Westjet Review (Regina to Orlando)

[Chickkypoo]

Thought some of you might be interested in how Westjet's new transborder flights were like.

Name of Airline: Westjet

Date of flights: November 9/10th and November 17th

Flying From and To:Round trip from Regina SK to Orlando, FL

Number and Place of Layovers:We had one layover each way in Calgary, AB. The layover on the way there was an 11 hour overnight layover.

Type of Flight: (First Class, Business Class, Economy): They only
have one class - Low Fare

Number of Passengers:2

Cost Per Ticket: $368.50 round trip

Any Discount?:We got a huge discount as we bought our tickets the first day that Westjet introduced their transborder flights to the U.S. We purchased the tickets for over half off the price they would normally be.

Tickets Purchased How Far In Advance: 5 months

How the tickets were purchased:At the airport. You can also purchase
online and on the phone.

Tickets mailed or E-Ticket:Westjet doesn't give paper tickets, only
an e-mail confirmation, or a confirmation slip at the airport.


Could Seats Be Selected Prior to Flight:Only at check-in

Ease And Manner of Boarding:Very easy to board

Allowed to board first with children?We don't have children, but
those with children, and those who needed extra assistance boarding were allowed to board first.

Meal or Snack Provided:Snack - cookies or harvest mix. They also
provided a light lunch if you wished to purchase it, but only on the
flight from Calgary to Orlando.

Seat Location Suggestion: When I sat in the seat next to the
emergency exit, I had lots of leg room. The seats in the front row
also seem to have extra leg room.

Please Rate the Following on a scale from 1-10 (10 being the best):

Cleanliness:8 (on our return trip from Orlando to Calgary, the planehad arrived late from Calgary, and they didn't have time to do a cleaning, so some of the seat trays were dirty.

Friendliness:10

Leg Room: 7 - I found that it would have been nicer to have a little more leg room.

Cancellation policy -- on the part of the airlines. Where you
informed if your flight was canceled and you were moved? I noticedthat my flight time for my return trip had changed. When I called them, they had tried to e-mail me about it, but for some reason hadbeen sending it to the wrong e-mail address.


Disney Dollarless Tip: Book early, as Westjet's fares tend to go up
the longer you wait

Comments/Problems:I think next time, I will fly via Toronto instead
of Calgary, as it was a longer trip that way. However when I bookedmy tickets under the discount offer, they had not decided to flyfrom Toronto yet. I also did not like the long layover in Calgary on the way there. The flight from Calgary to Orlando was also very long (5 hours) and there was no on board entertainment, though Westjet is now in the works of installing Bell Express Vu on the backs of the seats on several of their flights. This is one flight that definitely needs this feature.

 

[katypop]

Thank you for the excellent review! I will be leaving in 10 days for Orlando and am flying westjet from toronto. sounds like they were a good choice I was lucky too and got their special introductory rate of $251.00 return, all taxes etc included. I'm hoping for another good rate for spring but so far nothing that compares with my current rate.
katypop

 

[Debbie]

Thanks for the review, Chickkypoo. Kathe, maybe you could do the same when you get back. I fly early in January, solo, so I'm a wee bit nervous. lol How much was the meal, and what did it consist of? (I know that I can bring my own, but. . . ) And all I'll need is my email confirmation? I can handle that.

They've been really good about notifying me of any changes. The first I heard about here, but the next two I got emails to phone them, with no wait when I did. Now. . . if they'd fly from London. . . .

 

[Chickkypoo]

They had Turkey and Swiss on a croissant, ham and cheese on a kaiser or a roast beef on a mini sub bun for $5. They also sold twizzlers, pringles and a few other snacks, and they ranged from $2-$5. I had the Turkey croissant and my boyfriend had the roast beef sub and they were both very good. Just a word of advice, they take US money at par, so make sure you keep a little canadian on you if you'd like to buy something on the trip back.

