Westjet Rewards launches Platinum Status
Jan 2, 2019, 10:42 am
#108
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: YYJ
Programs: Air Canada 75K, WestJet Platinum, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 119
Jan 7, 2019, 7:20 am
#111
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 7
Jan 7, 2019, 7:33 am
#112
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Westjet Platinum, Fairmont Platinum RIP, Accor Gold, Marriott Lifetime Silver, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,296
Well I'm 1 out of 2 platinum auto upgraded to premium for tomorrow morning's flight to DEN, my flight to YYC got upgraded to premium, but the segment from YYC to DEN hasn't. I paid extra for the flex fare economy tickets with the hope that indeed I would be upgraded on both segments. Do I check in now and pay to upgrade my seat on the 2nd flight? Or wait until a few minutes before the transborder 24 hr window passes, with the hope I get automagically upgraded for that flight? It's showing plenty of open seats in premium for that flight.
This is a crap shoot, damned if I do, damned if I don't proposition. If it does my automatic upgrade for my first leg of the journey, why not do the same for subsequent legs of the trip at the same time?? What's the point of paying extra for a higher flex fare with the hope that I might get upgraded, when I could have bought a regular economy fare, then call in to do a paid upgrade in the 24-48 hour window.
Furthermore, if premium seats are still available for a flight, why not offer free upgrades to us platinum members at the gate, regardless if we bought just a regular or flex economy ticket? My last flight YYZ to YUL had 5 empty seats in premium. Not convinced paying for the seat upgrade on a Q400 flight is worthwhile, but it would be kinda nice to spread out a little bit and do some work on my laptop, and have a glass of wine. I was stuck a few rows back next to sasquatch, I could barely open my magazine!!
If they really want to attract the high end business traveler (which would probably account for the majority of platinum tier members), it's these "little" gestures such as upgrades that make the product more appealing.
Edit: One other note, once within the 24 hr checkin window, I have no means to see what exactly are my seat assignments, neither through the website or on my westjet app. Would be kinda nice to be able to review this prior to checking in online.
This is a crap shoot, damned if I do, damned if I don't proposition. If it does my automatic upgrade for my first leg of the journey, why not do the same for subsequent legs of the trip at the same time?? What's the point of paying extra for a higher flex fare with the hope that I might get upgraded, when I could have bought a regular economy fare, then call in to do a paid upgrade in the 24-48 hour window.
Furthermore, if premium seats are still available for a flight, why not offer free upgrades to us platinum members at the gate, regardless if we bought just a regular or flex economy ticket? My last flight YYZ to YUL had 5 empty seats in premium. Not convinced paying for the seat upgrade on a Q400 flight is worthwhile, but it would be kinda nice to spread out a little bit and do some work on my laptop, and have a glass of wine. I was stuck a few rows back next to sasquatch, I could barely open my magazine!!
If they really want to attract the high end business traveler (which would probably account for the majority of platinum tier members), it's these "little" gestures such as upgrades that make the product more appealing.
Edit: One other note, once within the 24 hr checkin window, I have no means to see what exactly are my seat assignments, neither through the website or on my westjet app. Would be kinda nice to be able to review this prior to checking in online.
Last edited by Arthurrs; Jan 7, 2019 at 9:09 am
Jan 7, 2019, 11:02 am
#113
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 125
Well I'm 1 out of 2 platinum auto upgraded to premium for tomorrow morning's flight to DEN, my flight to YYC got upgraded to premium, but the segment from YYC to DEN hasn't. I paid extra for the flex fare economy tickets with the hope that indeed I would be upgraded on both segments. Do I check in now and pay to upgrade my seat on the 2nd flight? Or wait until a few minutes before the transborder 24 hr window passes, with the hope I get automagically upgraded for that flight? It's showing plenty of open seats in premium for that flight.
This is a crap shoot, damned if I do, damned if I don't proposition. If it does my automatic upgrade for my first leg of the journey, why not do the same for subsequent legs of the trip at the same time?? What's the point of paying extra for a higher flex fare with the hope that I might get upgraded, when I could have bought a regular economy fare, then call in to do a paid upgrade in the 24-48 hour window.
