The door is open - will Westjet jump at the chance
Oct 28, 2014, 4:21 am
#61
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Why? Why? Zed! / Why? You? Elle! / Gee! Are You!
Programs: Irrelevant
Posts: 3,543
Load factors can't be that low that you've had no one sit next to you? Really? I'm not being sarcastic, I am just surprised.
Oct 28, 2014, 9:31 am
#63
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Whistler, BC
Programs: SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, WS Gold, Hertz PC, NationalEE, Hyatt Explorist, IHGGold, BW Diamond
Posts: 199
When I first started flying Plus, it was empty. I'd have the row to myself. Now, it is pretty much full. and when the AC folks switch over, good luck getting Plus at check-in. I've accepted that I'm going to have to purchase a Plus fare.
Oct 28, 2014, 10:53 am
#64
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Why? Why? Zed! / Why? You? Elle! / Gee! Are You!
Programs: Irrelevant
Posts: 3,543
Oct 28, 2014, 11:16 am
#65
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Whistler, BC
Programs: SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, WS Gold, Hertz PC, NationalEE, Hyatt Explorist, IHGGold, BW Diamond
Posts: 199
My WS flights have only been within the east (YYZ/YUL/YOW/YHZ), so I suspect that may be part of the reason. My understanding is that WS is stronger out west and has better load factors, so that would make sense re: tighter availability for the Plus seats. I also seem to recall WS stating on more than one occasion that they were looking to increase their loads for some of the eastern cities, this maybe part of the reason why I have had such luck with empty rows in the Plus section of the cabin.
Oddly enough, my flights to/from YEG/YYC have full Plus sections. The flight is only 1 or 1.5hrs, so really not a big deal. But on my YVR/YYZ 5 hr flight, I get my row to myself. And those are the flights where the extra $$'s are worth it.
My last flight I booked AC Premium Economy to test it out and I had a good corporate discount :-) And I had the row to myself. Not many flights have that service though, so WJ Plus is getting most of my $$'s this year.
I am really curious about the next announcement tomorrow. Apparently there is another goodie on the table.
Oct 28, 2014, 4:07 pm
#67
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: YYC
Programs: AC*SEMM, Marriott Gold
Posts: 62
While I sympathize with AC SEs who now want in at WS, your demands for status matches and benefits that don't even exist for long time WS fliers are pretty audacious! WS doesn't have lounges (though offers a deal with Plaza Premium) so if you want lounge access for every trip, buy a Priority Pass or get the regular AmexPlatinum card for the Plaza Premium and Chinook lounges. As for upgrades, it's not like the seats in front on WS are anywhere close to the product AC offers in J...forget about meals and decent wines. Not to knock WS's product...it is what it is and what it is intended to be: a more roomy seat with a couple of free drinks to keep the premium CX, AF, BA feeder traffic happy.
When it comes to a FF program, the "enhancements" you'd want would cost WS too much money and undermine their business plan in this realm. You're not going to get F seats on AF or BA from a WS FF program.
WS has a good product for what it is, and it appeals to a large portion of the Canadian public. But I am not sure it will satisfy many SEs.
When it comes to a FF program, the "enhancements" you'd want would cost WS too much money and undermine their business plan in this realm. You're not going to get F seats on AF or BA from a WS FF program.
WS has a good product for what it is, and it appeals to a large portion of the Canadian public. But I am not sure it will satisfy many SEs.
Let's try to be realistic with our expectations. WS load factor is already 80-85% and they have been profitable for a long time with their business model. If I was running a similar business, I'm not sure I would want to implement a disruptive FF program to win over customers who have requirements that don't easily map into their product offering. There, I said it.
