The Swoop curse

[iZon]

Thought we could avoid it. But no. Just had flight from London to Sanford cancelled after waiting 3 1/2 hours in airport. Their excuse. Customs closes at 7! But flight was scheduled at 2:05. Plane from Orlando arrived at 2:53. Then nothing. At 4:30 they announced cancellation and said we’d get an email. There were obviously other problems.

Email just arrived. Monday 8am. Not even tomorrow. Feel sorry for people stuck at Sanford.

Contacted Dolphin hotel to let them know we are coming Monday. Not sure if we’ll get charged for two nights.

Oh well. At least we will get there - hopefully.

 

[Lesverts]

Sorry to hear. Have never really heard good things about Swoop. Friend flew them, they were flying home from Las Vegas, because of delays in Vegas they could not land at Pearson because of the curfew and diverted to Hamilton. Where they were told they had to find their own way to Toronto.

 

[iZon]

We take them because flying from home (London) is “convenient” and they are the only show in town. Support your local airport they said.

 

[Nagle]

Swoop is a hard no for me. I booked Mesa, Az to Pearson last March. They canceled the flight which is annoying but the fact that they never emailed me to tell me it was cancelled was waaaaaaay more than annoying. I made it to Pearson last minute on a much more expensive flight with a long layover in Denver. They suggested I check my spam filter. Funny I got that email from them and the email when they charged my credit card.

 

[SkaGoat]

Stories like this is why we drive from London to DTW, then fly Delta to Orlando.

 

[Minniemoo15]

So sorry to hear this. I am always tempted by the lower cost airlines but in the end stick with Air Canada. They aren't perfect by any means, but at least they have an extensive network with many options to reroute should the need arise. I hope you have a wonderful vacation despite the delay!

 

[Lesverts]

I can certainly understand that attraction. I use to love the American Eagle flight from Waterloo to Chicago that opened up a lot of the US in under a 25 minute drive. I am about 55 minutes from Pearson and despite the airports weird quirks I never really have had issues. Canadian airports are just weird in general because of the 2/3 separate sterile areas. But I will also take Pearson over Buffalo now. Detroit is just too far to be a feasible option.

 

[migel]

I'm giving them a shot this March, Hamilton to Sanford. I normally fly out of Buffalo, but Southwest's prices have increased dramatically in recent months. It's just me, so if there's any last minute cancellation, it's not a huge concern. I did fly with Flair (Hamilton to Halifax) a few years back, no issues, so we'll see how it goes. Looking forward to the smaller airport in Sanford, it's been a few years since I last flew Allegiant and used that airport.

 

[dmbcanada]

Thought we could avoid it. But no. Just had flight from London to Sanford cancelled after waiting 3 1/2 hours in airport. Their excuse. Customs closes at 7! But flight was scheduled at 2:05. Plane from Orlando arrived at 2:53. Then nothing. At 4:30 they announced cancellation and said we’d get an email. There were obviously other problems.

Email just arrived. Monday 8am. Not even tomorrow. Feel sorry for people stuck at Sanford.

Contacted Dolphin hotel to let them know we are coming Monday. Not sure if we’ll get charged for two nights.

Oh well. At least we will get there - hopefully.

Flew Swoop out of London last Disney trip and they were over an hour late leaving London and did not provide any reason. Discount airlines like Swoop and Flair are getting a lot a bad reputation now for cancellations but the big airlines are no better just have more options if flight gets cancelled.

 

[deedubb]

We flew Swoop once at Christmas when WJ cancelled our direct flight but Swoop had a direct flight available. It went without any hitches. However, with all the cancellations recently, I would be very hesitant to use a budget airline because it may be several days before they can get you on another flight if yours is cancelled.

 

[ronandannette]

We flew Swoop once at Christmas when WJ cancelled our direct flight but Swoop had a direct flight available. It went without any hitches. However, with all the cancellations recently, I would be very hesitant to use a budget airline because it may be several days before they can get you on another flight if yours is cancelled.

