WestJet is at it again. Check your flights.

[merfsko]

What really bugs me is that I booked our flights when they had that big seat sale in early January. Now that they changed my flights, if I want to change them, I’ve got to pay the price difference because the sale is over. Nice strategy to lock us in.

Oh no, that really sucks!

I also originally bought my tickets during the January seat sale... so when they changed our flights I had this exact thought! But I was able to change them both at no extra cost... I had assumed it was because they had changed the flight, but now I'm thinking it may have been because we went all in with EconoFlex

 

[Silvermist999]

Oh no, that really sucks!

I also originally bought my tickets during the January seat sale... so when they changed our flights I had this exact thought! But I was able to change them both at no extra cost... I had assumed it was because they had changed the flight, but now I'm thinking it may have been because we went all in with EconoFlex

Haha! Yes we went in with EconoFlex also but if I want to change the time or day, I’m going to have to pay the difference in airfare.

 

[jump00]

Thanks for the heads up! I checked our email and saw there has been a change with our flights to and from Orlando. Luckily it was just with the times….
West Jet said that they would send a confirming email…haven’t seen it yet……. Should I call???
Brenda

 

[merfsko]

Thanks for the heads up! I checked our email and saw there has been a change with our flights to and from Orlando. Luckily it was just with the times….
West Jet said that they would send a confirming email…haven’t seen it yet……. Should I call???
Brenda

I got an email the day after I checked and saw the changes online (although I don't know when the changes were made/how long it took them to send the email). The email required me to accept the changes, reschedule, or cancel.

It doesn't hurt to schedule a callback if you have questions, but if you're fine with the new times and are in no rush, maybe give it a few days and see if it comes through?

 

[jump00]

I got an email the day after I checked and saw the changes online (although I don't know when the changes were made/how long it took them to send the email). The email required me to accept the changes, reschedule, or cancel.

It doesn't hurt to schedule a callback if you have questions, but if you're fine with the new times and are in no rush, maybe give it a few days and see if it comes through?

Thanks!

 

[SirDuff]

What really bugs me is that I booked our flights when they had that big seat sale in early January. Now that they changed my flights, if I want to change them, I’ve got to pay the price difference because the sale is over. Nice strategy to lock us in.

If I'm understanding your post correctly, that is not correct. If they changed your flights, you should be able to change to ones that work for without paying anything (regardless of the type of ticket that you purchased). You need to tell them that they flight option that they gave you doesn't work and tell them what does work (generally you can even do a day before/after if that is what you need.

 

[motherof5]

I booked WestJet from Ottawa to LA (November 2022) for travel the first week of May. I can't remember why I decided to check flights today but I did and they have changed the times for the outgoing flight (1/2 hour), I can work with that. Coming home though they have us travelling through Calgary instead of Toronto. I chose Toronto because if anything happened with the connection I could easily drive/bus home to Ottawa.

They have also put us on a flight with a 1:26 minute connection. Sources I've read say it can take 30-90 minutes to get through customs in Calgary and recommend a minimun of 1:30 for international to domestic connection. There is a flight earlier in the day to Calgary which would leave us sitting around the airport in Calgary for 6 hours. I would rather do that than miss my flight home to Ottawa. I booked these flights through Airmiles and no one there has thought to update me on the changes.

I will be on the phone with them first thing tomorrow to get them to make the change LA-Calgary to the earlier flight. I can handle changes I just don't like not being told about the changes.

Hope you got this all settled.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

Be careful how they refund your money too if the new flights are cheaper. For example, my August direct flights were cancelled, and they put me on a connecting flight. The direct flights the day prior were more affordable, so I did not accept the change and called and told them I wanted to cancel my flights (refund) and book the new, cheaper flights for the day prior. After all was said and done, they refunded the difference to my WestJet Travel Bank, which was not one of my forms of original payment. I did not notice this (my fault) until after I got off the phone with them. Oddly, they even asked for my credit card number to refund the difference.

I have a call scheduled with them for tomorrow AM. Hopefully, I can get it straightened out.

 

[ottawamom]

Hope you got this all settled.

I did. I decided to keep the changes they made to the itinerary. Our flight leaves LA and hour later than the original flight and gets into Ottawa 15 min earlier. We have a shorter connection but now it's in Calgary (which I understand is doable) vs Toronto.

