BingoArms

Hi there,

Hoping to get some insight from the Westjet regulars here.

I'm currently an AC SE that's contemplating making the switch. I usually fly about 100-120 flights per year.

Here's what's prevented me from switching before;

- EUpgrades : It's nice to upgrade into business class. I don't care for the meal but I do enjoy the wider seats and exclusive cabin.

- Lounge Access : A lot of my flights have connections, it's nice to kill off a couple hours in a lounge as opposed to the gate. My understanding is WJ just provides a certain amount of vouchers? My AC access is unlimited and I don't require anything other than my boarding pass.

- Partner airlines : I can redeem my AP miles for flights with star alliance partners. With WJ dollars can I do that or is it simply restricted to WJ flights?

I do find WJ to be "friendlier" but to be honest I really don't care if someone smiles at me and can tell a silly joke on the mic. Get me to where I am going, safely (both airlines seem great at that) and ideally on time.

I'd like to try out the WJ program but I am struggling to justify it for the reasons above. To me it seems like AC is still better suited to handle the business traveler. Any insight or thoughts from the group here is greatly appreciated. Am I missing something or misinformed at how WJ rewards works?

Cheers.

Symmetre

As a former AC elite, I also struggled with the idea of giving up executive class upgrades, the MLL and AE earnings/redemptions. But then I found I could replace virtually all of those Aeroplan benefits with a credit card. My platinum Amex gives me better earnings/redemptions (any airline, any flight, no restrictions whatsoever), plus unlimited lounge access, priority ground services and a whole bunch of other useful travel benefits. Yeah, it costs $699 a year. But $200 of that comes right back as a flight credit each year, plus I no longer have to pay a premium to earn 100% miles with Flex fares. As a result, my annual savings on ticket costs alone more that offset that small expense.

There are alternatives to the Amex. The RBC Avion visa card works the same way, and is more widely accepted than Amex. I use the Amex most often, but carry both.

EUpgrades: Presently, no WS aircraft have a business class cabin. Plus seating up front is similar to business class on intra-European flights ... same seats as economy but with a bit more legroom, and priority boarding so you get first crack at the overhead bins. But since we're talking short domestic flights rather than 13-hour TPACs, how big a deal is it to give up an exclusive cabin? How much time do you really spend turned around and looking at the curtain?

Lounge Access: You do get lounge certificates as a Westjet gold, but that platinum Amex gives you unrestricted worldwide lounge access plus a ton of other truly useful benefits. Just get the card and be done with it.

Partner Airlines: WS does codeshares with AA and DL. If you book your WS flights on AA or DL, they will have AA or DL flight numbers and you can thus collect miles in their respective programs. Or, just get the stupid credit card and book any airline you like. Why limit yourself to just Star Alliance?

I disagree that AC is better suited to handle the needs of a business traveler. I would argue that depends what that the traveler values most. I use Westjet for my domestic flights (and some US stuff) because I find their schedules work well, they go where I need to be, service is typically great, and on-time performance is excellent. Those are the things I value. Being self-employed, the fact they're also usually a bit less expensive than AC (and always less expensive than AC's Flex fares, which are required for 100% AE miles) is also a major positive. The fact I was able to easily replace the lounge access, priority security, earnings/redemptions and other stuff with a credit card just sealed the deal.

Of course, YMMV.

StuMcIlwain

One of the big advantages WestJet has is their corporate culture. Their staff are generally friendly, helpful, and empowered to fix things when there is an issue. They're not going to give away the farm, but I've found that reasonable requests are usually granted, and they have pleasantly surprised me a few times. This is far more valuable to me than some points that aren't really worth much.

BingoArms

Thanks for the replies folks.

I wasn't aware of the Amex that gives lounge access. I must admit, a $700 fee for a card is hefty. I guess the $200 credit helps minimize it a bit. Currently I have the RBC Avion and love it for all the reasons you mentioned. I also love it because the $150 annual fee, or whatever it is, is credited back to me as I use RBC for my mortgage, accounts and some investments.

I do like the EUpgrades on AC. I only use them on flights from Toronto to Calgary, Toronto to Regina or Toronto to Edmonton but I find the executive cabin on the Embreaer a very nice way to fly (wide seats, personalized service, meal/drinks etc).

It's unfortunate that WJ can't align with the Rocky Mountain Lodges and offer an annual membership either when a certain level of flights are hit or even if they subsidized it and I had to pay $100 per year or something.

From an AC perspective, I like that my aeroplan miles can be used to book United or Star Alliance flights. From what I've seen my WJ dollars must be used exclusively on WJ flights and not those operated by their code share partners. The downside from the AC perspective is it's not always that easy to redeem the miles for the flights I want.

