[RicMic]

I fly a LOT for both business and pleasure and have been doing so, both domestic and international for over 30 years. I have just had the WORST treatment from any airline I have ever had and I have flown dozens of carriers. My standard checked bag is a soft sided duffel type bag, in literally 100's of flights it was measured ONCE and determined NOT to be oversized. This time when I checked in at Airtran the rude (and extremely slow)baggage agent pulled and stretched the only 2/3rds full bag in each direction individually and decided it was 8" oversize. I pointed out that it was no where near oversize UNLESS she pulled it to beyond its normal dimensions. She asked me if I was going to ride on the conveyor with the bag and make sure it didn't spread out, I avoided the temptation to ask her if SHE was going to ride on the conveyor with the bag and keep it stretched out to beyond its normal size. The bag weighed 39#'s and I only checked the one, so I guess that was the only way they could rip me off for additional funds was by fabricating an oversize charge. I contacted the Airtran customer service and told them exactly what happened, the cs agent was apologetic for the behavior of the agent and sort of suggested that I didn't know what the baggage rules are, but for goodwill they would give me a $25 discount on a future flight, well thats a really good scam, overcharge $29 and then give a $25 discount to fly Airtran again! I will NOT be flying Airtran again, if they need to generate more income, they should do it honestly by charging more for the tickets, not by ripping off customers when they are already stuck at the airport.