknown for me.

[KatrinaJ91]

We always fly out of Pittsburgh and always fly AirTran. They are great and always the least expensive. They are our first choice when booking air.

[Goofster]

We've used AirTran a number of times on our trips to Orlando over the last decade. Great airline and I was disapointed to see it bought by Southwest, which, IMHO, is an awful discount airline.

[DVC2004]

We've flown them many times with no issue. No frills, but on time and great fares. SW bought them out. I used to have their frequent flier reewards and I would use those to sit in business class once in a while. They are good.

[buzznwoodysmom]

Lisa,
We haven't flown in ages, but back when we did fly we almost always flew Air Tran. We never had any issues! Looks like you got nothing but good replies so far.

[ThanxForNoticin]

I think you'll be fine with your decisions - both flying Airtran and also flying out of ABE. It's a great airport to get in and out. Over the years, we have flown Airtran (usually from ABE, in fact). Like some other airlines, the only problem we've had with them is they sometimes will change the flight times on you after you book. But overall, they've provided good service at a good price.

[Checkers]

Be forewarned that AirTran is discontinuing flights from many of their smaller airports. In our local paper today it stated that AT will discontinue its nonstop flights beginning Aug. 12from Harrisburg & Allentown in PA, Lexington, Ky, Sarasota, FL, Huntsville, AL, & White Plains, NY.

We always flew AT out of Harrisburg because the flights were nonstop and the price was right. I guess we will be driving to BWI unless HIA can get another carrier. It stated that these flights were the most popular out of HIA but I guess that didn't seem to matter to Southwest.

[ThanxForNoticin]

Thank you for the update. That is very disappointing news. I really hope that somewhere in the plans for Southwest to absorb Airtran, they decide to fly Southwest planes from some of these small airports to Orlando. It will be a huge disappointment if they just dump the flights totally.

Do you know if the Airtran flights are stopping completely, or just the nonstop flights? Might they still fly ABE to Orlando, but make you stop someplace like Atlanta?

Thanks again for the info.

[Checkers]

Thank you for the update. That is very disappointing news. I really hope that somewhere in the plans for Southwest to absorb Airtran, they decide to fly Southwest planes from some of these small airports to Orlando. It will be a huge disappointment if they just dump the flights totally.

Do you know if the Airtran flights are stopping completely, or just the nonstop flights? Might they still fly ABE to Orlando, but make you stop someplace like Atlanta?

Thanks again for the info.

It is my understanding that AT flights will be discontinued period. This was SW's decision and SW doesn't fly out of Harrisburg and I'm fairly certain they don't fly out of ABE either. I haven't tried yet but I am sure you can fly USAir out of Harrisburg but you will have a stop in Charlotte, NC. What makes this so unattractive is it takes you all day just to get there and you lose a day (or 2) of your vacation.

[ThanxForNoticin]

No, Southwest doesn't fly out of Harrisburg or ABE. That's really what I was hoping was going to happen - Southwest would take over the Airtran routes from those airports. But I guess since they already fly out of Philly and Newark and Baltimore, they figure they don't need to have crews in the smaller airports. That is very disappointing.

Maybe someone else will pick up the nonstops from these airports to Orlando.

Thanks again for the info.