Flying PLUS from Toronto to London Gatwick with limited pix
Dec 7, 2016, 12:35 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,347
Flying PLUS from Toronto to London Gatwick with limited pix
Hi all,
I recently flew Westjet from Toronto to London Gatwick on its Plus product, which is like a premium economy product on your average North American and European Airline. The price was pretty cheap, plus I got some travel vouchers from some baggage issues during the summer. While I felt that the ground service was completely lacking, it was an okay product for an oneway $514USD including all fee from Boston to London via Toronto.
Check-in:
I checked in at Boston Logan, and there is no separate counter for PLUS passengers. Westjet actually sells PLUS on its shorter flight to Toronto on these Encore Dash 8-Q400s, but felt that it was a ripoff because the legroom was not that special, and they should at least block your adjacent seat to make people have more incentives to pay for the flight. Anyway, there is no priority check-in and no priority baggage handling.
Transit at Toronto:
Unlike Air Canada, you have to clear immigration and custom at Toronto, picked up your bag (if you have checked in bag) and then dropped off the bag at the connection counter, before going to the Canadian Domestic Departure area for your onward flight to London. I would appreciate if the check in agents at Boston reminded passengers that they had to clear immigration and custom here in Toronto.
Boarding again at Toronto:
It was interesting that Westjet used the Domestic concourse for its international flights to London. The positive aspect was a quieter concourse, especially on this Saturday night, but there is less to do. I had access to the Plaza Premium Lounge using my Priority Pass membership. While the lounge was spacious and quiet, the food selection was much worst than the international one. Compared to Air Canada and most US airlines, it was still good because there were some hot dishes, but the quality was cafeteria, rather than restaurant. But I was fine with instant noodles and chicken noodle soup.
Boarding was supposed to begin 45 minutes prior to departure, but in reality, they started really early especially the plane had about five to six hours ground time. Boarding was strictly by zone, but no separate lane for PLUS passengers, which was a failure in my book. It was an easy thing to have a PLUS boarding lane especially there were many staffs at the gate.
Seats:
Typical Premium Economy/Domestic first class seat. It was full so no pictures of seats in recline mode. The flight was full in Y and some Y passengers got bumped to J (or they might be employees, but I sort of doubt it).
Bottled waters and amenity kit at seats.
F/A offered water or sparkling wine, and passed out menu card and wine list individually. They recollected menu cards after taking meal orders, but you could keep them. I have a feeling that they collect them to do recycling rather than reusing them. It was a pretty simple card, so you could not really reuse them.
A typical economy class flimsy pillow and think blanket were available at each seat... if they sold this in Y, I would not buy it. For Y pax, bring a thick jackets thought, as the cabin could be quite cool.
The flight was closed slightly early, and the best part of the flight was the crews. Westjet used to have great crews, but after its expansion, many F/As were just going through the motions. They were very indifferent, but it seems to be that Westjet puts their best crews on these transatlantic flights and I supposed you could not get these flights unless you had some seniority but the crews look pretty young. The purser was a nice girl, and they were kind and friendly throughout the flights. I was very impressed.
Wine list
You could find them in Westjet's website and they are updated accordingly.
F/As took beverage and meal order after takeoff, and all meals and drinks were served in real glassware, cups, and china. The service was pretty speedy with three F/As serving PLUS.
Beverage with pretzels and Biscoff first (same kind served in Westjet's domestic flights but you got both, not choice)
I like the stemless glass
There were hot towelette service prior to both dinner and breakfast, but it was not real hot towel, but these flimsy towelettes stuff. If WS does not want to use real hot towels, just skip the service or passed out packaged moist towelette.
They had this polyester type placemat for dinner service...
Dinner was an one course affair, but was pretty filling. It was better than BA's World Traveler Plus for sure, but of course it could use a more interesting starter than a boring green salad.
Chicken was okay
Bread
Lindt Chocolate - not listed in menu - nice touch was present in the tray.
