WestJet changed our flights...short layover YYZ question

[Glynis4]

My flights were changed too, I have a Westjet vacations package booked and received an email first thing this morning. I called Westjet and they were able to get me on a different flight no problem (the change had meant I would of had 15 hours of travel time - with 2 young kids - wasn't happening lol). I was super impressed by how helpful the lady was, she was even able to prebook our seats without a fee because we are traveling with kids under 13 (I didn't know that was even an option!). We still get in 3.5 hours later, but I can live with that. We also have a 1 hour 45 min layover, in Calgary. I've had good experiences with the Calgary airport, but it is a little tight for comfort.

 

[Sue M]

Very disappointing to hear this about West Jet reading all of the experiences. I thought they were supposed to have good customer service!
The last time I flew on AC I was ticketed thru in Vancouver, everything was fine until I landed in Toronto and looked on the board to find gate for connecting flight, and it said cancelled AC customer service was awful and told me I may not get out that day. Ugh

I now mostly fly Alaska. They don't cancel flights and do email when itinerary changes. Usually changes are just a few minutes.

 

[rbchimp]

I think WestJet must have made a bunch of changes yesterday. I've been stalking a direct Yhz-Mco flight for March and it looks like they got rid of that flight all together and no longer fly direct on Saturdays any more. Bummed!

Me too, looking at YHZ-MCO in April. All the Wed/Fri flights for March/April are now $700+, likely because they have to move people around..

 

[simplyton]

Lost all of Tuesday's productivity trying to get something sorted with Westjet for our December flight

Direct route from Charlottetown to MCO over winter was removed (flight was booked in Feb for Dec).
Suggested alternative was Charlottetown to YYZ to MCO which added 14hrs and an overnight to our journey.
Eventually was able to get a YHZ to MCO direct with little impact on our itinerary other than an extra 3hrs driving each way in Dec/Jan

To say I was volcanic with rage this morning was an understatement

 

[mab2012]

Very disappointing to hear this about West Jet reading all of the experiences. I thought they were supposed to have good customer service!

For what it's worth, while I've had the occasional issue come up with WestJet (eg. direct flight cancelled), I've always had polite, friendly, and helpful service from any employee I've encountered, whether call agent, flight, or airport staff. Wish I could say the same for Air Canada.

That said, cancellation of a direct flight with no direct replacement is pretty annoying, to say the least, especially when you've paid a higher fare for the direct flight. And it does seem to happen regularly on some routes. I just keep that possibility in mind now when I'm booking, and choose accordingly.

 

[deedubb]

Decided to check my flight today and noticed our <3hr direct flight home was now a 9.5 hr ordeal with a layover!

After calling Westjet, we now have an extra day at Disney and a direct flight home the day after our previously scheduled one. Yay! It will cost an extra $500 USD for the room, but who cares. It's Disney! The only problem is we purchased 7 day tickets with the Canadian discount and I won't be able to add a day now without it costing an arm and a leg, so we'll spend the day relaxing/Disney springs/resort hopping.

 

[Sue M]

For what it's worth, while I've had the occasional issue come up with WestJet (eg. direct flight cancelled), I've always had polite, friendly, and helpful service from any employee I've encountered, whether call agent, flight, or airport staff. Wish I could say the same for Air Canada.

That said, cancellation of a direct flight with no direct replacement is pretty annoying, to say the least, especially when you've paid a higher fare for the direct flight. And it does seem to happen regularly on some routes. I just keep that possibility in mind now when I'm booking, and choose accordingly.

I won't fly AC anymore! I noticed Westjet has a direct flight to MCO from Vancouver, it's a red eye. I think I'd be afraid to try, hearing their cancellation record! And no great options. Also I don't think the Airport check in desk takes WestJet luggage. Such a bonus for me not to have to deal with taking luggage to airport and checking it in. I love dropping it at resort Airline desk and not seeing it until I get home!

