Airtran flight problems

[PhilharMagician]

If anyone is flying Airtran out of Newburgh, NY after September 3rd you better call and get a credit. Airtran is discontinueing service to Newburgh, NY after September 3rd 2008.

I had purchased tickets a while back for October 22nd going to Orlando and November 2nd returning and was never notified. I saw an article in the local newspaper and immediatly checked my reservations on the website and all looked good. I then called to verify my reservation and the operator confirmed my reservation. I told her what I read that Airtran was discontinueing service to Newburg and she finally said yes that it was true. She offered to move my flights to another airport which was an hour longer drive and I instead asked for a full refund. I was able to book with Jet Blue for $100.00 for the the family.

 

[tigsmom]

If anyone is flying Airtran out of Newburgh, NY after September 3rd you better call and get a credit. Airtran is discontinueing service to Newburgh, NY after September 3rd 2008.

I had purchased tickets a while back for October 22nd going to Orlando and November 2nd returning and was never notified. I saw an article in the local newspaper and immediatly checked my reservations on the website and all looked good. I then called to verify my reservation and the operator confirmed my reservation. I told her what I read that Airtran was discontinueing service to Newburg and she finally said yes that it was true. She offered to move my flights to another airport which was an hour longer drive and I instead asked for a full refund. I was able to book with Jet Blue for $100.00 for the the family.

You have no idea how upset we are about this. My daughter flies back and forth from Newburgh to Tampa to go to school. The DH flies into Sarasota/Bradenton to see his parents. The flights to Florida were always booked solid! We have never been on a flight that had empty seats out of there.
We now have to drive to Newark or LaGuardia for those trips.
We are flying home from Tampa on August 25th so I guess that will be our last AirTran flight until they decide they want to come back again.
The last time they left Stewart it was because there wasn't enough interest (in the '90's), this time its because fuel costs too much. :brick:


aaaand why would they confirm your flights if they knew they were not going to be there anymore?
The DH insists that they are just posturing and looking for more $$ from the airport/Port Authority. Airbus stopped flights without any notice, AirTran has given three months notice...

 

[Tinkerbella16]

I would have been really angry, its a shame that you were not notified by them... instead of you having to call and get it out of them. And what if you had never seen the info in the paper??? I am not too fond of airlines anymore these days. Nothing but problems! :brick:

 

[torg0]

Thank you SO much for posting this!!!

I just flew Airtran to Newburgh last night and there was no sign or mention of this change either.

I was just about to book another trip for September when I saw this post.

Real bummer, Airtran was a decent airline, (non-stop to MCO), so close by.

 

[tigsmom]

Thank you SO much for posting this!!!

I just flew Airtran to Newburgh last night and there was no sign or mention of this change either.

I was just about to book another trip for September when I saw this post.

Real bummer, Airtran was a decent airline, (non-stop to MCO), so close by.

JetBlue flies from Stewart non stop to Orlando. We flew that last time and it was a great flight. Got to watch tv the entire way. :lol:

Howdy to a fellow Monroe-ite or is that Monroevian?

 

[SewIn2Disney]

We now have to drive to Newark of LaGuardia for those trips.

I'm so sorry......
:lol::lol:

I usually fly in/out of Atlantic City, but I just came back from Disney on Sat, and we flew into Newark.....ugh. We were 3 hours late taking off, then we circled for about an hour, then we had to wait for a gate to open so we could unload.....then when we went to get our luggage, they had 6 flights worth of luggage coming out on one carousel, with 4 other empty ones

Gotta love it.

I agree---the days of cheap flights are gone. More and more airlines are going to start charging for even the first piece of luggage, and Spirit now charges for you to pre-book your seat.
Not good!

 

[PhilharMagician]

I'm so sorry......
:lol::lol:

I usually fly in/out of Atlantic City, but I just came back from Disney on Sat, and we flew into Newark.....ugh. We were 3 hours late taking off, then we circled for about an hour, then we had to wait for a gate to open so we could unload.....then when we went to get our luggage, they had 6 flights worth of luggage coming out on one carousel, with 4 other empty ones

Gotta love it.

I agree---the days of cheap flights are gone. More and more airlines are going to start charging for even the first piece of luggage, and Spirit now charges for you to pre-book your seat.
Not good!

Airtran was charging for prebooking of seats.

We have been flying Southwest out of Albany, NY which is only 30 minutes away, but the prices are now quite high. I bought ticket for Albany to Orlando for $49.00 each way just one year ago. Now the cheapest fare for Southwest is $119.00.

