Sunwing YYZ-MCO

[accm]

I'm looking at flights to Orlando from Toronto and for the dates I'm searching, Sunwing is significantly cheaper than Air Canada and Westjet. Does anyone have experience flying with Sunwing? Good or bad? Or is it really no different than the other airlines?

 

[ccudmore]

Double-check what's included. Sunwing operates like a low-cost carrier where you'll end up paying for more items that may be included in the fare for a traditional airline. Beyond that, it's pretty much the same as a lot of other carriers. The seats are also closer together (29" for Sunwing compared to 30" for Rouge and 32" for WestJet).

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

You couldn't pay me to fly Sunwing.

 

[accm]

You couldn't pay me to fly Sunwing.

Why's that?

Double-check what's included. Sunwing operates like a low-cost carrier where you'll end up paying for more items that may be included in the fare for a traditional airline. Beyond that, it's pretty much the same as a lot of other carriers. The seats are also closer together (29" for Sunwing compared to 30" for Rouge and 32" for WestJet).

Thank you for bringing up the extras. We're going for marathon weekend, so I'll likely have one suitcase just with running clothes.

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

Why's that?

Let's start with how they treated passengers when they had a cyber attack in April 2022. Thousands of people were stranded for days, some weeks and at their own cost.

Second, they typically only offer one flight per day from YYZ to MCO and vice versa. All it takes is one maintenance issue, one thunderstorm, or one cabin crew member to call in sick to derail your plans.

Not worth it from my perspective, but to each their own. If you do decide to fly them, I hope you don't have any issues and it all goes smoothly.

 

[accm]

Let's start with how they treated passengers when they had a cyber attack in April 2022. Thousands of people were stranded for days, some weeks and at their own cost.

Second, they typically only offer one flight per day from YYZ to MCO and vice versa. All it takes is one maintenance issue, one thunderstorm, or one cabin crew member to call in sick to derail your plans.

Not worth it from my perspective, but to each their own. If you do decide to fly them, I hope you don't have any issues and it all goes smoothly.

Thank you. I had no idea about the cyber attack or the fact that they only have one flight a day. That'll definitely play into our decision.

 

[ellbell]

Double-check what's included. Sunwing operates like a low-cost carrier where you'll end up paying for more items that may be included in the fare for a traditional airline. Beyond that, it's pretty much the same as a lot of other carriers. The seats are also closer together (29" for Sunwing compared to 30" for Rouge and 32" for WestJet).

Aside from the seats being smaller I don't think low cost carriers cost anymore these days. If I fly AC unless i pay for a more expensive seat I end up paying for seat selection, food, and checked bags anyway. I've flown swoop often too and pay less to fly with them but pay for the same amenities separately.

 

[ccudmore]

One additional note. No idea if this was a one time issue or if it’s how they operate, but last time I flow Sunwing YUL->FLL we didn’t preclear US customs in Canada. We came into FLL as an international flight and had to clear customs there. That was a huge hassle and wasted a lot of time.

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

One addition item... I had read on Facebook that Sunwing and Westjet don't allow passengers to add their Nexus PASSID to their reservations, meaning you will not qualify for TSA Pre-Check even if you have NEXUS. Not sure if OP has NEXUS or not, but thought I would mention this. I also can't confirm whether this is in fact true but thought I'd mention it so you can research it if its important to you. I can confirm that Air Canada allows for the PASSID to be entered and we had no issues getting TSA Pre when flying with AC.

 

[accm]

One addition item... I had read on Facebook that Sunwing and Westjet don't allow passengers to add their Nexus PASSID to their reservations, meaning you will not qualify for TSA Pre-Check even if you have NEXUS. Not sure if OP has NEXUS or not, but thought I would mention this. I also can't confirm whether this is in fact true but thought I'd mention it so you can research it if its important to you. I can confirm that Air Canada allows for the PASSID to be entered and we had no issues getting TSA Pre when flying with AC.

Thanks for this. We’re in the process of getting nexus, so definitely something to consider as we have 2 young kids.

 

[CanadaRunningMom]

We are going for marathon weekend as well, and found Swoop from Hamilton to Orlando Sanford was very cheap. I think it was $99 one way and $119 the other. They only have one flight a day, and you clear customs in Florida, but they are run by West Jet so apparently can sometimes offer you a West Jet flight if they have to cancel your Swoop one. But I don’t know how often that happens.

 

[accm]

We are going for marathon weekend as well, and found Swoop from Hamilton to Orlando Sanford was very cheap. I think it was $99 one way and $119 the other. They only have one flight a day, and you clear customs in Florida, but they are run by West Jet so apparently can sometimes offer you a West Jet flight if they have to cancel your Swoop one. But I don’t know how often that happens.

My sister had a really bad experience with Swoop once where they kept cancelling her flight at the last minute and not giving her any information on what was going on.

That plus the farther airport makes me want to avoid them at all costs.

 

[ellbell]

My sister had a really bad experience with Swoop once where they kept cancelling her flight at the last minute and not giving her any information on what was going on.

That plus the farther airport makes me want to avoid them at all costs.

At this point that happens with almost all airlines everyday. I have flown swoop often and had family fly with them a few times and only had 1 flight delayed by a few hours.

 

[CanadaRunningMom]

My sister had a really bad experience with Swoop once where they kept cancelling her flight at the last minute and not giving her any information on what was going on.

That plus the farther airport makes me want to avoid them at all costs.

I get that. I’ve had bad experiences with Air Canada and West Jet too, so I just assume all airlines are the same and it’s a toss up. Lol.