Aliquot

Finally, an official announcement.

Alaska Airlines announces our 30th global airline partner, Porter Airlines - Alaska Airlines News

For now, miles are only earned if purchased on the AS site, but earning regardless of seller and redemptions coming in 2024.

maradori

OOooOooOoOOOoooOOOO as someone who lives in SF and has family in Toronto, this is going to be super exciting for me .... hopefully the fares will be "reasonable"

Bretmd

This would be great if it results in a direct flight from sea-yyz on Alaska or Porter. Not going to hold my breath on that, though.

Git

Great news for us Canadians.

JetAirways77W

Annoyingly the one time I need to fly YYZ-SFO is a week *before* this service starts.

wolfpacktrojan

Now I have a reason to avoid the typically extortionate pricing that AC charges on LAX-YYZ. I’ll take this as a nice Christmas present from AS!

sullim4

I said this on another thread, but I think this is a really nice win for AS. The E2s are great planes, Porter's service is really good, and it extends coverage into Eastern Canada without needing to get on AA.

Agosti

SFO-YYZ without touching AC AND crediting to AS would be a dream come true for me!
But schedule-wise SFO/1450 - YYZ/2236 & YYZ/1030 - SFO/1322 (source) definitely works much better for folks based on the YYZ side, so I'm happy for them.

Aliquot

Porter breifly had SEA and PDX on their route map a few days ago, so I suspect these are comming.

Speedbird84

To add, Seattle has been shown as a future destination since they got the E2s https://www.flyporter.com/en-ca/abou...er-and-embraer

They have a lot of aircraft coming and need to send them somewhere. As Aliquot mentioned, SEA, PDX (as well as SJC, SAN and PHX) showed briefly on PD's website last week.


Any time they're about to announce something, it'll show on the website prior to the official announcement and then usually get pulled. It's been the case with all of their route announcements so far.

PDXPremier

As long as I can get decent seats and free checked baggage as an AS elite, this would work for me but if Porter is going to nickel and dime me for "extras", I will stick with an extra connection (or two) on AA. Also, would AS Lounge members still get admitted in LAX or SFO given the fact that next year they are requiring an AS or other OW boarding pass for entry? I don't see Porter becoming a OW partner anytime soon.

Altaflyer

I can see Oneworld being pretty desperate to have a partner covering Canada so I’m hoping Porter will be it. Their rapid expansion worries me though….it takes time to develop routes and during that time they will bleed cash.

sullim4

I wouldn't expect elite treatment on Porter. They use an ULCC model for the ticket, baggage, and seating, but after that the service is actually quite excellent on board. It's an interesting contrast to carriers like Flair, Air Transat, etc. Free (fast!) wifi, two snack basket passes on a transcon, free alcohol, 2x across seating... there is a lot to like about the in flight experience. It's akin to an AS premium economy experience for the entire cabin, aside from legroom (which you have to pay for).

I agree with you on the rapid expansion. I get this feeling that they are one major IRROPS event away from melting down and creating a lot of ill will. They don't have a lot of alternatives or redundancy in their route map.

I could see them trying to get into OneWorld eventually, but I think they'd have to abandon their pricing model and adopt something more conventional.

whackedspinach

This is great news. I need to fly to St. John's next fall so hopefully I can do SEA-YYZ-YYT on Porter by then!

fly747first

HMMMM doesn't Air Canada do the same for ticket, baggage, and seating on its standard fares? Porter has an excellent operational performance, nothing like the endless cancellations and delays of the true Canadian ULCCs.