Oct 28, 2014, 10:23 pm
#68
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Canada
Programs: AC E50k, A3*G, UA*S, MR Titanium, HHonors Gold, Carlson Gold, NEXUS
Posts: 3,669
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BB10; Touch) AppleWebKit/537.35+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/10.2.1.3247 Mobile Safari/537.35+)
Looks like they jumped
Looks like they jumped
Oct 28, 2014, 10:32 pm
#69
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Whistler, BC
Programs: SPG Platinum, Marriott Platinum, WS Gold, Hertz PC, NationalEE, Hyatt Explorist, IHGGold, BW Diamond
Posts: 199
Not, what is not yet on the table is upgrades to Plus for Golds. The Westjet rep said they left that off "for now".
Oct 29, 2014, 12:40 am
#70
Join Date: May 2012
Location: YOW
Programs: UA*1K, Marriott Titanium (LTP), Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,665
Excellent! Submitted mine 
My cousin works for WJ in YYZ, and has been trying to convince me to jump for the past few years - ever since I saw her in the Xmas video last year, she's been starting to make headway.
My cousin works for WJ in YYZ, and has been trying to convince me to jump for the past few years - ever since I saw her in the Xmas video last year, she's been starting to make headway.
Oct 29, 2014, 12:41 am
#71
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Calgary
Programs: Altitude E50K, WS Gold (status match)
Posts: 1,211
Yep! Status match for current AC Elites (*A Gold) or AC Prestige (*A Silver) members. Or there is a fast track option:
http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/rewards/get-gold.shtml
http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/rewards/get-gold.shtml
Last edited by capebretonboy; Oct 29, 2014 at 12:44 am Reason: Also available to Prestige 25K flyers
Oct 29, 2014, 2:16 am
#73
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: YSC (and all its regularly scheduled flights)
Posts: 2,514
+1. I'm surprised how many people on the AP (and other) boards are worried about missing lounge access, where most airports in Canada with an MLL have a PP-accessible lounge as well. For those jumping to US airlines (including AA via some travel on WJ to keep it on topic), a Priority pass from a Canadian Amex does work in lounges on both sides of the border, whereas a PP from a US based Amex does not always.
Great value for me at least.
Dr. PITUK
Edit: Just checked again - PP lounges only in YVR, YYZ, YYC, YUL, YQB, YEG.
Great value for me at least.
Dr. PITUK
Edit: Just checked again - PP lounges only in YVR, YYZ, YYC, YUL, YQB, YEG.
Oct 29, 2014, 2:37 am
#74
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Posts: 6,222
I'm almost as sure that Oakvillejetse didn't actually fly on WestJet. If he has, that would be seismic shift in its own right, and a bigger indication of trouble on AC's horizon than the current mega-thread.
Oct 29, 2014, 4:36 am
#75
Suspended
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: YKF
Programs: AC Elite 50K, Amex AP Plat, Choice Privileges, National Exec Elite, Via Prefrence
Posts: 2,996
While I sympathize with AC SEs who now want in at WS, your demands for status matches and benefits that don't even exist for long time WS fliers are pretty audacious! WS doesn't have lounges (though offers a deal with Plaza Premium) so if you want lounge access for every trip, buy a Priority Pass or get the regular AmexPlatinum card for the Plaza Premium and Chinook lounges. As for upgrades, it's not like the seats in front on WS are anywhere close to the product AC offers in J...forget about meals and decent wines. Not to knock WS's product...it is what it is and what it is intended to be: a more roomy seat with a couple of free drinks to keep the premium CX, AF, BA feeder traffic happy.
When it comes to a FF program, the "enhancements" you'd want would cost WS too much money and undermine their business plan in this realm. You're not going to get F seats on AF or BA from a WS FF program.
WS has a good product for what it is, and it appeals to a large portion of the Canadian public. But I am not sure it will satisfy many SEs.
When it comes to a FF program, the "enhancements" you'd want would cost WS too much money and undermine their business plan in this realm. You're not going to get F seats on AF or BA from a WS FF program.
WS has a good product for what it is, and it appeals to a large portion of the Canadian public. But I am not sure it will satisfy many SEs.