Times have changed! Unfortunately I will be looking to drive the 20+ hours to FL soon. :brick:

 

[travelgip]

Air Tran flies out of White Plains also. It might be closer for you than Newark/JFK/LaGuardia - it is for me.

 

[hokielutz]

Airtran was charging for prebooking of seats.

We have been flying Southwest out of Albany, NY which is only 30 minutes away, but the prices are now quite high. I bought ticket for Albany to Orlando for $49.00 each way just one year ago. Now the cheapest fare for Southwest is $119.00.

Times have changed! Unfortunately I will be looking to drive the 20+ hours to FL soon. :brick:

Well the 20 hour trip by car isn't so cheap either. But depending on the size family you have going down... it could make some sense to do a Griswald family type road trip down the east coast.

So you assume that your entire trip will chew up 2,640 miles. At an average of 22 mpg for a minivan, you will need 119.9 gallons of fuel. And at today's prices of $4.15 a gallon, total spent for fuel alone will be $498 for the trip.

Hotel room for one night each way... $80 (incl taxes & fees) X 2 =$160

Meals and snacks $8 per person = $32 per meal X 6 meals = $192 (no sitdown restaurants)

Oil change and maintenance on vehicle for mileage use after trip = $40.


All total, you'd be looking at $890 for the round trip journey alone by car. It would be $960 at the above prices for Southwest fares.
The price of gas in the last year and a half increased the cost of this trip by $200. Now, maybe by staying at motels on the way down and back, you cut your Disney resort stays by 1-2 evenings. That would make the trip a bit more wallet friendly. If you have more than the standard American family of 2 children, then your savings increases substantially, like child tax credits.

The larger the family... the better the idea of a road trip. Look at the Jon & Kate - plus Eight show and their documented trip to Disney. Imagine those 10 on Southwest flight... Yikes. I'd pay the penalty fee to get on another flight.

As a young couple without kids (for the short term), driving doesn't make much sense for us from Virginia. Although as we start and grow our family... it may be necessary to drive ourselves.

 

[bears163]

we are flying out of baltimore this september with airtran. i hope all is well there till then. i have read a few articles where airlines are going to close down alot of their flights to orlando cause they are the discount flights. hopefully this will not happen

 

[SewIn2Disney]

The larger the family... the better the idea of a road trip. Look at the Jon & Kate - plus Eight show and their documented trip to Disney. Imagine those 10 on Southwest flight... Yikes. I'd pay the penalty fee to get on another flight.

.

Love that show! Actually---the one that is on right now is the one where they fly to Utah and their plane gets rerouted to Idaho----now that I can't imagine with eight kids!

 

[WildLodgeFan]

Well the 20 hour trip by car isn't so cheap either. But depending on the size family you have going down... it could make some sense to do a Griswald family type road trip down the east coast.

So you assume that your entire trip will chew up 2,640 miles. At an average of 22 mpg for a minivan, you will need 119.9 gallons of fuel. And at today's prices of $4.15 a gallon, total spent for fuel alone will be $498 for the trip.

Hotel room for one night each way... $80 (incl taxes & fees) X 2 =$160

Meals and snacks $8 per person = $32 per meal X 6 meals = $192 (no sitdown restaurants)

Oil change and maintenance on vehicle for mileage use after trip = $40.


All total, you'd be looking at $890 for the round trip journey alone by car. It would be $960 at the above prices for Southwest fares.
The price of gas in the last year and a half increased the cost of this trip by $200. Now, maybe by staying at motels on the way down and back, you cut your Disney resort stays by 1-2 evenings. That would make the trip a bit more wallet friendly. If you have more than the standard American family of 2 children, then your savings increases substantially, like child tax credits.

The larger the family... the better the idea of a road trip. Look at the Jon & Kate - plus Eight show and their documented trip to Disney. Imagine those 10 on Southwest flight... Yikes. I'd pay the penalty fee to get on another flight.

As a young couple without kids (for the short term), driving doesn't make much sense for us from Virginia. Although as we start and grow our family... it may be necessary to drive ourselves.

Just don't be like Jon & Kate and have 8! :ROFLOL:You just might go then! :lol:

 

[PhilharMagician]

Well the 20 hour trip by car isn't so cheap either. But depending on the size family you have going down... it could make some sense to do a Griswald family type road trip down the east coast.

