Effective today Airtran starts charging for the first checked bag.

[Egret1986]

I bought our Spring break tickets on Airtran last week. Any tickets purchased November 12, 2008 or after will now be charged $15 for the first checked bag.

[dougp26364]

That's to bad. We recently flew Airtran to FL and thought the service was decent. Since they fly 717's while everyone else flies CRJ's, they could become our favorite airline heading east. That is unless they get carried away with enough extra fee's to make it not worth the effort.

It's funny that all the airlines started tossing in extra fee's and blaming the price of gas for those fee's. Now that oil prices are significantly lower, they're still tossing on extra fee's to the cost of the ticket.

[SherryS]

Glad I purchased my tickets on Nov 7!!! We still have 1 checked bag per person FREE!

[Twinkstarr]

Originally Posted by dougp26364

That's to bad. We recently flew Airtran to FL and thought the service was decent. Since they fly 717's while everyone else flies CRJ's, they could become our favorite airline heading east. That is unless they get carried away with enough extra fee's to make it not worth the effort.

It's funny that all the airlines started tossing in extra fee's and blaming the price of gas for those fee's. Now that oil prices are significantly lower, they're still tossing on extra fee's to the cost of the ticket.

I don't know the price of jet fuel, but I know diesel hasn't come down as much as regular unleaded.

Plus if prices tumble on jet fuel, how many of these airlines have hedges in at a higher price? Plus who knows how many of them have had there lines of credit frozen with the banks hoarding cash?

I have my next 3 FL trips booked on AT and personally I don't check bags for our family of 4. This is with 2 active boys of 12 and 7. Pack smart and make use of the w/d.

[dougp26364]

Originally Posted by Twinkstarr

I don't know the price of jet fuel, but I know diesel hasn't come down as much as regular unleaded.

Plus if prices tumble on jet fuel, how many of these airlines have hedges in at a higher price? Plus who knows how many of them have had there lines of credit frozen with the banks hoarding cash?

I have my next 3 FL trips booked on AT and personally I don't check bags for our family of 4. This is with 2 active boys of 12 and 7. Pack smart and make use of the w/d.

If I could get my wife to do that, I would. However, in the art of a happy marriage it's best to pick you battles wisely. For $15 this isn't a battle I'm going to choose. I feel I've done pretty well just getting her down to one suitecase let alone trying to get her down to one carry on.

[Nobylspoon]

Originally Posted by Twinkstarr

I don't know the price of jet fuel, but I know diesel hasn't come down as much as regular unleaded.

Plus if prices tumble on jet fuel, how many of these airlines have hedges in at a higher price? Plus who knows how many of them have had there lines of credit frozen with the banks hoarding cash?

I have my next 3 FL trips booked on AT and personally I don't check bags for our family of 4. This is with 2 active boys of 12 and 7. Pack smart and make use of the w/d.

Airlines lock in their fuel price for an extended period of time which at the time was a good decision because most airlines locked it in before it got as high as it did but the problem now is noone would have ever known that it would get under $60 a barrel ever again so until the airlines fuel contracts expire they are still locked in at higher fuel cost.

[PigsDad]

Originally Posted by dougp26364

If I could get my wife to do that, I would. However, in the art of a happy marriage it's best to pick you battles wisely. For $15 this isn't a battle I'm going to choose. I feel I've done pretty well just getting her down to one suitecase let alone trying to get her down to one carry on.

And that's exactly why the airlines are charging these extra fees -- because they can. They certainly know their customers.

Kurt

[Patri]

Originally Posted by SherryS

Glad I purchased my tickets on Nov 7!!! We still have 1 checked bag per person FREE!

Me too!!!! I booked Nov. 8.

[dougp26364]

Originally Posted by PigsDad

And that's exactly why the airlines are charging these extra fees -- because they can. They certainly know their customers.

Kurt

While I might not fight my wife over $15, I have begun to think about and plan drive to vacations. In both 2008 and 2009 we've planned one out of 6 vacations that are drive to destinations. In 2010 we might just do two drive to vacations, saving us approx $800 in airfare and car rental fee's.

It's funny how little things like charging $15/bag, $6 for seat selection and having to pay a couple of bucks for a can of pop will make you rethink your vacation plans and end up saving $800 to $1,600 in vacation expense by choosing destinations within driving distance.

[UWSurfer]

That's a shame...it's one of the reasons I booked Air Trans...fortunately on Nov 3rd.

Still, it was a high consideration when booking a trip where I need to bring scuba gear with me next month.

[Timeshare Von]

Thank God I bought our Ft Lauderdale (Dec) and Phoenix (Mar) a while back. Of course, we did pay $6/person/segment to pick our damned seats!

[dougp26364]

Originally Posted by Timeshare Von

Thank God I bought our Ft Lauderdale (Dec) and Phoenix (Mar) a while back. Of course, we did pay $6/person/segment to pick our damned seats!

And that's one that REALLY bugs me. What arguement can they have for charging to choose your seat? I can almost see the weight of the bag thing and maybe paying for pretzels and a soda but how can what seat I sit in affect the cost of that flight.

[x3 skier]

Originally Posted by dougp26364

And that's one that REALLY bugs me. What arguement can they have for charging to choose your seat? I can almost see the weight of the bag thing and maybe paying for pretzels and a soda but how can what seat I sit in affect the cost of that flight.

Since it does not affect anything except the bottom line and is pure profit, they will charge the fee as long as people pay it.

Cheers

[Patri]

I chose not to pay for seats. My son and I will take two short flights to reach our destination. And back. So that would have $48. We will sit where they put us. He's a teenager and will have his headset or something to entertain him. I usually sleep! We'll see how punitive AirTran is with seat assignments.

[bogey21]

Does Air Tran load from the windows in? I purchased an aisle seat toward the back and loaded in the last group.

George

[Timeshare Von]

I was committed to holding out and not paying too until things were filling up and I was afraid we'd be stuck with middle seats on long (over 2 1/2 hour) flights.

[Egret1986]

Originally Posted by Timeshare Von

I was committed to holding out and not paying too until things were filling up and I was afraid we'd be stuck with middle seats on long (over 2 1/2 hour) flights.

I guess for $6 a seat, we'll have to bite the bullet on this since it is Spring Break or else we each would probably be separated in a middle seat throughout the plane.

[Carol C]

I don't care if they charge for checked bags...I always travel light. I'm a fan of the airline and so glad Air Tran is soon starting service to Cancun!

[timeos2]

I have been getting flights for early 2009 and the prices have tanked! I'm getting round trips for less than I've seen in 5 years on Airtran and Jet Blue. Nice to see some deals for a change. USAir on the other hand has gone insane as prices are up across the board. I hate to have a connecting flight but for hundreds in savings I'll have to live with it vs non-stop. Hopefully USAir will come down too.