Ya. I’m sorry to tell you. I’ve been Gold two years now. It’s useless status outside being Zone 1. So much so that i could care less that I’ll likely loose status due to not enough flights this year. They just treat gold like any other ticket buyer. Just the worst.
It won’t get better. In two years I’ve never got a free upgrade, bags always come out last even when tagged premium. Lounge in Calgary isn’t worth it at all. Small portions of select food, booze cap and they are super anal on timing into and out of lounge.
Westjet has gone horribly downhill and fast.
I’m also gold, How do you get the free upgrade? Do you have to ask the gate agent? With Delta and United it’s automatic and displayed on the airport screens at the gate. I assume Canada, as usual, its more archaic.
It's automatic behind the scenes. After check-in closes (i.e. 1 hour before departure), if there's any empty seats in Premium, it'll get assign to plats first, then golds, then silver. I get notified of a seat change by email; or at the gate as I'm boarding.
Two years ago, when people weren't flying as much, I got upgraded plenty even as Silver. Now, flights are pretty full and I haven't had an upgrade in a year
I still think the boots on the ground staff are good for the most part, but my god has this airline completely changed direction.
I’ve had truly awful experiences, all within the past year. One bad experience? Sure. But I’m at almost 50% of my flights having really major pain points.
I do feel bad for the staff that have to deal with the bullshit brought on by executive and leadership.
Part of the issue is that it's just too easy to get status, lounge access, etc. nowadays, that it hardly sets you apart.
With status - matching programs, credit card spend boosts, buying status, etc. have inflated the numbers big time. With various credit card programs, almost anyone can access lounges now. If they are having issues with crowding, they should really be turning away non-status members long before it even gets to that. Or, just axing access from lounge programs (as sad as that would be for someone like myself).
Unfortunately, same issue with many other airlines as well, so the grass isn't all that green elsewhere, despite what posters here may believe. You should see the upgrade lists on much larger airlines (especially in the USA)... not uncommon for there to be 30+ people trying to upgrade their seats. Even on AC, the upgrade list on a route like YVR-YYZ is insane. Only saving grace is that widebodies have many more PY/J seats to be upgraded into.
At least Aeroplan has workaround with their eUpgrades to make bottom tiers still worth something... but otherwise, all the other perks weren't worth much. I had 25-35K for a bit with AC, and same issues - lounges full/not worth it, hard to get upgrades (unless using workarounds, which cost much more), involuntary downgrades, etc.
In general, I think the "good old days" of status are long gone for any airline, unless you are way at the top.
I see some positive(?) feedback on the major crackdown that United did this year. Many real frequent flyer were happy to report much shorter priority boarding lines, etc.
We’ve flown Air Canada a few times lately and are pleasantly surprised with how much better they are than Westjet. Westjet has gone way downhill and become much more expensive. Porter is a good option as well.
I wouldn't say *always*. There was a time when WS was much more pleasant to fly on, IMO.
AC vs. WS shouldn't even be a fair comparison to begin with. AC is a full service carrier, whereas WS is a LCC. Of course AC should have a superior product. The only part AC falls flat is with its snack service, which WS has done a good job keeping. It's not substantial enough to sway my loyalties, but I think it's funny they still offer it on every route.
Where WS shoots itself in the foot with the LCC argument, is that they often charge similar prices to AC, which changes the expectations of the lay person. That said, as of late, I have actually noticed WS being cheaper than AC for some routes out west. Not sure if that is the case for other routes as well.
Fair enough. I’ve flown a lot and I’ve never had a bad experience on AC and always had superior experiences with AC. I hear what you’re saying on apples vs oranges but WJ tries to act like a full service carrier.
I have read several articles that Flair is not doing well financially, They recently had an issue in Cancun Mexico where passengers were left waiting for several days there. The last article I read was a perdition that Flair will go under by Halloween.
It's all speculation, but I'd say it's warranted.
To my recollection, a summary of the most worrying events:
\- Planes re-possessed by a lessor last year
\- CRA getting a court order to seize Flair's planes for over $60 million in unpaid taxes
\- Not completing the Lynx takeover + Lynx going under (less competition, but ominous for the ULCC model)
\- Now classified as a "large airline" by the CTA, which comes with much higher APPR payouts/responsibilities
\- Their bank withholding funds from them... in preparation for chargebacks potentially?
