WestJet Airlines

Not Verified | The curse of the WestJet rewards program. I'm new to biweekly commuting and had planned on using WestJet exclusively. They by far have the best rewards program combined with the RBC credit card. The issue is their reliability. 7 of the last 10 flights I've taken have been delayed for logistics issues on there end. This has cost me $100s in flight changes, accommodations and lost pay at work. Their call center will not answer the phone or call you back the same day if you need to reschedule a flight they have moved or cancelled. I have had to Uber to the airport twice now just to make adjustments to rescheduled flights. I have many co-workers that have gold or platinum status with WestJet that have experienced the same issues. Based on my experience I've decided to cancel my RBC WestJet card and just book the airline with the best price, time and reliability. Oh and with the $50ish bucks I save booking Econo vs flex I'll go somewhere else besides the WestJet lounge to have a beer.

✅ Trip Verified | I flew from Toronto to Orlando on the 6th of March 2022 and my luggage didn’t arrive Orlando with the flight. On ground staff said that the luggage will arrive later same day and will be delivered at the hotel but didn’t get luggage until 36 hours later after many calls and appeals that I needed my medication packed in the luggage. I was shocked when one of the staff on phone said he also had a luggage delayed before with his drugs and only called his doctor for new prescription to buy some so I could do same because my luggage will only be delivered when convenient for the driver on route. Very poor customer service lacking empathy believing that the promise of compensation can match the inconvenience experienced. On returning home on 10th March, flying from Orlando to Toronto, the wheels on the luggage was damaged with one totally pulled out. WestJet has neither acknowledged the report submitted online nor the courtesy of an apology for the damage to my box. I don’t think serving customers right and efficiently is impossible for WestJet Airlines.

✅ Trip Verified | This flight was a very poor experience with Westjet. We checked in online and arrived at the airport 4 hours before our flight. We were told we couldn’t check out bags until 3 hours prior to the flight. So we came back to the bag drop at that time to find a massive lineup that moved at a snails pace. It took 3 hours to get through the line to check bags. By this time we were rushed to the gate as the gate was about to close. We then had to sit on the plane for an hour so they could load all the bags in. We learn once we are in the air that they have a limited menu. We were unable to buy anything in the airport as we were rushed to the gate. The flight attendant said we should have received an email saying food was limited. We did not. I ordered a beer, it was warm. When we land in Calgary, one of our car seats is lost as well as a duffel bag that we checked. Brutal baggage handling by Westjet. Would not recommend flying with this Airline.

✅ Trip Verified | On March 8 on flight 2057 from Cancun to Vancouver my boyfriend had an asthma attack (for the first time in 20 years, so he was without the appropriate medication for it), brought on by having a cat under his seat, which he is severely allergic. About an hour and forty minutes until the plane was due to land (according the inflight app) My Boyfriend grabbed my arm and told me ‘I can’t breathe, this feels like an asthma attack” with a very confused look. We started standing up from out seats and saw the people in the seats behind us holding their cat and patting it – which at least cleared up some of the confusion. I walked with him to the back of the plane to the washrooms from our seats in row 11 to get as far away from the cat as possible. I told the flight attendant that arrived very specifically – and more than a bit panicked that he was having an asthma attack from the cat and needed to sit as far away from it as possible. She said she’d see what she could do, and I said if not the plane needs to land, he was having an asthma attack. The last row of the plane was empty and he was told to sit there, and I was instructed to go back to my seat in row 11. I believed at the time they didn’t want me sitting with him because they were going to be sitting with him and might need to perform some sort of first aid. Within 5 minutes of me being directed back to my seat the fight crew began drink service, so I couldn’t have walked back to check on him if I wanted to. Once drink service finished, the seatbelt sign was on, I tried to go back once and the captain reminded everyone over the speaker to stay in their seat. All I could do was watch the app countdown to landing with more than an hour left. I found out after that during this time he was left alone in the back row. No one was with him and he had passed out. His next memory on the flight after sitting down was one of the flight crew shaking him awake to put on his seat belt. The crew didn’t even let me know he passed out. I trusted they were doing their jobs, why else would they keep me from sitting with him to advocate for him? What was the purpose of segregating him where no one could see him? They could have given him oxygen, they could have monitored his breathing, they could have let me stay with him. Instead when we landed I had to stay waiting in my seat and watch everyone else deplane before I could see him, and then I had to carry our bags and guide him off the plane, with no help from the flight crew. There was no medical help waiting for us off the plane, and there was no one to help us through the airport. After much pushing with customer service I was able to confirm I should have been able to stay with my boyfriend in his new row. The crew should have been checking on him to see if he needed medical attention.

