FlyerJ

Troubler

Just stepped into the lounge real quick a moment ago. They are definitely still accepting Priority Pass, but not the Amex card itself. Had a gentlemen try to enter with his Amex while I was getting scanned in, he was told that the lounge didn’t have an agreement with the lounge but if he had Priority Pass that would get him in.

jimsthe1

In the lounge right now on a quiet Thursday evening. Noting similar notes as above: a guest at the desk trying to be admitted with Amex (from what I can gather), quite a bit of chatter from the reps with and I've overheard Amex thrown in here and there.

Observations:
- Reps friendly, one mentioning he was redeeming one of my unlimited vouchers for access.
- Catering staff super helpful, asking guests if they need help finding anything. Nice touch.
- A couple WJ signs up so you know where you're at! Also banner poster indicating new lounge in 2020.
- Food: beef and veggie chili on a new table near the TV, two types of soups, two types of sandwiches. New coffee machines (two of them...that will help for the mornings!) Also a couple bowls of salads (quinoa and pasta), cheese tray, and some yogurts presumably left from the AM.
- Cocktails: similar as before but the wine is different than the past.

All in all, no MLL but they have to start and learn somewhere so all good in my books. Could be swayed tonight as maybe only a dozen or so people in here and the curling is on!
​​​

FlyerTalker70

And that's one of the business things WS is missing from their product. One of the benefits of having a wide network of business lounges like AC and their *A partners have is that when I'm flying I am guaranteed to be able to get work done at the airport. If the flight get delayed, or I end up arriving a bit early I can always unwind at the lounge, use their business centre to print off documents, catch up with correspondence or even join a teleconference using one of the private meeting rooms. And then before I head out to the aircraft I can use the shower to freshen up so that I have a half decent chance of feeling good when I land at my final destination (showers are to the best of my knowledge the only known cure to jet lag).

I will be interested to see if WS expands those lounges out to YYZ and YVR as those are obvious business centres in Canada and major markets WS serves.

Equally important will be if WS re-introduces the flight passes they had in the early 2010's IIRC. Those passes are a differentiator for AC and is one of the reason why many businesses choose to fly AC over WS. Why commit yourself to a specific flight (and all the associated penalties to rebook if you're wrong including fare difference) when you can get a flight pass that lets you book a flight as little as an hour from when you actually need to leave?!

-James

Symmetre

I couldn't agree more on the flight passes. Just being able to have the cost controls and predictability is a huge benefit.

FlyerTalker70

I remember when I had to sell my org on buying flight passes. Management kept asking, why should we spend 25% more on a fare with a flight pass? I then pull up a spreadsheet of historical travel data and point out that whilst we sometimes were able to get cheaper fares, even purchasing at the last minute, we often had to do last minute changes which cost significantly more than had we had the flight pass. In the end it was about the same price to use a flight pass versus the old method of stalking flights a few days prior to departure to find a good deal. And as you pointed out far less stress and hassle!

-James

FlyerJ

SoroSuub1

Please please please eventually open lounges in YYZ, YVR and open them all up to future Skyteam partner airlines Delta/KLM/AF/MU, etc...

tracon

Skyteam has a lounge in YVR. Maybe they should open it up to WS.

SoroSuub1

It is located on the International side unfortunately, and not on the Canada or USA side.

aerobod

agjil

So the new proper Westjet lounge in YYC won’t open this year?
That is very disappointing.
Westjet should have planned the lounge opening date to be aligned with their 787 service start date...

calgaryhhr

I suspect it was supposed to be ready sooner as it has been in the plans for a long time now. I don't know the specific reasons behind the delay but it is what it is. I'm not sure if taking over the Chinook Lounge was really part of the plan or just a stop gap measure as the lounge project progressed.

NoiseCancelling

No doubt the MLL is better, but having a great lounge and sucking at everything else is not what I look for in an airline.

Sunny Day

The AC MLL isn't that great these days as far as food goes. Same food, salad, chips, soup every week. If WJ pays more attention on food quality and variety, that will make a big difference in favor of WJ.