Separate tea and coffee service after meal, and I was plesantly surprised that Mint tea was available and served in a real mug.
There was a basket of snacks available for Plus passengers - they were the same snacks and snack boxes offered on your domestic flights. They are just free. I think I spotted two sandwiches too.
Entertainment
Some kind of entertainment players loaded with movies and TVs are passed out for free to all plus passengers with headsets. I declined, as I had Westjet app on my iPhone. The streaming entertainment worked well too. I paid for WIFI, and I got the $13.99CAD flight pass. I think it was a bit on the high side for a six hours and forty minutes flight, but you really don't have much entertainment options.
A nice breakfast was served 90 minutes prior to landing.
Pretty much a cold breakfast with a warmed (overheated though) croissants
Sunrise
The flight landed slightly early but the gate was a bit far from immigration. The immigration was fairly busy at Gatwick too, especially if you can't use the e-gate, but the wait was better than Heathrow. There was no fast track service for PLUS service, and infact, the fast track line was closed.
Plus there was major baggage delivery issue this morning. Some lucky passengers got their bags quickly, but most passengers waited an hour and longer, including me.
In conclusion, it was basically a premium economy product for a LCC. Ground service was weak, especially the slow baggage delivery. For $500USD one way fare, I am reasonably happy. I will not hesitate to fly these short Toronto to London flights in the future with WS if the price is cheap enough in PLUS, but I will not do YYC/YEG/YVR to LGW, especially the return from UK to Canada that were longer.
Carfield
I recently flew Westjet from Toronto to London Gatwick on its Plus product, which is like a premium economy product on your average North American and European Airline. The price was pretty cheap, plus I got some travel vouchers from some baggage issues during the summer. While I felt that the ground service was completely lacking, it was an okay product for an oneway $514USD including all fee from Boston to London via Toronto.
Check-in:
I checked in at Boston Logan, and there is no separate counter for PLUS passengers. Westjet actually sells PLUS on its shorter flight to Toronto on these Encore Dash 8-Q400s, but felt that it was a ripoff because the legroom was not that special, and they should at least block your adjacent seat to make people have more incentives to pay for the flight. Anyway, there is no priority check-in and no priority baggage handling.
Transit at Toronto:
Unlike Air Canada, you have to clear immigration and custom at Toronto, picked up your bag (if you have checked in bag) and then dropped off the bag at the connection counter, before going to the Canadian Domestic Departure area for your onward flight to London. I would appreciate if the check in agents at Boston reminded passengers that they had to clear immigration and custom here in Toronto.
Boarding again at Toronto:
It was interesting that Westjet used the Domestic concourse for its international flights to London. The positive aspect was a quieter concourse, especially on this Saturday night, but there is less to do. I had access to the Plaza Premium Lounge using my Priority Pass membership. While the lounge was spacious and quiet, the food selection was much worst than the international one. Compared to Air Canada and most US airlines, it was still good because there were some hot dishes, but the quality was cafeteria, rather than restaurant. But I was fine with instant noodles and chicken noodle soup.
Boarding was supposed to begin 45 minutes prior to departure, but in reality, they started really early especially the plane had about five to six hours ground time. Boarding was strictly by zone, but no separate lane for PLUS passengers, which was a failure in my book. It was an easy thing to have a PLUS boarding lane especially there were many staffs at the gate.
Seats:
Typical Premium Economy/Domestic first class seat. It was full so no pictures of seats in recline mode. The flight was full in Y and some Y passengers got bumped to J (or they might be employees, but I sort of doubt it).
Bottled waters and amenity kit at seats.
F/A offered water or sparkling wine, and passed out menu card and wine list individually. They recollected menu cards after taking meal orders, but you could keep them. I have a feeling that they collect them to do recycling rather than reusing them. It was a pretty simple card, so you could not really reuse them.
A typical economy class flimsy pillow and think blanket were available at each seat... if they sold this in Y, I would not buy it. For Y pax, bring a thick jackets thought, as the cabin could be quite cool.
