Air Info.... Help Please!!!

[NotADude]

I am getting ready to book the airfare for my upcoming cruise and I vaguely remember reading something on this board to avoid AirTran or another airline. Please let me know which airline has been the problem!!! Thanks so much.

 

- Terry

[Jojiboy]

For what it's worth, we used AirTran when we flew to Tampa for our Inspiration cruise on August 15th. We went from San Francisco to Atlanta, Atlanta to Tampa and amazingly all 6 of our checked luggage made it to Tampa at the same time we did.

[mcboo]

Have never had a problem with Airtran. Great low-fare carrier. I would use them.

[imsulin]

ALL airlines have had problems. ALL airlines have produced their share of "disgruntled" fliers. One doesn't necessarily stick out more than another. Personally, I use AirTran from Atlanta quite often, and have never had a problem with it.

[MSUSigmaK]

We have never had a problem with Airtran. Most of their planes are new. Upgrading at the airport is reasonable and worth the extra leg room. Prices are great.

[jakedoc]

Never had a problem with Airtran. Flew them from Milwaukee-Miami/Fort Lauderdale quite a few times. Their fleet consist of newer 717's.

[Jodyflower]

I've never used AirTran but I have always had bad luck with US Air (as well as quite a few people I know!) But as stated above, every airline has had an instance where there will be a disgruntled passenger. US Air has a reputation for being late and canceling flights, which is something I unfortunately had a personal experience with recently going to Aruba, as well as my father (recently) and a friend (recently). They also have a very poor check-in procedure which takes forever at Logan Airport (Boston), which is why they have to delay or cancel flights from there. They also happen to have very rude employees that work for them, not one, but many of them have poor public relations skills. I recently booked a flight for my 1/05 RCCL cruise through travelocity on Delta Song and pray I don't have a similar experience with them. Have not had bad experiences with any other airlines and I've traveled on quite a few different ones. Good luck to you and enjoy your cruise!:)

[critter944]

I have been using Airtran for years for my cruises - have had good luck and bad luck, however i have had good and bad with Northwest as well........it is all a chance you take but Airtran can usually give you the most times to work with - but i would never fly in the day of the cruise due to change overs they do delay VERY often. If you are having a Sat. stayover Northwest has even beaten Airtran and they are always direct flights - go to the direct websites, avoid travelocity or orbitz or any of those that charge a fee - go directly to the source.

[Nasmas]

I've never flown AirTran but just about every other airline and we've had more problems with Delta than any other line flying. Their staff at FLL were the rudest I've ever encountered. We got to Atlanta last year (after a cruise) at 11:00 pm and were told we'd been bumped. That's when we decided never to use cruise air again. Seems the ticket we paid $500+ for was only worth $40 if we wanted to exchange it. I will avoid Delta at all costs. This wasn't the first time we'd had trouble with them and if we'd picked our own we wouldnt' have been with them then. I know some people will say Delta is the best, but not for me. I know they all have problems but when someone is rude to me, I'm finished with them. We'd seen it happen to other people before. Its no wonder they are verging on bankruptcy.

[traveller99]

Whatever airline you use, as posted above, they can have problems getting you there when you want (or need) to be there. Many times no one airline is at fault, since the domino theory prevails. ALWAYS go in a day early. To read up on a stressed out "travel day", read my cruise review on my website.

http://members.cox.net/rridgely/Review.htm

[serene56]

Rob: I know the feeling of almost missing a cruise by a matter of mere minutes. How long did it take for you to destress??? We boarded at 3:55 for a 4:00 cruise. That cruise took off as soon as we boarded. It took me until Tuesday some time to not feel the stress no more.. But at least I was onboard.

Because of my near miss- I now take a list of all flights going to the same place I am during the time I am flying. It sure will save time going from counter to counter.

[NotADude]

Thanks so much to everyone! I remember reading a thread on here some months ago about an airline that was notorious for cancelling flights at the last minute if there weren't enough passengers. From what I'm reading here, it wasn't AirTran that was spoken about.

 

Hugs, Terry

[traveller99]

serene56, It really didn't take too long. Just being on board helped as did Pina Coladas for the sailing. We had an informal group from CC and one of them showed up at the same bar not 10 minutes after we got there. We were all to meet at 9pm in the Wheelhouse Bar, after muster, for our first get-together. Needless to say we were still in the air at that point. We finally all met up on Wednesday. no biggie...:p

[Nitemare]

AirTran used to be ValuJet, they had 1 crash in the Everglades, blamed on faulty loading of cargo, if I recall correctly.

[MSUSigmaK]

You are correct. I believe it was oxygen tanks that should not have been loaded onto the plane.

[rockymo]

I believe the original post refered to was mine. The airline in question was ATA and its operation at Midway in Chicago. If this applies to you, you might

want to look at Chicago media reports to follow the story. The short of the story is that because of financial problems the analysts are saying ATA needs to either reduce flights or scale back service somewhere or there will be a bankruptcy in near future. Who knows what that means. The report I read said the crunch time is the first quarter of 2005 which is when I had just booked 6 people to fly to San Juan (in Feb). So TA suggested changing booking to another carrier so we didn't have to lose sleep over it. We liked the ATA flight times better, but felt more secure doing this. But realistically, the carrier we switched to could be having problems by then to!!

Martha