Best Airline...that's not Southwest or Jet Blue

I hear Singapore Airlines is really nice. Sadly I don't think they have many flights out of Orlando.

We really enjoyed AirTran the last time we flew. They are a major player out of Orlando now. They were also the cheapest for our last trip.

I'm always scared to try AirTran. Their prices are usually good but I've always had the impression they were a low-cost, low-service airline. How do they compare to, say Southwest, as far as service?

The same or better. Southwest has made a name for themselves as a bargain airline, but they are usually a pleasure to fly. Airtran hasn't been around as long, but the planes are new and they have some cool things SW doesn't like headphone jacks with satellite radio at each seat.

Just be flexible with AirTran. I've heard they change their flight times quite frequently. If Southwest is not an option for me, I've had good experiences with Delta. They've been pretty pricey lately though. Good luck, whatever you choose!

Kathy

LIFL -- Thanks for the recommendation. I've wondered about Air Tran, but haven't taken the plunge yet! Do you know if they have any planes with wifi?

kcoppola -- Thanks for the info on changed flights! I've been pleased with Delta service on regional trips recently, but those are usually outsourced to different companies, so I'm never sure WHO should get the credit for the pleasant flights! ;-D

admin, they do apparently offer wi-fi. Now that you mention it Kathy, I think they did change the time of our last flight but it was only by a few minutes and not a bid deal (also was way in advance).

That's interesting. I didn't know about them moving flight times around. I wonder what kind of cost savings airlines could get by adopting that approach.

Good question, Brad. May be significant, especially considering how well Air Tran has done in a short time. Honestly when I got the email that our flight time had changed, I was like "What the french, toast!?" but then I realized it was only a few minutes and wasn't a big deal. That's the first time, to my recollection, that has ever happened with any airline (and I've flown a fair amount).

I've had the flight time change on me a few times (can't remember the airlines). It's usually only a few minutes, but that email is jarring!

Yeah you always have to double-take to make sure it's just the time and not the date. Is AirTran's service good?

We thought so. We really enjoyed AirTran and will be using them next time (assuming they're still cheap).

I have used AirTran a lot, it is a cheaper option back to my parents. My problem with it is they change flights times a LOT, sometimes by two or three hours at the last minute...and I have had a lot of flights canceled with them too.

But at least they didn't lose my luggage both ways like US Airways

We had lost luggage with American over Christmas!!! They lost three bags containing all of our gifts. I can't think of a worse time to lose bags.

Both ways?!? They found it at the end though, right?

Yeah...and I was spending a summer doing a job in DC, so not having anything for three days REALLY sucked. One time it went to Chicago instead of DC, and took three days, the other went to CA instead of Ohio, and only took one day.I will never fly them again though

I don't like to check bags at all for these reasons. Unfortunately now that I'm married and with more and more restrictions on carry-on items, I've had to start.

Same here. We used to be able to do a full week in Europe with just carry-on. There's no way we could do that now. Those baggage charges are out of this world though, so we're still packing light.