FlyerJ

Good point. That could happen. (Still, the second floor there doesn’t have direct windows to the exterior either.)

And, yes, the intent is a large, single domestic screening area ... I think where US CBP preclearance used to be (putting it directly in line with concourse B).

I’m not sure if it’s directly above Montana’s, but “Spaceport” is the museum up on the second level — off the food court.

I think it’s still operating. How, I’m not really sure, because the last time I took my kids in there it looked like a decrepit old flea market — no cohesive theme or displays, broken stuff, and everything just kind of random. The Smithsonian Air & Space it most definitely is not. (It once was a cool little museum — many, many years ago — and had some special connection to NASA back then. Like much of landside YYC, though, it’s clearly now fallen on very hard times. If it is still open, it can’t have much life left in it.)

canolakid

"Platinum, Gold and Silver WestJet Rewards members with complimentary lounge access benefits, along with guests travelling in the Business cabin, will be among the first to enjoy the new space...."
bolding mine-does this mean the current 'premium' on domestic flights will eventually be called Business? as a newbie to WestJet, I find the current terminology means they get overlooked when I am looking for Business seats..

FlyerJ

No, I don’t think so.

Their Business class is on the 787 ... and only the 787. If you purchase a ticket to sit in a pod on that aircraft, you get lounge access.

“Premium”, however, does not get you lounge access.

canolakid

Thanks for the clarification;

Fiordland

Currently their 737 product is a weird mix of seats until everything is refurbished. Once they all get seat equivalent to the AC A320/737 business class seats will WS try to offer an equivalent competitive product to AC.

If WS wants to compete with AC for business travelers they should rename the 737 product business and offer lounge access. If they plan on keeping it a premium economy, then what was the point of the all the seat upgrades?

cirrusdragoon

Their strategy of capturing the business traveller that could not otherwise book J cabin due to fare restriction with their corporate travel policy . Many corporations restrict J class bookings based on certain distances.

Frequentlander

And many (most?) corporations completely disallow J booking irrespective of distance.

FlyerJ

True. Mine requires lowest available fare (minus Basic fares) with a $150 buffer ... so I can choose any flight within $150 of the cheapest option. That never gets me to J on other carriers, nor does it get me to PY on WestJet.

I wonder how much of an average AC J cabin is actually true, paid J. There are some, obviously. But there are also many “Flight Pass” passengers where their company bought Economy class flight passes ... which are among the highest priority for J upgrade (regardless of Aeroplan/Altitude status). And those pax do get Maple Leaf Lounge access when they get upgraded. It’s a great way that AC had found to market to law firms and big corps — where they get paid in advance for a large quantity of seats.

Then, there are the J upgrades (which encourage loyalty even while usually flying in Y) and the Aeroplan J class vacation flights (which also encourage loyalty among Y class fliers).

I’m of the same mind as Frequentlander. In Canada at least, and in WestJet’s core markets, I don’t know that there really is a significant J spend. Much of WS’s strategy is to drive Y fliers to higher Y fares — which makes sense.

But, yes, I think they’re going to need to give lounge access to paid (but probably not purchased upgrade) Premium tickets — regardless of whether they classify that cabin as Business or PY. If they want to attract over a regular YYZ-YYC front cabin passenger from AC, they’re going to need to have a competitive offering on the ground too.

Fiordland

The companies in Canada that permit paid J on a domestic flight are far and few between. Where AC is going to pickup paid J is on passengers connecting to paid J on an overseas flight.

WR Cage

I'm going with Ben/Lucky, the WestJet announcement is confusing and five minutes of research only uncovers more confusion.

First off, international pax must checkin at the international terminal if they have checked luggage. The majority of international J cabin pax will have to checkin at the international terminal. walk 200-400m to the new consolidated pre-board screening checkpoint (about where the temporary WestJet domestic checkin is now) just to get to the new WestJet "flagship" lounge. A similar experience at AC, with 1/2 the walking distance, has been described by some insiders as a brand damaging pax experience.

Secondly, WestJet last year announced that YYC would get not 1 but 3 lounges. Further, it is my understanding the ITB has empty space roughed in for additional transborder and international lounges. Why won't WS activate these lounges while waiting for the domestic lounge to be constructed?

Third, why the announcement now if in service date is one year away?

Fourth. At the last investor conference, it was announced there would be additional WS in YVR and YYZ. With the announcement the first lounge will be in YYC and not inservice for another year, what does this say about in service date for WS Lounges in YYZ and YVR?

Error 601

I can still get away with J on overnight flights to Europe since they're late and more than eight hours but the return flights that depart late morning get my right back into Y.

But our guys in Virginia are seething about their redeyes to Europe on United slaveships. Only FCO clocks in at more than eight hours from IAD.

jkordyback

Flying to Barcelona with WJ and was refused entry to lounges in terminal 3. They had some WestJet space crammed in a corner of one of them but the nicer lounge space was reserved for other airlines.

Traveling with my wife who said, “Next time we fly to Europe, we’re going Air Canada.” *snort*

I fly AC for all my international business travel. Easy call there for me.

FlyerJ

Sorry, can you clarify:

Which lounge was it that had “WestJet space crammed in a corner”?

You mention you were refused entry to the lounge — what’s your WS status and what type of ticket did you have?

If you were refused entry, how did you learn about the WS space crammed in the corner?

jkordyback

FlyerJ: The Plaza Premium in International near C32 has two parts. The WestJet area has a pretty tight seating area and was full. They told us to come back in a couple of hours. The other part Plaza Premium section there is much nicer (like an AC lounge) but is for BA, etc so they turned us away. The domestic Plaza lounge near B22 was not available for WJ passengers since they were expecting passengers from other airlines. The lounge was almost empty.

Platinum flying Premium. We camped at a gate for 3 hours. I’m flying to Europe, Brazil, and China over the next 6 weeks. Needless to say I’m booked with AC. ;-)

WJ are basically nice people and run a decent domestic/NA airline, especially in western Canada. However they are not an international business airline which is fine. I booked this trip on a companion pass (I’ve got like 10 of those things) and WJ $ so it’s kind of your low budget getaway.

Symmetre

The only real problem here is that the new lounge is in Calgary. Sorry WS, but I'm not flying across the country just to sit in your new lounge on my way to Europe.