Originally Posted by
BBRebozo
As I've pointed out in a previous comment, I'm an AirTran fan, but have to agree that is nearly impossible to book award travel to any desirable destination.
I have repeatedly tried, and failed, to book one round trip ticket between Washington Dulles and Las Vegas for almost any time in the January 2011 through March 2011 time frame -- months that have only just opened up on the AirTran website within the past few days, and that are nearly a year in the future. And I'm an Elite member!
I'm beginning to question whether there is any such thing as an IAD-LAS reward seat on AirTran.
I'm pretty sure that AirTran has not yet opened up any 2011 dates for booking. When they first open up booking dates, they often only make unrestricted Y fares available in coach to start - cheaper fares (and award tickets) tend to open up two to six weeks after Y fares.
Also, Justin's point is spot on - paying double credits doesn't feel so painful when it buys you a business class seat. Yes, I prefer to book in coach for 8 credits and then use 4 more credits to upgrade rather than use 16 to start, but paying 16 credits for a business class seat is fair IMHO. If you are earning almost 16 credits per month, you should be able to afford using credits for business class awards - or for their higher priced awards (50 credits r/t to Hawaii, 100 credits r/t for any three-segment journey in the world, 100 credits for a companion pass, along with the Frontier awards).