Furthermore, if premium seats are still available for a flight, why not offer free upgrades to us platinum members at the gate, regardless if we bought just a regular or flex economy ticket? My last flight YYZ to YUL had 5 empty seats in premium. Not convinced paying for the seat upgrade on a Q400 flight is worthwhile, but it would be kinda nice to spread out a little bit and do some work on my laptop, and have a glass of wine. I was stuck a few rows back next to sasquatch, I could barely open my magazine!!
If they really want to attract the high end business traveler (which would probably account for the majority of platinum tier members), it's these "little" gestures such as upgrades that make the product more appealing.
Edit: One other note, once within the 24 hr checkin window, I have no means to see what exactly are my seat assignments, neither through the website or on my westjet app. Would be kinda nice to be able to review this prior to checking in online.
This is a crap shoot, damned if I do, damned if I don't proposition. If it does my automatic upgrade for my first leg of the journey, why not do the same for subsequent legs of the trip at the same time?? What's the point of paying extra for a higher flex fare with the hope that I might get upgraded, when I could have bought a regular economy fare, then call in to do a paid upgrade in the 24-48 hour window.
Furthermore, if premium seats are still available for a flight, why not offer free upgrades to us platinum members at the gate, regardless if we bought just a regular or flex economy ticket? My last flight YYZ to YUL had 5 empty seats in premium. Not convinced paying for the seat upgrade on a Q400 flight is worthwhile, but it would be kinda nice to spread out a little bit and do some work on my laptop, and have a glass of wine. I was stuck a few rows back next to sasquatch, I could barely open my magazine!!
If they really want to attract the high end business traveler (which would probably account for the majority of platinum tier members), it's these "little" gestures such as upgrades that make the product more appealing.
Edit: One other note, once within the 24 hr checkin window, I have no means to see what exactly are my seat assignments, neither through the website or on my westjet app. Would be kinda nice to be able to review this prior to checking in online.
Jan 7, 2019, 12:31 pm
#114
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Westjet Platinum, Fairmont Platinum RIP, Accor Gold, Marriott Lifetime Silver, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,296
Do the Q's even have any additional seating space? Other than room 1 I thought the width and legroom was the same for each seat on a Q. Do they offer beverages on YYZ-YUL routes? I've only flown YYC-YEG and YYC-YQR and I don't remember anything being offered other than pop/snack. I think YYC-YEG was only water and snack.
Jan 7, 2019, 1:34 pm
#115
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Westjet Platinum, Fairmont Platinum RIP, Accor Gold, Marriott Lifetime Silver, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,296
To followup, I ended up calling the Platinum line right before the 24 hr time window for the connecting flight, and the really nice agent helped me by forcing the upgrade for the seat on the YYC to DEN flight as an exception, took about 20 minutes to get it sorted out. We found it strange that the "automated" system didn't automatically assign me a premium seat when it upgraded my first leg of the flight, especially since it was a flex fare. In inquiring the supervisor about why this was the case, apparently the seats available for flights to/from the USA are limited for these platinum upgrades, which seemed strange to me because when I did a dummy booking for that particular flight, it showed only ONE seat reserved in Plus, and all the other 11 plus seats empty. Which makes me question whether this is a software problem, or if Westjet is truly restricting automatic upgrades for platinum members traveling to/from the USA, like they do with Europe flights. Regardless, I hope they fix this soon. Probably not before my return flight home on Thursday!
I get that the Platinum tier benefits are still new and they are sorting out the bugs, and they are trying to automate the process to make it more fair and consistent, but seriously, give your front line staff the ability to easily override this kind of stuff while it get sorted, the agent on the phone had to try a few different methods before they could secure a plus seat for me on the 2nd leg. Even then, I'll still need to get my boarding pass at the airport for that flight because it wouldn't issue one online!
I just find that these "new" automatic upgrades are a bit too much trouble and uncertain for what they're worth at present. I could have bought a cheaper economy fare, and simply paid for the upgrades in the 24-48 hour window for about the same amount of money spent, with less fussing with non-cooperative systems/procedures, and more certainty of actually getting an upgraded seat instead of wondering if it will be a reality or not! Westjet needs to fix this before I perceive this as a useful benefit as a Platinum tier member. As it stands now, it more troublesome than the random "upgrades" I enjoyed last year as a gold tier member.
