Booked Airline..Air Tran any info ?

[disneycouple2004]

:D..Finally jumped in and purchased our airline tickets for our Dec trip. :mad: it was very stressful...i can't believe how much the airlines have raised their fares in less than one year.:mad:...unreal..all the cheaper fares have multi-stops..layovers..etc..this is my first experience with AIR TRAN...any input would be helpful...anyway all thats left to do now is Magical Express and pack our bags !!:thumbsup:

see you at Christmas !!!
Lonny & Tammy
3yr wedding annv.at the World !!

[AmberB]

We've flown AirTran from DFW for our last two trips. Its a no-frills discount airline, so don't expect luxury, but we haven't had any problems either.

On our last trip, they made you use the automated check in, then go to the desk to check your bags too. I really didn't understand that. They are strict on the 50 lb weight limit per bag, but they usually let you pull your bags to the side, repack, then go to the next available agent when you're finished.

I don't recall any problems with boarding.

In flight you'll get a cup of soft drink, not the whole can, and a small bag of pretzels. My young son (2.5 and 3.5 on our trips) sometimes got extra snacks. We always take our own snacks (they help keep the boy in a good mood).

Its pretty much like flying on Southwest Airlines, but I would say the flight crew is usually a little less enthusiastic.

We're repeat customers, but its because they're the cheapest.

[disneycouple2004]

Thanks Amber..
That makes me feel better about my choice..
its about what i expected from a discount airline..we use DFW also..thanks again for the info:thumbsup:

[Mary Chase]

If I could find the deal on Airtran that I found on Continental and had the flight times I want and no layovers, I'd go to Airtran in a minute. Mainly it's because they fly out of a small airport (CAK) which I prefer to Clevland. We've only had a problem once - I would recommend you definitely check your flights before you leave. They told us they emailed us before our trip to tell us they put us on an earlier flight, so we ended up sitting around in Orlando airport for 6 hours with a 2 year old. We got air vouchers and vouchers for food, but were still upset. However, Continental also did something I didn't like - they canceled our flight home (which I specifically picked b/c it was late and I wanted another day at the parks). But we are now scheduled to fly home at 12:53 pm - so no airline is perfect I guess. I like Airtran - I just wish they had a deal for when I am going.

[disneycouple2004]

Well i guess i better call ahead and check my flights for sure...we are doing the same thing..late flight out for a extra day in the parks..
thanks Mary
:thumbsup:

[E-Ticket4]

I have booked Airtran for our trip this Sept. I was out checking on my reservation and noticed that the return time was now 2 hours earlier than what I had booked. I emailed Airtran and about a week later got a response that they do try to notify everyone of changes. About another 2 weeks after that I got an official email notifying me of the change and included a link for me to accept the change. It's not the worst, but we are now missing an extra 2 hours at the parks - but still by far the cheapest, and is non-stop.

[teambricker04]

We are a traveling family... we have flown on many different carriers as my husband works for an airline.

We fly Air Tran generally when we buy tix (Not the airline my Hubby works for). I like the fact that, unlike SW, you get your seat before racing onto the flight. I have never had an unfriendly or unhelpful crew member. Seeing as you are flying to FL, I imagine they are use to the Disney crowds traveling, and thusly, families. Plus, if you ever want to go at the last minute, you can get great deals at the counter at the airport with Air Tran.

Some of the complaints the others have could happen on any airline.

[wdwnomad]

I've flown AirTran on my last two trips to Disney and am using them again this year. I really like the airline. I've never had a problem flying with them. Always have arrived and left on time. They have XM radio on the plane which is nice. Food and drinks are just like another other airline. Planes are fairly new too from what I hear. Employees have always been friendly and helpful. This year, I am really looking forward to using RAC when leaving. Shelping kids and bags through the airport isn't really fun. Another good thing about them that they do is if your airfare does down they will give you a credit for the difference if you call them.

The only negative thing I have to say about them is they LOVE to move their schedule around. I don't know how many times they have moved things around on me. They say they notify you but only a couple of times have they really. To fix that once a week I check the schedule and reservation to make sure nothing has changed. Once they changed a flight big time but I had no problem calling them and asking them to move it to something else.

[pogo]

We've flown Air Tran just once, but loved it. On time and no problems.

We are looking forward to flying them again next April, I hope. :D

[KellAnneL]

My September flight was changed 3 times in as many weeks. Waiting for more changes before we leave in 15 days....:(

I have't flown AirTran, but my children have. Their favorite part is listening to Radio Disney on the XM radio in-seat.

Kellie

[KEYONNAH]

I fly Air Tran everytime I travel. I'm registered on their site so they email me when they have deals. The stewardess gave my niece and nephew wings pins when we flew to Disney in 2006 since it was their first time flying. I've never had a major problem that was their fault.

[poeticeclipse]

I've flown with Air Tran twice and enjoyed my time both times.

The first time we didn't have any last minute schedule switches. As people have said before... you do get soft drinks and cookies. Pretzels are for first class. Alcoholic drinks are, of course, at a cost to coach seated guests. During our returning flight, I noticed a stewardess messing with her pink Razor the whole time. Even during the time when you're not allowed to be on your cell. I would turn around to look at her and she'd snap her phone shut. Kind of upset me... if something had gone wrong with the plane I would have wondered...

