I am posting my trip report which I posted on the FFOCUS board for your consideration. Although I had lowered expectations on Air Tran, they seemed to be operationally better than US, while offering an inferior premium service product (imagine F/C product worse than US!!).
I post this not to be critical, but to compare to some of the other experiences some of you have had on FL.
For the record, the R/T airfare on this trip was $750....
FL 359 25 April LGA-ATL/FL 546 25 April ATL-SAV
As I indicated elsewhere, I had occasion to try Airtran recently, which was my first time (and probably the last). I had lowered expectations, but on the first leg, at least, they performed even lower...
After getting home last evening from SEA, I had a brief respite, got to unpack/repack, and woke up at 3:45AM to start off to LGA for my 6AM flight. Realizing that my boarding pass (seat 12C) said zone 7, I believed that by the time I got to board, the overhead space might be gone, so on a whim, I checked at the ticket counter, and they offered me an "upgrade" to Business Class for $60. I took it on the first leg, but not the second.
Through LGA security, which was not too bad this morning on the B finger, I went down to the end of the terminal, B8, and they were just beginning to board...45 minutes prior to departure. I got on board, and was greeted by two young ladies who appeared to have last worked at Terminal F in PHL (no offense), found my seat, and got settled in. At NO time did anyone offer to hang a jacket, but eventually one did come through and asked bruskly if we would like a predeparture beverage (the more accurate wording was something like "Y'all wanna drink before we go?"). OK, a little rough but not terrible--for Bob's sake at least we did get a predeparture beverage.
The door was closed and we pushed back 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure.....even faster than US. Since it was before 6AM, we taxied out, and were number 1 by the time we got to the runway. A minute later, we were climbing out over New Jersey on a beautiful morning. Now there is a point in the LGA departure, that we almost always level off at 12000 feet somewhere near Newark airport, and today was no exception....EXCEPT that a few miles later, we began to climb again, then the engines went almost to idle, and we actually descened a few hundred feet--my guess being they were about to blow through an altitude restriction.
Once we reached a cruising altitude, at the point where the beverage service should have begun (well it did for about half the biz cabin), the two toddlers in the front cabin started screaming. It appears that beverages were offered to the right side of the airplane, but then they forgot about my side and just went in the back to do the coach service. AND when they came back forward, all three gathered in the galley and couldn't be bothered to offer refills, although they did bring a snack basket to 3 or 4 of 12 passengers in the front.
I did everything short of ringing the F/A call button in an attempt to get a cup of coffee, but was unable to do so. Finally I gave up and shut my eyes for a while. And when they did finally come to our row, they ignored my seatmate and me and cleared the trash.
We landed about 1/2 hour early, and got to the gate, and I just kept my mouth shut, got off the plane and went to the next gate.
After 40 minutes or so, the inbound making the connection arrived, and they did turn it in about 25 minutes. We got on board, with me in row 27 this time, settled in, and I prepared to enjoy my first ride on a 717. Unfortunately being so far back I was 2 rows ahead of the engine itself, and it was L O U D back there. That however turned out to be the worst of it for this flight.
Once aloft, THIS crew proceeded to to what amounted to a full beverage service--I was finally able to get my coffee, and mini biscoffs (as opposed to NOTHING to eat or drink on the preceeding flight), and watched the scenery for the brief 40 minute flight to SAV.
Another early arrival and an announcement from the F/A that we should applaud as this was the co pilot's first landing (smartly said AFTER we were on the ground). To the gate for another early arrival, and the jetway driver MIA again, but he showed eventually.
After thinking about this experience on my hour drive to Hilton Head, I decided it was worth a call to Airtran Customer Relations. I got through with minimal wait, explained the situation to an agent, who asked me to hold while he created a report, then came on and thanked me for bringing the matter to their attention (no offer was made for anything but then again I didn't act like I was looking for something).
On the bright side, all flights were early, and I had to call back to Res to change my return from Sunday morning to tomorrow evening, and THAT experience went MUCH better than expected. It was easy, the agent was helpful, and because I had to buy the Business Class fare again they waived the change fee (which made it cost neutral ).
The return shall follow immediately below.....but it's interesting-better service in coach than in Biz Class, and I achieved the impossible-I found a premium class of service actually worse than that offered by US Airways......
FL 31 26 April SAV-ATL/FL358 26 April ATL-LGA
As it turns out, the conference I was attending ended earlier on Saturday afternoon than originally thought--so I was able to change my return flights from Sunday morning to Saturday evening--I recounted that experience on the previous thread. As I had said there, all they had available was their "business class" for the return, but it turned out to be relatively cost neutral, so I did it.
