Westjet v. Air Transat

[cammie1229]

I'm looking for the pros and cons of each. I prefer Air Transat flight times but I've heard that Westjet planes are more comfortable and wider seats. Is that true?

Thanks.

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

west jet fan here, plus its not a 'chartered' flight .

 

[dsneygirl]

We just flew WestJet back from Victoria and were very pleased with the service. The TV in the back of every seat were great. No food service but you could buy sandwiches for $5.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

My family & I are flying from Toronto - Orlando next month on WestJet for the very 1st, so I can't wait for that.

We have flown Air Transat before, but if we don't have to fly them again, we won't. The 1st year we flew them our time changed from 2:30 - 4:30 & we would be 1st stoping at St.Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport, where 5% of the passengers got off & the other 95% (including my family) went onto Orlando & did not land until it was after 9:00 PM. The other time we flew Air Transat, it was better because we had a flight 1st thing in the morning, but the seats were so cramed together so it was hard to get comftorable.

 

[bbangel]

WestJet beats AirTransat. The seats of AirT are so close together that I ended up with bruises on my knees. (and that was without the person in front reclining). Their planes are also older, which freaks me out as I am a very nervous flier.
WestJet planes are great. More room, tv's on most of them, and much newer.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

WestJet staff have the most fun on any airline I've travelled in recent memory. When you're travelling for vacation, this helps you get into vacation mode.

Most planes are newer (next generation 737s), have leather seats, more leg room and personal TVs (bring headphones or buy them for $1).

 

[Boncho]

There is no comparison - West Jet wins hands down. My TA phoned me the other night with the news about Transat direct flights but the excitement was over when she remembered that there was no way on God's green earth that I was ever going to get on a Canjet plane again.

 

[Absimilliard]

Westjet has a "pitch" average of 32 inches on most of their planes, which is the same as Air Canada and most US airlines. Air Transat has a pitch of 30 inches... The pitch is the space between the backs of the seats. So, an extra 2 inches is 2 more inches of leg room!

Air Transat also crams one more seat per row on their planes than a regular airline! Swiss, US Airways seats 8 per row on their Airbus 330-200. Air Transat crams 9 passengers in the same area! The only way to have a correct seat is your flight is scheduled on their lone Airbus 330-300, which still have 8 passengers per row.

 

[canron]

if your going to orllando fly out of buffalo its 1 third the price if not cheaper. we do it 3 to 4 times a year we get the room and flight for the cost of the flight out of toronto not kidding $130'00 to $150'00 canadian roundtrip nonstop on southwest .ckeck it out.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

if your going to orllando fly out of buffalo its 1 third the price if not cheaper. we do it 3 to 4 times a year we get the room and flight for the cost of the flight out of toronto not kidding $130'00 to $150'00 canadian roundtrip nonstop on southwest .ckeck it out.

Why does every thread when the subject is flying, always has someone posting to fly out of Buffalo? I know it's cheaper but the OP asked about WestJet & Air Transat for a reason, so they must want to fly out of Toronto. Not everyone who posts here fly's out of Buffalo, so this thread does not need to be hijacked by saying how great Buffalo is & how bad Toronto is.


canron,
I know you were trying to help, so this is not an attack against you. It's the fact that every thread when it's flying out of Toronto, turns into reasons why you should fly out of Buffalo, when that was not even asked by the OP.

 

[bambigirl88]

Having flown both in the last year, both chartered I may add, Westjet gets our vote and our kids every time. Main reason having TV's in the seatbacks, but we find that they are much more happy and fun to fly with. The attitude is the difference. We also had better meal service on Westjet, but actually it is provided by your tour package anyway if that is how you are booking. Gee, I don't see any votes for Air Transat on here........

 

[pxlbarrel]

Air Transat is horrible. We had a terrible flight with them a while ago and have never flown them again. We were delayed for over 10 hours and they lied to us when they found the time to tell us anything. The delay was first caused by mechanical problems and then delayed further when their flight crew exceeded their awake time because of the mechanical delay. They had to fly a plane from Montreal to Toronto before we could leave and then find a crew to fly it. They kept stringing us along the whole day. We could have gone home and come back but they kept telling us it wouldn't be too long. Our 1 pm departure became a 3 pm then became a 6 pm then finally an 11 pm departure. Ugh...really bad taste in my mouth.

Fly West Jet or Air Canada or even Sunquest (to prove it's not that I'm against charters) before flying Air Transat.

 

[Fabooliss]

Why does every thread when the subject is flying, always has someone posting to fly out of Buffalo? I know it's cheaper but the OP asked about WestJet & Air Transat for a reason, so they must want to fly out of Toronto. Not everyone who posts here fly's out of Buffalo, so this thread does not need to be hijacked by saying how great Buffalo is & how bad Toronto is.
.

Since I was about to post the same thing, I'll tell you why I was going to say to fly out of Buffalo. Because it saved us $1400!!!! And if it wasn't for someone on the DIS telling me about it I wouldn't have known to even look in Buffalo. So I at least tell everyone I can about it.

That being said, when we flew AirTransat a few years back (not to Orlando ) there were delays both ways, they added stops to the non stop flights , both ways, after we bought our tickets and we were traveling with a 2 year old. NOT fun!

 

[silverhaze269]

I must say, I was a bit skeptical about WestJet until I read this. I'm flying with them on my next trip and now I'm looking forward to it!

 

[MikeyNS]

I'm kind of waffling between Transat direct from Halifax and AC via Montreal. Do you think there will be the same sort of problems with Air Transat out of Halifax, especially when they're chartering Canjet planes/staff specifically for the Halifax -> Orlando flights?.. Hmmmm..

 

[chasbos]

We have flown Air Transat to St. Maarten and all was fine.

We flew West Jet from Calgary to London via Winnipeg and the TV's did not work for the Calgary - Winnipeg leg of the trip. No big deal though.

If you are going to pick a Canadian based airline - I would decide by price alone.

That being said - I would never fly into the states from Canada, too expensive.

 

[silverhaze269]

I'm kind of waffling between Transat direct from Halifax and AC via Montreal. Do you think there will be the same sort of problems with Air Transat out of Halifax, especially when they're chartering Canjet planes/staff specifically for the Halifax -> Orlando flights?.. Hmmmm..

I'd expect the same sort of problems, however direct flights to Orlando from Halifax are rare. I've flown 4 times to Orlando (from Halifax) and every time I could never find a direct flight when I was available to go.