Air Canada v WestJet

workingboy

Previously always flew with BA to Canada.
Now I think BA is ripping people off with their current Sale. The flights I've looked at in Nov/Dec and now in the sale they are quoting an extra £2000 more than Nov/Dec.

So now looking at alternatives. 
Has anyone flown with Air Canada and WestJet to compare their flights in Premium and Business class, where BA and AC using the Boeing 777 and WestJet Boeing 787 (Dreamliner).

Alan_Bowen

I have flown Air Canada twice and wouldn't choose to do it again. The flights were on time but the food was poor and the service was dreadful. I haven't flown Westjet but their business class gets excellent reviews and their planes are certainly a lot newer than AC's 

MysteryMe

I've flown Air Canada once and was not impressed.  I was surprised how rude the cabin crew were to passengers. I guess you can always get a rogue crew but never seen anything like it with other carriers I've used.

oscarward

I’ve flown to Calgary with ba in cattle and business and with AC in business.  You get what you pay for. But air Canada business on the same route was a notch better. I actually booked premium economy with AC but you can enter a auction to upgrade which I won on both flights.

both business flights had the same lie flat beds but I felt the AC staff took an interest in me as a person to the point where the cabin manager came round and greeted me by name and thanked me for flying with air Canada. The food and drinks were much the same and entertainment facilities on a par. The ba flight was man -lhr- yyc which bizarrely was cheaper than just lhr - yyc. so having high tea above Oxfordshire (basically ms sarnies ) was interesting.  It was just the feeling I was welcomed by AC whereas BA treated me as a customer. The AC. Lounges we’re slightly better as well. I’m planning to go back soon and I know who I will fly with.

thats my 2p worth

ps flown west jet internally with no issues but was only a short flight from Calgary to Vancouver so wasn’t expecting much. 

wondercollie

I'm a Canadian.   I do anything I can to avoid both of these airlines.  Unfortunately, where I live I have to use WestJet to get to a hub airport.

Air Canada's unofficial motto is "we're happy when the customer is miserable".  It's been that way for the last 30 years.  Snarly flight crews, mediocre food at best.   If going overseas, we tend to use KLM or BA.

Our last international flight with WestJet was a nightmare.   If you are booking up to Premium Economy make sure you  ARE getting a Dreamliner.   A couple of years back, when WestJet  was introducing the Dreamliner, we booked Premium Economy to Glasgow.  Nightmare.   Had to connect in Toronto.   Oh, did I mention they switched out the plane?   We wound up on one of their clunky old 767's with no real extras and no hot meal service both ways.   They also forgot to mention that we had to stop in Halifax and get off the plane for some reason.   Flights to Mexico and the Caribbean are good.

Let's leave it at we loved BA compared to both of the Canadian carriers.   We'd rather fly through Amsterdam than deal with them.

CKhalvashi

It may also be worth looking at other airlines.

I've always been happy with LOT (not sure if they're flying to Canada currently) when trying to reach hard to get to places in Europe. Nice crew, well maintained aircraft and a generally good experience.

KLM (although I haven't used them for several years) have also been a good choice, as would Lufthansa (who I haven't used since the days they owned BMI).

There shouldn't be a problem airside transiting with any of these options.