Here’s a heartwarming email from reader Joy. She accidentally booked tickets from Baltimore instead of Philly and AirTran not only fixed this mistake — they didn’t charge her extra.

Joy says:

This weekend, I had plans to fly from Philadelphia to Fort Lauderdale. When I got to the airport, I had trouble checking in. I went to the ticket counter for help and it was there that I discovered I had accidentally booked the tickets from Baltimore, NOT Philadelphia. I was horrified and shocked; visions of hundreds of dollars danced in my head. I explained my apparent stupidity to the attendant and asked how I could get to Fort Lauderdale. After some intense clacking of keyboard keys, she told me if I ran, I could make a flight that connected through Atlanta.

I ran.

When I got to Fort Lauderdale, I stopped by the ticket counter to arrange the return trip on Wednesday. I explained what happened and that I needed to return to Philadelphia, not Baltimore as reserved. Apparently surprised by the ineptness of some travelers, the attendant had me explain a few times. Once she understood, she clacked her keys for a while and told me she thought she could help but needed to call her supervisor. After a little while, she waved me over to her station and told me she could return to me to Philadelphia for $500. I gulped and as I figured out how I would cough up the extra funds, she asked me to wait a moment. With a bit more clacking of keys, she told me there would be no charge.

I have no idea why these two ticket counter attendants took it upon themselves to help me out of such a stupid mistake, but I really appreciate their assistance. The situation was entirely and completely my fault, yet they fixed it for me. Frankly, I was shocked; in an age when airlines charge for everything from extra pretzels to water bottles, I was completely floored that my ticket was corrected at no charge. But more than that, I’m grateful. I haven’t flown Airtran very many times but if this is any indication of the level of service provided, Airtran is becoming my preferred airline.

Everyone who has heard this story has been equally amazed by the service. Traveling via air has become so miserable that to receive extra service and a little bit of mercy makes all the difference in the world.

The best part of this story is that they were nice not once but twice. This means that AirTran has at least two different people working for them that are kind to others.

(Photo:Flying Photog)

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