DO NOT BOOK AIR TRAN UNLESS YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU!



AFTER SEVERAL EMAILS THERE CUSTOMER SERVICE HAS DONE NOTHING TO KEEP A LOYAL CUSTOMER. IN A NUTSHEL THEY JUST DONT CARE THEY SEND PREWRITTEN EMAILS STATING THEY CHANGE FLIGHTS RANDOMLY FOR SAFETY REASONS. WHAT KIND OF RESPONSE IS THAT?



We are BCV DVC members always booking same time of year.

We book our flights through Air Tran every Nov / Dec (Saturday after Thanksgiving for 9 daysevery year) We always book on the first available day so we can make our plans, book our seats etc. Guarantee a good price etc.



This year we booked travel NonStop Both ways paid for that, we were going to use Jet Blue but AirTrans Flight schedules allowed us to have breakfast at Crystal Palace with my god children as they will arriving the day before we leave, this was something we planned months ahead as you all know reservations are difficult.

When looking at my itinerary online the other night, I noticed my flight back had been changed it now leaves 2.5 hours earlier, we now go 1 stop not nonstop from Orlando to Ohio then to Boston. We were never alerted of this change it was by luck I checked the site and found it. This now eliminates our chance for breakfast with the family. I immediately called AirTran after being on hold for 35 minutes I explained my situation, they told me they could give me my money back or change my flight, the flight options extended my travel day by 3 hours at the minimum or I was offered flight a day earlier or a day later. Being DVC members so our options for rooms for an additional night were 0 (none). I asked if there was anything that could be done perhaps upgrade us to business class to keep a loyal Rewards customer happy. I got an I'm sorry which quite honestly doesn't help me one bit. If I get my money back and book new flights, today's flight are substantially more money, we booked 330 days out to guarantee a good price and flights that would fit our schedule. I will never Fly Air Tran again as there customer service has done nothing to satisfy a good repeat customer. Don't book AirTran THIS MAY HAPPEN TO YOU! What type of customer service would you call this? In my opinion it's terrible, I paid for one flight got confirmation then they switched us to whatever they wanted, not letting us know. That is **** poor customer service. I would highly recommend NOT FLYING AIRTRAN.

I had orginally booked our flight to Orlando for January in June on AirTran out of White Plains, NY because it was cheaper than flying on Delta (which I usually use) out of Hartford, CT. I kept checking the website for changes and after 2 months they changed the flight (without notifing me) back to CT - made it earlier and gave me a 33min layover in Atlanta. I wasn't thrill with the orginal times of the flights and was even more unhappy with the change. I ended up canceling AirTran and booking on Delta.

well, just so you know, Delta does the same thing. I had a non-stop from LAX to Orlando with a disabled Mom. Called Delta to advise them she would be bringing her scooter on board--and found out we had been changed to a one-stop through Atlanta with a three-hour layover! Our other option was to go a day earlier (luckily I am a DVC member and was able to add one more night at the beginning of our trip). But I am now checking and re-checking my itinerary--if they did it once they could do it again!

Welcome to the realities of air travel in this economy!

Welcome to the realities of air travel in this economy!
This is so true.
Im not saying this to say that changes like this happen and it is no big deal - because it is. Both Ted and American changed our flights for our next two trips. One change was for 30 mins later leaving on trip and the other was for 2 hrs earlier for our return trip. I supposed I could have thrown a fit, but to be honest, it would have cost me more than it would have been worth since fares have gone up. And like some of the comments above, I also made my flight plans at the very first booking opportunity.

Hmmm... sometimes it makes me wonder if Southwest really does this better by only allowing booking their flights a few months in advance rather than nearly a year.

The problem is that some airlines make changes in their schedules and have to change things around. Sometimes, it is not for the better. However, as I have mentioned in my MP blog (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/blog.php?b=7), sometimes it depends on how you handle things. At the same time, some of the smaller carriers are going to have fewer options if changes do happen, which increases your chances of travel conflicts.

Business travelers see this sort of thing happen all the time. I think that conditions us to what we have to do in the event this sort of things happen. The unfortunate part is that when this happens to the vacationer, even the smallest change can have a ripple effect on the whole trip.

I had trouble with AirTran last trip. I had a non-stop from MSP (twin cities) to MCO. They didn't notify of the change, but Orbitz or whoever I went through did (it happened to be a few dollars cheaper the minute I happened to book to go through Orbitz).

So it changed to a gas-n-go in Chicago. Didn't have to change planes. It got me to MCO something like 45 minutes later than the original time. OK. I can deal with that.

THEN they changed me to a SIX hour layover in Atlanta (again, no notice from them--only Orbitz). I called and threw a hissy fit b/c it would mess up our ADRs for the first night. I stayed relatively calm, but kept impressing, "That is not acceptable. What else can we do?" I still had to go through Atlanta, but I was able to get a 90 minute layover instead of 6 hours.

I hear rumblings that Northwest is going to cancel a bunch of flights to MCO over the next few months. I keep checking the site, but hopefully since it is the first flight of the day, I'll be ok. I have already had my return flight changed by NWA, but to a WONDERFUL 3 hours later--more time in the park!!