I agree that WJ is generally cheaper. I can see how a self employed or business owner would value that. For me it's a non issue. As long as the flights are reasonably close I've been paying the extra hundred or two hundred and purchasing the AC Flex.

I really wish I had of looked into the status match WJ was offering. As a SE at the time that may have been a great time to switch and maximize my WJ dollar earning potential. I actually hit the second tier in WJ status this year and really only flew 10-15 times with them. That's about to reset at the end of this month though.

Tough decision. I really want to maximize the return on my business flights as I'll book about 100-120 flights per year.

ewok22

I don't know if this will help but I made a 1/2 time switch which is AC 50k @50% and also maintain WJ Gold@50%, I also fly 120 segments per year, and after being into it for 4 months I am happy I did it. I pick and chose which flights are most effective.
WJ hands down has been less expensive for me to use, I find there aircraft clean, on time and generally I encounter happy employees and arrive at my destination in good shape, if I check luggage I normally have it in under 20 minutes, schedules are often better than AC with more frequency but that depends on your routes and obviously I am talking about domestic travel only.
BUT you have to remember they are a leisure airline #1 and they are good at it, as a business airline they have some major flaws that show up fairly fast. As far as lounge access you do get a fair amount of vouchers if you are Gold and lounge access while nice to have is not a priority for me, neither is business class, you can choose WJ plus if you want more room.
The major downfall is there IT system totally sucks, very difficult to do anything on line other than a straight up reservation with no discounts, coupons, changing itinerary once travel has started is a nightmare and I always have at least a 20 minute wait for WJ representative which is soooo frustrating, they have no Gold line for easy access.
After saying all that I am happy I made the switch and both AC and WJ give me the balance I want and need. WJ is truly a very nice airline and I so far have enjoyed all my flights. I hope my perspective helps. PS I have not experienced any IROPS so not sure who WJ will handle those. Good Luck!

BingoArms

Thanks all for the great info. I'm honestly back and forth on this decision. I've been a very loyal AC SE for four years now and I don't take a switch lightly. I'm going to be AC Elite 50k by the end of this week. I think what I may try is sliding the rest of my domestic travel (which is 90% of what I do) to WJet and then reevaluating at the end of the calendar year. That will ensure that at least I'm AC Elite for 2016 if I don't find the value in The WJ Rewards program.

Symmetre

You'll never know if you don't try, so that sounds like a good plan.

YXXFlyer

I'll throw in 2 cents based on a single WS experience, WS1400 YYC-LAS last friday. I did take the offer for WS gold status match last year and decided to swing this on to WS just to test it out.

Observations:

• I decided to gamble and not do a pre-assigned seat, trying to score a plus upgrade. T-24 plus was empty except 2 seats. T-4 plus was full except for 2 middle seats. Upgrade offered at $50 and declined.
• Lots of announcements about full flight, please volunteer to check bags. I'd checked both my bags (one legal carry-on size, but I figured I had to wait anyway, and both are free with gold). I fully intended to use the overhead compartment for my personal item sized backpack.
• Pre-boarding exit rows, then kids & assitance, then by zone (Plus being Z1). I had zone 3 on my boarding pass (seat 18D) but they announce gold could board at any time. Nobody else moved with the gold announcement and I joined the boarding row and secured my overhead spot.
• Boarding zones seemed in general to be sections of the plane, back to front. Generally smooth and so many bags had been checked that a 100% full flight left with half empty overhead compartments.
• Cabin is both helpful and obstructive to productivity: IFE was so painful to look at I took laptop immediately and started working. No power plugs meant that wouldn't have been a play on a long haul. Legroom was sufficient, but not really great for laptop. I definitely was missing the preferred AC seats, power plug and IFE.
• Crew was friendly and in a leisure mood, but not ACr-irritatingly so. Granted, I could more tolerate the assumption for a Friday evening flight to Vegas than for my ACr mid day flight SFO-YVR.
• Friendly crew immediately obliged request for a double coffee. Extra cookie was offered to pair with my second coffee. I accepted. Nice offer.

Note that I have quit upgrading entirely on domestic AC flights, saving eUp for INTL. Hence, I consider it fair to compare both products on a NA/domestic basis. If AC would offer me the chance of more upgrades domestic, I wouldn't even consider flying WS because of the hard product offering for elites.

Conclusion:
* for work travel, generally no go. Especially longer flights, I'd find more value in AC (with elite status).
* for leisure YYC-YVR, I'd consider it again if clearly cheaper than my FP on AC.