Air Canada Drama

[Daisy-J&D]

We booked AC again for our flight this September because although West Jet had a similar seat sale, I couldn't get Friday-Sunday or Saturday-Sunday flights with West Jet. Their prices went up for the Friday/Sat departures and it just wasn't in our budget.

That said, we were in Florida during a potential strike last year... really had no idea if we were going to be affected and ONLY knew about it because we ended up on a bus to the parks with Canadians who WERE freaking out about it. I guess if you're at your destination it is not as stressful as if you were departing... but we didn't worry too much about it.

We're taking the risk again this year and I'm not at all worried... if something happens the day or week before, maybe but until then I have no issue at all booking with AC.

Disclaimer: My uncle is a retired AC Captain and my Aunt is a retired AC flight Attendant. My family flies AC and always has because we get discounts/free passes etc... so maybe I'm more accepting because of this even when paying with my own money.

 

[lengmui]

We ended up booking AC (even though we didn't want to) to LAX next week as a last-minute trip as well. They were the only airline aside from WJ that did non-stop, and I find flights with stops just as risky for delays anyway. WJ was significantly more expensive than AC for this flight though..and even flying out of Buffalo was just $50 cheaper, so figured we would stick with AC.

Booking the earliest trip there, hoping if there is some problem they could get us on a slightly later flight. If there are problems on our way back, just another day off from work

Definitely though, if taking long-haul flights I won't consider AC anymore regardless of price. I'd rather get stuck in the US with a lot of options back than halfway around the world.

 

[thebigman65]

I feel so sorry for those of you who can't easily fly from the states....I am so grateful, that we can fly out of Buffalo with only an hours drive.....And it is way cheaper too.....I will never fly AC or Westjet again unless it is the same cost.....and we all know what the chances of that are!

 

[manolete]

We live in Calgary and we fly neither Westjet nor Air Canada. Westjet is way too expensive and we still have to change planes in Toronto. Air Canada is highway robbery so no. We fly United for around 600 dlls round trip.

 

[monkey30]

We are booked with Alaskan airlines for the next trip, we got flights to LAX for 311 return

 

[pxlbarrel]

We just booked West Jet. AC's flights just weren't convenient. We were going to fly out of Buffalo but the cost difference wasn't great enough for us.

 

[Daisy-J&D]

I feel so sorry for those of you who can't easily fly from the states....I am so grateful, that we can fly out of Buffalo with only an hours drive.....And it is way cheaper too.....I will never fly AC or Westjet again unless it is the same cost.....and we all know what the chances of that are!

We live close enough(Oakville) to drive to Buffalo. We briefly considered it but the non-stop flights were few and far between and cost was pretty much the same. SW, the cheapest, was about $125per return ticket cheaper but with timing that wouldn't work for us.

It's clear that a lot of people find flying out of buffalo cheaper but I only want to fly direct and any deals that I ever see seem to have stops or plane changes (I don't want to fly to Chicago or Baltimore before going to New York, for example). I guess if I were to be extra frugal that stress/time wouldn't matter but right now I'd rather pay to fly out of Canada.

 

[thebigman65]

We live close enough(Oakville) to drive to Buffalo. We briefly considered it but the non-stop flights were few and far between and cost was pretty much the same. SW, the cheapest, was about $125per return ticket cheaper but with timing that wouldn't work for us.

It's clear that a lot of people find flying out of buffalo cheaper but I only want to fly direct and any deals that I ever see seem to have stops or plane changes (I don't want to fly to Chicago or Baltimore before going to New York, for example). I guess if I were to be extra frugal that stress/time wouldn't matter but right now I'd rather pay to fly out of Canada.

I am talking strictly about going to Orlando and we always fly Jet Blue. They have at least 1 or 2 non-stop flights per day. The cost difference is huge. March break 2012, we paid $835 return, taxes in, for 2 of us and I know people have found better. I can never find flights on AC or WestJet for less than $450 each!....I am not sure about other destination, but flying to Orlando out of Buffalo can't be beat and the customs deal is way easier too!

