"really disappointing and frustrating"
B Mayr (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | I flew from Vegas to Vancouver yesterday and I was forced to pay for my personal item at the gate when boarding the plane. Surprisingly, I have been travelling with flair quite a few times now with the same carryon bag and was never charged. The ground staff charged at the gate and I paid for at that time because I wanted to get back home however, I showed the air hostess my personal item (which i paid for) which fit perfectly under the seat and she also agreed to it but she asked me to contact customer support at that time as the flight was ready to take off. As proof I took a picture of my bag under the seat so that i can reach out to customer support as the air hostess told me to do. This makes no sense when a personal item which fits under the seat I would need to pay for. I specifically bought the bag to carry on cheap flights. Perhaps, there were a lot of people who were allowed to take their backpack (big backpacks) without paying. This is really disappointing and frustrating this time and if this is the case then there is no sense to book with flair because ultimately i will have to end up paying $74 for carry-on for even carrying personal items. I would just book with Air Canada or WestJet where I can take a carry-on for free.
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Las Vegas to Vancouver |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"pay $88 at the gate to check it in"
E Huang (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | Inconsistent and scammy luggage policies that keeps making you pay more. Will never fly Flair again nor recommend it to anyone. The online payment system doesn't work, the online check-in page is half working and confusing, lots of hidden costs depending on which airport you fly out of, and the staff are rude and unhelpful. In Vancouver airport they brought out a luggage measuring cage and made everyone put their luggage in. Even if your luggage meets the online size requirements, if it's slightly off and won't fit in nicely, they'll make you pay $88 at the gate to check it in, despite having paid for the carry-on luggage already. Boarding was slow and painful as many had to remove contents just so their bags fit. For me, I had a hard case luggage so it doesn't squish in so I had to pay again. The same suit case was fine as a carry-on on a previous Flair flight only 2 weeks ago. Food is low quality and expensive, as expected of a budget airline, but what's worse is they don't even serve water on board. You'll have to buy a bottle.
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Vancouver to Toronto |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"the worst customer service"
K Gasparovic (Canada)
Not Verified | Flair has the worst customer service I have experienced of any airline. I was charged for a checked bag and a carry on bag which are already expensive at $50 and $100 a piece. Upon check in I was given a carry on tag and the attendant approved my bag for the airline. When boarding the attendant did not let me bring my carry on and said it was too big even though it had been approved by another attendant. They then charged me an additional $85 to check the bag and did not refund the $50 for the carry on bag.
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Calgary to Vancouver |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"missed my flight"
Frederick Coykendall (Canada)
Not Verified | Flair used to be OK, lots of departures, cheap fares, but in the last two months they have crumbled in the allowable carry on (different size measuring cages from one airport to another). No credit for premium seat purchases if a flight needs to be changed - they do offer a cheap 10.50 flex fare that allows you to change a flight, but you will lose your seat purchase, who's is simply gouging. I've twice booked trips and paid, but the boarding pass comes out with different dates and times. (happened twice). Today, a very aggressive gate agent stopped me from boarding because I said my carry on fit in the Vancouver cafe, but why not in Edmonton. So I missed my flight...that, started out as 265.00 return, to 491.00 return with all the seat fees and baggage fees...in fact, the back pack, if I'd been allowed on, was going to cost an additional 77.00.
Aircraft | Boeing 737 800 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Vancouver to Edmonton |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"scammy practices leave a sour taste"
Joshua Hofmann (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | I am disappointed with a round trip flight starting in Ottawa, but more so on the return portion from Vancouver. The start of the negative sentiments occurred when I noticed that the departure time for the Ottawa departing flight changed when attempting to check in. No notification of the time change at all. I checked my junk mail to be sure I didn't just miss it. As a result, I had to shift many plans last minute and could not get my money back for the first night of the AirBNB that I booked. I understand that things happen and schedules can shift, but notification of any kind should've occurred. Then came the return flight... I double-checked my baggage for weight and dimensions prior to leaving for the airport. Upon arrival at our gate, one of the attendants was using a makeshift dimensional gauge to check the baggage size for carry-on and personal item luggage. I could not fit my carry-on on backpack into this gage and was forced to check-in my carry-on bag and pay a hefty price tag of roughly $80. The same plane model was used to fly to Vancouver a week earlier, and I had no issues with fitting my backpack under the seat at that time with lots of clearance. This practice is a huge scam, and does not affect the cost of the flight. Weight is one thing, but volume is not, provided it fits under the seat with clearance. This also contributed to the flight being delayed, as many people found themselves in the same boat. On the positive side (to be fair), the flights were comfortable and met expectations between takeoff and landing. I would not recommend this airline in the future, unless you plan to travel light and leave yourself lots of room for your baggage dimensions beyond the claimed size limits. Their operational issues and scammy practices leave a sour taste in the mouth at the end of the day. Unnacceptable.
Aircraft | Boeing 737-800 |
Type Of Traveller | Couple Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Vancouver to Ottawa |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"Overpriced for everything"
Darryl Hardy (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | Overpriced for everything from pre seat, luggage including charge for carry on that gets measured before boarding. Now we're 30 minutes late while they continue loading while we sit on the plane. Pay for water even though they cause delay. Terrible service.
Aircraft | Boeing 737-800 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Vancouver to Edmonton |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"had to pay $77 Canadian for 1 small backpack"
T Leng (United States)
✅ Trip Verified | The flight was delayed and when I got to gate and was told to measure my backpack. It was good for the carry on but not fit into their tiny personal size. They also delayed flight without apologizing and made passengers line up at check in and made us all measure our bags. I had to pay $77 Canadian for 1 small backpack and when I came inside the backpack could be under the seat nicely without paying to put on the top compartment. Also, the flight was not full, we flew with rows of empty seats. Shame on them to treat customers like garbage.
Aircraft | Boeing 737-800 |
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Edmonton to Abbotsford |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"one of our bags was declined"
A Barden (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | I was aware of the additional charges for carry on baggage, which is why we packed lightly. On our flight to Kelowna we had zero issues, as all our bags fit under the seats as personal items. On our flight home to Edmonton, same bags and same content, one of our bags was declined. I mentioned that the exact bag and contents was fine on our first flight but was told I could pay $77, leave my bag or find another airline. I paid and have attached a photo of the bag in question, with several inches wiggle room between the top and sides of the under seat area. The flight isn't half full. Maybe if they had some form of customer service people would recommend this airline to others.
Aircraft | Boeing 737 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Kelowna to Edmonton |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"cost me $150 for two bags"
Martin Cyr (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | I’ve never seen such a gong show like the October 7th flight to Vancouver from Edmonton which was supposed to depart at 11:10 and didn’t leave until 1:15 or later. Bags had to go through the metal hoops, people were upset, one guy was thrown off, cost me $150 for two bags which were deemed carry on as we had 2 other small bags. We checked, paid for the green tag then they didn’t separate the green tagged bags from the unchecked ones and the lineup for boarding was brutal. This is unacceptable, especially Thanksgiving, first time flying, last time flying Flair.
Aircraft | Boeing 737 |
Type Of Traveller | Family Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Edmonton to Vancouver |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Food & Beverages | 12345 |
Inflight Entertainment | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Wifi & Connectivity | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |
"charged $77 CAD for carry on"
S Hayne (Canada)
✅ Trip Verified | I sized my bag according to requirements in the website and they say small backpacks are allowed within certain size lengths but then because my bag had things in the front pocket and couldn’t be shoved into their box sizer completely and they charged $77 CAD at the gate for carry on fee. This is the equivalent cost of the flight and this is how Flair will mislead you and rip you off.
Type Of Traveller | Solo Leisure |
Seat Type | Economy Class |
Route | Edmonton to Ottawa |
Date Flown | October 2023 |
Seat Comfort | 12345 |
Cabin Staff Service | 12345 |
Ground Service | 12345 |
Value For Money | 12345 |
Recommended | no |