Just returned, belatedly, from a trip to North Carolina and Virgina. I attended my baby sister’s college graduation. I drove the Blue Ridge Parkway at a leisurely pace. I was disconnected from cell phone service for 24 hours and enjoyed it. I shopped for art supplies and spent too much money (but lookit all the purty colors….). I observed rescued raptors at the Carolina Raptor Center.

…. And I spent an unplanned night in Atlanta, GA, courtesy of AirTran. ….

AirTran employees are not trained to help you in any way. If they are trained at all, it in ways to specifically NOT address your problem. Every department operates from a different rule book. Distrust and disbelieve ANY information that may leak out of their mouths. If you have a cell phone and a friend with Internet access, ask your friend to search Expedia or Travelocity for alternatives BEFORE you talk to an AirTran employee about rescheduling or rerouting you. And for the record, the $7 meal voucher they give you won’t cover the price of a sandwich in the Atlanta airport, even if there happened to be a sandwich available at 10 p.m. And don’t bet on the vendors being open at 5:30 a.m. the next morning, either.

Better yet, don’t fly AirTran. Ever.