I’ve not had the opportunity or the nerve to try a budget airline yet but I’m not sure now that would be what stops me. With the horrific air travel meltdown that happened at Christmas, between weather and their own operational havoc, every single Canadian carrier was stranding people world-wide.

We had an unexpected guest get stranded in Calgary and miss her trip almost entirely. She was supposed to connect here on WestJet to the coast Dec. 21 - 29. Outbound flight cancelled with no notice or hope of re-booking. Got an Air Canada one-way (for almost $1,000) on the afternoon of the 25th, but they couldn’t get her back in the foreseeable future. Ended up coming back stand-by on WestJet on Dec. 28 but it cost the entirety of her original return fare credit and 10 hours at the airport.

And that was fun-and-games compared to the people abroad on the vacation charters. Some of those people might still be stuck in Cuba for all we know.

 

[Lesverts]

I am really hoping Porter is successful with their jet expansion and they start to fly to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando so there is some more choice. The aircraft are a little small for that route (132 to Westjet's 174 and Air Canada's 146 to 450) but it would be nice to have some more options that aren't ULCC's that only have enough planes and capacity to bare minimum run their schedules with the assumption of no delays/breakdowns.

I also would like to add, as someone that has flown all 4 North American legacy carriers recently, Air Canada is the best. And by a considerable margin. United and Delta are just so inconsistent and American is abysmal.

 

[iZon]

The flight from London to Sanford was cancelled again today. That’s twice in three weeks. It had a revised departure of 3:45 arriving at 6:30, 30 minutes before customs close at 7 pm. But at least they get a 7am departure tomorrow whereas we had to wait until Monday.

 

[hcortesis]

I am really hoping Porter is successful with their jet expansion and they start to fly to Fort Lauderdale and Orlando so there is some more choice. The aircraft are a little small for that route (132 to Westjet's 174 and Air Canada's 146 to 450) but it would be nice to have some more options that aren't ULCC's that only have enough planes and capacity to bare minimum run their schedules with the assumption of no delays/breakdowns.

I also would like to add, as someone that has flown all 4 North American legacy carriers recently, Air Canada is the best. And by a considerable margin. United and Delta are just so inconsistent and American is abysmal.

We have been exclusive to A/C for the last 15 years. But I have been following Porters progress to Orlando also. I am really looking forward to their new planes and routes into the U.S. I really love their new flying model.

 

[peacefrogdog]

We have been exclusive to A/C for the last 15 years. But I have been following Porters progress to Orlando also. I am really looking forward to their new planes and routes into the U.S. I really love their new flying model.

What do you mean about their (Porter's) new flying model? Or are you refer to their new planes?

 

[hcortesis]

Ya, you are right. Should have said new "Planes". I love the 2x2 seating but I guess the current Dash 8's? probably have that now.

 

[iZon]

Another update. The flight from London to Orlando on Swoop was cancelled again today. That’s at least three since January 14. It’s making me very nervous for pre-cruise April 27 flight.

 

[mort1331]

Friends just return and flew Lynx? Tor to Orl..said it was fine no issues

 

[iZon]

Update. The Tuesday flight was postponed until today. That flight then left three hours late. The flight that was actually scheduled for today was cancelled and is rescheduled for tomorrow morning at 7 AM. I’m wondering if they took today’s plane and used it for the rescheduled flight, and thus had to boot today’s flight to tomorrow.

Here’s my dilemma. I had already booked a flight for Thursday, April 27 for our Saturday, April 29 cruise on the Fantasy. If Tuesday’s scenario happened to us, we would’ve arrived in Orlando Saturday at 4 PM and missed the cruise. So do I book another flight and eat the Swoop fee, or do I wait until the Thursday and if the flight goes, fine, and if it doesn’t then I take the refund and book a flight last minute for the Thursday night or the Friday morning from another airport? I don’t have any confidence in Swoop’s ability to get us to Florida for our cruise on the Saturday. They have cancelled four of the last nine flights out of the London.

 

[Donald - my hero]

For a cruise? Oh hell no, I'd be booking a flight with either air canada or WestJet at this point. You've got more than enough data points to prove they can't be trusted to get you where you need to be. IMHO, consider that money gone and book something else!