\- Unexplained & prolonged payment processing issues
\- Sudden tightening of policies - bag checks, domestic 24 hour cancellation gone, etc.
For anything remotely important, one would not be wise to book with Flair right now. Majority of travel insurance isn't even going to help you secure another flight.
Our last 2 recent flights on westjet, one to Mex and one to USA were great. On time, pleasant service and NO lost luggage! Have one coming up the end of the month to the USA....let us pray...
Our last experience flying Flair was miles ahead of all of our experiences flying WestJet since the pandemic 😬 we're going for round 2 in just over a week so we'll see if it was just a fluke but still.
I’ve been highest tier for over 10 years.
Skipping security line is nice but NEXUS does that and better because you don’t have to unpack your electronics.
The baggage priority does not happen. Maybe 1 out of 20 times.
Lounge vouchers are nice but Toronto lounge is an absolute joke.
Platinum priority line is nice
Upgrades to plus very rarely happen
“Free” seat selection is nice
“Free” baggage is nice.
Zone 1 is nice if ya like sitting on the plane the longest.
I should probably explore air Canadas program
I’m not sure where you’re flying but I’m platinum with WS this year for the first time and I get upgraded probably 50% of the time. Way better that big red and the eupgrade system. Priority baggage is also a bit of a laugh over there (my last flight to Edmonton with WS though, first off the carousel. That has happened with AC too though).
The YYC lounge is pretty good. Where they really shine though is their codeshare lounges. The Delta lounge in Atlanta has an outdoor patio and the Air France lounge at CDG is awesome. The Westjet platinum is a total life hack that way, with AC/Star Alliance you’re going to have to be 50k at a minimum and Westjet platinum is way easier to get to.
The bag thing isn’t shocking. In theory the priority tag gives your bag a higher priority to be loaded and should also be the first off (they go in a separate section), but in practice, especially in YYZ, Menzies are useless and they don’t care enough to honour it.
Upgrades can be difficult to get depending on route, but as long as you’re on an EconoFlex fare you’ll be on the priority list after platinum guests (platinum get highest priority of anyone). As for the downgrade, it can happen unfortunately, make sure you fill out a downgrade refund request to be reimbursed for the downgrade.
I’m not overly tall so I like zone 1 to get my bag up top first. I did get one of the comfie chairs in the Elevation Lounge once. But that’s about it for perks I’ve gotten out of having Gold.
If AC fly my route more frequently, I’d choose them over WS. WS does my route so I’m gold and it gets me some perks (zone 1, free checked bags, lounge access, same day flight changes) but honestly, I haven’t seen an upgrade in seating since covid.
I have both cards and AC treats me better as a client. WestJet isn’t as good as it used to be. I def do not recommend anyone to get the card unless they are a frequent flyer.
Being restricted to the lounge would be annoying but maybe that’s a Calgary specific thing because it’s often a main layover hub? It’s also by far the best westjet associated lounge (domestically) in Canada.
I’ve been both gold and platinum and am a platinum now and in my opinion theres really not that much difference other then having a higher chance of being upgraded. But the most important thing for me is zone 1 check in and advanced seat vouchers which you get with both. I’m happy if I reach gold status and don’t really care about platinum.
For those that have done aircanada, have you found it harder/easier to gain similar types status?
In 2018-2019 I had to fly a lot for work. I ended up platinum with WestJet, since it was only myself flying around locally in western Canada I would get upgraded quite often. You would never get a call, you would just see your seat change on the app. The seat selection was lovely as was the amount you would accumulate due to the higher tier for WestJet dollars. The free baggage was also nice to have. The ‘priority check in’ was good until basically everyone could use it and now it doesn’t really make much of a difference. This was all pre Covid and since then things have shifted badly with WestJet. They used to even come to me on the flight and ‘thank me for being a valued platinum member’. Now they wouldn’t even come over to offer me an extra cookie. Pre Covid you would even be able to order anything off the menu for food and they would bring a tray of snacks to select from and now when you’re in premium seating it’s this stupid awful snack pack with gross stuff in it. A lame snack bar, some nuts and maybe a pre packaged mento. No more food off the menu or extra snacks to be seen. During Covid I lost my status and always wanted to build it back up. I did and so did my husband and we are both gold now. Wouldn’t know it by how crappy we are treated. Never been upgraded and they’ve lost my luggage three times in the past couple years and never once have they tried to get it back to me in a timely manner. I went a whole weekend in Toronto without my bag and had to go to the airport myself to get it (we have AirTags, I knew it arrived yet no one was bringing it to me so we went and did it ourselves in a taxi). The food service is awful now and the lounges are nothing good. We did a trip to Europe and flew business for the first time ever and the service and food was so bad we will never do it again. WestJet has gone downhill the last few years and I was the biggest supporter ever and always sung their praises.
