Talk to me about Sunwing

[5mouseketeersforus]

We leave in 9 days on a 6:30am Sunwing flightdown to MCO. We have never flown with them before. What do I need to know?

Rather than paying for seats now on-line, can we just check in and get them without paying the fees?
What time do we need to get to airport for the 6:30am departure?
Are they a reliable airline in terms of being on-time and/or not cancelling flights?

Yes, I realize I should have figured this out prior to booking but I got a little too excited about going to WDW and booked super fast

 

[fuzzy164]

We leave in 9 days on a 6:30am Sunwing flightdown to MCO. We have never flown with them before. What do I need to know?

Rather than paying for seats now on-line, can we just check in and get them without paying the fees?
What time do we need to get to airport for the 6:30am departure?
Are they a reliable airline in terms of being on-time and/or not cancelling flights?

Yes, I realize I should have figured this out prior to booking but I got a little too excited about going to WDW and booked super fast

We've flown Sunwing a couple of times, you will need to be at the airport around 3:30 a.m. as the counter opens 3 hours prior to flight and closes one hour prior to flight time then you have to clear customs at Person. We have never pre-booked our seats and had a good choice when checking in.
As to "on time" we've been lucky and have taken off between 10 and 40 mins late but have always made the time up in air so they are not to bad time wise.
All that being said is still a basic service airline sort of like Southwest which IMHO is not a bad thing.

 

[minnie56]

You can do web check in beginning at 4 hours prior to flight time and up to 90 mins prior but if course by then you should be at the AP anyway! Sunwing recommend arriving 3 hours prior to flight time ...

Delays and such? Nobody does it better!

Hopefully, that won't be the case!

 

[LittleFlounder]

Like the previous posters said, you should be at the airport 3 hours ahead of flight time (this is usually recommended for all international flights out of YYZ).

I've flown with Sunwing 4 times... 3 times the flight left right on time and 1 time it was delayed horribly! Our 3 excellent flights with them were in the winter. (they have more planes in the winter... less chance for a delay)

 

[Tinkershelly]

Also check the current policy about checked luggage and carry on luggage. They weigh and measure each piece and will charge you for overweight or oversized bags, including your carry ons!

And I would not recommend the breakfast egg sandwich...just sayin'

 

[ccudmore]

I'm assuming you're flying out of YYZ based on your signature, but on the off chance you're flying out of YUL, Sunwing doesn't always pre-clear US Customs there. You may have to clear customs in Orlando.

 

[Cheerio]

Arrive extra early, I found the desk to be slow and with a bunch of morning flights going out it's a gong show. Also you don't check in online ahead of time, so we saw quite a few people changing up seats they didn't want. The only option to secure a specific seat is to pay the $50 fee or whatever it is.

 

[Roobear77]

We have flown them a few times without issue, and one time with a huge issue.

August 2013 our 6:30 am flight was delayed until 7 pm. We were dumb and didn't check before leaving for the airport. By the time we landed and figured out that Disney had picked up our bags despite saying it was too late and we needed to get out own, got the bus, arrived and check into the hotel it was after 1 am. A very long day, and other than missing out HDDR reservation we managed. The family of 10 or 11 beside us weren't so lucky, they missed their cruise departure.

Included meal is pretty yuck, but the hot towels they bring around before landing are lovely.

We were told when checking in for our flight down that families with small children were assigned seats automatically to ensure they sat together regardless of when they arrived at the airport. Found out the exact opposite happened on way back when we were a later arriving to airport. They had us all spread out across the plane and the best they could do was to seat one adult with 18 month on lap with a three year old and a four year old. Six year old alone in another part of the plane and the rest of the adults spread about as well. We kept our cool and the gate attendant was able to move us around a bit so at least the kids were with adults for which we were very grateful.

I agree with whoever said winter time more flights and planes, summer not sure I would fly with them again.

 

[LittleFlounder]

We have flown them a few times without issue, and one time with a huge issue.

August 2013 our 6:30 am flight was delayed until 7 pm. We were dumb and didn't check before leaving for the airport. By the time we landed and figured out that Disney had picked up our bags despite saying it was too late and we needed to get out own, got the bus, arrived and check into the hotel it was after 1 am. A very long day, and other than missing out HDDR reservation we managed. The family of 10 or 11 beside us weren't so lucky, they missed their cruise departure.

(cut)

I agree with whoever said winter time more flights and planes, summer not sure I would fly with them again.

I think we were on the same flight in August 2013. We were stranded for just over 15 hours at Pearson that day...3:30am to 7pm! (lemme tell ya, Terminal 1 is very boring!) We were dropped off at 3:30am by the airporter and had no way to get home. Sunwing handled it very poorly... refused to put us up in a hotel, yet others were given that option. When we finally checked in for our flight that evening, we spoke to a supervisor and he was shocked that we weren't offered a hotel room! We missed an entire day at Disney and an ADR, and then we were so exhausted that it was difficult to enjoy the next day). I remember that family who missed their cruise departure.

 

[minnie56]

Sadly -- when Sunwing does it, they do it big

 

[Roobear77]

I think we were on the same flight in August 2013. We were stranded for just over 15 hours at Pearson that day...3:30am to 7pm! (lemme tell ya, Terminal 1 is very boring!) We were dropped off at 3:30am by the airporter and had no way to get home. Sunwing handled it very poorly... refused to put us up in a hotel, yet others were given that option. When we finally checked in for our flight that evening, we spoke to a supervisor and he was shocked that we weren't offered a hotel room! We missed an entire day at Disney and an ADR, and then we were so exhausted that it was difficult to enjoy the next day). I remember that family who missed their cruise departure.

Definitely same flight! We were told if we lived in the city we could get either airport limo voucher to take us home and back to the airport later, or food vouchers for the airport. The other half of our party who lived outside of the city were offered food vouchers and a hotel room for the day. I am very surprised you weren't given the same options.

Either way, it was a brutally long day. We made the mistake of still getting up and going to AK for a late morning ADR at TH, but the kids were all a disaster. I think we did the Safari and the FOTLK and then called it a day. Wasted a park ticket basically cause they were wrecked.

Oh well, live and learn!