WestJet or Air Canada?

[OZDUCK]

As part of the final leg of our Canadian trip we will be flying from Halifax N.S. to Toronto to catch our CX flight home - leaving early afternoon. At the fare level I will be paying (cheapest) neither of these two provide free food, luggage or much more than a seat. Flights are only 2.20 hrs and fares are within a few dollars of each other.

I assume that really either will be fine and I will just choose which flight is the most convenient - and pay extra for "preferred seats", checked bags etc.

Has anyone flown one or both on a domestic flight and can offer an opinion?

Also, is there any preferred side to sit on as the flight paths seem that they may cross some attractive scenery.

Thanks.

 

[Mari]

Hi, I've enjoyed reading your travels. This is a long reply.
Yes I have flown that same route a few months ago on AC. Yes the price is about the same as WS. I have flown with AC for many years dom & Int and have never really had too much to complain about. We (3) paid the extras for our seat, luggage and meals- which were quite nice • chk, beef salad wrap ect small veggie or fruit tray with dip or chips & drink plus (tea or coffee only offered once) paid in advance online if u have acces to your flights or on the plane with c/c ONLY.
We were travelling on with long stops to another Canadian city. The service in AC can be hit or miss. Don't be surprised if they move you to another seat at the last minute even though you've paid with receipt in hand or on your phone for proof. At first checkin just kindly ask "just checking we've paid in advance for our seats"....
Paid luggage $26.75 incl tax -good idea bc everybody else usually brings their luggage on the plane. Then I suppose save your money and bring it on board -10kgs.
YHZ is 30 or so kms from Halifax cbd. Check out transport to Stanfield Dom/Int online. We got a taxi $$. Arrive checkin counter 90 mins at least before plane departs and you will have ample time to get thru and sit down for a coffee at Tim Hortons- if u like
Be patient boarding as the cheapest ticket is called last to board. It goes by zones A - business, F/F's, D- cheapo
I can't comment on WS as I've only flown once or twice but I have heard good comments and even better experiences than AC.
Happy travels. Let us know how this went. We sat on the left side and I think it was good??

 

[OZDUCK]

Mari

Thanks for your reply. Your experiences are what I wanted to hear and pretty much confirm what I had thought would be the case. We would probably pay for the extras like you did. It almost seems worthwhile to keep the hire car for another day in order to get to the airport.

regards

Ozduck

 

[Mari]

Yes that's what we did. Good idea. * Toll over bridge. There is a servo very close to the airport. It looks like where trucks fill up but cars as well. Few cents dearer. Add on 15 mins to find returns -easy enough, park, sign off. Please be aware if you are over by 1minute, in my experience you will be charged an extra day. I explained we didn't pick up the car til one hour later. Then no fee. Take pictures of your car on receiving in case there is a scratch or dent that they did not record. Just to be on the safe side. Doesn't hurt to spend 1 minute.
The main road out of Halifax is great. We stayed at a hotel right near the airport. Hilton Garden Inn. Also Quality Inn is as equal. Free parking and bfast included which is muffins ect in main foyer. Q-Inn Website says free shuttle to airport. We drove so returned our car prior to flight.
On entering the plane as you are boarding you need photo Id

 

[RooFlyer]

If the fares are more-or-less equal, I'd choose Westjet over AC, even though I was AC '75K elite' (until recently ). Just a better overall economy experience. As marki said, if you are flying cheapest ticket, minimise your carry-on because there will almost certainly be little overhead bin space by the time you get on board.

What time of year are you flying? If winter, if you haven't already booked, allow extra time for the transit, due to possibility of delays. YYZ is bad for this. If I'm on domestic, connecting to international in Canada I allow 4 hours minimum in winter. PITA if the flights are on time, but better than missing the international because of the network going down due to storms.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

If the fares are more-or-less equal, I'd choose Westjet over AC, even though I was AC '75K elite' (until recently ). Just a better overall economy experience. As marki said, if you are flying cheapest ticket, minimise your carry-on because there will almost certainly be little overhead bin space by the time you get on board.

What time of year are you flying? If winter, if you haven't already booked, allow extra time for the transit, due to possibility of delays. YYZ is bad for this. If I'm on domestic, connecting to international in Canada I allow 4 hours minimum in winter. PITA if the flights are on time, but better than missing the international because of the network going down due to storms.

I'm guessing neither would through check to CX on separate pnrs - AC being in *A and CX being OW. There may be airlines who are still happy to through check to other airlines on separate pnrs outside of their alliance however I don't know whether AC would be such an airline.

WS publish a list of their interline airline partners however CX is not on it.

