Westjet Review

Overall Rating

-New Aircraft
-Leather Seats
-Ease of online check in, and ticket purchase
-Value for the money

-Headsets for purchase
-Small PTV's
-Pay for movies, and not "on demand service"(I think AC is starting to charge for movies now too, so that seems to be the norm with soaring fuel costs)

Firstly I can't say my "Bad Points" aren't really all that bad, as I will explain.

I have been a loyal Air Canada (AC) Customer for years now. And for as much as I hear complaints about AC, I hear great things about Westjet (WJ). So I decided to take a WJ flight to see what makes them so great. Mind you I know you cant base such biased opinions on an airline with one flight, In my opinion you need to be a frequent flier to make a fair review with an airline. That said here is my opinion of this airline based on one flight I have been on with them.

I purchased the ticket on their website. Overall I prefer AC's online purchase and web check-in. But at the end of the day its the same thing, and both airlines are very easy to use. I just don't like how on WJ you select the city from a list rather than start to type such as on AC's website. Really not a big deal...

When I arrived at the Airport (Toronto t3) I went straight to security (no checked bags)

The aircraft I flew on was a fairly new 700 series. I had seat 12A (Lots of leg room because its a Emergency exit) But as far as leg room it was comparable to AC's fleet. The flight attendants were polite, and seemed very professional with a twist of a sense of humour at times.

Everything went on-time and the flight was uneventful. I checked the lavs to make sure they were tidy (of course it would be because it was the first flight of the day for this aircraft and it would have been cleaned overnight)

Basically I got what I expected. Nothing better than Air Canada and nothing worse.

The bad point about the headset is the cost of $3, the good point is that it's a good headset and well worth the $3. While AC will give you a complementary headset, it is not as comfortable as the Wesjet one. So on that note, for some the $3 is worth it, take your pick as it seems like a fair match to me.

I don't like the PTV's as much as AC's larger screens with on demand programs. Its nice to start a movie from the beginning rather than join in. (I never purchased a movie. Maybe it starts from the beginning, it just appeared that it does not)

Overall I give westjet no credit to being superior over AC. When it comes time to make my next purchase it will come down to scheduling and cost, where AC seems to have a competitive edge.

What I don't like about WJ and LCC's in general is they are flying the airline industry into turbulence(figuratively). In short, all airlines are "becoming" LCC because they cant sell tickets at the cost they are really worth. That's why now you have to purchase food, headsets, checked bag charges etc. But the average consumer purchases tickets based on the lowest price. No wonder flying has become such a poor experience, what happened to the good old days...

Whatever airline you choose just be proud to fly in a country that provides regulations making both of our largest carriers some of the safest in the world. At the end of the day this is most important, no?