Consumer Corner

Air Tran is matching or in some case beating the 72-hour fare cut sale announced yesterday by Southwest Airlines.   In the case of the Air Tran sale you have until November 10th to purchase tickets online.  Ten-day advance purchase is required.  Lowest sale fares are valid for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. Additional sale fares are valid for travel on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Fares are valid for travel through February 10, although some black out dates apply:   November 25, 2009, November 28-30, 2009, December 18-20, 2009, December 22-30, 2009, and January 2-3, 2010.

Unlike Southwest, Air Tran does charge to check luggage. A first bag may be checked for a fee of up to $15 per person and a second bag may be checked for a fee of up to $25 per person.

Fares shown do not include Airport Passenger Facility Charges of up to $18. The September 11th security fee of up to $10 is not included. Fares do not include segment taxes of $3.60 per segment. A segment is defined as a takeoff and a landing. Fares to/from Puerto Rico do not include additional government taxes of up to $32.20. Fares to/from Cancun and the Caribbean do not include additional government taxes of up to $100.

To reserve tickets visit:  www.airtran.com

In some parts of the country the fares are as low as $39 for a one-way ticket.  Out of Philadelphia here is what some of the one-way fares look like:   (by the way, roundtrip purchase isn't required)