Darn WestJet Changes

[Nagle]

Got a call from AirMiles on Friday. They informed me of changes that Westjet had made to our itinerary.

We originally had a direct flight Ottawa - Orlando landing around 8PM. Now we get the pleasure of leaving Ottawa at 6PM, going to TORONTO, then Toronto to Orlando arriving 11:18 pm.

Now a complete waste of an evening. So much for booking early and trying to make plans.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

Got a call from AirMiles on Friday. They informed me of changes that Westjet had made to our itinerary.

We originally had a direct flight Ottawa - Orlando landing around 8PM. Now we get the pleasure of leaving Ottawa at 6PM, going to TORONTO, then Toronto to Orlando arriving 11:18 pm.

Now a complete waste of an evening. So much for booking early and trying to make plans.

That happened to us last year. We got a refund and booked with a different airline.

 

[mjf]

Also happened to us. We booked a flight in April for Mar 2013. Direct from Orlando (8:45pm) to Ottawa (11:40pm) , and in August we were notified that the flight had changed. Now we leave Orlando (2:15pm) and arrive Ottawa @ 7:30pm, but have to go through Toronto. Argh!!

We specifically picked the dates and flights because they were direct. We hate chancing things during snow storm season, and in general try to avoid Toronto.

Westjet said we could change it or cancel with no fees. But there really isn't anything else available with Westjet unless we change our dates, or we will have to pay a fortune to go with Air Canada. We booked the day the flights were released at $405 return each.

I'm wondering if this might be the start of the end of direct flights from Ottawa to Orlando with WestJet. Really hope not.

 

[bankr63]

Got a call from AirMiles on Friday. They informed me of changes that Westjet had made to our itinerary.

We originally had a direct flight Ottawa - Orlando landing around 8PM. Now we get the pleasure of leaving Ottawa at 6PM, going to TORONTO, then Toronto to Orlando arriving 11:18 pm.

Now a complete waste of an evening. So much for booking early and trying to make plans.

We have had the exact same change for our March 8th flight.

Note that there is still a direct flight in the morning if you don't mind shifting your departure forward. We can't as we are flying Friday, and kids (and DW teacher) are still in school.

I am seriously considering calling WJ and requesting that they put us on the 5:00 instead of 6:00. The 6:00 only leaves you 90 min in Toronto to collect your bags, clear US Customs, and make your connection. Considering our flight is in March, a weather delay could cause havoc with our plans.

 

[OneoftheMels]

I hope that's not the end of direct flights from Ottawa! Although you arrive late in the day on your arrival, it's nice to have a day at the Park or resort before you leave for your flight home.

That said, we arrived in Orlando around 8pm and the Disney Express was so slow and made us wait so long at the airport, that we didn't get to our resort at French Quarter until almost 11pm!

 

[bankr63]

I hope that's not the end of direct flights from Ottawa! Although you arrive late in the day on your arrival, it's nice to have a day at the Park or resort before you leave for your flight home.

That said, we arrived in Orlando around 8pm and the Disney Express was so slow and made us wait so long at the airport, that we didn't get to our resort at French Quarter until almost 11pm!

Direct from Ottawa has only been winter months only. They haven't stopped it, only moved it from a late afternoon flight to an early morning. The return flights are still later in the day, so I expect that are running another destination in between with the same equipment. Last year WJ would do Ottawa-MCO-London-MCO-Ottawa each day with the same jet.

We like the late flight so we can go down Friday and be fresh on Saturday morning, rather than wasting most of Saturday getting down there. Seems like a whole extra day!

 

[torontodisneyfan]

That happened to us last year. We got a refund and booked with a different airline.

Air Canada changed the time of my flight by 6 hours and I also got a refund. I re-booked with Jet Blue on the first day of sales for my travel date and saved over $400!

 

[Nagle]

Now that we have to go through Toronto, is 90 minutes enough time to clear customs and make our connection?

 

[Sparrow78]

When we left Orlando we had 90 mins to go through Toronto and get to our Calgary flight. We did make it. About 5 mins after we got to the gate they started boarding! We had just enough time to pee and grab a snack

 

[FayeW]

Our Delta flight out of Ottawa for Feb/13 was changed this week. I booked it specifically because it was really good flight times, but now we won't get to Orlando until 10:10 PM and that means after luggage/rental car we won't be out of the airport until nearly 11:00. I can live with it, but I won't be happy if they change the return flight; we aren't scheduled to leave until 3:50 so we have all morning and early afternoon to do another activity or enjoy the pool.

I did call Delta and we can get a full refund, but the rep said all the changes should be done by end Nov so I'll just wait and see what else happens. Maybe I'll get lucky and catch a good sale on another airline, or out of Syracuse.

 

[bankr63]

When we left Orlando we had 90 mins to go through Toronto and get to our Calgary flight. We did make it. About 5 mins after we got to the gate they started boarding! We had just enough time to pee and grab a snack

And so if you are travelling in winter months, then no, 90 is not enough. If you have to deice in Ottawa, you have probably missed your connection. I called to swap our departing flight to the 5 o'clock (no charge, and GREAT seat assignments for the inconvenience) and am much more comfortable that we can catch our connection to Orlando. Since we are in Toronto at dinner time, there will be time for a bite before we board if we are on time.

YMMV