AirTran Airways A+ Rewards - AirTran awards useless? Having a rough time with availability...

I got my first ever AirTran one-way award. Was trying to use it.

Now I work from home and can travel pretty much whenever. I have 4 trips in the coming 3 months to take. The dates are flexible. Seems like the perfect combination for using rewards.

Welp, I've had absolutely no luck finding ANYTHING to use this reward for! Is it just the routes I'm picking? My originating city?

Here are the routes I've tried.
SFO <-> NYC (June, Julyo or Aug)
PHL <-> SFO (June)
SFO <-> MDW/ORD/MKE (Aug)
SFO <-> IAD (June)

So then I just decided to start looking around for random routes. So far, the ONLY route I've found that has ANYTHING useful is to Orlando in September!

Is this typical?

The biggest trend I noticed is if the routes are below $120 there are seats available, otherwise, nothing. So, is the basic premise that an award ticket = $120 seat or less? Literally it seems to be a 1:1 ratio, meaning if there are seats for sales for <$120, I found seats w/ availability, otherwise nothing. Pretty simple system? But significant de-valuing of a mileage program from what I can tell.

Thoughts?

I'll agree with you that I've found it to be generally tougher than I would like to find awards flights. Unless of course you've got 16 credits to spend on a business class seat, in which case you can get on almost any flight.

One thing in particular I've found frustrating is that even when I look at a short route like BWI-BOS that has say 10 flights a day, and even when all the flights have a fare of $110, only the 2 or 3 earliest flights of the day will be available for a rewards ticket. They are uncannily good about not having rewards flights available for the times I would like to fly.

I got my first ever AirTran one-way award. Was trying to use it.

Now I work from home and can travel pretty much whenever. I have 4 trips in the coming 3 months to take. The dates are flexible. Seems like the perfect combination for using rewards.

Welp, I've had absolutely no luck finding ANYTHING to use this reward for! Is it just the routes I'm picking? My originating city?

Here are the routes I've tried.
SFO <-> NYC (June, Julyo or Aug)
PHL <-> SFO (June)
SFO <-> MDW/ORD/MKE (Aug)
SFO <-> IAD (June)

So then I just decided to start looking around for random routes. So far, the ONLY route I've found that has ANYTHING useful is to Orlando in September!

Is this typical?

The biggest trend I noticed is if the routes are below $120 there are seats available, otherwise, nothing. So, is the basic premise that an award ticket = $120 seat or less? Literally it seems to be a 1:1 ratio, meaning if there are seats for sales for <$120, I found seats w/ availability, otherwise nothing. Pretty simple system? But significant de-valuing of a mileage program from what I can tell.

Thoughts?

They are very difficult to use this summer. Much easier in the winter. Also, try last minute on non stop route - often available. Or use 16 credits for one way in business - most flights are available (at least, not like DL that will charge you double/ triple for the same coach)

I'll agree with you that I've found it to be generally tougher than I would like to find awards flights. Unless of course you've got 16 credits to spend on a business class seat, in which case you can get on almost any flight.

One thing in particular I've found frustrating is that even when I look at a short route like BWI-BOS that has say 10 flights a day, and even when all the flights have a fare of $110, only the 2 or 3 earliest flights of the day will be available for a rewards ticket. They are uncannily good about not having rewards flights available for the times I would like to fly.

Wow :( And this airline was slowly starting to grow on me. This is a pretty huge negative coming from UAL! I guess I will stay over at UAL heh.

I'll find some way to use these 8 up and then I suspect that'll be the end of my usage of AirTran.

Wow :( And this airline was slowly starting to grow on me. This is a pretty huge negative coming from UAL! I guess I will stay over at UAL heh.

I'll find some way to use these 8 up and then I suspect that'll be the end of my usage of AirTran.


From my limited experience, I would say, that UA has very bad availability for domestic coach (unless you are 1k and they open more flights to you). But UA has partners. Airtran still has Frontier, but they are also very limited.
May be WN has the best availability for domestic coach? :D
or may be AS is the program for you, since they can use AS, AA and DL domestic at the low level?

I suspect that part of OP's problem is that he is in a city which is 1) underserved by AirTran, and 2) a very popular tourist destination, especially in the summer. Best bet for OP is to either plan for award travel in the fall or earn more credits in order to fly in Biz class. You might want to try SFO-ATL to see if you find any open dates for that leg, then see where you can go from there.

RE ticket price vs. award availability: I have gotten award tix when prices were much more than $120, but those were to Vegas on off-peak days.

From my limited experience, I would say, that UA has very bad availability for domestic coach (unless you are 1k and they open more flights to you). But UA has partners. Airtran still has Frontier, but they are also very limited.
May be WN has the best availability for domestic coach? :D
or may be AS is the program for you, since they can use AS, AA and DL domestic at the low level?