WestJet Airlines Code-share and Interline Partners

Whilst Air Canada publish a list of their 'interline partners' it reads more as a list of airlines they have a codeshare arrangement with. It does not tell you whether they will through check bags to these other airlines on separate tickets when booked eg as a CX flight (as opposed to an AC codeshare flight operated by CX) which is what you want to know.

Our codeshare and other airline partners - aircanada.com
[h=2]Air Canada's other airline partners[/h]Air Canada also has what are called interline partnerships. An interline partnership allows two or more airlines to issue tickets on behalf of each other, while retaining the designator code of the other airline. Their purpose, again, is to facilitate travel for customers by allowing them to travel across the networks of multiple airlines with a single reservation in order to reach their final destination.
Here's a list of Air Canada's interline partners.
[h=3]Star Alliance Interline Partners[/h]

• Adria Airways (JP)
• Aegean Airlines (A3)
• Air China (CA)
• Air India (AI)
• Air New Zealand (NZ)
• ANA (NH)
• Asiana Airlines (OZ)
• Austrian Airlines (OS)
• Avianca (AV)
• Avianca Brazil (O6)
• Brussels Airlines (SN)
• Copa Airlines (CM)
• EGYPTAIR (MS)
• Ethiopian Airlines (ET)
• EVA Air (BR)
• LOT Polish Airlines (LO)
• Lufthansa (LH)
• Scandinavian Airlines (SK)
• Shenzhen Airlines (ZH)
• Singapore Airlines (SQ)
• South African Airways (SA)
• SWISS (LX)
• TAP Portugal (TP)
• THAI (TG)
• Turkish Airlines (TK)
• United (UA)

[h=3]Non-Star Alliance Interline Partners[/h]

• Aer Lingus (EI)
• Aeroflot Russian Airlines (SU)
• Aeroméxico (AM)
• Aerogal (2K)
• Air Baltic (BT)
• Air Creebec (YN)
• Air Dolomiti (EN)
• Air France (AF)
• Air Malta (KM)
• Air Mauritius (MK)
• Air Pacific (FJ)
• Air Serbia (JU)
• Air Tahiti Nui (TN)
• Alaska Air (AS)
• Alitalia (AZ)
• American Airlines (AA)
• Bearskin Airlines (JV)
• Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG)
• Blue One (KF)
• British Airways (BA)
• Canadian North (5T)
• Caribbean Airways (BW)
• Cathay Pacific (CX)
• Cayman Airlines (KX)
• Central Mountain Air (9M)
• China Airlines (CI)
• China Eastern Airlines (MU)
• China Southern Airlines (CZ)
• Czech Air (OK)
• Delta Airlines (DL)
• Dragonair (KA)
• Emirates (EK)
• Etihad Airways (EY)
• Eurowings (EW)
• First Air (7F)
• Garuda Indonesia (GA)
• Germanwings (4U)
• GOL (G3)
• Gulf Air (GF)
• Hawaiian Airlines (HA)
• Hong Kong Airlines (HX)
• Iberia (IB)
• Icelandair (FI)
• JALways Airlines (JO)
• Japan Airlines (JL)
• Jet Airways (9W)
• JetStar (JQ)
• JetStar Asia (3K)
• JetStar Japan (GK)
• Kenya Airlines (KQ)
• KLM (KL)
• Korean Airlines (KE)
• Kuwait Air (KU)
• Lacsa (LR)
• LAN Argentina (4M)
• LAN Chile (LA)
• LAN Colombia (4C)
• LAN Ecuador (XL)
• LAN Peru (LP)
• LIAT (LI)
• Luxair (LG)
• Malaysian Airlines (MH)
• Middle East Airlines (ME)
• Pakistan (PK)
• Philippine Airlines (PR)
• Qatar Airways (QR)
• Qantas Airways (QF)
• Royal Jordanian (RJ)
• Saudi Arabian Airlines (SV)
• Sky Airline (H2)
• SriLankan Airlines (UL)
• STA Travel (O0)
• TAM Linhas Aereas (JJ)
• TAM Transportes (PZ)
• Tunisair (TU)
• US Airways (US)
• Virgin Australia (VA)
• Vietnam Airlines (VN)
• Virgin Atlantic Airways (VS)
• Wideroe (WF)
• Yemenia Yemen Airways (IY)A

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm guessing neither would through check to CX on separate pnrs - AC being in *A and CX being OW. There may be airlines who are still happy to through check to other airlines on separate pnrs outside of their alliance however I don't know whether AC would be such an airline.

WS publish a list of their interline airline partners however CX is not on it.

WestJet Airlines Code-share and Interline Partners

Whilst Air Canada publish a list of their 'interline partners' it reads more as a list of airlines they have a codeshare arrangement with. It does not tell you whether they will through check bags to these other airlines on separate tickets when booked eg as a CX flight (as opposed to an AC codeshare flight operated by CX) which is what you want to know.


