WestJet changed our flights!

[Pumpkin1172]

unfortunately for us in our small city - WJ is our only option - and we have to route all our flights through Calgary. We don't even have AC here anymore. We would consider another airline - but unless we drive the 4.5 hr to another centre, we are stuck with WJ.

WE haven't personally had any problems - but I know many others who have. It is sad that they have become the business they stated they wouldn't become when they first appeared on Canadian tarmacs.

 

[Lesverts]

unfortunately for us in our small city - WJ is our only option - and we have to route all our flights through Calgary. We don't even have AC here anymore. We would consider another airline - but unless we drive the 4.5 hr to another centre, we are stuck with WJ.

WE haven't personally had any problems - but I know many others who have. It is sad that they have become the business they stated they wouldn't become when they first appeared on Canadian tarmacs.

My first experience was decent. And from 2015 to 2018ish they and Air Canada offered a fairly similar product at a similar price but WJ did have this happy-go-lucky attitude about them whereas Air Canada was a bit more business stuffy. I just booked whichever one was cheaper. Their schedules to Orlando/Fort Lauderdale/Miami were near identical. I even had a really good customer experience with them once. My boss screwed me over on vacation time, I had something booked with a package through Expedia to go to Vegas with my parents. But she decided she wanted to be off that week so tough luck for you. Expedia tried to charge me the cancellation fee to rebook my flight. So instead of the process being original flight was 500, cancellation fee is 150 here is 350 to use to rebook. It was no you pay us 150 dollars and you get a 500 credit and if you don't use it all tough luck. I knew this isn't how things worked. So out of desperation I phoned WJ directly. She audibly sighed when I told her my situation and knew instantly it was Expedia. She did everything for me, did the cancellation and credit properly per WJ terms and threw in some upgraded stuff too. But a few years later I had the WJ flight from hell. The staff at MCO were miserable. The flight attendants were downright unpleasant. Left bad taste. But booked them again to Fort Lauderdale for a cruise the next year. The changed their FL service and it took multiple phone calls and a lot of stress before I got a satisfactory resolution. With their terms being so much more unfavourable compared to AC or Porter I just don't want to bother anymore. But I had a credit and didn't want to lose it so I am stuck with them.

 

[grantclaire]

My first experience was decent. And from 2015 to 2018ish they and Air Canada offered a fairly similar product at a similar price but WJ did have this happy-go-lucky attitude about them whereas Air Canada was a bit more business stuffy. I just booked whichever one was cheaper. Their schedules to Orlando/Fort Lauderdale/Miami were near identical. I even had a really good customer experience with them once. My boss screwed me over on vacation time, I had something booked with a package through Expedia to go to Vegas with my parents. But she decided she wanted to be off that week so tough luck for you. Expedia tried to charge me the cancellation fee to rebook my flight. So instead of the process being original flight was 500, cancellation fee is 150 here is 350 to use to rebook. It was no you pay us 150 dollars and you get a 500 credit and if you don't use it all tough luck. I knew this isn't how things worked. So out of desperation I phoned WJ directly. She audibly sighed when I told her my situation and knew instantly it was Expedia. She did everything for me, did the cancellation and credit properly per WJ terms and threw in some upgraded stuff too. But a few years later I had the WJ flight from hell. The staff at MCO were miserable. The flight attendants were downright unpleasant. Left bad taste. But booked them again to Fort Lauderdale for a cruise the next year. The changed their FL service and it took multiple phone calls and a lot of stress before I got a satisfactory resolution. With their terms being so much more unfavourable compared to AC or Porter I just don't want to bother anymore. But I had a credit and didn't want to lose it so I am stuck with them.

It was Air Canada Rouge that got me to try WestJet back then, it was such a nice change. Now they are just like the other airlines! Might try out Porter from Toronto to MCO.

 

[Lesverts]

It was Air Canada Rouge that got me to try WestJet back then, it was such a nice change. Now they are just like the other airlines! Might try out Porter from Toronto to MCO.

Funny enough. I have noticed something really unusual with Rouge. If the crew is a Toronto based crew - not that impressive. Montreal based crew. Hella impressive. My Montreal crew back from MCO last week was top tier for a North American airline. The Toronto crew going down was the typical bare minimum you get across the board here now. Last year when I actually flew from Montreal to Orlando with a Montreal crew. Best rouge flight I've ever been on.

Also Rouge A321 is a significantly more comfortable aircraft to anything Westjet flies.

 

[chimo2u]

We did the same thing for most of the same reasons. We were WestJet loyal to the core but no longer able to tolerate the same problems over and over and over. Won't fly even if they paid me so the super $$$$ companion pass is not enticing.

BTW, changing the credit card was super easy, did it on the RBC app, picked a different one (Visa ION i think?) so that we don't have just one card in case of service outages. The statement date is the same, the balance switched over, and bonus, the extra card for this one is free.

Is it a good reward card? I am considering switching but I want a mastercard with good rewards as I like to use my card at Costco

 

[Donald - my hero]

Is it a good reward card? I am considering switching but I want a mastercard with good rewards as I like to use my card at Costco

It's a VISA card, no idea if the rewards are good or not because we rarely use it, only have it as a backup card. Our main card is the BMO Airmiles Mastercard, that's the main reward program that we work with.

 

[KCMA]

Woke up this morning to an email form Westjet changing one of our flights for the first week of April … Our original flight was to leave at 11:30am from MCO and land in Toronto at 2:28pm.. they changed it to leaving MCO 9:30pm and landing at 12:30am.. we went through all the other options with connections and decided to take the full refund… ended up booking with Air Cananda for a little cheaper and similar direct flights… first time that’s ever happened in all my years flying Westjet

 

[TinkAgainU]

Hi! We were flying to Tampa over New Years intending to split our stay with Orlando. Got an email today changing our 1 pm flight out of Toronto to 645 AM and the return from 3PM to 10AM! Not a big fan of the early flights! Able to cancel without a fee and was able to find cheaper flights to MCO with better times. Still with WestJet. So it all worked out!

I've had Southwest do this, and there were better flights available - I called and asked to be moved to the better times and they did so with no upcharge. Then, the flight we were moved to actually changed times to a Perfect departure time for us. But we only came out okay because we checked the schedule ourselves and contacted them right away. I'm guessing people who waited did not get much help since the "good" flight times were probably taken by then. Gotta keep checking things if you book far in advance.

My brother missed his flight once when the times were changed and he didn't notice.