I still haven't heard anything from WestJet even though they have my email. I did get one from Airmiles which says contact us if you don't like the changes. While not ideal it is alright as I know about the changes and no news from me means I accept the changes (I think)

 

[Lesverts]

I kind of mentioned this is another post, but going to post it here as well. Westjet is in the process of concentrating services into Calgary. By the end of this round of deliveries they are going to be basing over a 100 of their aircraft at YYC and Calgary will be their sole connecting hub. Also their entire premium fleet has already been pulled into Calgary. Combination of Air Canada securing early A220 deliveries and Alberta providing a lot of cash to refocus on Calgary (YYC is going to be adding 2 million or more additional passengers in the near future). Great for Westerners and being more connected, bad for Easterners and choice. Us easterners are going to have to hope that Porter and Air Transat fill some of the gap.

I like airplanes and am a bit of a nerd about these things.

 

[ottawamom]

Wow that's great information. I do hope Calgary doesn't become the "Toronto Pearson" nightmare of the west. Long lines etc.

You might just be the person who can help me with my new dilemma. I have been placed in the first row of Economy by the airline. Is there room under the row infront of me to stash my personal item or am I limited to the overhead compartment. Or is this equipment dependent? Is there a solid wall in that separates the two classes of passengers.

 

[Lesverts]

Aircraft dependent. Some have half walls, some have full bulkheads, some have nothing but a curtain. Newer the plane, more like it is going to be a full bulkhead. Bulkhead rows do tend to get some level of priority for the overhead bins.

Toronto is 50 million passengers a year or more. I think it is being projected to go to 60 million by the end of the decade. Calgary might top 10 million when all is said and done. Calgary's busiest day is Toronto's regular.

 

[motherof5]

I did. I decided to keep the changes they made to the itinerary. Our flight leaves LA and hour later than the original flight and gets into Ottawa 15 min earlier. We have a shorter connection but now it's in Calgary (which I understand is doable) vs Toronto.

I still haven't heard anything from WestJet even though they have my email. I did get one from Airmiles which says contact us if you don't like the changes. While not ideal it is alright as I know about the changes and no news from me means I accept the changes (I think)

Since they changed are they like southwest that you can make any changes free and do something that you may like better.

 

[I Run Long]

Wow that's great information. I do hope Calgary doesn't become the "Toronto Pearson" nightmare of the west. Long lines etc.

You might just be the person who can help me with my new dilemma. I have been placed in the first row of Economy by the airline. Is there room under the row infront of me to stash my personal item or am I limited to the overhead compartment. Or is this equipment dependent? Is there a solid wall in that separates the two classes of passengers.

We were in the front row of economy and there is room under the seats in front of you. Business class (or whatever they're calling it) has two seats per row on either side of the aisle rather than like the 3 seats in Economy. I was in the aisle seat in Economy, so while I didn't have a seat directly in front of me, the seats are wider in business class so I had like a metal extension that I could slide my bag into in front of me - if that makes any sense.

 

[ottawamom]

Since they changed are they like southwest that you can make any changes free and do something that you may like better.

I'm sure I could change but those are the best alternative. Looks like it's going to be WestJets new route to the west coast anyway. Might as well get used to it now or switch to the other airline (which I do use alternately with WestJet)

 

[Silvermist999]

We flew Westjet over the holidays. We sat in the rows near the front of economy. They had the little curtains for separation, which they didnt have on our last flight in 2019. And they don’t let you use the washrooms at the front anymore. We had some pretty long lineups for the washrooms at the back, as you can imagine.

 

[Silvermist999]

If I'm understanding your post correctly, that is not correct. If they changed your flights, you should be able to change to ones that work for without paying anything (regardless of the type of ticket that you purchased). You need to tell them that they flight option that they gave you doesn't work and tell them what does work (generally you can even do a day before/after if that is what you need.

I haven’t clicked on the options given in my email yet. So I do hope what you are saying is true, I’ve never experienced this big of a change before so might have to call them to discuss. So annoying.

 

[motherof5]

I'm sure I could change but those are the best alternative. Looks like it's going to be WestJets new route to the west coast anyway. Might as well get used to it now or switch to the other airline (which I do use alternately with WestJet)

Have a good trip

 

[ottawamom]

Thank you. I am really looking foward to getting away, finally! It's been a long time.

 

[CanucksRock]

I need Westjet to bring back more direct flights from Edmonton to Orlando. I got to stay overnight in Toronto courtesy of WJ because my 3 hour layover evaporated when the plane to MCO was 2 1/2 hours late. WJ decided that 35 minutes was not enough time to make my connection to YEG, so forced me to stay overnight and waste all of yesterday (and a vacation day) travelling home via Calgary