 

[pxlbarrel]

I am talking strictly about going to Orlando and we always fly Jet Blue. They have at least 1 or 2 non-stop flights per day. The cost difference is huge. March break 2012, we paid $835 return, taxes in, for 2 of us and I know people have found better. I can never find flights on AC or WestJet for less than $450 each!....I am not sure about other destination, but flying to Orlando out of Buffalo can't be beat and the customs deal is way easier too!

Somtimes the cost difference is huge and it usually depends on how many people are flying. The cost difference multiplied by a family for 4 may be enough for somebody to fly out of Buffalo but for 2 people, it may not be enough ... especially if you have to get a hotel room or parking in Buffalo.

I found, the other day, an AC flight for less than $400 from Toronto ... but the flight times really sucked for our plans ... but if you didn't mind arriving in Orlando at 7 pm, it would have been pretty good. Flying out of Buffalo vs West Jet out of Toronto would have been around $100 per person difference and there were 3 of us. We would have had to get 2 rooms in Buffalo (no, trust me, 2 rooms not 1...or we would have killed each other). 2 rooms in Buffalo plus gas plus time to drive there and back .... it wasn't worth saving $300.

I don't see the great savings like I used. A few years ago, I flew out of Buffalo to Orlando for less than $200. Now ... THAT was worth it.

 

[son3disfan]

Just got a contract that requires me to fly about 6X to Vancouver over the remainder of the year. I'm only 90 min from Buffalo and will fly from Buffalo to Seattle and drive across the border rather than give Air Canada any more of my money! They just don't get it!

This is very interesting....
I would love to hear more. Are you going to rent a car? I have heard Canadians in the Us can not cross the border back into Canada with a US rental....

I know some options are a train or bus ( three hour ride).

The reason I am interested is we too live 30 mins from the border to Buffalo, and are going on an Alaska cruise next summer out of Vancouver.
I am pricing out airfare in Canada and it is double from YYZ-Vancouver compared to buffalo - Seattle.
Just not sure about the seatle to Vancouver piece.
For a family of 5 it would be a huge savings....
Would love to hear your experience.thank!

 

[ReluctantDisaholic]

We weren't impressed with Air Canada when we flew last month (luckily it was just AC for the Timmins to Toronto part of the trip - Toronto to Orlando was Delta).

It was right at the time the ground crews were talking about striking - we landed in Toronto and were sitting on the runway for an hour. Then we waited in the airport for our luggage for another hour after that.

 

[C&B Young]

We ended up booking AC (even though we didn't want to) to LAX next week as a last-minute trip as well. They were the only airline aside from WJ that did non-stop, and I find flights with stops just as risky for delays anyway. WJ was significantly more expensive than AC for this flight though..and even flying out of Buffalo was just $50 cheaper, so figured we would stick with AC.

We did the same for our flight to Disneyland this year. AC from YYZ was the cheapest, nonstop option to LAX. However, for flights to WDW we won't be using AC anymore because of the cheaper, more reliable options.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

One of my main problems with Air Canada now is them charging to check your bag, on top of an already expensive ticket. I'm sorry I just don't think that is right for an airline to do at all. At least with WestJest you still get one bag free.

 

[teekathepony]

I've lost a lot of confidence in AC too but am pretty much stuck for options here in Cape Breton! I used my airmiles and had no other options but AC. It doesn't mean I like it. Especially as PP said that they charge for your bags now. I know how they handle them and to charge me to have my bag thrown around and destroyed is pathetic. If it weren't for airmiles I would absolutely consider driving to Halifax for other carriers.

 

[riizu]

We had originally planned to fly directly to MCO out of Ottawa using Air Canada. Quickly decided that spending $1,000+ wasn't a good deal. Now we're driving to Syracuse and flying from there. 2 adults, $490 return on United Air. We may have some connecting flights and a late check-in, but it's so much cheaper!

 

[pxlbarrel]

I just read that West Jet plans on ditching it's inflight entertainment system and go to tablets...where they'll rent tablets to passengers for $10-$12 a tablet.

