Need tips and tricks for dealing with WestJet..

[prairie_girl]

I quickly read through some recent WestJet threads and you guys are making me nervous.

I am travelling in June 2022 to Toronto from Winnipeg for my brothers wedding. They have some really good prices right now and I can get us there and home all fees and surcharges included for $400.

Now the tricky part. My husband is in a wheelchair, and is 6’7”. He likes to say he’s a foot shorter now since his below the knee amputation. He needs lots of legroom. He can’t sit in an exit row because he has nerve damage in his hands and wouldn’t be able to assist if he were needed.

I waited in a chat queue for three hours today only to be told I had to call the number tomorrow, they couldn’t help me through the chat.

So, tomorrow I have to call first thing in the morning to see what can be done to get us there without my husband having to fold in half to sit down. My mom suggested having us sit in the first row of coach but from what I’ve read, there’s actually less legroom in that row.

This is where all your expertise is needed. What should I be asking for to make sure we can get him into a seat comfortably? He will be wearing his prosthetic so transferring from his chair into a plane seat won’t be an issue. Do you have any tips or insider information that might help us out? To be honest, I’m hoping I get the best CSR WestJet has to offer and they bump us up to business class with minimal price increase (yes, I know this is 99.9% unlikely).

So, all advice is 100% appreciated

 

[valiamo]

Try the Special Needs phone number found on this page/link of their site.

They also have a disability email that you can use: Email: disabilityassistance@westjet.com

I am sure that they will be able to give you advice, and I suspect that you will not have as long on the phone.

 

[tlcdoula]

I have had food luck using Twitter to message them. It’s the only thing I really use it for.

 

[SirDuff]

Just to temper expectations, I do want to point out that WJ specifically says:

We do not provide specific seating:

• if you are requesting additional legroom due to height.

And:

If you are approved for a seating accommodation, our team will work with you and assign seating on a case-by-case basis as required by your needs. If you are travelling with another guest that is not a personal attendant, you may not be seated together, as seating accommodations are only for the guest with the special need, not a guest's companion.

https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/special-needs/seating

SeatGuru (my go-to for information about seats) doesn't say anything about the first row of economy having more/less leg room (just says that they are standard seats). However, some comments refer to the new planes having more room since they removed the media units. Not sure if any of the YYZ-YYC planes are these new planes but may be a good idea to try to get on one? Though, of course, there can always be aircraft changes.

 

[ronandannette]

I quickly read through some recent WestJet threads and you guys are making me nervous.

I am travelling in June 2022 to Toronto from Winnipeg for my brothers wedding. They have some really good prices right now and I can get us there and home all fees and surcharges included for $400.

Now the tricky part. My husband is in a wheelchair, and is 6’7”. He likes to say he’s a foot shorter now since his below the knee amputation. He needs lots of legroom. He can’t sit in an exit row because he has nerve damage in his hands and wouldn’t be able to assist if he were needed.

I waited in a chat queue for three hours today only to be told I had to call the number tomorrow, they couldn’t help me through the chat.

So, tomorrow I have to call first thing in the morning to see what can be done to get us there without my husband having to fold in half to sit down. My mom suggested having us sit in the first row of coach but from what I’ve read, there’s actually less legroom in that row.

This is where all your expertise is needed. What should I be asking for to make sure we can get him into a seat comfortably? He will be wearing his prosthetic so transferring from his chair into a plane seat won’t be an issue. Do you have any tips or insider information that might help us out? To be honest, I’m hoping I get the best CSR WestJet has to offer and they bump us up to business class with minimal price increase (yes, I know this is 99.9% unlikely).

So, all advice is 100% appreciated

If you are given an automated option to book a call-back, do it. That’s how most of us finally ended up getting in touch. And given that your flights are so far in advance, check periodically to see if they have been cancelled or changed. Sad to say they probably will be, at least once and you may or may not receive timely notice. It’s been just awful for 6 months but hopefully as the industry normalizes, it will get better. Good luck!

 

[prairie_girl]

Just to temper expectations, I do want to point out that WJ specifically says:



And:


https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/special-needs/seating

SeatGuru (my go-to for information about seats) doesn't say anything about the first row of economy having more/less leg room (just says that they are standard seats). However, some comments refer to the new planes having more room since they removed the media units. Not sure if any of the YYZ-YYC planes are these new planes but may be a good idea to try to get on one? Though, of course, there can always be aircraft changes.

Yeah, I found that out as I was cruising the website looking for the form to fill out. Maybe I should book my seats since I won't qualify for the special seating and wait for his stuff to get sorted out. He'd be able to manage on his own if for some reason we ended up on different planes. At this point, I want to be a kid and have someone else make the decisions for me lol

 

[prairie_girl]

If you are given an automated option to book a call-back, do it. That’s how most of us finally ended up getting in touch. And given that your flights are so far in advance, check periodically to see if they have been cancelled or changed. Sad to say they probably will be, at least once and you may or may not receive timely notice. It’s been just awful for 6 months but hopefully as the industry normalizes, it will get better. Good luck!

Well, after all this, I called my mom and just talked the situation out and decided that for the convenience of preboarding (which we can do anyway) and with no accommodation for legroom, it's smarter for us to just book now, pay to choose our seats (bulkhead row) and hope for the best. I gave him the aisle seat so he can at least stretch out a bit and maybe sneak into an empty business class seat LOL

Thanks for following my chaotic thought process. When I get overtired I tend to overthink things and just spiral and lose all confidence in any decision I have to make. 12 hours sleep will sort a brain out lol