Sorry, dumb question. What's AS?

And yes, I'm a UA 1K. Have had very, very good success re: availability. Was looking around though at other airlines.

AirTran is my airline of choice; but I live in a city that is one of their hubs.
I am an Elite, but not particularly overwhelmed by that experience.
I just got a friendly reminder from them about maintaining my Elite status:p.
I have found the Elite thing to be pretty worthless on long flights.
This past spring I had to use-up a bunch of expiring points. The only place that seemed reasonable was Miami, but I had to use 16 points both ways.
In the beginning for me, Airtran was flying to Savannah and Charleston, so it was easy to get points going for a day at the beach. But, I don't think Airtran flys to those cities anymore.
Also, the Hertz relationship use to offer deals for a double point on a one day rental. Now, that deal requires a two day rental:td:.
So, I suspect about the best deal for being an Elite might be to use the points to upgrade your ticket:confused:. But on shorter flights, that doesn't mean much to me.
I'll probably go Elite for another year; but I'm rethinking the long term benefit of remaining Elite.

Sorry, dumb question. What's AS?

And yes, I'm a UA 1K. Have had very, very good success re: availability. Was looking around though at other airlines.

AS is Alaska. Why 1k will look elsewhere?;)

I don't use AirTran credits for free flights. But I use them ALL the time for one-way bsuiness class upgrades (only costs 4 credits, plus you're already earning a credit for the paid flight, so it only costs a net of 3 credits to do so).

I find much better value in using the credits for 24-hour confirmed upgrade than for free flights, which I agree are hard to get, especially for the west coast routes that you are considering.

I bet you can get almost anything you want on a route that's not so heavy with leisure traffic.

I don't use AirTran credits for free flights. But I use them ALL the time for one-way bsuiness class upgrades (only costs 4 credits, plus you're already earning a credit for the paid flight, so it only costs a net of 3 credits to do so).

I find much better value in using the credits for 24-hour confirmed upgrade than for free flights, which I agree are hard to get, especially for the west coast routes that you are considering.

I bet you can get almost anything you want on a route that's not so heavy with leisure traffic.

Four Credits for AirTran business class. IMO, the only way to fly.

If you are having trouble booking reward travel, call an A+ CSR and tell her what you are trying to do (ie have a suggested date and flight number to request). Many times, if you are flexible, the A+ CSR may be able to help you. The A+ CSR's have access to resources far beyond what the online booking site offers.

P.S.

If you really want to go to SFO and you dont need to be in a classroom, try for a date after Labor Day. Most of the summer tourist traffic is gone and the wx is really nice.

When picking a date, check the convention and visitors bureau website to make sure that you are not competing with a megaconvention which will make finding a room difficult.

You can PM me if needed

I have also been disappointed sometimes when trying to book award tickets far in advance, and have often found it easier to buy cheap tickets on Airtran than use credits.

However, I have often been pleasantly surprised with award availability for booking tickets on short-notice when fares would otherwise be very expensive. In that situation, Airtran FF points have been much more useful to me than Delta SkyMiles, because Delta wanted a $150 fee to redeem points for a "free" tickets within 3 days. (Lest I give Airtan management any ideas to add fees, please note that the absence of a last minute redemption fee is the major reason I have been booking Airtran instead of Delta, especially given that Airtan points expire much sooner)

For example, I had to make a recent trip due to a family emergency. I used A+ points for a free ticket outbound instead of booking full coach, and could then book a paid return at a reasonable fare with several days notice.

Most folks on FT have been saying that using points for an upgrade is a great value, but I think that is only true for the long-range flights. It seems to me that $49 for a paid upgrade is a better value

Most folks on FT have been saying that using points for an upgrade is a great value, but I think that is only true for the long-range flights. It seems to me that $49 for a paid upgrade is a better value

Correct, and long-range flights tend to be the ones that a majority of folks try to get for free using credits.

Funny how things work out ;)

I know that I am going to be in the minority, but I have redeemed well over 100 free flights on AirTran and they almost always come through for me.

First, Business Class award availability is great. I wish Delta was the same. I know it is painful to use double points for Business Class, but Delta charges around double points to fly in coach a lot of times (medium, high awards).

Second, last minute availability is very good. AirTran works to get revenue for flights. They'll give up around 15% of their seats for free on weekdays and 10% of weekends. Everyone grabs the weekend / holiday flights, but if the flight is running below the predicted sale rate then more seats open up. At the last minute, they work to make certain that the seats are filled -- free or paid.