~Jamie-Lyn~

 

[katypop]

Hi Debbie this will be a solo trip for me as well. I will let you know how my trip with westjet goes too. last spring i used airmiles and flew London to Detroit to Orlando with Northwest. it was so nice to fly out of London, even with the change. I have only flown once out of Toronto solo and I was a little stressed too. hopefully it will be a little easier this trip.
Chickkypoo, thanks for all of your tips

kathe

 

[wee-haggis]

We are using Westjet next year and would be interested to know what row the emerg exit was on (assuming it was the standard Boeing 737-700)?
From looking at the seating plan I think it may be row 12 ?(because there is only 2 seats in row 11).
Was it easy to choose your seats....or do they give you a hastle ?
Also wondering if anyone cleared US customs on the way out or when you arrived ?

 

[EvilQueen]

I recently flew WestJet from Toronto to Calgary and absolutely loved WestJet!!! Check in was soooo easy. No line ups at all. They had plenty of staff around to help you with the kiosk check in. When I checked in, the girl looked at the seat I had been put into and said it was an aisle seat and in a few seconds I had new choices in front of me and selected a window seat. Easiest and fastest check in I've ever been through. I had walked past the Air Canada section and all I saw were long lines of people waiting to check in. I'm flying to Atlanta on AC on Tuesday, so I'll get to make a comparison for myself. Can't say I'm looking forward to that, but WJ doesn't fly to Atlanta. WJ says they encourage you to bring your own food on board, which I did. I just grabbed a sandwich from SubWay and ate it while everyone else was snacking on the little snacks they provide. I was very, very impressed with everyone who works for WestJet. Have already decided that I will fly down to Orlando next June with WestJet when I start at WDW!!!

Highly Recommend WestJet!!!

 

[Chickkypoo]

Hi wee-haggis,

Sorry it's taken so long to reply, but I had put my plane ticket stubs away, and I couldn't figure out what I had stored them in. The row beside the emergency exit, was indeed row 12. The seat with the extra leg room was 12F. I can't see them giving you a hassle on having those seats if you check in early and those seats are still available. I do believe though, that they do not allow children to sit in the emergency exit row due to federal regulations in case of emergency.

We cleared customs both ways in Calgary, this also holds true if you are travelling to/from Toronto.

Hope that helps!

~Jamie-Lyn~

 

[wee-haggis]

Thanks chickkypoo....
appreciate your trouble in checking out tickets.

 

[katypop]

Hi,
Ive been home almost 2 weeks already, and boy do I ever miss WDW. Everytime I hear a xmas song I want to see the parade or characters and shows that should go with it, whoever thought I'd associate Minnie with "santa baby" Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know my 1st trip with westjet went well, I would definately fly with them again. I was surprised that even being 2.5 hrs early for my flight down that I couldn't get a window seat though, but apparently a flight from Halifax that was going on to Orlando arrived before me and they scooped all the window seats. That was okay though, everything was a breeze, and all of their staff was so friendly. They had us play a couple of "games" on the way down that helped pass the time and gave us a few chuckles. Although I had my e-mail confirmation I never had to show it. The only dissappointment was that we had to go through customs on arrival in Orlando. I had plenty of time in Toronto and had been told I'd go through customs there, but for some reason(I think they were too busy at customs) they changed this. It wasn't a big deal, it's just that once I land in Orlando I want to MOTOR to see Mickey.
So now I'm playing the waiting game, wondering if they might come out with special fares for this coming May.
Wishing everyone a joyous holiday season.
Kathe

 

[davephillips]

Our first ever Westjet Flight and WDW is coming up... We'll be sure to post how it goes. Are there any restrictions on bringing food?

 

[Chickkypoo]

As far as I know, there are no restrictions on food. I saw everything on my flight from take-out containers, to people who brought homemade sandwiches. I imagine though that if you bring something on the flight that is not allowed to be brought into the states (beef, etc), you would probably have to make sure it's eaten before you get off the flight. If you give Westjet customer service a call, they may be able to give you more information on whether or not customs would be sticky about you bringing certain food items thru or not.

~Jamie-Lyn~