 

[Debbie]

for this post! I got my email about my January flights for our HAL Cruise last night (Tuesday) just before 10:00. They had me leaving at a later time on the right day, with an overnight layover so that I would arrive late morning the day of the cruise. Uh, no. I started my call at 10:20 and was on hold until 11:40. I was able to get something good going into Fort Lauderdale instead of Miami, saving me a transfer fee. Kimberley was polite, understanding and very helpful. It's just frustrating because you plan so far in advance and then the wrench is thrown into the middle. Last year, WJ wasn't able to help me (they had cancelled my flight down to FLL totally-didn't start their winter flights until a week later out of YXU), so I ended up on Air Canada-with the short layover. We were the 2 older, out of shape people running to the gate.

 

[Donald - my hero]

with the short layover. We were the 2 older, out of shape people running to the gate.

That was us in January as well! We got a heads up about an incoming freezing rain storm the day of our flight and WJ let us change our flight no-charge to the day before BUT it meant a change of planes (and carriers as well!) in La Guardia. Supposed to have almost an hour... not so much! We were running thru the airport listening to "final boarding call" we got to the gate to discover they had locked the door to the jetway. Had almost given up on us but our bags had already been loaded so they were waiting

 

[Debbie]

That was us in January as well! We got a heads up about an incoming freezing rain storm the day of our flight and WJ let us change our flight no-charge to the day before BUT it meant a change of planes (and carriers as well!) in La Guardia. Supposed to have almost an hour... not so much! We were running thru the airport listening to "final boarding call" we got to the gate to discover they had locked the door to the jetway. Had almost given up on us but our bags had already been loaded so they were waiting

Not as much fun as I thought, having our names broadcast over and over for all to hear. They actually held the plane for 20 minutes for us, but were in the process of closing the door. Staff pick up the phone as they confirmed who we were, and told them to stop. Amusing now, not so much then, and not something that I really want to repeat.

 

[Vandrusiek]

I'm coming to MCO from YWG (Winnipeg) and both my flight there and back were changed. It's not just the layovers I now have instead of the direct flights that pisses me off, it's also that I lost my last day in Magic Kingdom and my hard to get BOG breakfast! Also, we are arriving early now and can only check into our rental house late in the afternoon. So I now have to shuffle our whole trip around to accommodate the extra park ticket that we have no space for and the early arrival with nowhere to go with luggage for 5 adults staying 2 weeks. Super disappointed in West Jet! Normally I am one to sing praises about West Jet, but this STINKS. Silver lining though, I'll still be in Disney.

 

[FigmentSpark]

There must be a reason why they are cancelling all these direct flights. I wonder if they lost some spots in MCO? Or got more spots at Pearson?

As for the rental, @Vandrusiek, sometimes they will let you in a few hours early. Check if anyone's rented before you. If not, ask the owner if you can get in around noon or 1pm instead. Otherwise, if it's a really early flight, why not just use that ticket, which you have anyway and leave the luggage in the car? Either that, or see if it's possible to get a camping spot, park your car and stuff there (you will have a rental car, right?) and take the bus to a park or just use the pool.

 

[Starwind]

Thank you OP for posting. Apparently a few days ago WestJet announced their revised fall/winter schedule. We have not yet officially been notified by them that their schedule change changed our itinerary (by their policy they should have done so by email within 72 hours of the change...). But I went online into my Westjet account and pulled up our itinerary for our upcoming trip.

The ENTIRE itinerary was changed ! We fly out earlier, which isn't a big deal, though not looking forward to an even earlier first of the morning flight. Our return home is the biggest change. Orlando to home had been an evening direct flight. That flight no longer exists, nor are there any other direct flights -- to get home from MCO we have to transfer in YYZ now. After a 20 minute hold to talk with WestJet customer service, they were great and got us sorted out.

SW

 

[deedubb]

Thank you OP for posting. Apparently a few days ago WestJet announced their revised fall/winter schedule. We have not yet officially been notified by them that their schedule change changed our itinerary (by their policy they should have done so by email within 72 hours of the change...). But I went online into my Westjet account and pulled up our itinerary for our upcoming trip.

