AirTran Airways

Advantages: cheap and cheerful
Disadvantages: not a single one

...Anyone who has ever had the misfortune to encounter the McGhee Tyson airport in Knoxville, Tennessee will tell you that one of the few redeeming features is the quality of the airlines flying from it relative to the size of the place. One of these, on the budget side, is AirTran. $58 bought me a single ticket to Atlanta Hartsfield Airport, which isn't bad considering their other US destinations tend to be the less well known airports in the big cities due to landing space restrictions (a situation not dissimilar to the UK reliance on Luton and Stansted for value flight). Admittedly this was less convenient than the Greyhound bus for this particular trip, but had the massive advantage of taking 40 minutes rather than 7 hours. The plane was safe enough, and AirTran have since upgraded their fleet to the very latest short-haul Boeings... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Cheap flights, free drinks
Disadvantages: Staff knowledge at times

...AirTran are one of the newer low cost airlines operating within the continental United States and the Caribbean. I made several trips with them between last June when I moved over to the US, and this September when I thankfully escaped the place, and have had mixed feelings. FACT: Overbooking? Try Over-assigning! I checked in at the airport, received my boarding pass and proceeded to the gate. However, on boarding the aircraft, I found someone sitting in the seat I had been given. Close inspection of her pass told us we had somehow both been given the same seat. According to the air hostess this happens "all the time" when check-in attendants fail to press the right button on their terminal to save the details of the seat they’ve just assigned. Seating lists allow only one person per seat, so generally there is room... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Gets me to the North East quick
Disadvantages: Still quite pricey flights

...in plenty of time for check-in but EA really doesn't open until about 50 minutes before take off. I have just booked another flight and got the same price £149.60. It just makes me mad that I have to pay this cost for an internal flight and cheap package holidays/flights can be obtained for a similar price for Europe! I feel I have to pay this price (the other fare stages are very much higher priced) because it allows me to have quality time with my mum and this means a lot to me. December 2003 ---------------------- I went up North to see my mum who has recently had a heart attack. Again, I travelled by air with Eastern Airways. On 4 December, waiting at Southampton Airport departure lounge we were told that we may be delayed by two hours because of bad weather. We were all quite annoyed and one guy, in particular, was mad as he... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful