Despite the Merger With Southwest Airlines, AirTran's Stand-by Program for Young Adults Remains in Effect

AirTran U ( www.airtranu.com/cheap-student-tickets.aspx ) offers remarkable airfare stand-by prices -- one-way fares as low as $49 per segment -- to young people (they need not be students) ages 18 to 22 (you're eligible if you haven't reached your 23rd birthday). They are valid on all AirTran flights within the contiguous U.S. states, except of course during various blacked-out holiday periods.

You're required to go to an AirTran ticket counter at the airport at least two hours in advance of the departure for which you're standing by. After registering at that counter, you head quietly for the gate and wait to be told whether you've gotten on the flight. Depending on the length of the flight, you pay either $49, $69, or $99 for the non-stop trip in question; if your plans require a one-stop flight, you pay those amounts for each of the segments of that one-stop flight. Baggage allowance? None (for checked baggage, that is). But you are entitled to bring one carry-on and one other personal item, like a briefcase or laptop computer.

To amplify that last point: you are not entitled to check aboard a standard suitcase.

Subject to these conditions, all of them reasonable, the AirTran stand-by privilege for young persons is one of the best travel deals around. Until further notice from AirTran's corporate parent, Southwest, it remains in effect, and should be carefully considered by all young travelers.