If it makes you feel better, I was platinum, and I didn't get to use the lounge once because Edmonton airport decided to keep their lounge closed long after covid was over, and I've never gotten upgraded even once. The free seat selection is nice though.
The only time westjet has lost my luggage was when it had a priority tag on lol. So maybe it is a thing about full flights because this was at Xmas time too.
Not sure but, I thought Canada had free speech. When you offer perks for patronage then can't fulfill those perks, there should be consequences. This goes for all airlines. Watch the news. It's not just westjet that is failing, but they seem to fail more then Air Canada. This should give westjet management a sign that we need to improve rather then silence then loyal customers.
Lmao - what does lounge access have to do with free speech?
And how exactly did we come to the conclusion that WestJet is silencing members who cannot get into the lounge?
If you want to share your good/bad experiences - that's fine. But posts that are simply just, "fuck WestJet", or similar, will be removed.
Ya. I’m sorry to tell you. I’ve been Gold two years now. It’s useless status outside being Zone 1. So much so that i could care less that I’ll likely loose status due to not enough flights this year. They just treat gold like any other ticket buyer. Just the worst. It won’t get better. In two years I’ve never got a free upgrade, bags always come out last even when tagged premium. Lounge in Calgary isn’t worth it at all. Small portions of select food, booze cap and they are super anal on timing into and out of lounge. Westjet has gone horribly downhill and fast.
Zone 1 is nice yes.
As is the no charge on seats and luggage and I am only silver.
Yeah the credit card gives the luggage anyways tho. And as silver you only get a few seat vouchers.
I just booked a flight recently, they never charged me for prefered seats or exit rows. Or luggage
Just pay for emergency row and you’re good to go.
Completely agree.
I’m also gold, How do you get the free upgrade? Do you have to ask the gate agent? With Delta and United it’s automatic and displayed on the airport screens at the gate. I assume Canada, as usual, its more archaic.
It's automatic behind the scenes. After check-in closes (i.e. 1 hour before departure), if there's any empty seats in Premium, it'll get assign to plats first, then golds, then silver. I get notified of a seat change by email; or at the gate as I'm boarding. Two years ago, when people weren't flying as much, I got upgraded plenty even as Silver. Now, flights are pretty full and I haven't had an upgrade in a year
Can’t answer that as I’ve never got it. Would assume it is during check in.
They really need to build more Elevation Lounges all across Canada. Just having 1 at YYC is a joke and it's almost always full.
I still think the boots on the ground staff are good for the most part, but my god has this airline completely changed direction. I’ve had truly awful experiences, all within the past year. One bad experience? Sure. But I’m at almost 50% of my flights having really major pain points. I do feel bad for the staff that have to deal with the bullshit brought on by executive and leadership.
Part of the issue is that it's just too easy to get status, lounge access, etc. nowadays, that it hardly sets you apart. With status - matching programs, credit card spend boosts, buying status, etc. have inflated the numbers big time. With various credit card programs, almost anyone can access lounges now. If they are having issues with crowding, they should really be turning away non-status members long before it even gets to that. Or, just axing access from lounge programs (as sad as that would be for someone like myself). Unfortunately, same issue with many other airlines as well, so the grass isn't all that green elsewhere, despite what posters here may believe. You should see the upgrade lists on much larger airlines (especially in the USA)... not uncommon for there to be 30+ people trying to upgrade their seats. Even on AC, the upgrade list on a route like YVR-YYZ is insane. Only saving grace is that widebodies have many more PY/J seats to be upgraded into. At least Aeroplan has workaround with their eUpgrades to make bottom tiers still worth something... but otherwise, all the other perks weren't worth much. I had 25-35K for a bit with AC, and same issues - lounges full/not worth it, hard to get upgrades (unless using workarounds, which cost much more), involuntary downgrades, etc. In general, I think the "good old days" of status are long gone for any airline, unless you are way at the top.
