Well, well, well. I've certainly had terrible experiences with Air Canada in the past and comparatively excellent experiences with Westjet in the past. However, since about the beginning of this year my opinions have been proven stale. I had a bad experience recently on Westjet so I tried Air Canada for the first time in years.
As background, I fly a fair amount, perhaps 6 trips per year with most being about 4 hours long. I'm sensitive to prices, but half or more of my trips are business and I'm less sensitive to prices for those trips. I also travel with my family so some flights could have up to 4 travellers. I think that's a fairly good customer. I'm no jetsetting sales executive always on the road, but I spend a good amount of money on air travel.
Here's how the two compare based mainly on my most recent experiences:
|
|
Westjet |
Air Canada |
| Check-in |
Lose: Use the self-serve kiosk and then you go to the counter to drop luggage. There is really no time savings here because it still seems to take nearly as long. You have to talk with someone, give ID, and have them tag the bags. Win: They often have someone explaining the self-serve feature so most people probably use it. Tie: Check out counter staff are friendly and efficient. |
Win: Use the self-serve kiosk. You get your luggage tag as well as the boarding pass. Then you really do get a time savings because you literally just put your bags on the belt and go. Lose: Most people did not use the kiosk and the lone guy manning the luggage drop was idle while the full service line was long. I was in the full service line because I had an infant. Tie: Check out counter staff are friendly and efficient. |
| Flight Schedule | Tie or Win to Westjet: They are usually on time, have a plane on hand, and have a seat for me if I bought one. | Tie or Lose to Air Canada: In the past they were absolute garbage. They missed connections, tortured me with delays, and simply didn't respect their promised times. These last flights were on time however. |
| Flight Experience |
Lose: The inflight entertainment system is decent. It is a 24 channel satellite TV system with a few pay per view movies for $5. It has often been off-line or otherwise unavailable, I would say 25% of the time in recent flights. Armrest controls are sometimes broken or very difficult to push, meaining that small kids can't use them. Win: The free snacks are better. You get the same drinks but you also get some cookies or pretzels to munch on. Lose: The pay food is terrible. Highly expensive, perhaps $5-$6, for a piece of bread, a piece of lettuce and piece of ham and a mayonaise packet. Win: There is no first class and the washrooms both at the front and back are available to guests. Tie: The flight crew is friendly. |
Win: The inflight entertainment system is great. There are tons of pre-recorded movies and TV shows included current movies, kids stuff, and music. I don't think any of it pay-per-view. As well, the touch screen is far better than the Westjet armrest controls.
Lose: I got no free snacks. Not sure why, the flight crew said that they give out snacks for short-haul flights, but the long flights carry only pay food. You get the same drinks. Win: The pay food looks good. It looks like food court grade, so something you might pay for if you weren't trapped starving on a plane. Lose: There is a first class that monopolizes the front washroom. I guess this would be a win for customers using it. Tie: The flight crew is friendly. They used to be very mediocre, but this time they were highly friendly and good. |
| Other |
Tie or Win to WestJet: They've never lost my luggage. Lose: Their website has not had seat sales prices available the last two time they've spammed me. I get an email saying 50% off, then I go check and the fares aren't there. I get a response that the 50% off is not available on every flight, but I'm sorry, if they spam me telling me they have 50% fares they ought to deliver them don't you think? It used to be the case that their fares worked, but I think they've lately had some bugs in their online system. Also, their customer service responses are canned and lame except they take about a week to reply to an email and they never answered their phone. If you want to send me a canned reponse at least reply right away. |
Tie or Lose to Air Canada: They used to be pretty bad, losing the luggage of my friends (since I very rarely flew on them) on a fairly regular basis. It seemed like a 50-50 proposition. However, I got nothing lost or damaged on my last flight. Could be chance or could be the new Air Canada.
Win: Their website had the sale fares available and their customer service answered my call within a reasonable time and solved my problems efficiently. |
So Westjet, I tell you, I've been the most loyal customer you can find. I've tried to convince all my friends to switch over and I've trumpeted your superiority everywhere, but you've started to stumble. I stuck with you but you didn't stick with me. You refused to look into your lack of fares and your flight crews made some bad judgement calls that reduced the flight experience for whole plane-loads of people. That's one side. On the other side, Air Canada has pleased me and their points of contact made me feel like they care about me. I tried them and they've delivered more than once. For now I will probably stick with Air Canada. You lost a customer and Air Canada gained one. It makes me sad because we have history together, but I have to support the company that is trying more. I'll certainly fly you again one day but it'll take something like a big fare difference or more convenient flight times.
If you want to see some other experiences on these two airlines click on this link.
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