Flying? Check daily for $ changes!

[mousefreak]

We've been checking our flights (Airtran from Columbus, OH) almost daily since we booked them back in May. We leave for WDW on Sept 2. About a month ago DW checked and one of the flights went down a total of $10 per person ($30 total for us).

DW just happened to check this morning and and the flights went down again by a total of $45. So now we have a total of $75 in flight credits to either use on a future flight (we have until May 2013 to use the credit) or luggage. The original plan was to check 1 bag, now we're going to check 2 bags and take 1 less carry on and pay NOTHING!!!!

For those of you flying...It pays to check your flights frequently. Just call if there's a decrease and they'll offer a credit, but no refund. Not sure if this is a common policy amongst all airlines, but it's worth looking into.

 

[SweetEvangeline]

You must have a pretty awesome DW!!

 

[mousefreak]

Yes. You should meet her.

 

[dreamfinder]

Checking and paying attention to sales is always helpful. Some airlines will give you credit (Southwest is another) but many of the legacy airlines will charge you to get the cheaper rate. Did a trip a few years ago that I completely paid for the flights using credits. Saving 30-40 bucks on each of the previous trips came in handy.

 

[mousefreak]

That's awesome, dreamfinder!

 

[journ116]

We've been checking our flights (Airtran from Columbus, OH) almost daily since we booked them back in May. We leave for WDW on Sept 2. About a month ago DW checked and one of the flights went down a total of $10 per person ($30 total for us).

DW just happened to check this morning and and the flights went down again by a total of $45. So now we have a total of $75 in flight credits to either use on a future flight (we have until May 2013 to use the credit) or luggage. The original plan was to check 1 bag, now we're going to check 2 bags and take 1 less carry on and pay NOTHING!!!!

For those of you flying...It pays to check your flights frequently. Just call if there's a decrease and they'll offer a credit, but no refund. Not sure if this is a common policy amongst all airlines, but it's worth looking into.

I am very much like your DW: we, too, are flying AirTran, & I was able to secure us $275 in airline credits (for 6 paid seats)! We will be using these credits to check our bags, and we'd have enough credits still leftover if we feel like bringing an extra bag of souvenirs!

I get e-mail updates from AT & SW of "airfare sales," and typically, when there is a sale, non-sale dates have dropped in price as well! I check almost everyday (especially Tues., Wed. & Fri.) for drops in prices on our already-booked flights. However, not all airlines offer this credit; they want your money & they want it now!

 

[mousefreak]

I am very much like your DW: we, too, are flying AirTran, & I was able to secure us $275 in airline credits (for 6 paid seats)! We will be using these credits to check our bags, and we'd have enough credits still leftover if we feel like bringing an extra bag of souvenirs!

I get e-mail updates from AT & SW of "airfare sales," and typically, when there is a sale, non-sale dates have dropped in price as well! I check almost everyday (especially Tues., Wed. & Fri.) for drops in prices on our already-booked flights. However, not all airlines offer this credit; they want your money & they want it now!

WOW!! $275 is great! Something I just learned this afternoon: When Airtran gave us the credit today, they treated it as a new reservation, therefore the seat assignments we paid for did not transfer over to the new reservation. Thank goodness the seats we chose were still available. I called them and they took care of it and emailed an updated confirmation. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't notice it? Would they have double booked the seats we knew we had paid for? I would hate to think that would happen.

 

[Pooh Lover]

We too fly out of Columbus, Ohio and we've started looking more seriously at AirTran since Southwest cut back on their flights to Orlando. We used AirTran this past May for our cruise to Ft. Lauderale and was very satisfied. We booked Southwest for our WDW trip next month because we had rewards points but will probably be flying AirTran again next May. Thanks for the heads up on the price cuts. Every little bit helps.....us by more trinkets at WDW!

 

[Magical Dreamer]

I'm at $140 credit for our November trip....got down to $439 total for 5 seats from Buffalo to MCO.

