My family and I attempted to fly AirTran for the first time on Oct 15, 2004, and it was not a pleasant experience.  Actually my disenchantment with AirTran started the day before (Oct 14) when I attempted to check-in on-line to get seat assignments.  The initial step of the check-in process asked for my name and confirmation number.   I tried every number I could find on my ticket, but none were accepted.  I then called the supplied telephone number and after being on hold for forever, was told that since I had paper tickets issued by a travel agent, I could only check-in at the airport.  My family and I (myself, my wife, 14, 11 and 2 year old children) arrived at the airport 2 hours before our flight was scheduled to leave.  When we attempted to check-in, the clerk (Danielle ?) informed us that even though our tickets clearly stated that they were for the 6:35PM flight, her system showed us booked for the 4:12 flight, that the 6:35 flight was full and would we like her to attempt to book us on a flight the next day.  We had her talk to our travel agent who re-iterated that AirTran had confirmed us on the 6:35 flight.  The clerk seemed to studious ignore us as she typed on her keyboard, and when we did not leave, eventually went to talk to another AirTran employee, and then went off in another direction.  After another 5 minutes or so, another clerk informed us that the first clerk was checking other airlines for flights to Orlando.  Eventually (by this time about an hour had passed since we started the check-in debacle) another AirTran employee came over, introduced herself as a supervisor.  She apologized for the situation, told us that there were no alternatives on any other airlines, the only thing she could do was put us on Standby for the flight that we had tickets for, call for volunteers to switch flights, and if that failed, book us on a direct flight the next afternoon and give us some complimentary round trip tickets.  So we lugged our kids and belongings through security and to the gate, where we waited until flight time.  Never was any attempt made to request anyone to switch flights, only 3 seats opened up, which we were offered. But declined since that would leave a single adult having to deal with the baby and its associated gear.  So the supervisor booked us on the flight the next day.  She made no mention of complimentary airfare, and when I asked about her previous comment, she said that she could probably give us $50 future use vouchers.  When I stated that we were out at least $350 dollars just from the hotel we were missing, she then gave us a card with a pass-code and phone number to call for free round trip tickets on AirTran within the next year.  While that is some consolation, I spent 3 useless hours in an Airport with a 2 year old, my family is missing out on its only day in Disney World.  We are paying for two nights in a on-site Disney World hotel, even though we will now not have a chance to go, we had to find transportation back home, and back to the airport the next day for 5 people and assorted luggage, I am not sure what all this is going to do to our rental car reservation yet, we have a useless day of boarding at the kennel for our dog, and the list goes on and on.  The particularly annoying part is that if we had been told in advance we could of easily made the earlier flight. 

My next complaint with AirTran is that they then proceeded to flag us for secondary screening on both the outgoing and return flights.  NOTE: these were not random spot checks initiated by airport security, these were initiated by AirTran.  Obviously anyone traveling with 3 children including a toddler is a risk to national security.  Imagine trying to get a 2 year old that is already cranky from spending several hours in an airport over the previous 24 hours to hold out her arms so she can be scanned.

Salient points:

1. Either AitTran’s on-line system should have provisions for entering information for paper tickets, or all issued tickets should be e-tickets.  All this unpleasantness could have easily been avoided if the problem was known the day before.
2. Based on my travel agent’s word that she does have documentation from AirTran that we were booked on the 6:35 flight, someone at AirTran made a mistake, and my family is paying the price emotionally as well as financially.
3. The initial clerk we dealt with, while not rude, was certainly neither helpful nor friendly.  She is definitely not the public face I would want for my company.  We should of been appraised or what, if any, attempts she was making to remedy the situation, and we should of been told something before she took off.
4. While the supervisor was initially more pleasant and helpful, when standby did not materialize she had to be prompted to follow through on her earlier promises.
5. The ‘Voucher’ for complimentary tickets is a boiler plate sorry you had a bad time letter with a code number.  Nowhere does it specify exactly what it is good for.
6. Complimentary tickets on a future flight are iffy compensation at best.  My family is out valuable time, missing once in a life time experiences, and out several hundred dollars right now.  Given the state of the airline industry, AirTran may not be around in a year, and I am not sure if our schedules will line up again for us to take another family vacation within the 1 year time-limit
7. I e-mailed a complaint to AirTran on Oct 16, to date all I have received is an automated reply saying that someone will get in touch with me shortly.
8. On Nov 01 I sent another e-mail to AirTran stating I had still not heard from them, and asking what their definition of shortly was.  As of 12/31/2004 there has still been no reply.
9. AirTran’s subsequent listing of us for secondary screenings on both legs of our journey.

On the positive side, all flights arrived on time, and we had no problems retrieving our baggage.

John Lesko

John@Lesko-MN.net