I travel somewhat frequently, probably making 15 to 20 round trips per year. Given the current economy, high fuel costs and decreasing margins I fully understand the precarious position many airlines are faced with. Airline employees seem to be stretched thin and often deal with impatient and sometimes rude customers. I sympathize for them and treat them with respect. That being said, I’ve never experienced such total disregard for customer service and disrespect from an airline employee as I did on Thursday morning, May 28th 2009.
I arrived to the San Francisco International Airport AirTran ticket counter at 6:25am for a 7:00am flight. I did not have bag to check and tried to print a boarding pass at the electric kiosk. However, it was not working. I looked to the counter agent for help but notice she was arguing with another customer. She stated because he was within 45-minutes from the scheduled take-off she could not print him a boarding pass. I asked if they were walking about Flight 46 to Atlanta and they were. At this time, I told her I did not have bags to check and needed help with a boarding pass. She told me the airplane doors / gate were closed per AirTran regulations 45-minutes prior to take-off and I too would not receive a boarding pass. I told her I have never heard of such a rule and I travel quiet frequently. My requests to speak with a manager were ignored. I then asked her to print the boarding pass and let me try to make the flight. I would return if I missed it. She told us (the other gentleman who she was arguing with), we would have to fly stand-by and I would not reach my final destination until the following day. She entered me into the computer at 6:32 (per AirTran’s records, after several minutes of arguing). I told her I needed to reach New Orleans the same day and could not wait until tomorrow. I was told I was wrong for showing up late and missing the flight was my fault.
At this point, I walked to the Southwest ticket counter located next to the AirTran counter. I inquired about a ticket to New Orleans arriving same day. I then purchased an 8:35am flight through Denver arriving in New Orleans at 4:15pm. The ticket cost me $395. I also asked what Southwest’s check-in deadline is. Southwest will check customers in up to 10minutes from takeoff. In total frustration, I made sure to sarcastically thank the AirTran agent for ruining my morning and causing me to buy an unneeded second airline ticket. She did not care the slightest.
After the security checkpoint and on my way to the Southwest gate, I stopped by the AirTran gate (to Atlanta) and found there was 15 minutes left in boarding. I explained my situation to the gate agent and manager, named Diane. They asked if they could print my boarding pass and put me on the original Atlanta flight. I thanked her but explained I just spent $395 on a new ticket and was worried Southwest would not refund the ticket if I took the AirTran flight. Diane then refunded the first part of my itinerary ($129), offered a $50 future voucher and a $10 food voucher. I thanked her and asked if there was anymore she could do considering I was still out of pocket another $266 despite her refund. Unfortunately, she said she was doing the best she could for me. I thanked her again and waited another hour for my Southwest flight. They asked for the ticket counter agent’s name. Unfortunately, I did not recall the agent’s name.
My above interactions are unnecessary and unacceptable. Further frustrating me, while writing this letter I reviewed the check-in requirements sent to me via AirTran’s confirmation system. The requirements DO NOT mention a 45-minute check-in deadline. They clearly, state 30-minutes PRIOR to scheduled departure. The counter agent was incorrect in stating the check-in requirements. She didn’t even know the proper AirTran rules for which she was trying to keep us off the plane with.

Ticket Counter Check-In Requirements
AirTran Airways recommends that passengers arrive at the airport 90 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of their flight. Due to security requirements, passengers and their baggage will not be accepted at the ticket counter less than 30 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of their flight. Please note the minimum check-in time may be greater than 30 minutes at some airports.

To use the $50 voucher I have to buy a future AirTran ticket. There are plenty of options when flying and I would rather not give AirTran my future business considering my travel experience.
It is too bad one person can really ruin an experience to this degree. My trip is complete and the return AirTran flight was without problem. Agents and attendants were kind and responsive. Diane, the manager on May 28th was also sympathetic and responsive. However, my initial experience at the ticket counter and the fact I am still out $266 is unacceptable. I appreciate the partial refund. It is better than nothing but I am really unhappy I am stuck eating the Southwest ticket. I would really appreciate AirTran, reimbursing me for the Southwest ticket or refunding the rest of my original itinerary.