I drove from Hilton Head to Savannah in just under an hour, filled the rental car and returned it--SAV is such a nice little airport...went to the kiosk to print my boarding passes, having checked in on line from the hotel, and stopped to ask the check in agent a question regarding ATL ground stops which showed on the FAA page. She was not aware of any issues, so off I went through security, getting through in about 90 seconds (quiet day at SAV).
They do have a club at SAV, but it is a courtesy of the airport, and not run by any airline. They admit members of all the airline clubs whose line serves SAV, PLUS the Amex Platinum card. It's a tiny club room but it is nice, and the attendant is very pleasant. Unfortunately what it was not during my visit was quiet--there was a group of 4 men traveling to Houston who were whooping it up, and keeping the bartender hopping (bartender is from the public bar adjacent, and serves through a service window). Somehow I got involved in the laughter, and they tried to buy me a drink but I passed.....and it got quiet once they left. It was funny though....
Like a good passenger I headed off to the gate and discovered the flight would be delayed-no reason given. It was at this point I discovered that the gate agents are not employed by Airtran at all, but by the airport--so they contract out ALL ground handling at SAV, including customer service...I believe that's a first for me. The lady was, however, very sharp, and very good at using SABRE (yes Airtran actually uses SABRE!). I made a pleasant inquiry about connections and she said they had moved the flight's arrival gate at ATL to the same concourse as most of the connections so we would all be okay. I shared Flight Tracker data with her, and she said she uses it too....and that SABRE has a tracker as well.
I will say they appeared well prepared for a delayed flight--the agent mentioned they would use a process called "Last Off First On" meaning that boarding would begin IMMEDIATELY after the last passenger got off the plane. She began to line up Zones 1-3 and as soon as the last wheel chair was off we began to board. She had also mentioned to people that it would be good if they took their books and other required materials out of the baggage before boarding as it would enable them to get out of the aisles faster...
In contrast to the first flight the day before, this crew was relatively attentive, even during boarding. I have come to the conclusion that Airtran does not hang coats (maybe they don't have hangars), because it was 0 for 3 on that amenity, but this crew managed predeparture beverages despite being delayed.
We wound up departing 42 minutes behind schedule, but it was a straight shot out to the runway, and then we were on our way. The flight was uneventful, yet they managed a full beverage service in both cabins with only 40 minutes air time....and before we knew it we were on the approach to ATL. Once on the ground, we had a relatively short taxi to the gate, and arrived at the gate only 27 minutes behind schedule..I am almost sure they pad the schedules like US, but they do try to be off the gate 10 minutes before scheduled departure, which I am sure helps too--to the dismay of late arriving passengers.
Having arrived at C3, I made my way to C21 for the LGA connection. The inbound had just arrived, and the gate area was full of people making this flight. You could tell this flight was going to NY--a mix of urban characters and "beautiful people" at the gate.
Around 40 minutes prior to sched, they began boarding. This flight was FULL. Boarding was uneventful, a predeparture beverage was offered and accepted, and again, we were pushing back about 7 minutes ahead of scheduled departure. ATL wasn't too busy for a Saturday night, so we taxied out to 27R and were in the air within 10 minutes of pushback. It was somewhat unusual for a NY bound flight to use 27R for departure--they usually have northbounds depart from the 26's because they are on the north side of the airport. In any case off we went.......
We had climbed all the way to cruising altitude before the flight attendants even began to think about service--as with the outbound flight, they chose to have their little conference in the galley for about 25 minutes before thinking of taking care of passengers. They must have figured they had the time, since it was 1h41m scheduled. In this case, however, it got pretty turbulent in the midst of the service and the seat belt sign came on for quite a while--and at one point I thought the captain would seat the flight attendants, but that did not happen.
Once the service was done, they DID make a second pass through the Biz cabin, and this time I got to see what was in the snack basket--it was similar to US but with only a couple of choices--granola bars, potato chips and 2 types of cookie.
We began our descent a little early, I guess due to LGA, although again it was not very busy there. There had been weather along our entire route of flight, so I would imagine that had something to do with it as well. We descended through the clouds, proceeded up the Hudson, and turned right onto the approach to RY 22 at LGA. We landed about 10 minutes ahead of schedule and taxied right to the gate, arriving 6 minutes early.
Getting on the parkway at LGA, I discovered that a serious accident had just occurred in front of the US terminal on the Grand Central, so I sat in traffic for about 45 minutes before being able to get past it (welcome to NY). I finally made it home, and fell asleep in record time.....
A couple of observations--while the service was hit or miss, and I don't want to be politically incorrect, it did appear that the worst of the service was offered by folks who had worked at Terminal F in PHL....and who appeared to have the Philly 'tude as well. That said, I had expected little more than I got, and although I don't think I would use Airtran again, they did fulfill the contract of carriage.......they promised no more and delivered no more.
I post this not to be critical, but to compare to some of the other experiences some of you have had on FL.
For the record, the R/T airfare on this trip was $750....
FL 359 25 April LGA-ATL/FL 546 25 April ATL-SAV
As I indicated elsewhere, I had occasion to try Airtran recently, which was my first time (and probably the last). I had lowered expectations, but on the first leg, at least, they performed even lower...
After getting home last evening from SEA, I had a brief respite, got to unpack/repack, and woke up at 3:45AM to start off to LGA for my 6AM flight. Realizing that my boarding pass (seat 12C) said zone 7, I believed that by the time I got to board, the overhead space might be gone, so on a whim, I checked at the ticket counter, and they offered me an "upgrade" to Business Class for $60. I took it on the first leg, but not the second.
Through LGA security, which was not too bad this morning on the B finger, I went down to the end of the terminal, B8, and they were just beginning to board...45 minutes prior to departure. I got on board, and was greeted by two young ladies who appeared to have last worked at Terminal F in PHL (no offense), found my seat, and got settled in. At NO time did anyone offer to hang a jacket, but eventually one did come through and asked bruskly if we would like a predeparture beverage (the more accurate wording was something like "Y'all wanna drink before we go?"). OK, a little rough but not terrible--for Bob's sake at least we did get a predeparture beverage.
The door was closed and we pushed back 10 minutes prior to scheduled departure.....even faster than US. Since it was before 6AM, we taxied out, and were number 1 by the time we got to the runway. A minute later, we were climbing out over New Jersey on a beautiful morning. Now there is a point in the LGA departure, that we almost always level off at 12000 feet somewhere near Newark airport, and today was no exception....EXCEPT that a few miles later, we began to climb again, then the engines went almost to idle, and we actually descened a few hundred feet--my guess being they were about to blow through an altitude restriction.
Once we reached a cruising altitude, at the point where the beverage service should have begun (well it did for about half the biz cabin), the two toddlers in the front cabin started screaming. It appears that beverages were offered to the right side of the airplane, but then they forgot about my side and just went in the back to do the coach service. AND when they came back forward, all three gathered in the galley and couldn't be bothered to offer refills, although they did bring a snack basket to 3 or 4 of 12 passengers in the front.
I did everything short of ringing the F/A call button in an attempt to get a cup of coffee, but was unable to do so. Finally I gave up and shut my eyes for a while. And when they did finally come to our row, they ignored my seatmate and me and cleared the trash.
We landed about 1/2 hour early, and got to the gate, and I just kept my mouth shut, got off the plane and went to the next gate.
After 40 minutes or so, the inbound making the connection arrived, and they did turn it in about 25 minutes. We got on board, with me in row 27 this time, settled in, and I prepared to enjoy my first ride on a 717. Unfortunately being so far back I was 2 rows ahead of the engine itself, and it was L O U D back there. That however turned out to be the worst of it for this flight.
Once aloft, THIS crew proceeded to to what amounted to a full beverage service--I was finally able to get my coffee, and mini biscoffs (as opposed to NOTHING to eat or drink on the preceeding flight), and watched the scenery for the brief 40 minute flight to SAV.
Another early arrival and an announcement from the F/A that we should applaud as this was the co pilot's first landing (smartly said AFTER we were on the ground). To the gate for another early arrival, and the jetway driver MIA again, but he showed eventually.
After thinking about this experience on my hour drive to Hilton Head, I decided it was worth a call to Airtran Customer Relations. I got through with minimal wait, explained the situation to an agent, who asked me to hold while he created a report, then came on and thanked me for bringing the matter to their attention (no offer was made for anything but then again I didn't act like I was looking for something).
On the bright side, all flights were early, and I had to call back to Res to change my return from Sunday morning to tomorrow evening, and THAT experience went MUCH better than expected. It was easy, the agent was helpful, and because I had to buy the Business Class fare again they waived the change fee (which made it cost neutral ).
The return shall follow immediately below.....but it's interesting-better service in coach than in Biz Class, and I achieved the impossible-I found a premium class of service actually worse than that offered by US Airways......
FL 31 26 April SAV-ATL/FL358 26 April ATL-LGA
As it turns out, the conference I was attending ended earlier on Saturday afternoon than originally thought--so I was able to change my return flights from Sunday morning to Saturday evening--I recounted that experience on the previous thread. As I had said there, all they had available was their "business class" for the return, but it turned out to be relatively cost neutral, so I did it.
