winterescape

My apologies if this has already been discussed but I did not stumble on a discussion about this with my quick search.

AirTran flights booked @ the southwest web site seem to inherit the two bags free and the no charge for flight change rules of parent southwest. I stumbled on this when a friend booked his AirTran flight at southwest.com and he received vouchers for checked bags to use on his AirTran flight.

I called a AirTran customer service rep to inquire because I had booked a AirTran flight that I had to change and I paid the $75 change penalty. She informed me that had I booked it @ southwest I would not have incurred that fee but because it was directly booked at Airtran.com I did have to pay it and there was nothing she could do..
YMMV…

italiancal

Can anyone confirm that no baggage fees are charged to guests who are booked using points on southwest systems ?

NCLSEA123

Anyone booked on AirTran through Southwest booking channels will have 2 free bags.

happymommy

Thank you so much for this information!

I made a mistake and booked my husband yesterday on Airtran - kicking myself as the flight is bookable on SW website, so it would have given him checked bags free and no change fees. At least next time I will check there first!

Live and learn....

NCLSEA123

If you're AirTran Elite, it makes more sense to book directly with AirTran but for anyone else who won't miss an advanced seat assignment, the Southwest website is the way to go.

rsteinmetz70112

Even if you're Elite you will still have to pay a change fee (soon to be $150) if you change your flight.

But if you book through Airtran you can select a seat at check-in. If you book on Southwest you will be given a more or less random seat.

However if you're at the airport you can usually get a seat assignment well before your flight.

mke9499

If you booked within the last 24 hours, you can call AirTran to cancel and then rebook on Southwest, if the same fare is still available (you might want to check that, first). If you cancel the AirTran reservation on their website, the funds will be held in your account as a credit, to be used for future travel within one year of original booking date; be sure to call, so that a refund can be issued to your original form of payment.

NCLSEA123

Elites do get change fee waivers on Y and B fares. Plus I think that the relatively high chance of an upgrade and the fact that you can select free seats (including exit rows) outweigh the change fee difference.

grahampros

This integration is a mess with all the conflicting rules and fees. I've never seen a merger integration play out this way.

rsteinmetz70112

If you pay for the high priced seats. From the Airtran Elite website page:

Elite upgrades are also available for a fee 48 hours prior to departure (although that doesn't seem to be on the web page) or free at the gate. I have pretty good luck with the free upgrades.

Also all Business class tickets (A J or D) waive change fee (again I can't find that on the website so I hope it hasn't changed)

What that's worth will vary from person to person.

saneman

It's ridiculous that the average customer gets a better deal on an Airtran flight on the WN website than booking directly on airtran. They should just make bags free for all or raise the prices on WN website an average of 15-20 bucks.

rsteinmetz70112

I think it's a conscious effort on the part of Southwest to move people voluntarily to Southwest.

You can see other examples:
Soon I think we will start seeing a shift of more flights to Southwest as 717s leave the fleet for Delta and the 737s get transitioned. One example I have found so far is that on January 5th Southwest is starting a daily nonstop each way from MSY 2 ATL. Previously all nonstops had been Airtran.

max bet

There are no baggage fees if your flight contains a WN segment. Does not matter on what website the flight was booked.