I received my boarding pass a full 40 minutes before take-off with no checked baggage. However, due to the completely useless TSA deciding to justify their paychecks, I arrived at the gate 6 minutes before my flight was scheduled to take off. I was told that because I was 4 minutes inside the 10 minute cut-off for boarding that I would have to wait approx. FIVE HOURS for the next flight to my destination, even though the plane was sitting right in front of me with the gate tunnel still attached - i.e. I could have EASILY boarded the plane and made my flight. I sat and watched as passengers were boarded TWO MINUTES before the scheduled take-off of the next flight, and on the flight they put me on, TWO passengers were boarded THREE MINUTES INSIDE the 10 minute boarding cut-off time. These were the only two AirTran flights departing that day. It is my opinion that my seat was sold out from under me and I was bumped to a flight which arrived SIX HOURS later to my destination that was not fully booked as it was a less desirable flight which arrived late at night rather than early evening. It is also my opinion that this inconsistent, discriminatory policy was utilized intentionally for profit by the female airline boarding agent who didn't have the guts to show her face at the gate again after she royally screwed me over. I am sure others have been abused by this airline via this discriminatory policy, and if you are interested in initiating a class-action suit against AirTran, please send me an email, as if enough people come forward, I'll put up a website specifically for this purpose. As for this greedy, abusive airline, this was my first and last time flying with them, and I will be disputing the charge with my credit card company.

DO NOT EVER FLY AirTran...Tried the twice and we will not give them another chance!!!

I am sorry that I never wrote this story about AirTran and I am sorry that I tried to use them again. We were successful in avoiding the airline up until now but ended up using them to save money, which ended up costing me more money in the long run due to their inability to measure luggage accurately. Don’t ever travel with a duffle bag b/c they will expand it regardless if there is anything in it or not! Here is the really bad part of the trip…6 of us were flying to Denver on a ski trip in April 2007 from Jacksonville Florida. We flew through Atlanta. The passengers included two minors and four adults. We stopped in Atlanta and the minors were hungry. The girls were hungry, so we asked the agent at the gate if there would be time to get something to eat. She said yes but be back at 9:00 am for your flights. My husband and I got on the plan with all the carry on, the other two adults and kids walk across the hallway to the Atlanta Bread Company to grab breakfast to go. While they were getting something to eat the ticket agent gave the four seats away and one seat was given to an AirTran employee. The woman at the ticket counter said that her computer said 9:01 am and the traveler said that her Rolex show 9:00 am on the dot. Even if the time on the computer and the time on the watch were off by 1 minute we still cannot figure out to this day how the ticket agent was able to process 4 passengers in 1 minute. The flight attendant felt terrible and agreed that what was done at the ticket counter was inexcusable. The 4 other people in our party were not did not get on our flight and were put on the next flight. The ticket agent treated us like dirt bags to the point where other passengers were upset. I never ended up writing to the airline or posting anything on the internet because I wanted to put it behind me. Unfortunately, it all came back to me this morning when I dropped my daughter off to fly from Jacksonville to Detriot on AirTran. The same rude treatment…I already posted the story about the mistreatment from the ground attendance with respect to my daughter’s bag.

My family and I flew from Orlando to Laguardia on Sunday Dec 30. I have three young children; 3 year old twins and a 2 year old baby. Our flight was delayed nearly one hour that day so my young children were restless and tired from waiting for the flight to leave. I asked the gate attendant behind the counter if we would be able to board a bit earlier with the folks in wheelchairs since we had two strollers and was hoping that we would be offered some consideration for the difficulty my wife and I would have in boarding with our three carry-ons and three children.

Unfortunately, the AirTran gate attendant did not agree that we merited any such consideration and asked us to wait in line till our zone was called.

While waiting in line to board the plane, two of my children began to cry since we had to take them out of their strollers while they were half asleep. The gate attendant, who was the same woman that had refused my earlier request, appeared more annoyed than helpful.

When I handed all five of our boarding passes to her, for some unknown reason she refused to take them, stating that each individual had to hand her their passes separately.

I think it is completely outrageous to expect toddlers to stand on line and hand in boarding passes individually not to mention the inconvenience to the other passengers who had to wait while we explained the process to the children.

Considering not only our time, but the additional unnecessary delay & frustration to the rest of the flight's passengers, this represents the height of unprofessionalism and pettiness by your employee. With so many alternatives to your airline, I will be actively discouraging friends, colleagues and acquaintances from flying AirTran.

(By the way, the gate attendant is the gal who worked at Orlando airport at gate 97 between 2PM and 4 PM on Dec 30, 2007. I wish I had her name so I could post it as well)