Plus Upgrade Voucher Usage
 

I was pleasantly surprised when I received my WS package late November/early December; I thought the package was nicely put together and the luggage tags were well designed; I like them better than the AC tags :-).

I have had 4 WS flights since, tried to use the Plus vouchers twice; I find the procedures to use the Plus vouchers curious; i.e. show up in person at the gate 40 min. before flight time. My scenario at YYC this week, I checked in 95 min. before flight time, computer showed plus section completely empty (only one seat taken), went to gate, no GA, went to WS desk at YYC, agent there told me she cannot help, went to lounge, return to gate at 45 min., GA told me she gave away all of the plus seats already. This seems to imply that the only way to use the vouchers is to camp at the gate and ambush the GAs when they arrive.

Also, the vouchers expires on Jan 31, 2016 even though my gold status last until December 2016, seems very restrictive in terms of usable time.

My questions are: 1) has anyone been able to use the vouchers with any luck; 2) can the vouchers be transferred to a family member i.e. Use one for myself and use one for my daughter; 3) If a flight is full, do check-in agents start giving plus seats to non-plus pax that the use of the vouchers at gate is a pointless exercise; 4) am I missing something that the use of the voucher can be much easier?

With only two more WS flights this month for me, I wont be able to use all 4 vouchers; not sure if it is worth the effort based on past experiences.

Hello there Iflyiny:

I had a very similar experience. My husband and I are both Westjet Gold and also Star Alliance Gold but we like the connections on WS better despite lack of lounges in our standard travel cities. We flew on 5 flights between the time when we received the vouchers and when they expired. We were denied use of Plus seats on 3 out of the 5 flights due to the Plus cabin being full. Sometimes they said we could upgrade at the checkin counter, sometimes they required us to speak to the gate agent. It was quite strange and also a bit frustrating to go through the process - although I appreciate that their intent was to reward their frequent flyers. I spoke to a checkin agent in YQR about this on 1/31 when my vouchers were expiring (to see if they would extend their use) and she said that apparently WS is transitioning to an automatic system where they will do a computerized upgrade of gold members at checkin if there is space. This clearly isn't happening immediately though because today (2/1) I went to checkin for a flight and they tried to charge me $100 to upgrade to Plus seating (there was availability). Hopefully they will get it sorted out, Plus seating would be a nice bonus as long as the process was streamlined a bit. I'd be happy to hear if anyone else has any more information, or if they can verify the information that was given to me...

Plus Upgrades
 

I have not yet received my gold Package, but would not expect to yet as it has been only 45 days since achieving gold status.

However, I have received a complimentary upgrade to Plus on 4/5 flights so far (one flight was for both myself and my husband). The fifth was not a fail, rather I had utilized the same day flight change after missing a flight and was re-acommodated to a later flight and there were only two seats left. The agent apologized for not being able to put me in plus.

I will be very excited to see an automated system upgrading us at check-in.
I will say that after sitting in 15C on a 737-700 last night, I will be paying the $120 on future flights if I do not receive an upgrade, and would happily change flights and pay the upgrade to avoid regular economy.

And on the subject of lounges, the Plaza Premium Lounge at YVR is much nicer than YYZ T3.

C

I had no luck trying to use my vouchers, which have now expired. The last flight I took was showing completely full in Economy (Y0), but 10 Plus seats available at T-24 hours.

By the time the gate agent arrived, there were 0 Plus seats available, so either they sold all 10 of the Plus seats as upgrades, or check-in agents gave out a bunch of upgrades prior to the gate or gave them to pax without seat assignments.

Would be a big improvement if they have some type of automated process as referenced above, as it seems like upgrade protocols were pretty loose.

I had my first flights on WestJet since getting my vouchers, and my experience similar to those mentioned above.

For the month and a half or so since making the booking, there were 3 Plus seats taken. Flight was an 8am departure, and went to sleep the night before with still just those 3 seats blocked off. T-2.5 hours, 1 more was taken (total of 4). Got to the airport (T-2) and 11 were taken. Didn't bother rushing to the gate to try for the last seat and stayed in the lounge as long as I could.

Considering the low uptake until the T-2 hour mark (I'm assuming 7 people didn't go purchase Plus seats all within that half hour), is there any real explanation about who is actually getting cleared into those seats? If it is pax without seat assignments, surely it would make more sense for to clear Golds into Plus and assign those emptied out seats to the those without seats.

Agree I was 0 for 3 last year in trying to use them at the gate...
 

....some type of automation would be welcome.
No e-ups for me as of yet either.

I just recently flew WS from SAN to YYC. There were four of us traveling, and when I was looking at availability via a fake booking, I saw no plus seats available. However at check in (when to desk agent to get the precheck applied) I was told there were 8 plus seats available. I was able to use all my four vouchers for my family and I.

Suppose I was a poacher when i flew out of YVR last month. I arrived about 2-hours before my flight and at the check-in counter I asked the agent what it looked like for using my voucher. I had checked EF earlier in the morning and there appeared to be 2 open seats in the first three rows. The agent moved me into one of the open seats, took my voucher and handed me a new boarding pass. So it appears some check-in agents are able to process these upgrades when you get to the airport, so always worth asking at that point rather than waiting for someone to arrive at the gate. Seems this may explain how the open seats vanish.

Tries using these from ORD - YYC last night. The gate agent looked at me like I was an alien when I asked about using them. Needless to say, she had never seen them, and I had no luck.

Question.. if I book YVR-YYT and want to upgrade with a voucher, do I need one for each leg or will the upgrade go all the way (if available)?

Ron.

Hi Ron,

It's been a long time since I've used vouchers - but based on my recollection you needed one per segment. I'd check with the gate agent when you check in, but a safe bet would be to plan to use it for your longest segment if possible.

Regardless of the vouchers though, if you're a Westjet Gold and there is room up front, if you ask nicely often times they will upgrade you upon check in - but of course there is no guarantee.

Good luck!

My vouchers expired June 30, 2017 and I never had a chance to use them. (I flew 6 segments and every time Plus seats were already full)

Called and asked about an extension or re-issue and WJ informed me that they will no longer be issuing these AT ALL, mostly due to the fact Plus is becoming so popular, people (like me) don't even get a chance to use them...

I just checked in for my flight tomorrow, it was one of those last minute purchases for a same day business trip to Edmonton, with a crazy expensive econo/flex fare (booking the ticket less than 48 hours before departure). I had to call the gold line to use one of my seat selection vouchers for one of the segments booked on the econo fare, the person who answered very helpful and efficient.

When I went online today to check in and do my usual purchased upgrades to plus, I discovered that they already assigned me seats in plus at no extra charge! Granted there was plenty of room in plus on both flights, but that was certainly and nice and unexpected surprise for this Westjet Gold flyer!!

I am currently on a flight to YWG right now. On an expensive Flex fare. Upgraded to Plus at check-in. I find that when I book a fairly high flex fare I am usually upgraded 50% of the time. Rarely am I upgraded on an econo fare, but it happens. I would say of my last 30 flights since January, I have been upgraded about 30% of the time.

Ours did as well, which is too bad since we're flying next week. But at least we have the exit row.