Has anyone flown Flair Air?

[peacefrogdog]

Have only heard of it, and understand that it's bare bones with extra charges for a carry-on and checked luggage.

If you've flown on it, any issues with cancelled flights?

 

[petunia]

Hi there, we flew it for the first time to Edmonton in July and there were no issues at all..but we are not picky and also fly other no frill lines like swoop/allegiant etc.

 

[musika]

The biggest problem I think you will find with discounted airlines is that when things work, they work great. And cheap! However - if your plane goes mechanical, there won't necessarily be a nearby replacement because the fleets just aren't the same size as AC/WJ (which also have the same issues, but usually to a lesser degree). I think I would not book Flair if I had dates that were inflexible.

 

[bcwife76]

I haven't flown Flair but a friend of mine flew them last month for the first time. She flew from Calgary to Abbotsford and her flight was delayed by over 5 hours! It's a 55 minute flight.... Yeah, nope, sorry.

 

[Pumpkin1172]

I do know that they have pulled their services in Grande Prairie...after only 2 months offering flights. They pulled their service due to very limited crews and planes. I do know that many who were travelling had flights cancelled or their flights were delayed by many hours.

I think it's a catch 22. When it works and there are no problems....it is an awesome deal. If things go wrong....they go really really wrong. If your dates can't be changed, I would probably go with a different carrier.

 

[2Lunds]

The biggest problem I think you will find with discounted airlines is that when things work, they work great. And cheap! However - if your plane goes mechanical, there won't necessarily be a nearby replacement because the fleets just aren't the same size as AC/WJ (which also have the same issues, but usually to a lesser degree). I think I would not book Flair if I had dates that were inflexible.

They don't have the same volume of staff either, so cancellations due to crew exceeding max hours is also common.

 

[musika]

They don't have the same volume of staff either, so cancellations due to crew exceeding max hours is also common.

Absolutely right - most crews I think have a 14 hour duty day? I know this bit us in the bum coming back from Cuba a few years back. We had a massive flight delay leaving Cayo Coco, and they landed us in Quebec City instead of Halifax where we had to wait for another crew to be flown in! Longest trip ever.

 

[Aladora]

I haven't flown Flair but a friend of mine flew them last month for the first time. She flew from Calgary to Abbotsford and her flight was delayed by over 5 hours! It's a 55 minute flight.... Yeah, nope, sorry.

When I was waiting to pick my sister up last month I was chatting with a woman who was waiting for a Flair flight...it was delayed by 6+ hours! No thank you!

 

[2Lunds]

I have a friend who works for WJ (parent company of Swoop - similar idea to Flair) and he said in a nutshell: take advantage of ultra-low-cost carriers if your schedule is super flexible and your trip is not highly scheduled. If you're self-employed and you're visiting family who you're staying with was his example.

If you're on a one-week vacation from your salaried job with prescribed vacation days, you have hotel dates and attraction reservations etc... it's *very* risky.

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

I just flew Flare R/T between Thunder Bay and Toronto last week.

Great Experience.

All staff and crew were kind, friendly and helpful.

Flight was on time, even early on the return trip.

Plane was clean and the onflight crew was super helpful.

Like others have said, when it works, it works well.

Even with paying for luggage and seats etc, I still saved over $100 compared to both AC and Westjet.

I would not hesitate to use them again for that route.

 

[Dznefn]

I wouldn't ever use them. My sil came for a visit two weeks ago (BC to AB) and her flight here was delayed over 6 hrs, and again 3 hrs on her way back a week later.