I drove from Hilton Head to Savannah in just under an hour, filled the rental car and returned it--SAV is such a nice little airport...went to the kiosk to print my boarding passes, having checked in on line from the hotel, and stopped to ask the check in agent a question regarding ATL ground stops which showed on the FAA page. She was not aware of any issues, so off I went through security, getting through in about 90 seconds (quiet day at SAV).
They do have a club at SAV, but it is a courtesy of the airport, and not run by any airline. They admit members of all the airline clubs whose line serves SAV, PLUS the Amex Platinum card. It's a tiny club room but it is nice, and the attendant is very pleasant. Unfortunately what it was not during my visit was quiet--there was a group of 4 men traveling to Houston who were whooping it up, and keeping the bartender hopping (bartender is from the public bar adjacent, and serves through a service window). Somehow I got involved in the laughter, and they tried to buy me a drink but I passed.....and it got quiet once they left. It was funny though....
Like a good passenger I headed off to the gate and discovered the flight would be delayed-no reason given. It was at this point I discovered that the gate agents are not employed by Airtran at all, but by the airport--so they contract out ALL ground handling at SAV, including customer service...I believe that's a first for me. The lady was, however, very sharp, and very good at using SABRE (yes Airtran actually uses SABRE!). I made a pleasant inquiry about connections and she said they had moved the flight's arrival gate at ATL to the same concourse as most of the connections so we would all be okay. I shared Flight Tracker data with her, and she said she uses it too....and that SABRE has a tracker as well.
I will say they appeared well prepared for a delayed flight--the agent mentioned they would use a process called "Last Off First On" meaning that boarding would begin IMMEDIATELY after the last passenger got off the plane. She began to line up Zones 1-3 and as soon as the last wheel chair was off we began to board. She had also mentioned to people that it would be good if they took their books and other required materials out of the baggage before boarding as it would enable them to get out of the aisles faster...
In contrast to the first flight the day before, this crew was relatively attentive, even during boarding. I have come to the conclusion that Airtran does not hang coats (maybe they don't have hangars), because it was 0 for 3 on that amenity, but this crew managed predeparture beverages despite being delayed.
We wound up departing 42 minutes behind schedule, but it was a straight shot out to the runway, and then we were on our way. The flight was uneventful, yet they managed a full beverage service in both cabins with only 40 minutes air time....and before we knew it we were on the approach to ATL. Once on the ground, we had a relatively short taxi to the gate, and arrived at the gate only 27 minutes behind schedule..I am almost sure they pad the schedules like US, but they do try to be off the gate 10 minutes before scheduled departure, which I am sure helps too--to the dismay of late arriving passengers.
Having arrived at C3, I made my way to C21 for the LGA connection. The inbound had just arrived, and the gate area was full of people making this flight. You could tell this flight was going to NY--a mix of urban characters and "beautiful people" at the gate.
Around 40 minutes prior to sched, they began boarding. This flight was FULL. Boarding was uneventful, a predeparture beverage was offered and accepted, and again, we were pushing back about 7 minutes ahead of scheduled departure. ATL wasn't too busy for a Saturday night, so we taxied out to 27R and were in the air within 10 minutes of pushback. It was somewhat unusual for a NY bound flight to use 27R for departure--they usually have northbounds depart from the 26's because they are on the north side of the airport. In any case off we went.......
We had climbed all the way to cruising altitude before the flight attendants even began to think about service--as with the outbound flight, they chose to have their little conference in the galley for about 25 minutes before thinking of taking care of passengers. They must have figured they had the time, since it was 1h41m scheduled. In this case, however, it got pretty turbulent in the midst of the service and the seat belt sign came on for quite a while--and at one point I thought the captain would seat the flight attendants, but that did not happen.
Once the service was done, they DID make a second pass through the Biz cabin, and this time I got to see what was in the snack basket--it was similar to US but with only a couple of choices--granola bars, potato chips and 2 types of cookie.
We began our descent a little early, I guess due to LGA, although again it was not very busy there. There had been weather along our entire route of flight, so I would imagine that had something to do with it as well. We descended through the clouds, proceeded up the Hudson, and turned right onto the approach to RY 22 at LGA. We landed about 10 minutes ahead of schedule and taxied right to the gate, arriving 6 minutes early.
Getting on the parkway at LGA, I discovered that a serious accident had just occurred in front of the US terminal on the Grand Central, so I sat in traffic for about 45 minutes before being able to get past it (welcome to NY). I finally made it home, and fell asleep in record time.....
A couple of observations--while the service was hit or miss, and I don't want to be politically incorrect, it did appear that the worst of the service was offered by folks who had worked at Terminal F in PHL....and who appeared to have the Philly 'tude as well. That said, I had expected little more than I got, and although I don't think I would use Airtran again, they did fulfill the contract of carriage.......they promised no more and delivered no more.