Not Verified | Compliments for the very kind helpful staff at Maui Airport when 2 senior citizens had so much trouble accessing our PCR and Arrive can information on our phones . Andi and Kebbekah went above and beyond to help us. I really want to make sure they get praise for their helpful patience to a very stressed out passenger. Kudos to the Staff

✅ Trip Verified | On our way to the Dominican Republic last week, the service was mediocre, with no announcements on how long we will fly, the weather, will there be turbulence etc. We were offered coffee, soft drinks, and alcohol for purchase. The service lacks quite a bit, based on previous experiences with Air Canada, Sunwing & Air Transat (comparing to these as they are supposed be in line). Now the return- extremely unprofessional. No announcement to start at the gate that we are running late, upon entering the airplane we had a cabin staff who was one of the rudest ever encountered. He was more a policeman than service-oriented. He did not smile once, was rude to children sitting in front of us, and if you were eating/drinking something he didn't care he pointed his fingers at people numerous times "get your mask up". So the people who had brought something to eat & drink were extremely lucky, as we were served water only -nothing else was available for a 4.5-hour flight, they ran out of preztels so not everybody got one, and at the end of the fight they had no water either except for emergencies. The pilots gave no announcement when we are landing, what the temp was in Toronto - this is the minimum one would appreciate.

✅ Trip Verified | I booked and paid for a one-way ticket from Toronto to Port of Spain on December 8, 2021 for departure from Toronto on December 31, 2021 to arrive in Port of Spain on January 1, 2022. It was very important that I arrive in Trinidad on January 1, 2022 due to prior commitments. On December 29, 2021 WestJet informed me that the flight was cancelled with no reason and they re-booked me on a flight to leave Toronto on January 3, 2022. I did not agree with this and tried contacting them for hours with no response. I therefore had to make other arrangements and had to paid for another flight from another Airline to leave on December 31, 2021 in order to reach Trinidad on January 1, 2022. On January 2, 2022 I had to cancel the flight they re-booked for me. WestJet informed me that they processed the refund to my travel bank account. I then requested that they refund me back on my Credit Card (the original form of payment). They informed me that this was not approved as it did not meet their refund criteria. I will not travel with this airline in the future although they have my money held on their travel bank account. This service is terrible with no compensation.

✅ Trip Verified | We are big supporters of Westjet, our choice in airline here in Canada, and use them as often as I can. Returning home on Monday ( WS1770), PHX-YVR, was certainly not what we have experienced in the past, pre-covid to be exact. Told to show up to check in 3 hrs early, staff at the counters showed up 2hrs 45 mins and took another 10 mins to get going! No one gave any direction to the masses, no one interacted with us and we had to figure out amongst ourselves where to line up, for bag drop, for priority, or even help with checking in. Keep in mind that using any form of check in machine for elderly folk, mostly, is a nightmarish task (YVR has many Westjet ground staff helping, for this very reason). While standing in a single bag drop line that was incredibly lengthy at one point, I happened to overhear two gentlemen dressed in their purple PHX shirts (I assume they were volunteer helpers), chatting, after helping sort out the long line for bag drop, with one saying something similar to the other "this is a mess", to which the other replied, "oh, this is Westjet, it happens every time they have a flight out of here". Where was the help, short staffed? On to the next issue, boarding, after announcing pre-boarding for zone 1, no further mention of zones, ( and we were standing close enough to hear any announcements), so folks just piled in to the area and like sheep pushed towards the choke point up. No benefit whatsoever to having been placed in zone 2 or 3! No control from the single access control point or a young ground staff member sitting behind the counter, lots of folks unhappy with the lack of control. Just really wanted you to know about this chaos that seems to be happening regularly (according to the volunteer workers) so that it can be improved.

✅ Trip Verified | The flights was not what we booked, we booked direct flights and they changed it to a longer flight with a stop in Calgary instead of direct to Puerto Vallarta. Flight there went from 4.5 hours to 12 and 13 hours on the way back, they have not offered us any compensation for the interruption in our vacation at all. Seats are small and cramped, aisles very narrow, I am 5ft. 130 pounds and felt cramped. Just not happy with WestJet and try to reach them, hours of waiting on line and if you ask for a call back they still put you on hold when they call, terrible customer service.

✅ Trip Verified | We had a great flight last Sunday. Flight a little delayed in Toronto even though we had a connection in Vancouver. Flight staff couldn’t have been nicer. Great check in as well as a smooth flight. We we able to make our connection as well.