The ENTIRE itinerary was changed ! We fly out earlier, which isn't a big deal, though not looking forward to an even earlier first of the morning flight. Our return home is the biggest change. Orlando to home had been an evening direct flight. That flight no longer exists, nor are there any other direct flights -- to get home from MCO we have to transfer in YYZ now. After a 20 minute hold to talk with WestJet customer service, they were great and got us sorted out.

SW

That's what I was told as well. They said it's unlikely the flights will change again. I'm happy, because we now get another day in Florida and still have a direct flight home.

 

[Starwind]

There must be a reason why they are cancelling all these direct flights. I wonder if they lost some spots in MCO? Or got more spots at Pearson?

Well, for our city, canceling the direct flight frees up a 737 for them to use on one of the new routes/extra flights elsewhere they announced with the new schedule for fall/winter. Now we connect via Toronto: the flight between home and Toronto is on WestJet Encore [more of those and less 737s per day between the city pair, too... so more 737 ffreed up for elsewhere; plus there were already nearly hourly WJ flights].

Reading the announcement at the WJ website, Toronto did add quite a few total slots per day and week to various destinations.

SW

 

[hdrolfe]

Lack of direct flights is really annoying. I booked a couple cruises because I thought I would be able to get direct flights, they were available last year! Kiddo doesn't fly well, he gets sick and of course the sore ears. If we go through Montreal I'm worried about the timing, and the last time we had to get on the plane out on the tarmac, no fancy gate! Toronto seems so busy, and big, and how long do we need now with all the new security? Ugh! All I want is to be able to go on a nice vacation I normally prefer Westjet but am now looking at Air Canada for flights.

Air Miles did refund all my air miles quickly, just have to wait for the $200 on credit card to come back. I guess I have time to decide, it's not until December, and another trip in April.

 

[Vandrusiek]

There must be a reason why they are cancelling all these direct flights. I wonder if they lost some spots in MCO? Or got more spots at Pearson?

As for the rental, @Vandrusiek, sometimes they will let you in a few hours early. Check if anyone's rented before you. If not, ask the owner if you can get in around noon or 1pm instead. Otherwise, if it's a really early flight, why not just use that ticket, which you have anyway and leave the luggage in the car? Either that, or see if it's possible to get a camping spot, park your car and stuff there (you will have a rental car, right?) and take the bus to a park or just use the pool.

I'll check into an early check in with the rental! Thanks! We already have Epcot planned for the evening so we can't use it that day unfortunately haha.

 

[Vandrusiek]

There must be a reason why they are cancelling all these direct flights. I wonder if they lost some spots in MCO? Or got more spots at Pearson?

As for the rental, @Vandrusiek, sometimes they will let you in a few hours early. Check if anyone's rented before you. If not, ask the owner if you can get in around noon or 1pm instead. Otherwise, if it's a really early flight, why not just use that ticket, which you have anyway and leave the luggage in the car? Either that, or see if it's possible to get a camping spot, park your car and stuff there (you will have a rental car, right?) and take the bus to a park or just use the pool.

Oh and yes we have a rental car, however I am not comfortable leaving all our luggage in the car while we are in the parks. I'm sure we will make something work it's just a stress that wasn't expected lol.

 

[Debbie]

Well, for our city, canceling the direct flight frees up a 737 for them to use on one of the new routes/extra flights elsewhere they announced with the new schedule for fall/winter. Now we connect via Toronto: the flight between home and Toronto is on WestJet Encore [more of those and less 737s per day between the city pair, too... so more 737 ffreed up for elsewhere; plus there were already nearly hourly WJ flights].

Reading the announcement at the WJ website, Toronto did add quite a few total slots per day and week to various destinations.

SW

Yeah. If only they would add more Encore flights to London. Air Canada has about 9 every day each way. Westjet.....only 2. And not at the best times.

 

[Applemomma]

I'm still waiting on my confirmation of flight that was supposed to come within 72 hours. The flight is actually booked through CIBC Aventura points so if anyone has had experience with that I'd be happy to hear it! Especially in the case of what to do if we DO miss our connector.

I've flown over the same weekend (Remembrance Day) at least three times previously and always booked approximately 120 days out, but this is the first time I've seen this much "chaos" with flight changes.