AirTran Non-rev travel booking numbers question

[ASA]

If you look on airtran.com at seats available for a flight, it might show 1/3 of the seats available. But on our new non-rev site, airtran.com/crew etc., it says for the same flight 110/117 seats sold.

My guess is that on airtran.com, most of those seats are sold just not assigned yet. Do I have the right idea? Are the new non-rev numbers more accurate? Thanks.

 

[cl65capt]

Your on the right track. The seat map on the website is only those seats that have been reserved. There is now the option when you buy a ticket of reserving your seat at the time of purchase(for a fee) or just buying your ticket and reserving the seat at check in(cheaper option). Thats the way I understand it. The new non rev site seems to pretty accurate.

 

[DonVerita]

The online booking system for Employees to use is highly accurate. If a seat is sold, it shows up that way. It is in close to real time.

The reservations website that Customers use is not accurate regarding seat selection because of the stupid policy of trying to charge someone extra to make their seat assignment in advance. They just bought a ticket for crying out loud; let them pick their seat assignment now without charging them another $5. If seats were selected at the time the reservation was booked (either online or via telephone reservations center), then what you see on the reservations website for Customers would be accurate. Alas, it is not.

I sincerely hope there are updates coming out for this thing that allows us to see who is on the standby list by seniority and priority code, like American has.

 

[ASA]

Thanks, guys. That's what I suspected.