Has anyone flown Air Tran?

[RizzoLee]

Good evening!

 

Has anyone flown Air Tran before? A little nervous about this flight-have never flown a 'charter' before, am a little worried about our flight being cancelled due to not having enough passengers. We (there are 4 of us) got an amazing deal though, so I'm sure that won't be the case-I'm also worried it will be the exact opposite, as in we get bumped from our seats due to the fact that they're overbooked. We booked online with their Web Special, will be signing in online 24 hours in advance as well (same routine once on the ship for the return)-I assume we have e-tickets, since the site didn't mention tickets being mailed to us.

 

Our flight leaves at 4:44 p.m. on January 27 out of Buffalo, layover in Atlanta, landing in Fort Lauderdale 11:03pm. There are 2 other flights leaving at the same time out of Buffalo with Air Tran, both with stopovers in Atlanta, landing in Fort Lauderdale at 10pm and 12am. Flight back on Feb 4th is about the same timing and itinerary, and flights are sold out now.

 

Anybody have any experience here, negative or positive? Anything feedback would be appreciated-our TA has only had 1 client deal with Air Tran, but it was a positive experience, so hasn't been much help!

 

Thanks so much!

[parody]

A little nervous about this flight-have never flown a 'charter' before, am a little worried about our flight being cancelled due to not having enough passengers.

 

I am not sure what you mean by "charter" as AirTran is a regular, commercial airline formerly known as Valujet. You really have little to worry about when it comes to cancellations. The Air Travel Consumer Report issued in January 2006 by the US DOT indicates that their percentage of cancelled flights for November 2005 was 0.5% (http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/2006/january/0601atcr.pdf) while the overall industry average (for the top 20 US carriers) was 1.0%. In terms of passengers flown, they are about the eighth largest in the US. If you desire to read more about what others think of this airline, go to http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/airtran.htm

[RizzoLee]

My TA said it was a charter-as in the fact that if there's not enough passengers they can cancel the flight. :D

 

Thanks-I know a bit about Canadian airlines, but nothing about American, lol.

[parody]

My TA said it was a charter-as in the fact that if there's not enough passengers they can cancel the flight. :D

 

This sounds like a good, humorous definition of a "charter airline" :). The definition from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_airline) is: A charter airline is one that operates charter flights, that is flights that take place outside normal schedules, by a hiring arrangement with a particular customer.

[RizzoLee]

Read through that link-I feel more comfortable about the price we got now. :D $69 one way, $79 home! Came to just over $700 for 4 of us. :)

 

Any ideas on overbooking though? With the idea that there's 2 other flights at the same time as ours, I feel a little better. I'll check in at the beginning of that 24 hour online window-though a thread on the Carnival board was saying that won't guarantee you seats if it's sold out, lol.

[bosteph]

I have flown AirTran multiple times with connections through Atlanta. No problems, no delays, no stress - they are a pretty good airline.

 

Good luck. :)

[parody]

Any ideas on overbooking though?

 

Well, the US DOT report cited earlier gives all sorts of statistics on overbooking or what they call "involuntary denied boardings". On that score, AirTran does very well. For the period January through September 2005, their rate was 0.47 per 10,000 passengers while the industry average was 0.90 per 10,000 passengers. This puts them the fifth best out of 19 top airlines.

[Enchantment 04]

They are a good airline! I fly them a lot from NY to VA to visit family. They are by no means a charter airline.

[hdawson]

AirTran is an excellent "scheduled" airline. I've flown them many times and in fact they are my line of choice. One of the two youngest fleet of aircraft. Average age of planes is 3.5 yrs. Ranked second in service for 2004. They are not in financial difficulty and in fact adding many new planes and cities served.

[ISLABONITA]

They have direct flights from Roc to Tampa or Orlando.

[AuntieBon]

I have flown AirTran multiple times with connections through Atlanta. No problems, no delays, no stress - they are a pretty good airline.

 

Good luck. :)

 

I check them first whenever I need to travel. I had a good friends mom pass away and got a good price for a flight two days later. No guaging on the short notice was a pleasant surprise. another trip I got to the airport early and they got me on the next flight instead of insisting I wait for my scheduled one. Love them!

[msolberg]

We have flown AirTran many times and have never had any problems.

 

 

Have a great trip.

 

Diane

[JJPNYC]

I have flown AirTran a few times. Overall very positive experiences. My only gripe would be is that their seat pitch in coach is a very sub-standard 30" (most airlines are 31-33"). What this means is an extremely tight fit if you're 5'11" or above like I am.

[parody]

their seat pitch in coach is a very sub-standard 30"

 

Yes, this is true for the 717s that AirTran operates although the 737s that are being introduced have a seat pitch of 31". My understanding is that they anticipate acquiring 100 of these aircraft.

[RizzoLee]

Excellent! Thanks everyone! We're planning a Vegas trip in August... using AirTran since everyone gives them such wonderful feedback. :D $700/CDN for 7 days including hotel in Vegas, thank you very much, lol!

 

So, I'm safe to assume that I have e-tickets then, since I booked online, right? They never said anything about mailing us anything, I assume I just check in 24 hours in advance with our confirmation numbers, print off the boarding passes and just head to the airport?

 

JJPNYC-it's great that we're all 5'9" and shorter, eh? lol.