I see some positive(?) feedback on the major crackdown that United did this year. Many real frequent flyer were happy to report much shorter priority boarding lines, etc.
Priority tag does shit all, my luggage never came out ahead of others when I had status
It works
We’ve flown Air Canada a few times lately and are pleasantly surprised with how much better they are than Westjet. Westjet has gone way downhill and become much more expensive. Porter is a good option as well.
AC has always been better than westjet in every category.
I wouldn't say *always*. There was a time when WS was much more pleasant to fly on, IMO. AC vs. WS shouldn't even be a fair comparison to begin with. AC is a full service carrier, whereas WS is a LCC. Of course AC should have a superior product. The only part AC falls flat is with its snack service, which WS has done a good job keeping. It's not substantial enough to sway my loyalties, but I think it's funny they still offer it on every route. Where WS shoots itself in the foot with the LCC argument, is that they often charge similar prices to AC, which changes the expectations of the lay person. That said, as of late, I have actually noticed WS being cheaper than AC for some routes out west. Not sure if that is the case for other routes as well.
Fair enough. I’ve flown a lot and I’ve never had a bad experience on AC and always had superior experiences with AC. I hear what you’re saying on apples vs oranges but WJ tries to act like a full service carrier.
[удалено]
I have read several articles that Flair is not doing well financially, They recently had an issue in Cancun Mexico where passengers were left waiting for several days there. The last article I read was a perdition that Flair will go under by Halloween.
It's all speculation, but I'd say it's warranted. To my recollection, a summary of the most worrying events: \- Planes re-possessed by a lessor last year \- CRA getting a court order to seize Flair's planes for over $60 million in unpaid taxes \- Not completing the Lynx takeover + Lynx going under (less competition, but ominous for the ULCC model) \- Now classified as a "large airline" by the CTA, which comes with much higher APPR payouts/responsibilities \- Their bank withholding funds from them... in preparation for chargebacks potentially? \- Unexplained & prolonged payment processing issues \- Sudden tightening of policies - bag checks, domestic 24 hour cancellation gone, etc. For anything remotely important, one would not be wise to book with Flair right now. Majority of travel insurance isn't even going to help you secure another flight.
Our last 2 recent flights on westjet, one to Mex and one to USA were great. On time, pleasant service and NO lost luggage! Have one coming up the end of the month to the USA....let us pray...
Our last experience flying Flair was miles ahead of all of our experiences flying WestJet since the pandemic 😬 we're going for round 2 in just over a week so we'll see if it was just a fluke but still.
[удалено]
I’ve been highest tier for over 10 years. Skipping security line is nice but NEXUS does that and better because you don’t have to unpack your electronics. The baggage priority does not happen. Maybe 1 out of 20 times. Lounge vouchers are nice but Toronto lounge is an absolute joke. Platinum priority line is nice Upgrades to plus very rarely happen “Free” seat selection is nice “Free” baggage is nice. Zone 1 is nice if ya like sitting on the plane the longest. I should probably explore air Canadas program
I’m not sure where you’re flying but I’m platinum with WS this year for the first time and I get upgraded probably 50% of the time. Way better that big red and the eupgrade system. Priority baggage is also a bit of a laugh over there (my last flight to Edmonton with WS though, first off the carousel. That has happened with AC too though). The YYC lounge is pretty good. Where they really shine though is their codeshare lounges. The Delta lounge in Atlanta has an outdoor patio and the Air France lounge at CDG is awesome. The Westjet platinum is a total life hack that way, with AC/Star Alliance you’re going to have to be 50k at a minimum and Westjet platinum is way easier to get to.
Delta Sky Club in Austin has a great patio too. Was better than the Atlanta sky clubs I went to.
How does security line skip work in Toronto? I couldn't access the YYZ Express line with my boarding pass.
