Air Tran Mindset?

[MDSurfer]

While looking into a possible trip to PR via Air Tran, I stumbled upon what I thought were some pretty strange priorities:
<<
]Shooting equipment - one (1) gun in a locked hard case, ten (10) pounds of ammunition packed separately.
Skiing equipment - one (1) pair of skis, one (1) set of poles and one (1) pair of boots.
Snowboarding equipment - One (1) snow board will be accepted when packed in a case designed to prevent damage to snow boards. The snow board will be accepted only upon completion of a Limited Release Tag.
Surfing equipment - One (1) boogie board will be accepted when packed in a case designed to prevent damage to boogie boards. The boogie board will be accepted only upon completion of a Limited Release Tag.
Note: If the above listed equipment is in addition to the first or second checked bag, excess baggage fees will be assessed.
Sporting equipment NOT included in the first or second checked bag allowance are: bicycles, scuba gear and surfboards. Each item has acceptance limitations (see below) and will be assessed a sporting equipment fee of $79.

Bicycles must be packed in a box with no part of the vehicle exposed. Bicycles not properly packaged will not be accepted.

Scuba equipment consists of the following when applying the excess baggage charge:

one (1) scuba tank that is empty or with less than forty (40) pounds per square inch (PSI) of air pressure,
one (1) scuba regulator,
one (1) tank pressure gauge, one (1) tank harness,
one (1) mask, two (2) fins, one (1) snorkel, one (1) safety vest,
one (1) knife, one (1) speargun.
The scuba equipment must be in a suitable bag.

Surfboards will be accepted when packed in a case designed to prevent damage to surfboards, and only upon completion of a Limited Release Tag.>>

So- It's okay to take guns, ammunition, pressurized air tanks [aka potential bomb] knives and even spearguns, but surfboards are worth barely a mention at the bottom and there is a limit of 80'' on everything as well. So, I guess I won't be going Air Tran even if the RT price is $329. At least I'll feel much safer. And by the way, if you happen to be ''Active Military'' and traveling with ''orders'' all baggage is free.

[Mikey]

Airtran basically sucks. I flew them to LA back in June. My boardbag was expensive ($100 bucks each way). I arrived in LA but my two favorite sticks did not. It was virtually impossible to get any info from the Airtran crew. Calling baggage claim just got a recording and a voicemail. No communication. My boards arrived on a later flight and were delivered to my buddy's house some six hours after I did--with a couple of really sweet new dings. Our return flight a few days later got scrubbed and we had to hang out in the LAX terminal for four hours waiting for the next bird to Baltimore. Airtran boinked up our trip home from Disney World last year, too.

I've had much better luck toting boards on US Air and Continental. In fact, US Air even comped my boardbag on a return trip form LA last winter. Woo Hoo. Just call their customer service number the day before your flight so as to avoid any unpleasant surprises at the airport. Went to Costa this past August, and I am glad I called ahead to learn that longboards were too big now. Would have sucked to have driven all the way from the Eastern Shore to BWI to find out that I'd have to lock my sticks in the truck for a week in sweltering heat and have to hunt down rentals upon arrival in a country I'd never been to before.

Enough ranting. I hope everyone out there has the opportunity and cash to make at least one good long trip during this new year!

[LVl<E]

im flying out of newark to PR for spring break...its cheap and flies you right to aguidilla...flights are every night direct around 7.

[Ricky Data]

I took it up to visit my sister up in Maine. I didn't get to airport until about 45min before my flight to bwi. As I checked in, I was informed that I was "put on standby for another flight because the airline had overbooked the flight and i was the last to check in." To which I responded, "Because you guys can't figure out how many seats you have on your damn airplane, you kick me off the flight? Well **** you." Luckily, one person didn't show up and I got on, but otherwise the only solution they had was drive me down to boston and put me on a flight there! Ludicrous! Airtran's incompetent, and I get screwed.

[rgnsup]

I took it up to visit my sister up in Maine. I didn't get to airport until about 45min before my flight to bwi. As I checked in, I was informed that I was "put on standby for another flight because the airline had overbooked the flight and i was the last to check in." To which I responded, "Because you guys can't figure out how many seats you have on your damn airplane, you kick me off the flight? Well **** you." Luckily, one person didn't show up and I got on, but otherwise the only solution they had was drive me down to boston and put me on a flight there! Ludicrous! Airtran's incompetent, and I get screwed.

LOLLL...just wow! That's just ridiculous..

[tyrone]

70 bucks each way for air tran beats 120 that US air charges.

you can rent boards down there for 15-20 bucks a day also.

p.s. rent a car in san juan and drive across to rincon. It's definitely worth it, if you want to do anything outside of surfing right by your guesthouse.

[kasdc]

Two AirTran horror stories:

1) Bound for Florida and got to the airport over an hour before our flight, like good little passengers. However our flight was not there and we were informed that our flight had departed an hour and a half EARLY and no one called to inform us. Ended up bouncing us around the east coast to make it there.

2) Heading for Milwaukee enroute to Chicago for a soccer match when 5 of us travelling together were informed that our flight was canceled stewardess ran over her foot with the food cart and had to be taken to the emergency. We were first in line and it took us 8 HOURS to get new flights, transportation from DCA to BWI (we all took public transportation to get there), and a hotel room for our 6AM flight the next day. The customer service rep was such a moron that he was trying to send us to the Best Western in Dundalk instead of the Westin at BWI. What a friggin' nightmare!

[CharlieInOC]

If any of you guys are going to PR. it's hard to beat the Continental flight out of Newark which leaves everyday at 6:20PM and goes straight to Aquadilla. 2o Min. car from the airport and you're in Rincon.

Stated surfboard charges are $100 for 2 boards in 1 case. As I stated in another post, many times you can get away with more boards for the same price. If 2 or more are traveling together, I pack a small double bag inside my larger coffin and try to sneak 4 boards thru for the $100. If they decide to be pricks and open up the coffin to count boards, I pull the small double bag out and either check it seperately for a total of $200 or leave it in the car. This beats the addition board charge of $500 dollars for the 2 extra boards in one coffin, and most times they don't open the bag and count. I've only been charged extra 1 time a couple of years ago.

[surferboi0911]

i'm taking jet blue out of JFK to aguadilla and saving about $80 on my flight compared to what continental was charging out of dulles. staying in rincon. boards are $50 each way, might be able to swing getting a couple boards in each coffin without them checking, but we'll see.

[CharlieInOC]

JetBlue is the competion for Contential when flying into Aquadilla. The only downside is the 3 or 4 AM flight times. They are reasonable when it comes to surfboard charges. I have friends that fly out of Orlando often on JetBlue for $69 each way.