Sorry I have to agree with some of the other posters, flight scheduled times can change after you book, even more so today with all the cut backs. It's happened to me many times. And it sounds like once you asked, Airtran did try to fix it by offering different flights or different days, and even a full refund. While an upgrade would have been nice, I'm sure this happens so often it's just not realistic to give that to everyone or even freq flyers.

As usual check the fine print, they of course reserve the right to change flight times. I'm not sure how big the change has to be before they actually have to give you sometime more then just your money back. Likely there is no requirement larger then just a full refund.

However you do have a valid compliant on why didn't they tell you! I don't understand that at all. Did you ask, did they give a reason?


by the way I feel your pain! I fly southwest a lot, and it's similar , to get good deals anymore you need to book almost on the day they open new dates to travel. This usually happens 6 months in advance, I then end up scrambling to get folks to commit to travel dates so we can book and get the best prices! This tends to drive me crazy every year!

I have had my flight home changed for almost every trip with Airtran. On all but one occasion I received an email notifying me of the change. As I always book nonstop and they always try to force you on a flight with a layover, I pull up the schedule, call them and let them know what remaining flight is acceptable. I have never had a problem with doing this as I stay very calm and polite with them - it makes it easier to get what you want. I think I just am unlucky in trying to book flights that do not fill up and they cancel them. Note that this is only on my flights home - never have a problem with the flight down as I take the first flight of the day!

I have a friend who is a TA and she absolutely REFUSES to deal with Airtran any longer, for this exact reason. We have flown them 5 times to MCO out of Philly, and you guessed it, every single return flight was changed. Every one! Even 2 of our flights to Orlando were changed. And one of those return flights was booked 2 days before we flew to MCO for 10 days....BTW, with that flight, DME called me, but Airtran never bothered, and they had moved the flight UP 2 hours. I am, like the OP, DONE WITH AIRTRAN!!!!

One of the things that I don't do while on vacation is check my e-mail. I guess I would find out when I called to check in.

We have also had bad luck on our return trips from WDW. In June 2006, Northwest Airlines changed our return flight from a non-stop to a connection in Memphis. We had 30 minutes to get from one end of the terminal to the other, and just barely made it. The kids had to eat cheetos for dinner on the plane. This actually was not too bad compared to what Airtran did to us this past June.

We had a 6:45pm non-stop flight from MCO to Indianapolis. I selected that flight to get maximum time on our last day. We were supposed to arrive in Indianapolis around 9:15pm. Not too bad. Well, that morning I checked in at the Resort Airline check-in. All ok. No issues and I had our boarding passes. Well around 11:30 am, my son and I are in the Hall of Presidents enjoying the show. We love it. My cell phone vibrates two times. I just think it is DW leaving me a message on what her and DD are going to go do. We exit after the show, I notice it was a 800 number that called me twice and left one voicemail. I called back and it was Airtran to tell me my flight had been canceled due to bad weather in Milwaukee, WI. That's where our plane was coming from. After spending about an hour on the phone with them trying to move us to an earlier flight we were all set. A little upset, because the flight time was moved up 2 hours. We now have to leave instead of enjoying a few last things.

By the way, this is the good part. When we get to the airport, we check-in at the counter with an agent because the electronic machine would not let me check-in. I made some small talk with her and ask about the direct flight we were on and it being canceled. She tells me that no flights have been canceled. She stated that it was delayed and scheduled to leave at 9pm, but not canceled. I was so ticked off. I explained what had happened and even gave her the name of the agent I spoke to over the phone. She worked some magic and put us back on our orginal flight because even though it left later, we still got home before the flight we were put on with a connection. I doubt I will ever fly airtran again. We are going to drive from Indianapolis for our next trip. I have a feeling we will like having our own vehicle there better.

Thanks for info, checked my Airtran flights and the flights had changed.
We had booked nonstop, they had us flying all day and getting to Orlando @2245.
I was able to rebook and we will get to Orlando @ 1455, still wish for nonstop.
I am glad I read this post and was able book better flights, Thanks!

DO NOT BOOK AIR TRAN UNLESS YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU!

While I feel your pain at the change of plans, I think your hyperbole here is a bit much, Poohsgang. Yeah, Airtran and other budget airlines will change and eliminate flights when they're not full enough to at least break even. I remember when a flight would fly no matter how few. My first commercial flight ever was on an American 727 with about 6 people on it! Sadly, no more.

But I'll continue to use Airtran, as they have by far the cheapest flights from Dallas to Orlando. And if they change times on me, I'll just have to roll with it and accept their times, or call them as others in this thread have and hold out for an acceptable flight.

jetblue just pushed our return flight back to 8:50 but that's okay since it's more time in the parks!

Also the prices have gone DOWN since we have booked in May!!! $90 credit coming our way!

I don't want to jinx our next trip, but we've had mostly good experiences with AirTran from Baltimore. On our last trip (August), they changed our return flight by 15 minutes (obviously no big deal), and sent me an e-mail notification and offered to let us switch to a different flight, including a different day (I think there was a two day window). I had to click on a link to confirm that I accepted the change. This is better service than we've had from Southwest, which is now significantly more expensive than AirTran, at least from Baltimore.

Having worked in the airline industry for a few years, schedules do change all the time. Whether they add flights or subtract flights in another city, times change. Flight changes are so complex because one flight change affects the other airlines. Airline on time percentages and etc are all factored inwhen making schedule changes.