So you assume that your entire trip will chew up 2,640 miles. At an average of 22 mpg for a minivan, you will need 119.9 gallons of fuel. And at today's prices of $4.15 a gallon, total spent for fuel alone will be $498 for the trip.

Hotel room for one night each way... $80 (incl taxes & fees) X 2 =$160

Meals and snacks $8 per person = $32 per meal X 6 meals = $192 (no sitdown restaurants)

Oil change and maintenance on vehicle for mileage use after trip = $40.


All total, you'd be looking at $890 for the round trip journey alone by car. It would be $960 at the above prices for Southwest fares.
The price of gas in the last year and a half increased the cost of this trip by $200. Now, maybe by staying at motels on the way down and back, you cut your Disney resort stays by 1-2 evenings. That would make the trip a bit more wallet friendly. If you have more than the standard American family of 2 children, then your savings increases substantially, like child tax credits.

The larger the family... the better the idea of a road trip. Look at the Jon & Kate - plus Eight show and their documented trip to Disney. Imagine those 10 on Southwest flight... Yikes. I'd pay the penalty fee to get on another flight.

As a young couple without kids (for the short term), driving doesn't make much sense for us from Virginia. Although as we start and grow our family... it may be necessary to drive ourselves.

How about 3 of us cruising in the Prius.

I think the trip would be about $300 - $400. Right now compared to $700.00 for round trip airfare, I would still vote for flying. If airfare rises to $1500 then I will be drive or riding my bicycle.

 

[maryszhi]

You have no idea how upset we are about this. My daughter flies back and forth from Newburgh to Tampa to go to school. The DH flies into Sarasota/Bradenton to see his parents. The flights to Florida were always booked solid! We have never been on a flight that had empty seats out of there.
We now have to drive to Newark or LaGuardia for those trips.
We are flying home from Tampa on August 25th so I guess that will be our last AirTran flight until they decide they want to come back again.
The last time they left Stewart it was because there wasn't enough interest (in the '90's), this time its because fuel costs too much. :brick:


aaaand why would they confirm your flights if they knew they were not going to be there anymore?
The DH insists that they are just posturing and looking for more $$ from the airport/Port Authority. Airbus stopped flights without any notice, AirTran has given three months notice...

i know its so stupid. why take away something that is popular? but seriously all the airlines are cutting back, and its a shame how hard it is on everybody else.

 

[maryszhi]

also, its a shame how you werent notified sooner. that is a peave of mine, when airlines disappear into thin air and with your money. a girl of mine was going to spring break to mexico and the only flight she could get was ata. imagine to her surprise getting to the airport, only to find out ata wasnt in existence, and she was going to have to fill out lenghty paper work to get her money back.
word of advice to board members who are flying with airlines that are in danger of closure:
call every so often to check if your flight is still on,read news papers,exc. they can warn of the closure before the airline does. if your airline does close/ cancel flight, contact them asap for a refund or it may take you forever.
i hope that this wont happen to anybody, but its better safe then sorry

 

[hokielutz]

Just don't be like Jon & Kate and have 8! :ROFLOL:You just might go then! :lol:

There is almost no chance this would happen for us. 2 is the limit.


There is one benefit for the high oil prices.... Dubai Land!

.... maybe that was the plan all along....

 

[WildLodgeFan]

There is almost no chance this would happen for us. 2 is the limit.


There is one benefit for the high oil prices.... Dubai Land!

.... maybe that was the plan all along....

LOL - remember, Jon & Kate wanted 1 more and got 6! :animwink:

 

[hokielutz]

LOL - remember, Jon & Kate wanted 1 more and got 6! :animwink:

Yes, correct me if I am wrong, but I think they went on fertility boosters and ended up paying the price. Now that I think about it... they are getting quite a "welfare" check from the TV show and all the freebies they get for such a huge family.

At least the Duggars (sp) wanted the large family and apparently could support it.

 

[abbeysmom]

I too love that show. I don't consider it a "welfare" check though. They have outsiders in their face all the time. Those kids have grown up with it there all the time. I know it's their choice. They do an amazing job with the kids. And even though they get monetary help they really don't have all that much domestic help with that many kids. And really who cares.... It's entertainment to some of us. I would love to be able to watch all the kids get married and start their own families.

And Jon and Kate both seem to love Disney. Wish I could see them there sometime.

 

[tigsmom]

I do believe we've gotten a bit off track. :lol: