Swoop

✅ Trip Verified | Edmonton to Hamilton. Swoop surpassed my expectations. I was prepared with water and snacks as I didn't want to purchase these things on board. I am 6 feet tall, and was expecting the legroom to be lacking, but I was comfortable! I did not upgrade seats. There were a couple of inches between my knees and the seat in front of me. The under-seat space for my personal item was ample. I brought a very large purse and a small backpack for my daughter, both fit with room to spare. The seats were comfortable and roomy. I also noticed that my seat didn't recline, and I don't think it was because it was broken. I didn't see anyone reclining their seats, so I believe this feature was not built into these seats. And I actually prefer it that way, as travelling with young children, they are on your lap and moving quite a bit, and reclining seats take up valuable space. The biggest issue that came up involved our car seat. We checked it in oversized luggage in Edmonton, and it did not make it on to our plane. There was another family in the same situation when we arrived in Hamilton. Swoop offered us replacements for the missing car seat, and boosters for the other family. On the spot, we were issued new in-the-box seats and a follow-up and return of our missing equipment was promised. This situation went from panic, (as it is illegal and unsafe to transport a young child without a car seat, so we were effectively stranded) to a reasonable and fair solution. We were held up for a few minutes while the airline staff wrote out our forms and organized things, but I give Swoop big credit for stepping up and fixing things since, as I mentioned, this was not their fault. I would fly Swoop again. The key to enjoying this airline is knowing your baggage limitations, and being prepared for the no-frills service.

✅ Trip Verified | Edmonton to Abbotsford. I am a pregnant 26 year old with a back injury due to a car accident and decided to try and fly with Swoop last week to go visit friends and family. They assured and reassured me over the phone that after I arrived in Edmonton, AB from a different airline they would have someone from their airline to pick me up at my gate with a wheelchair, take me to baggage and back up to the Swoop counter in time to catch my flight. When my plane landed there was no one there to pick me up so the other airline had to deliver me to baggage and then had an information agent take me up to the Swoop counter, where there was no one available to check in my bag. So due to all the misled information I received over the phone by Swoop I ended up missing my flight and was left stranded at the Edmonton airport alone overnight and now the company refuses to take responsibility or honour any type of remuneration to rectify the situation. Don’t fly Swoop unless you want to receive the worst customer service you’ve ever experienced.

✅ Trip Verified | Edmonton to Abbotsford. Terrible service. They wanted to charge for my carryon when it states I am permitted one carryon. But attendant demanded I pay $82. I would not recommend it.

✅ Trip Verified | Edmonton to Abbotsford. I booked my flight the evening before my afternoon departure the following day. After booking my flight online I started to search the website for the contact number so that I could call in to add my pet to the itinerary. During that search I came across the section that outlined that this airline did not accommodate pets for travel. I couldn’t call the airline immediately because their call center was already closed and they do not have a 24 hour line of communication. I called the following day and explained my situation only for the employee to tell me that the airline will not issue me any kind of credit or refund because I am changing my flight within 24 hours of booking it and that is their “policy”. Mind you I paid almost $300.00 for the one way flight. The employee didn’t offer me any other options nor did she sound sympathetic in the slightest way.

Not Verified | Hamilton to Abbotsford. Had a fantastic experience with Swoop airlines with my family travelling from Ontario to BC. The airplane was new, flight attendants were pleasant and helpful and departure and arrival were on time. Yes you need to pay for your carry on luggage which is comparibly priced to other leading airlines in Canada as long as you buy in advance. I travelled with my three young children aged 7, 5, and 2. Both the flight attendants made sure to introduce themselves prior to the flight and check in frequently to make sure the kids were comfortable throughout the flight. I think people need to be a bit more understanding of a few things: 1. This is a new airline, there are going to be bumps in the road and if you are getting a great price you need to be cognizant of that. 2. There are going to be minor delays and inconvenience, and this happens with all airlines I never experienced any of these problems and was very pleased with my first flight with Swoop airline!

✅ Trip Verified | Hamilton to Winnipeg. This budget airline is a great option for anyone looking to save money with no-frills flying. I was hesitant to use it, since a lot of the reviews were quite horrible, but after my experience I don't understand where these other people are coming from. First of all, I had no issues getting on board, if you follow the times and rules you will have no issues, as with any other airline. If they say you must check in by a certain time and you don't, and you cannot get on because of that, that is your fault not a problem with the airline. My first flight was delayed by an hour, which wasn't great but these things happen, and we were politely kept informed through everything. They let us know as soon as the delay happened, through the app and through the announcement in the terminal. They updated us when maintenance crew was on their way, when they arrived, when they were completed, and when we could start boarding. It honestly was more information than I would have expected from any airline. I did not pay for extra legroom seating and still found the space adequate, mind you I am not a large or tall person. The space is less than you get from non-discount airlines but not as significant of a difference as I was expecting from the comments. There were people behind me with extra legroom and they commented how good it was, so I believe if you are worried that would be a good option for you. You'd likely still save money even after the extra costs. The seats were not comfortable but not much less than an average flight, I would struggle on a long-haul flight in them (mine was a 2 hour flight) as with any long-haul flight, but for short distances it was fine and again, I think the difference in comfort wasn't much compared to the difference in price. The flight attendants and pilot were some of the friendliest I have experienced from any airline and were incredibly helpful and entertaining, this part especially made the flight seem less budget-oriented. They do nickle-and-dime you for everything, and I paid $30 each way for carry-on luggage, so if you are pricing airlines be sure to account for any of these extra charges you may want added on when you are comparing prices. You also have to pay per hour ($6.49/hour) for the in flight wifi which I didn't know going in, so I just skipped using, but the people beside me connected and streamed movies on their phone without issues. All that being said, I paid less than half of what I would with any other airline. The flight cost was just over $300 there and back and usually the trip would have cost me over $700. This made it so I could actually afford to go see family, so I am very grateful to Swoop for providing this service! If you are truly a traveller on a budget this is a great option! I had zero issues and you likely will too. If you are looking for all the above and beyond comforts, you shouldn't be looking at discount airlines anyways. Of course they charge for every extra, but that means you only pay for what YOU want, it's more like a custom built flight experience. Save money on getting there and have more money for fun at your destination! I will definitely consider flying with Swoop again.

✅ Trip Verified | I have booked a flight for Jan 2019 to visit my son and his wife in Edmonton Alberta but I am very disappointed that i am unable to bring my small pet dog- a Cavalier King Charles. (18-19 lbs). I hope that in the near future Swoop will change their policy about pets on flights so that i can continue to book with this airline.

Not Verified | I just returned yesterday from our trip -Abbotsford to Edmonton return - on Swoop, myself and my two grandchildren. I would like to give the 2 thumbs up to the counter staff and the flight attendants for their friendly service and overall professionalism. For the price and the convenience of not having to drive to the Vancouver International Airport. I was more than satisfied with Swoop Airlines. Yes, I had to pay for my suitcase and had to purchase the food on board but I knew all that before I booked and again the price and the convenience! Would definitely take Swoop again and if price and convenience is important to you would definitely recommend it.

Not Verified | My wife and I flew Swoop Airlines for the first time from Edmonton to Abbotsford 07/26/2018 with no issues. We were booked to return from Abbotsford to Edmonton on Sunday 07/29/2018. Departed our accommodation with 2 hours to the 45 minute boarding cutoff. Due to a traffic accident on the TCH #1, the normal 40 minute drive to the airport became a 2 hour misadventure. We arrived at YXX Abbotsford Airport, hoping that the bag check in was still open. It was not, and upon contacting the Swoop customer service airline, the office was closed on 'Sundays and statutory holidays. No Swoop personnel at the check in, and we were forced to book a flight on the following day. Most unpleasant experience on the return to Edmonton, with no customer service and even less compassion. Swoop has lost us as return customers, and we'll tell others to avoid this Mickey Mouse show. And unless one wants to get stung with a $15 plus tax charge to lodge a complaint, then it's not even worth the aggravation to do that!

✅ Trip Verified | Hamilton to Edmonton, the flight was delayed for two and a half hours because the pilot didn’t show up for work. This was announced approximately a half-hour before boarding, at which point they had already made the welcome announcement for the flight. The agent then announced the “good news” that they had found another pilot but that we would be leaving 2.5 hours behind schedule. We had a connecting flight with Air Canada from Edmonton which we missed because of this. I deliberately left a three hour layover between flights, but it wasn’t enough and I had to pay $500 for two people to rebook that flight. I know that Canadian passengers have few rights in these situations, but I asked the agent at the desk in Hamilton what Swoop intended to do to address this situation. As other passengers have noted, Swoop agents were utterly unhelpful and useless. She gave me a card with a customer service number and pointed out that I would have to pay $15 to call this number. So, Swoop wanted to charge me $15 to call them about making us late because their employee didn’t bother to show up for work, on top of the $500 I had to pay because of the late departure. Oh, and the customer service line was closed at this time anyway. All of this leads me to two conclusions: 1. Never fly Swoop and 2. Canada desperately needs an enhanced passenger bill of rights.