I get that the Platinum tier benefits are still new and they are sorting out the bugs, and they are trying to automate the process to make it more fair and consistent, but seriously, give your front line staff the ability to easily override this kind of stuff while it get sorted, the agent on the phone had to try a few different methods before they could secure a plus seat for me on the 2nd leg. Even then, I'll still need to get my boarding pass at the airport for that flight because it wouldn't issue one online!
I just find that these "new" automatic upgrades are a bit too much trouble and uncertain for what they're worth at present. I could have bought a cheaper economy fare, and simply paid for the upgrades in the 24-48 hour window for about the same amount of money spent, with less fussing with non-cooperative systems/procedures, and more certainty of actually getting an upgraded seat instead of wondering if it will be a reality or not! Westjet needs to fix this before I perceive this as a useful benefit as a Platinum tier member. As it stands now, it more troublesome than the random "upgrades" I enjoyed last year as a gold tier member.
Last edited by Arthurrs; Jan 7, 2019 at 1:44 pm
Jan 7, 2019, 2:13 pm
#116
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: YVR
Programs: WS Nothing, AC Something, AS Gold. Too big for 737Max washrooms
Posts: 893
To followup, I ended up calling the Platinum line right before the 24 hr time window for the connecting flight, and the really nice agent helped me by forcing the upgrade for the seat on the YYC to DEN flight as an exception, took about 20 minutes to get it sorted out. We found it strange that the "automated" system didn't automatically assign me a premium seat when it upgraded my first leg of the flight, especially since it was a flex fare. In inquiring the supervisor about why this was the case, apparently the seats available for flights to/from the USA are limited for these platinum upgrades, which seemed strange to me because when I did a dummy booking for that particular flight, it showed only ONE seat reserved in Plus, and all the other 11 plus seats empty. Which makes me question whether this is a software problem, or if Westjet is truly restricting automatic upgrades for platinum members traveling to/from the USA, like they do with Europe flights. Regardless, I hope they fix this soon. Probably not before my return flight home on Thursday!
I get that the Platinum tier benefits are still new and they are sorting out the bugs, and they are trying to automate the process to make it more fair and consistent, but seriously, give your front line staff the ability to easily override this kind of stuff while it get sorted, the agent on the phone had to try a few different methods before they could secure a plus seat for me on the 2nd leg. Even then, I'll still need to get my boarding pass at the airport for that flight because it wouldn't issue one online!
I just find that these "new" automatic upgrades are a bit too much trouble and uncertain for what they're worth at present. I could have bought a cheaper economy fare, and simply paid for the upgrades in the 24-48 hour window for about the same amount of money spent, with less fussing with non-cooperative systems/procedures, and more certainty of actually getting an upgraded seat instead of wondering if it will be a reality or not! Westjet needs to fix this before I perceive this as a useful benefit as a Platinum tier member. As it stands now, it more troublesome than the random "upgrades" I enjoyed last year as a gold tier member.
I get that the Platinum tier benefits are still new and they are sorting out the bugs, and they are trying to automate the process to make it more fair and consistent, but seriously, give your front line staff the ability to easily override this kind of stuff while it get sorted, the agent on the phone had to try a few different methods before they could secure a plus seat for me on the 2nd leg. Even then, I'll still need to get my boarding pass at the airport for that flight because it wouldn't issue one online!
I just find that these "new" automatic upgrades are a bit too much trouble and uncertain for what they're worth at present. I could have bought a cheaper economy fare, and simply paid for the upgrades in the 24-48 hour window for about the same amount of money spent, with less fussing with non-cooperative systems/procedures, and more certainty of actually getting an upgraded seat instead of wondering if it will be a reality or not! Westjet needs to fix this before I perceive this as a useful benefit as a Platinum tier member. As it stands now, it more troublesome than the random "upgrades" I enjoyed last year as a gold tier member.
Jan 7, 2019, 5:32 pm
#117
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYZ/MGA
Programs: AA 1MM Lifetime Gold, AA Platinum, WS Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 7,607
As a regular event they do not. So they don't get two Big Macs though paying for one.
Jan 10, 2019, 9:58 am
#118
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Westjet Platinum, Fairmont Platinum RIP, Accor Gold, Marriott Lifetime Silver, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,296
Another followup, automatically upgraded at t-35 hours for both legs of my return flight home DEN-YYC-YHM, economy flex fare. No troubles whatsoever! Happy camper here!