I can't be the only one that thinks this is stupid. (Well, Macleans.ca thought it was stupid too.)

 

[bankr63]

I just read that West Jet plans on ditching it's inflight entertainment system and go to tablets...where they'll rent tablets to passengers for $10-$12 a tablet.

I can't be the only one that thinks this is stupid. (Well, Macleans.ca thought it was stupid too.)

Depends. Are they including the new WiFi/internet in that price (other airlines are starting to offer this)? I think I would pay that much to check my e-mail and post to DisBoards in flight. Playing an interactive game with the kids or even being able to have them play Angry Birds is more engaging than watching a movie. Tablets have alot more to offer than the static content on the little screen in the headrest.

You would also never again get stuck in the seat with the broken screen. Since you are paying for it, you can certainly expect that the one they hand you will actually work!

 

[pxlbarrel]

Depends. Are they including the new WiFi/internet in that price (other airlines are starting to offer this)? I think I would pay that much to check my e-mail and post to DisBoards in flight. Playing an interactive game with the kids or even being able to have them play Angry Birds is more engaging than watching a movie. Tablets have alot more to offer than the static content on the little screen in the headrest.

You would also never again get stuck in the seat with the broken screen. Since you are paying for it, you can certainly expect that the one they hand you will actually work!

They're 8.9-inch Samsung Galaxy Tabs and nowhere does it say there's wifi or internet. It's a preloaded tablet of movies, television shows and games. Tablets may have more to offer than seatback IFE but in this case, they don't. The difference may be the games but that appears to be it. The initial contract with WestJet is 68 tablets per plane on 4 of the fleet's planes starting in June. These are replacing the seatback IFE. In fact, according to the news, WestJet's last plane delivery from Boeing had no IFE in it.

Now, maybe that doesn't matter because lots of budget flights these days don't have IFE. But this is WestJet ... didn't they pioneer seatback entertainment way back when Air Canada was still using popdown screens?

With all the nickle and diming, this just seems to be another case.

 

[thebigman65]

Somtimes the cost difference is huge and it usually depends on how many people are flying. The cost difference multiplied by a family for 4 may be enough for somebody to fly out of Buffalo but for 2 people, it may not be enough ... especially if you have to get a hotel room or parking in Buffalo.

I found, the other day, an AC flight for less than $400 from Toronto ... but the flight times really sucked for our plans ... but if you didn't mind arriving in Orlando at 7 pm, it would have been pretty good. Flying out of Buffalo vs West Jet out of Toronto would have been around $100 per person difference and there were 3 of us. We would have had to get 2 rooms in Buffalo (no, trust me, 2 rooms not 1...or we would have killed each other). 2 rooms in Buffalo plus gas plus time to drive there and back .... it wasn't worth saving $300.

I don't see the great savings like I used. A few years ago, I flew out of Buffalo to Orlando for less than $200. Now ... THAT was worth it.

I apologize, that should have read, $835 taxes in for "3" of us. So with Gas, hotel and parking it was approx $1000 for 3 of us return. There is nowwhere we can get that out of YYZ, unless we want to travel on a charter and "squeeze" into those seats.....plus we always stay on property and the hotel check in on the return flight is great!....can get that with AC or Westjet!

 

[Celidh]

I just read that West Jet plans on ditching it's inflight entertainment system and go to tablets...where they'll rent tablets to passengers for $10-$12 a tablet.

I can't be the only one that thinks this is stupid. (Well, Macleans.ca thought it was stupid too.)

ICK! I usually read on the plane and listen to my mp3 but it is nice to have the option of something different when I get tired of reading. I'll not be paying to rent a tablet though.

Ah well, I still haven't booked my flight to WDW for the fall. I hope we get a seat sale sometime before then. I'm still holding out because most of the promos are for travel by sometime in June. I haven't seen anything for the fall for AC or Westjet except at crummy times. I don't want to get there at 11 at night or leave to go home at 7 or 8 am.