Sunwing from Halifax

[Tinkershelly]

We normally travel to WDW during September-December but due to some special circumstances this year (ie winning a trip!!!) we are going in February. So I booked the flights this morning with Sunwing taking advantage of their direct flights on Sundays, and I have a couple of questions.

First, does Sunwing depart from the US departures area or the general departures area from Halifax? I'd MUCH prefer to use the US pre-clearance service and avoid having to clear customs in Orlando, taking full advantage of Magical Express luggage delivery of course.

Second, what kind of meals can we expect? We're departing at 6:30am and 10:30am so I guess that means breakfast, but what might we get?

Third, how sticky are they with their carry-on regulations? I know we each get a checked bag free but we always carry on the camera bag, which is a small backpack, a bag with the electronics, documents, diversions and prescriptions, and a bag with "overnight" clothes in case of loss of a checked bag.

We usually travel with non-charter airlines and so this will be a change for us, but right now the prices and schedules of the regular airlines are not good and so I made the leap to Sunwing for the price, schedule and the direct flights. And I hope they stay on schedule, because we've got a lot of touring to get done in 6.5 days!

 

[Tinkershelly]

So no one flies with Sunwing????? I'm getting nervous now, have I done the right thing?

 

[dennise]

We are flying Sunwing in April so I would be interested in the answers. Our son and his family as well have booked with them.

 

[Tinkershelly]

I asked these questions to Sunwing via email. I'll let you know if I hear anything back.

 

[dennise]

Thanks. I don't think they feed you, but I think you can buy food.

 

[beakerz]

Never flown with sunwing (sorry) - I have a friend who works at YHZ, so I'll ask about which area of the airport they fly out of.

 

[BBeyond]

Hello! Hopefully I can provide you with a few answers.
[excuse my keyboard I'm about to throw it out the window ]
I flew with them last year in Feb and doing it again Feb 4th Love them compared to transat (which we had a few problems with)

I believe sunwing departs from the us area, however when we got there last year they had moved it but all of the airport staff were really accommodating to help us find it (Wasnt too hard)

for us last year, we had a choice for breakfast of either a cheese croissant or a English muffin. the cheese croissant was descent, the English muffin i did not enjoy (has veggies in the eggs like peppers) but thats just not my thing . And on our way back we had pizza which was actually pretty good. yummmy

carry on: You get one personal bag and one carry on bag for each person. (I brought a large purse (That could still fit under the seat) and put my camera bag in it and our electrnics and snacks, while my bf brought a small luggage carry on tote to bring changes of clothes, documents, and anything else. So i had a small bag within a medium bag within a somewhat larger bag ;P as well as my "personal bag" (purse/diaper bag/laptp case are some ideas) and he had the shoulder bag and a backpack. if you have DD or DS this counts for them too, they each get two a teddy and a backpack maybe? So you should be fine to carry 4 items as long as you have 2 ppl travelling. Just remember to have certain things accessable for customs (we put them at the top of the bag right by the zippers or in a front pocket) (the little packs of liquids, laptops etc)

as for staying on schedule, check the sunwing website or another flight status website every now and then to see how often they are on schedule (Remember there may be a little delay with de-cing at that time, ) but we got there pretty much around the time we were supposed to . Have a great vacation!!!

 

[beakerz]

Just got off the phone with my friend; when I asked her about the sunwing departure area I was told the following:

As far as she knows - every flight that departs yhz, and goes directly to a US destination, leaves from the US departures area (it's the only spot that normally has US customs agents).

 

[Tinkershelly]

Thanks for your answers, everyone. It's going to help me be ready for that middle-of-the-night trip out to the airport. But I'm looking forward to direct flights for a change!

 

[webworm]

We normally travel to WDW during September-December but due to some special circumstances this year (ie winning a trip!!!) we are going in February. So I booked the flights this morning with Sunwing taking advantage of their direct flights on Sundays, and I have a couple of questions.

First, does Sunwing depart from the US departures area or the general departures area from Halifax? I'd MUCH prefer to use the US pre-clearance service and avoid having to clear customs in Orlando, taking full advantage of Magical Express luggage delivery of course.

Second, what kind of meals can we expect? We're departing at 6:30am and 10:30am so I guess that means breakfast, but what might we get?

Third, how sticky are they with their carry-on regulations? I know we each get a checked bag free but we always carry on the camera bag, which is a small backpack, a bag with the electronics, documents, diversions and prescriptions, and a bag with "overnight" clothes in case of loss of a checked bag.

We usually travel with non-charter airlines and so this will be a change for us, but right now the prices and schedules of the regular airlines are not good and so I made the leap to Sunwing for the price, schedule and the direct flights. And I hope they stay on schedule, because we've got a lot of touring to get done in 6.5 days!

I havè not flown with Sunwing myself but I know friends that have and their flight was delayed by 12hrs. Those are the risk you take when flying with a charter airline with limited flights and planes if something goes sideways.
http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/sunwings.htm

 

[Tinkershelly]

Yeah, thanks for that link, webworm, I feel much better now .

Anyway, I guess we all take the risk of delays due to weather in the winter, and with flight schedules that no longer have any downtime built in to take up delays, those sorts of thngs happen. Intuitively I would think we're better off with early morning flights, and that's what we have with Halifax-Orlando.

And at this point we're not refundable so I'm going to force myself to look at the bright side! We're going to WDW

 

[dennise]

Non-refundable as well, still excited. We fly into St Pete's and out of Orlando. Not too concerned, we have flown on charters many times with no glitches, not so with non- charter airlines.

 

[maplevale]

We almost always fly Sunwing when we fly to Cuba ... so when we went to Disney in 2011 we booked through them too (they were the cheapest out of TO and Buffalo for our week).

In T.O we cleared Customs ahead of time. (We didn't do magic Express luggage - we were led to believe we couldn't but it wasn't a big deal for us).

Breakfast - there is usually 2 choices something like an omelet or quiche and french toast or such. Not a huge meal - we usually do bagels in the terminal while we wait. You also get a cold drink/tea/coffee (and on flights to Cuba we get Champagne/Rum Punch before landing).

If you have kids they get a little bag with activities in it.

Last time I flew it was myself and my 2 DD's (one was a lap baby). We had a backpack, diaper bag, camera bag/documents and a rolling suitcase (and gate checked stroller) with no issues.

Not to jynx it - we have never had a late or cancelled flight (well our honeymoon was cancelled but that was a month ahead when they did major schedule changes and we just rebooked 1 day later). Flying out of T.O (which is a big airport) first thing in the morning they have several flights and several plans so I don't think you are at any greater risk of being delayed. The one time we didn't fly Sunwing was Delta/United out of the US and we never got out of the airport... had 4 flights cancelled in 1 day!