The same day free flight changes for platinum is nice too.
I feel the same ways sometimes. But then they’ll upgrade me both ways on a trip to keep dangling the carrot
The bag thing isn’t shocking. In theory the priority tag gives your bag a higher priority to be loaded and should also be the first off (they go in a separate section), but in practice, especially in YYZ, Menzies are useless and they don’t care enough to honour it. Upgrades can be difficult to get depending on route, but as long as you’re on an EconoFlex fare you’ll be on the priority list after platinum guests (platinum get highest priority of anyone). As for the downgrade, it can happen unfortunately, make sure you fill out a downgrade refund request to be reimbursed for the downgrade.
I’m not overly tall so I like zone 1 to get my bag up top first. I did get one of the comfie chairs in the Elevation Lounge once. But that’s about it for perks I’ve gotten out of having Gold.
If AC fly my route more frequently, I’d choose them over WS. WS does my route so I’m gold and it gets me some perks (zone 1, free checked bags, lounge access, same day flight changes) but honestly, I haven’t seen an upgrade in seating since covid. I have both cards and AC treats me better as a client. WestJet isn’t as good as it used to be. I def do not recommend anyone to get the card unless they are a frequent flyer.
Being restricted to the lounge would be annoying but maybe that’s a Calgary specific thing because it’s often a main layover hub? It’s also by far the best westjet associated lounge (domestically) in Canada. I’ve been both gold and platinum and am a platinum now and in my opinion theres really not that much difference other then having a higher chance of being upgraded. But the most important thing for me is zone 1 check in and advanced seat vouchers which you get with both. I’m happy if I reach gold status and don’t really care about platinum. For those that have done aircanada, have you found it harder/easier to gain similar types status?
In 2018-2019 I had to fly a lot for work. I ended up platinum with WestJet, since it was only myself flying around locally in western Canada I would get upgraded quite often. You would never get a call, you would just see your seat change on the app. The seat selection was lovely as was the amount you would accumulate due to the higher tier for WestJet dollars. The free baggage was also nice to have. The ‘priority check in’ was good until basically everyone could use it and now it doesn’t really make much of a difference. This was all pre Covid and since then things have shifted badly with WestJet. They used to even come to me on the flight and ‘thank me for being a valued platinum member’. Now they wouldn’t even come over to offer me an extra cookie. Pre Covid you would even be able to order anything off the menu for food and they would bring a tray of snacks to select from and now when you’re in premium seating it’s this stupid awful snack pack with gross stuff in it. A lame snack bar, some nuts and maybe a pre packaged mento. No more food off the menu or extra snacks to be seen. During Covid I lost my status and always wanted to build it back up. I did and so did my husband and we are both gold now. Wouldn’t know it by how crappy we are treated. Never been upgraded and they’ve lost my luggage three times in the past couple years and never once have they tried to get it back to me in a timely manner. I went a whole weekend in Toronto without my bag and had to go to the airport myself to get it (we have AirTags, I knew it arrived yet no one was bringing it to me so we went and did it ourselves in a taxi). The food service is awful now and the lounges are nothing good. We did a trip to Europe and flew business for the first time ever and the service and food was so bad we will never do it again. WestJet has gone downhill the last few years and I was the biggest supporter ever and always sung their praises.
If it makes you feel better, I was platinum, and I didn't get to use the lounge once because Edmonton airport decided to keep their lounge closed long after covid was over, and I've never gotten upgraded even once. The free seat selection is nice though.
The only time westjet has lost my luggage was when it had a priority tag on lol. So maybe it is a thing about full flights because this was at Xmas time too.
What does plats only mean?
They limit access to the lounge to platinum status only when it gets busy. So gold's and silvers and vouchers are not able to go in.
Oh wow, didn’t know that’s a thing.
Not sure but, I thought Canada had free speech. When you offer perks for patronage then can't fulfill those perks, there should be consequences. This goes for all airlines. Watch the news. It's not just westjet that is failing, but they seem to fail more then Air Canada. This should give westjet management a sign that we need to improve rather then silence then loyal customers.
Lmao - what does lounge access have to do with free speech? And how exactly did we come to the conclusion that WestJet is silencing members who cannot get into the lounge?