<snip>

Good point. Air Canada does interline with Qantas - done it many times, both ways. I once did AC connecting to CX through Vancouver and I'm pretty sure the bags got checked through - it was some years ago but I remember as I had things nicked out of the bag and had to claim!

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Good point. Air Canada does interline with Qantas - done it many times, both ways.

I once did AC connecting to CX through Vancouver and I'm pretty sure the bags got checked through - it was some years ago but I remember as I had things nicked out of the bag and had to claim!

Was the AC to QF transfer done even on separate tickets?

QF will interline bags to AC abd issue boarding passes only when on the same ticket.

 

[RooFlyer]

There is another recent thread on this topic, but I can't find it right now.

My experience is over the past 5 years; all my tickets done through my Travel Agent. I know some of the Qantas / AC flights were on separate tickets because some of the QF/CX ones were on a 'Circle Pacific' which can't include AC. I did SYD-LAX on QF (open jaw to YVR to HKG on CX) then LAX-YYC (break) - YVR on separate AC ticket. In these cases, the bags were interlined (refer my 'stolen items' issue above).

Getting the bags checked through and getting all the BPs from either QF (at this end) or AC (at the other end) has become so common I don't really think about it any more.

If its exceptional, maybe the TA is able to do something in the booking engine which brings the separate bookings together.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

If its exceptional, maybe the TA is able to do something in the booking engine which brings the separate bookings together.

It's possible that by the TA booking both the QF & AC flights at the same time (despite issuing separate tickets) via their GDS that the AC flight will appear as oncarriage after the QF flight.

If that's the case when you checkin with QF the CSA may say "travelling to LAX then YYC?"

What GDS does your TA use?

 

[OZDUCK]

Thanks for all your replies. I am leaning towards Westjet as they do seem to have a slightly better feel to them. I don't believe there will be much chance of an "interline" for my bags. I booked the CX Perth/Toronto return fare direct with them when their sale was on last year and we were still a long way from deciding our itinerary. So I just accepted that we would have to do a bit of bag carrying - but no harm in asking at check-in.

Mari - yes I will be taking photos of the car at pick-up as it does seem a good idea. My last 2 big trips in Europe were a lot easier as we used the Renault car leasing option - so a brand new car at pickup and the drop-off a 30 second walk-around to make sure you haven't hit a tree but no worries about scratches etc.

Rooflyer we are travelling in summer - end of August - so hopefully their will be no storms to worry about. However, like you, I am cautious about connections - I would rather be bored at the airport rather than frantic at the wrong airport. Both airline operate hourly flights between Halifax/Toronto and I intend to book one with probably 6 or 7 hours leeway to allow for cancellations. With CX I can check in about 4 hours before departure and then hide in the lounge - Plaza Premium in Terminal 3 I believe.

 

[RooFlyer]

It's possible that by the TA booking both the QF & AC flights at the same time (despite issuing separate tickets) via their GDS that the AC flight will appear as oncarriage after the QF flight.

If that's the case when you checkin with QF the CSA may say "travelling to LAX then YYC?"

What GDS does your TA use?

Still can't find the other thread, but I noted there that I can always see my AC flights before and after any QF ones on QF MMB

Re GDS, had to check a few e-mails ... its Amadeus, but only since 2014 (TA went-off-line for about 3 days in training!!). Dunno before that.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Still can't find the other thread, but I noted there that I can always see my AC flights before and after any QF ones on QF MMB

Re GDS, had to check a few e-mails ... its Amadeus, but only since 2014 (TA went-off-line for about 3 days in training!!). Dunno before that.

What you can see on MMB ie Amadeus reservations does not necessarily equate to what a CSA will see in Altea checkin eg flights entered in to reservations as information segments are not visible in checkin.

My money is on the fact the TA uses Amadeus and both the QF and AC are booked at the same time despite being ticketed separately. I don't know whether AC oncarriage would still be visible to QF if the AC flight was added at a later date or if you booked the QF & AC flights initially at the same time but changed the AC flight to a later or earlier departure.

 

[RooFlyer]

Yes, they would have been booked at the same time. I tell the TA when and where I want to go; they stitch it together, giving me options for routings/flights/prices; I select the ones I want; goes to client for OK, then its booked and ticketed.

I'm not all that interested in the mechanics behind it all. On an odd combination such as AC and QF, my starting assumption is that things won't interline, so when they do, its all good.

I'm sure why my experiences don't match many expressed on AFF in general is because the vast majority of my bookings are done through the TA (who, as I've said before, is pretty darn good!). Things just tend to 'work' and when they don't, they fix it up