Third, if you are Elite and REALLY need to be on a flight: ask. They'll look at how you got Elite (did you earn it and are you on-track to requalify). Are you the one traveling as that matters? If the answer is yes, then they'll ask themselves "Will AirTran really lose a revenue seat sale by giving a free seat away?" If the answer is no, they can make special exceptions. It will get noted in your account so save this for when you really need it, but it is one of the hidden benefits of Elite.

Fourth, use awards without ANY capacity controls: flights on other airlines. For example, take 32 credits and fly non-stop on a competitor on a paid ticket. You can do this over AirTran blackout dates. I took 200 credits and got two round trip tickets to the South island of New Zealand last year over Christmas / New Year's. I upgraded those paid tickets on Air New Zealand and got enough miles for another free ticket.

Fifth, if you have points expiring then use UPGRADES to save your points. Use them for long-range or connecting flights where they have the most value.

Unlike Delta, AirTran does not charge to redeem awards last minute. Use this to your advantage. A 16 credit award can be worth $800 in savings without a catch.

I'll watch this thread because I think it is a good one. I would love for the OP or MOD to make this thread sticky and change the title "Best Way to Redeem AirTran Credits."

For example, take 32 credits and fly non-stop on a competitor on a paid ticket. You can do this over AirTran blackout dates. I took 200 credits and got two round trip tickets to the South island of New Zealand last year.

Are those have any price limit? Can I get a $4k ticket for 32 credits or $10k for 100?

al613 - The 100 credits is for a roundtrip coach ticket to anywhere in the world, with a three-segment limit each way (and I believe you must use a "standard routing" for your trip), but no $ limit. I doubt that the carrier who allows A+ members to use 32 credits for a roundtrip on their airline has tickets as high as $4k.

JoeFlyer - thanks for posting! I didn't know the 32-credit tickets were blackout-free; I also would not have thought to ask for award availability to be made for me (as an elite who earned it before the currently reduced requirements).

al613 - The 100 credits is for a roundtrip coach ticket to anywhere in the world, with a three-segment limit each way (and I believe you must use a "standard routing" for your trip), but no $ limit.
Are stopovers allowed? Anyplace they have T&C?

I doubt that the carrier who allows A+ members to use 32 credits for a roundtrip on their airline has tickets as high as $4k.


Any legacy carrier has such tickets. We have learned it during TYP boom :)

Are stopovers allowed? Anyplace they have T&C?



Any legacy carrier has such tickets. We have learned it during TYP boom :)

Technically, stopovers are not allowed. If it does not cost AirTran more money, then they don't care. Full T&C http://www.aplusrewards.com/a_terms_conditions.aspx

I forgot one other option that I have never personally used: use 20 credits on Frontier. They have good availability and I believe no blackouts?

JoeFlyer, thank you for your post. I appreciate your perspective on this.:)
I find Airtran to be ok, but only ok, on reward flight dates.
My "problem" is that I am basically a leisure flyer, and tend to want to go to all the leisure destinations at the same time that everybody else wants to go:p
I considered booking a reward flight outside of Airtran's system this year; but was not satisfied with the results. I decided I would fly Airtran reward as far as it went, and then buy passage on another airline.
Still, I do feel that I get some benefit from being an A+rewards Elite member. I flew today, and being Elite was helpful to me when the online check-in wasn't up to par. The fight had 3 empty seats in Business; but I didn't bother asking for an upgrade, because the flight was only less than an hour long.
So at this point I find the best use of my reward points for me is probably trying to get an upgraded seat on a longer flight that I have purchased.

Good to hear from someone with a different opinion. Thanks:)

JoeFlyer, thank you for your post. I appreciate your perspective on this.:)
I find Airtran to be ok, but only ok, on reward flight dates.
My "problem" is that I am basically a leisure flyer, and tend to want to go to all the leisure destinations at the same time that everybody else wants to go:p
I considered booking a reward flight outside of Airtran's system this year; but was not satisfied with the results. I decided I would fly Airtran reward as far as it went, and then buy passage on another airline.
Still, I do feel that I get some benefit from being an A+rewards Elite member. I flew today, and being Elite was helpful to me when the online check-in wasn't up to par. The fight had 3 empty seats in Business; but I didn't bother asking for an upgrade, because the flight was only less than an hour long.
So at this point I find the best use of my reward points for me is probably trying to get an upgraded seat on a longer flight that I have purchased.

Good to hear from someone with a different opinion. Thanks:)

As an Elite, you save $75 each way for 2 pieces of luggage (free). You should always ask for an upgrade as you will always be accomodated if there are free seats 45 minutes before flights. The downside of no automated upgrades: you have to ask. The upside of no automated upgrades: only people that ask get upgraded.

Glad you liked my opinion . . . I am a Delta PM from International Travel, but I take AirTran as my first choice anywhere that they fly.