This past May we traveled with Air Tran again. MUCH more rewarding experience. On our flight down to Orlando, the stewardesses all were whispering amongst themselves and pointing at us (we had our bride and groom ears one). One then told us that if they had extra seats up in first class they wanted us to have them. They also gave us wine on the house! On the way back to Michigan, we got buckled into our seats and a few minutes before take off.. a steward "ooohed and ahhhed" over us. He told us "after the captain takes of the seatbelt sign.. move up to two first class seats!" So, we did! We also ended up chatting with him because he knows TONS about Disney since he works there part time.

[Tinkerfreak]

Wow we are flying AirTran for the first time in October and now I am worried that they will mess with our flight schedules. I guess I will have to keep checking our flights to make sure they have not changed anything. I am not so worried about the way down because we are not doing a park the first day and are just going to chill by the pool. I would hate to be bumped to a later flight on the way back home because my kids will have school the next day. I don't mind earlier just not later.

[Mrs Grumpy]

We might end up using Air Tran on our next trip just because they have the latest flight out of our home town and we need an evening flight. All I keep hearing is how much they change their schedules. I know this is common on most airlines but when you say they change the time are you talking 30 minutes or hours.

Thanks!

[KellAnneL]

The flight that I booked for was leaving Indianapolis at 7:05 pm and arriving at Orlando at 10:35. Our new flight leave Indy at 3:15 pm and arrives at Orlando at 5:45. BIG CHANGE.

We were going to do....straight to our room, getting free dining for the extra night, and waking up fresh for the MK the next morning. Now we'll play by the pool and enjoy POFQ for the evening.

[EmisDisneyMom]

We have been using AirTran for a few years now (as soon as they started flying out of Kansas City). We had never had a problem with them changing out flights until last Oct. when I was on a cruise. I was "checking-in" online from the ship and noticed the flight time had been changed from 1pm to 9am. I won't be off the ship yet! When we get to the counter to explain why we missed our flight they wanted to charge us a service fee. "Let me talk to a manager." Everything got taken care of and they put us on a 1pm flight! Ohter than that the 15-20 flights we have had with them have been good and unchanged.

[DisneyDudet]

My first experience with them was amazing. Great people, left early, arrived 45 min early!! Amazing!

My parents flew with them to Atlanta. We will never fly with them again. They left on time, but sat on the runway, KNOWING that most people were connecting in Atlanta. Mom and dad said there were no other planes waiting. So, they notified someone to say that they will miss their connecting flight. My parents were told that they would hold it, as they would only be a few min late. The gate attendant told them to RUN to get to the OTHER END OF THE TERMINAL. As they get there... its pulling away. 15 other people missed that flight. They were going to book them on another flight to S. Carolina, but they decided to drive. They rented a car, and beat the flight there.

On the way back, they left late, because there was a line on the runway. Happens to any airline, ok. But the crew was very rude and would snap at guests. They don't want to fly with them again.

Before the Atlanta debacle, we were booked on AirTran for our Oct trip to WDW. Well, after reading that others had their flight times changed, I checked. And sure enough our 7pm flight was changed to 3pm leaving Orlando. Thats a good chunk of time right there! We would also be arriving into Orlando later than originally planned. We emailed them. No response. We never got a notification, but plenty of spam from them! So we canceled our flight with money back b/c they changed the schedule, and booked with American for 5 bucks more, but we get 3 extra hours in Orlando than the ORIGINAL time!

Unless we have to, I guess we're not flying AirTran!

[disneycouple2004]

Well overall i guess its a :thumbsup:
other than changing flight times and some mishaps(other airlines have those too). I have called them a couple of times already, moving my seats etc..and i received a email already about a flight time change leaving FL. but its later so no problem..so far so good..guess i will let everyone know how it went after Christmas..thanks for all the posts !!..
see ya at Disneyworld:D
Lonny

[poeticeclipse]

Our schedule change was about 10 minutes difference.. no big change at all.

[MickeyandTink]

I have booked Airtran for our trip this Sept. I was out checking on my reservation and noticed that the return time was now 2 hours earlier than what I had booked. I emailed Airtran and about a week later got a response that they do try to notify everyone of changes. About another 2 weeks after that I got an official email notifying me of the change and included a link for me to accept the change. It's not the worst, but we are now missing an extra 2 hours at the parks - but still by far the cheapest, and is non-stop.


Based on all the posts I've seen, it appears Airtran moves up the scheduled flight times quite often after booking. They did that to us on our Sept. flight back from Orlando as well and never notified us. However, we were able to cancel that portion of the trip (after a couple of lengthy phone calls) and rebook on American at about the same original time at the same rate we booked on Airtran. We also got a credit for most of the fare difference when we found out they had reduced fares after we booked on the outbound flight to MCO.

This will be the first time we've flown Airtran so I'm withholding final judgement until our trip, but so far I've got no major complaints.

[tundramom]

We use Airtran every chance we get. I think the whole changing your flight time things is not a rarity anymore but more the norm. Delta has changed our return flight 7 times since we purchased in Jan. Our Airtran flight down (direct) was also changed but now we arrive earlier! Unlike other airlines we've used we've never had a damage or lost bag claim with Airtran. DH swears we're never using Delta again after this Oct. The only thing I don't care for on Airtran is the Biscoff (snack) it tastes like a dog biscuit to me!;)

[BigRedDad]

I only flew them twice: once as Value Jet and once as AirTran. Both times were great. What was even better on one trip, I landed for my layover 2 hours before my next leg. The ticket girl said she had room on the current flight and booked me on that one. I got home almost 3 hours early.