The flight was closed slightly early, and the best part of the flight was the crews. Westjet used to have great crews, but after its expansion, many F/As were just going through the motions. They were very indifferent, but it seems to be that Westjet puts their best crews on these transatlantic flights and I supposed you could not get these flights unless you had some seniority but the crews look pretty young. The purser was a nice girl, and they were kind and friendly throughout the flights. I was very impressed.
Wine list
You could find them in Westjet's website and they are updated accordingly.
F/As took beverage and meal order after takeoff, and all meals and drinks were served in real glassware, cups, and china. The service was pretty speedy with three F/As serving PLUS.
Beverage with pretzels and Biscoff first (same kind served in Westjet's domestic flights but you got both, not choice)
I like the stemless glass
There were hot towelette service prior to both dinner and breakfast, but it was not real hot towel, but these flimsy towelettes stuff. If WS does not want to use real hot towels, just skip the service or passed out packaged moist towelette.
They had this polyester type placemat for dinner service...
Dinner was an one course affair, but was pretty filling. It was better than BA's World Traveler Plus for sure, but of course it could use a more interesting starter than a boring green salad.
Chicken was okay
Bread
Lindt Chocolate - not listed in menu - nice touch was present in the tray.
Separate tea and coffee service after meal, and I was plesantly surprised that Mint tea was available and served in a real mug.
There was a basket of snacks available for Plus passengers - they were the same snacks and snack boxes offered on your domestic flights. They are just free. I think I spotted two sandwiches too.
Entertainment
Some kind of entertainment players loaded with movies and TVs are passed out for free to all plus passengers with headsets. I declined, as I had Westjet app on my iPhone. The streaming entertainment worked well too. I paid for WIFI, and I got the $13.99CAD flight pass. I think it was a bit on the high side for a six hours and forty minutes flight, but you really don't have much entertainment options.
A nice breakfast was served 90 minutes prior to landing.
Pretty much a cold breakfast with a warmed (overheated though) croissants
Sunrise
The flight landed slightly early but the gate was a bit far from immigration. The immigration was fairly busy at Gatwick too, especially if you can't use the e-gate, but the wait was better than Heathrow. There was no fast track service for PLUS service, and infact, the fast track line was closed.
Plus there was major baggage delivery issue this morning. Some lucky passengers got their bags quickly, but most passengers waited an hour and longer, including me.
In conclusion, it was basically a premium economy product for a LCC. Ground service was weak, especially the slow baggage delivery. For $500USD one way fare, I am reasonably happy. I will not hesitate to fly these short Toronto to London flights in the future with WS if the price is cheap enough in PLUS, but I will not do YYC/YEG/YVR to LGW, especially the return from UK to Canada that were longer.
Carfield
Last edited by Carfield; Dec 8, 2016 at 8:50 pm
May 4, 2017, 7:28 pm
#3
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: PHX
Programs: AAexp, AC75k, HertzPC, NationalEE, Accor/MariottP, Hilton/HyattG
Posts: 3,614
TY for this TR. Have YYC-LGW-YYC coming up next week. Premium Y on AC/BA were double compared to Plus. WS looks just slightly more "ghetto". The pillow/blanket looks dreadful lol. Does Y even get any? I still can't justfiy the fare difference to fly AC/BA Premium Y instead.
Looking at WS1 on time performance, it looks like it struggles quite a bit.
Looking at WS1 on time performance, it looks like it struggles quite a bit.
May 4, 2017, 8:26 pm
#4
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: May 2002
Location: YEG
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 56,449
Yes, thanks for sharing your experiences. I use my little light cloth amenity kit for carry my recharging cords and wires so it's proved quite useful. I like the Plus cabin on the 767 and will always entertain OLCI upgrades.
May 5, 2017, 2:10 am
#5
Join Date: Jan 2007
Programs: No single airline or hotel chain is of much use to me anymore.
