Air Tran -- I hate flying, but at least they made it bearable.
Written: May 20 '08
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Low Cost, friendly staff, on time, no luggage lost, efficient, free XM
Cons: Extra fees, no food options, small
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for a no-frills carrier with good customer service and low prices, go ahead and check out Air Tran. I'm pleased I did!
|
|
|
| gatorgirlie's Full Review: Air Tran |
I hate flying. I mean I really, really, really hate it. My husband has a fear of bridges and I have a fear of flying. Some psychologists might say it's because I'm a control freak, but that's not a proper discussion for an Epinions' review on our airline.
Anyway, our family just returned from a six day trip to Puerto Rico and used Air Tran to fly us both there and back... Let's get into it, shall we?
The Good:
Cheap Prices -- We booked our trip to Puerto Rico back in February and purchased nonstop tickets from Orlando International to San Juan for around $200 per person, including taxes and fees. Air Tran is a low cost carrier that specializes in no-frills, cheap airfare. This, to me, is a good thing. This, to others, might not be so good (as I'll outline later).
Online Check-In -- Since I hate flying so much, our family doesn't fly that often... this is the first time I can remember using online check in. All you have to do is (24 hours or less before your flight) go to http://www.airtran.com and type in your reservation number. It'll pull up your tickets and you can check in online -- just input where you'd like to sit and how many pieces of luggage you have. You print out your boarding passes and you're good to go. I'd highly recommend you use their online check in, especially if sitting with your party is important to you. On the flight from Orlando to San Juan, I noticed they had my two and a half year old toddler sitting off by himself. While I briefly considered keeping it the way it was (that would teach them, and everyone else in the airplane, a very good lesson, I was able to switch us all to three seats together. If I had waited until the next day (about half the plane was booked solid, meaning they had already checked in), I might not have gotten that opportunity.
Fast Service -- At OIA, Air Tran has a quick luggage drop off counter outside -- you don't even have to go inside and wait in line if you've already checked in. I'd say we waited about five minutes and tipped the guy about $5 (for our three checked bags). No shlepping the bags around for us! San Juan was a little different -- they were a bit more disorganized than in Orlando, there was no curbside service and we had to wait about 15 - 20 minutes to get through the "Express" Check-In line. I can't really complain too much, no one seemed to have curbside service at San Juan's airport. Boarding the plane was done expediently and the planes took off either on time or a few minutes beforehand. They stop boarding 10 minutes before they take off to prevent latecomers from holding up the plane full of people.
Free XM Radio -- Though service does depend on where you are in relation to the satellite in orbit, Air Tran offers free headphones and free XM Satellite radio to listen to during your flight. I don't think any other airline offers that and I think it's a great perk -- especially if you have a two-and-a-half-year-old screaming in the seat behind you.
Very Friendly Employees -- Every single person who we dealt with in association with Air Tran was pleasant and helpful. The flight attendants were solicitous and even the pilot came out to help me get my car seat unbuckled because the seatbelt had gotten wedged in the back. Everyone seemed to want to go out of their way to help you.
On Time Departures and Earlier-than-Scheduled Arrivals -- Both flights were on time and actually arrived at the destinations before the scheduled time. Love it!
New Planes -- I don't know if it was just the two planes were were on, but the Boeing 737s were immaculately clean and in very good condition -- much better than United and American Airlines. I'm not sure if they're new, but they're kept well if they're not.
The Not So Good
Food -- Ok, you get free drinks (sodas, water, etc), but you only have one food option -- a bag of pretzels. I know the flight from Orlando to San Juan isn't a long one (only 2.5 hours), but it might be nice to offer something like a muffin or danish when you're flying around lunchtime. Not for free, of course, even if they charged through the nose it still would be nice to offer.
The Extra Fees -- I've noticed that a lot of airlines have been charging lower fares and socking consumers with high added fees to compensate. This can truly work out for the better AS LONG AS you're careful. You get one piece of checked luggage for every ticket you hold and two carry ons (one personal and one large). The piece of checked luggage must be smaller than 61" (l + w + h) and weight less than 50 lbs. If you have 2 pieces of checked luggage, you're looking at $10 - $20 per piece ($10 if you do online check-in and $20 if you don't ). If you have more than 2 pieces of checked luggage, you're looking at $50 each (after the first two bags).
If your luggage weighs between 51 - 70 lbs, you're looking at a $29 charge and if it weighs between 71 - 100 lbs, you're looking at $69. If your bag is oversized as well, you're looking at an additional charge of $29 - $69 depending on the size.
Now, realistically, will most people have issues here? Probably not. My husband, son and I went for six days, five nights, packed two extremely large suitcases and one large carry on duffel bag, along with a checked hard-back toddler carrier (for hiking), and had no problems. We packed something like three changes of clothing for each day we were there, plus multiple pairs of shoes, plus enough diapers and wipes to choke a cow and didn't run into either the height or weight limitations.
As far as fees go, you can also upgrade to a business class starting at $49... The seats are bigger, there is more legroom and you get free drinks. Woo hoo!
Very Small and it is no frills -- I list this as a negative, but I'm not surprised. The seats are cramped, there is no legroom and for some ungodly reason, the flight attendants want you to put the car seat by the window (so it's 10 times harder to buckle it in). There are no pillows or blankets. Air Tran is the very essence of what a slimmed-down, no frills airline is supposed to be like. Like I said earlier, this is a positive for me... but I'm sure it's a negative for some.
Overall
Overall, I have no complaints. The service was fast, the flights on time, the employees friendly and the luggage in the same shape it was in when we checked it (yes, even the fragile hard-shell backpack). We checked three items twice and we received the same three items back both times. The flights were short enough that the lack of food wasn't a big deal (and with concourses providing everything from sushi to McDonalds these days) and we packed wisely to avoid any fees.
I can't complain about flying for $200 a person to San Juan when gas is over $3.75 a gallon where I live. Are there things Air Tran could do better? Oh sure, but then they'd have to raise their prices. I think they've managed to strike the perfect balance of no-frills air travel and customer satisfaction. I know a lot of people give them a hard time for the fees, but I see no problem with it. A little advanced planning and you'll avoid the fees with minimal effort. About the only thing I'd change is giving the passengers options to purchase things like muffins or danishes on flights around traditional meal times.
I know that I had a couple of things listed in the "Not So Good" category, but I don't find them detracting from what I feel was excellent service -- thus a five-star rating. If I didn't have free tickets on Delta to Vegas in October, I'd probably go ahead and choose Air Tran again.
If you're looking for a low-cost airline with efficient service and friendly employees, I'd suggest checking out Air Tran. They exceeded all of my expectations.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
gatorgirlie
|
 - Top 500 |
|
Location: Orlando, FL
Reviews written: 248
Trusted by: 131 members
About Me:
If a writer writes a review on Epinions and nobody reads it,does it really help?
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.