Hoping same will happen sometime between now and November for our return flight.

 

[Nemo14]

Doesn't Southwest own AirTran?

 

[mousefreak]

We too fly out of Columbus, Ohio and we've started looking more seriously at AirTran since Southwest cut back on their flights to Orlando. We used AirTran this past May for our cruise to Ft. Lauderale and was very satisfied. We booked Southwest for our WDW trip next month because we had rewards points but will probably be flying AirTran again next May. Thanks for the heads up on the price cuts. Every little bit helps.....us by more trinkets at WDW!

Did you know that Southwest bought Airtran and that Airtran in the near future will be around no more? I just hope that Southwest will pick up some more flights to Orlando out of CMH. There wasn't much to choose from in flights thru Southwest for the dates we're flying.

And yes, more money for trinkets!!

 

[mousefreak]

Doesn't Southwest own AirTran?

As far as I kow they do. Not sure when it will switch over 100% to Southwest.

 

[disneygirl76]

We've been checking our flights (Airtran from Columbus, OH) almost daily since we booked them back in May. We leave for WDW on Sept 2. About a month ago DW checked and one of the flights went down a total of $10 per person ($30 total for us).

DW just happened to check this morning and and the flights went down again by a total of $45. So now we have a total of $75 in flight credits to either use on a future flight (we have until May 2013 to use the credit) or luggage. The original plan was to check 1 bag, now we're going to check 2 bags and take 1 less carry on and pay NOTHING!!!!

For those of you flying...It pays to check your flights frequently. Just call if there's a decrease and they'll offer a credit, but no refund. Not sure if this is a common policy amongst all airlines, but it's worth looking into.

Yes! Do this! I ended up with $238 in flight credits for my DH and I! The price kept going down and down! I just flew to Detroit and back for free with those credits!!!

 

[Pooh Lover]

Did you know that Southwest bought Airtran and that Airtran in the near future will be around no more? I just hope that Southwest will pick up some more flights to Orlando out of CMH. There wasn't much to choose from in flights thru Southwest for the dates we're flying.

And yes, more money for trinkets!!

Yes, I was aware that Southwest had purchased AirTran and was surprised/disappointed to see the better flight times disappear from Southwest. We are pretty faithful Southwest people and DH really wasn't interested in flying AirTran even after the purchase. If it hadn't been that we had so many miles with Southwest, we definitely would have flown AirTran. I also hope Southwest adds more flights to MCO from CMH.

 

[journ116]

WOW!! $275 is great! Something I just learned this afternoon: When Airtran gave us the credit today, they treated it as a new reservation, therefore the seat assignments we paid for did not transfer over to the new reservation. Thank goodness the seats we chose were still available. I called them and they took care of it and emailed an updated confirmation. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't notice it? Would they have double booked the seats we knew we had paid for? I would hate to think that would happen.

I forgot to write that: be sure to ALWAYS do the math ahead of time, specifically because of that process of rebooking at the new price. I always make the rep repeat the credit amount, my seat assignments and request an email to be sent. I, too, thought, "what would've happened if I had not checked too see if my seats were still there?"

I wonder how the credits and rewards will transfer to SW...I'm gonna miss AirTran

 

[G00fyDad]

I would do this in a heartbeat if Delta would issue credits. But they are real greedy over there and will not part with any money. They were even looking at making a person pay differently depending on where you sat on the plane. Then they were also looking at making you pay more if you wanted to sit together. We're flying SW for the first time on our next trip. No luggage fees, no seat fees, and better attitudes.

 

[Pooh Lover]

I would do this in a heartbeat if Delta would issue credits. But they are real greedy over there and will not part with any money. They were even looking at making a person pay differently depending on where you sat on the plane. Then they were also looking at making you pay more if you wanted to sit together. We're flying SW for the first time on our next trip. No luggage fees, no seat fees, and better attitudes.

I remember the first time we cheated on Delta with Southwest. It was love at first flight and we've never looked back. Enjoy your flights and your trip!