Posts: 3,279
TY for this TR. Have YYC-LGW-YYC coming up next week. Premium Y on AC/BA were double compared to Plus. WS looks just slightly more "ghetto". The pillow/blanket looks dreadful lol. Does Y even get any? I still can't justfiy the fare difference to fly AC/BA Premium Y instead.
Looking at WS1 on time performance, it looks like it struggles quite a bit.
Looking at WS1 on time performance, it looks like it struggles quite a bit.
The lounge at Gatwick was nice, but I was a little rushed.
I was not offered an amenity kit in Y.
May 9, 2017, 10:13 am
#8
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: WS Nothing, AC Something, AS Gold. Too big for 737Max washrooms
Posts: 893
May 10, 2017, 5:13 am
#9
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: YYG
Programs: airlines and hotels and rental cars - oh my!
Posts: 2,997
May 10, 2017, 11:49 am
#10
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: WS Nothing, AC Something, AS Gold. Too big for 737Max washrooms
Posts: 893
I was referring more to the seat and legroom than the food. After how many thousands of good, bad and ugly in-flight meals over the years, I just don't pay much attention any more. I do seem to remember Mrs Frequentlander (herself an infrequent flyer) commenting that the meals on WS to and from LGW were "like you used to get in economy before the airlines started to hate us" so take that for what it's worth.
May 10, 2017, 1:50 pm
#11
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: YYG
Programs: airlines and hotels and rental cars - oh my!
Posts: 2,997
I've not flown an AC 320 in J since November and before that it was probably 2015.....I'm not a fan.
I was referring more to the seat and legroom than the food. After how many thousands of good, bad and ugly in-flight meals over the years, I just don't pay much attention any more. I do seem to remember Mrs Frequentlander (herself an infrequent flyer) commenting that the meals on WS to and from LGW were "like you used to get in economy before the airlines started to hate us" so take that for what it's worth.
I was referring more to the seat and legroom than the food. After how many thousands of good, bad and ugly in-flight meals over the years, I just don't pay much attention any more. I do seem to remember Mrs Frequentlander (herself an infrequent flyer) commenting that the meals on WS to and from LGW were "like you used to get in economy before the airlines started to hate us" so take that for what it's worth.
May 10, 2017, 2:42 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: WS Nothing, AC Something, AS Gold. Too big for 737Max washrooms
Posts: 893
Naah. I'm a poor explainer.
Anyway, we went YVR-LGW rtn last summer and it was fine. We got one ticket on a companion "Anywhere we fly" voucher so I was very pleased with the price. If I get two seats like that for the price we paid, I'm happy. Bonus if I can avoid LHR. Our flights were on time both ways so really I count find fault with it - and for the life of me I could not tell you what he food was like. I know I ate but I can't remember what it was. Maybe it got lost in the purge of the subsequent two weeks of British "cuisine" that I am still trying hard to forget.
Anyway, we went YVR-LGW rtn last summer and it was fine. We got one ticket on a companion "Anywhere we fly" voucher so I was very pleased with the price. If I get two seats like that for the price we paid, I'm happy. Bonus if I can avoid LHR. Our flights were on time both ways so really I count find fault with it - and for the life of me I could not tell you what he food was like. I know I ate but I can't remember what it was. Maybe it got lost in the purge of the subsequent two weeks of British "cuisine" that I am still trying hard to forget.
May 11, 2017, 1:36 pm
#13
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: PHX
Programs: AAexp, AC75k, HertzPC, NationalEE, Accor/MariottP, Hilton/HyattG
Posts: 3,614
Does anyone know if there is closet on these 767's to hang suit garment bags in Plus?
Not sure how I want to bring along my suit for the flight not knowing if there's a closet or not. I know the overhead are old school type and it will definitely get squished up there.
Not sure how I want to bring along my suit for the flight not knowing if there's a closet or not. I know the overhead are old school type and it will definitely get squished up there.