American Airlines on almost any domestic flight now either makes you pay for your meal or if they do give you one, it's absolutely awful. I've even been on three plus hour flights that have had nothing more than general beverage service. Not even peanuts or pretzels! Air Tran though, even though it was just pretzels, was very consistent in their service. Better still was that if you asked for more to drink or more pretzels, you got them. Everything was always done with a smile.

Another nice little touch is that every seat has XM Satellite radio in it's seat arm. It's a minor point really, but in an age in which airlines seem to only care about cramming as many people into a metal tube to shoot across the sky, it's nice to see that there's still an airline out there that is willing to offer an extra comfort (no matter how small it may seem) to it's passengers. As if that wasn't enough, if you didn't already have headphones with you, they gave you a pair to use. No rental charges, no need to return them, just enjoy.

Even more than food and creature comfort, is the importance of having clothes upon arrival at your final destination. I was very pleased that not only did all of my luggage arrive with me, but it was all intact as well. In prior travels with American and United airlines I have had my luggage lost approximately 50% of the time. Fortunately it was almost always lost on the return trip, but it was still a major inconvenience. Air Tran on the other hand, lost nothing. Maybe it was careful handling and paying attention to detail on the part of the ground crews, or maybe it was the bright pink tags marked TRANSFER that helped things. Either way, not having your luggage lost is a good thing.

Then there's the icing on the cake, the arrival time. Of the four flights I took, every single one of them was on time or early. Two of the flights arrived thirty minutes ahead of schedule! It was quite a luxury to be able to arrive early for once. On prior trips, United hasn't fared too poorly, but American has caused me to almost miss connections due to unexplainable delayed arrival times. Worse still have been the numerous times in which American has arrived close to on time only to end up sitting on the tarmac for upwards of forty-five minutes before finally arriving at the gate.

Would I fly Air Tran again? You bet I would. It was a pleasure flying on an airline that didn't treat me like another head of cattle. It's been a long time since I've felt like a real traveler again and I look forward to it again.