# Lounge > Travel and Vacation >  YYC Airport delays update?

## ExtraSlow

National media can't stop talking about Pearson, and Pearson always sucked. What's the status here at YYC for domestic flights? Are people getting there extra early?

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## max_boost

https://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/en/air...tional-airport

I just went with that. I got there about 90mins before flight departure.

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## flipstah

YYC was speedy when I went; no issues to report.

Took international flight so was there 2.5hrs early

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## Brent.ff

think its very dependent on time of day. when we flew to winnipeg we were through in ~4 minutes, but the security lady said that mornings are wild.

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## ThePenIsMightier

I was >90 min in the security line in February which made me miss a plane.
At Easter we got there the full ludicrous 3hr early and security lineup was like 2 minutes.
Domestic.

Whatever you don't want it to be, it is.

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## colsankey

At 630 this morning there was no line to get boarding passes/print bagged tags and security was a 30s wait for the 1 person in front of us. Pretty easy on a Monday morning it looks like.

I heard on Sunday there was a line up for the line up to pick up and drop off people at the airport in Calgary according to the taxi driver and my uncle.

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## flipstah

> At 630 this morning there was no line to get boarding passes/print bagged tags and security was a 30s wait for the 1 person in front of us. Pretty easy on a Monday morning it looks like.
> 
> I heard on Sunday there was a line up for the line up to pick up and drop off people at the airport in Calgary according to the taxi driver and my uncle.



I came back on Sunday and it was jam packed if you were looking for a taxi. I parked at the airport and three floors were full.

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## jutes

Who cares about waits at security lines, biggest problem at Pearson anyway is lost luggage. Western Canada doesnt seem as bad.

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## Brent.ff

winnipeg also had their starbucks close at 2 pm cause the person behind the counter was feeling overwhelmed.. with ~20 people in line.. it was a thing

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## Tik-Tok

> winnipeg also had their starbucks close at 2 pm cause the person behind the counter was feeling overwhelmed.. with ~20 people in line.. it was a thing



That's actually completely understandable considering what the typical customer is like at a normal Starbucks, let alone an airport one with a line full of people who are going to miss their flight because god forbid they don't get their starbucks beforehand. I'd shut down the shop too if I had a bunch of Karens yelling at me.

Mind you, that's also why I never choose any job that deals directly with the general public.

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## flipstah

> That's actually completely understandable considering what the typical customer is like at a normal Starbucks, let alone an airport one with a line full of people who are going to miss their flight because god forbid they don't get their starbucks beforehand. I'd shut down the shop too if I had a bunch of Karens yelling at me.
> 
> Mind you, that's also why I never choose any job that deals directly with the general public.



Starbucks customers are the ones that bitch about not getting gluten-free water

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## Brent.ff

I just wanted a black coffee that wasnt tim hortons.. its not my fault they serve oak milk lattes

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## ExtraSlow

Domestic gates flowing well at YYC today. Sending my wife away for a few days and she reported 5 minutes at security and no line at subway.

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## nismodrifter

Quick question. First time travelling with small child and we want to avoid checking anything in. Does car seat get gate checked like the strolled does? Or does it go into the arena of checked baggage meaning a wait on the other side?

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## ThePenIsMightier

> Quick question. First time travelling with small child and we want to avoid checking anything in. Does car seat get gate checked like the strolled does? Or does it go into the arena of checked baggage meaning a wait on the other side?



Checked bag, I'm afraid. Actually it's usually to the oversized area.
Sorry

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## ExtraSlow

Might be easier not to take the kid. Check with local kennel options.

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## ThePenIsMightier

You can take certain (_very_ precious few) car seats onto the airplane and use them as a "booster" for the kid (assuming kid > 1.999yo) but you will hate that a lot.

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## gmc72

My wife is flying to Newfoundland tomorrow via Toronto at 6am. Planning on getting her to the airport at 4am. Hopefully there's no issue in Pearson where she changes planes. No checked bags, so that should help.

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## ThePenIsMightier

> My wife is flying to Newfoundland tomorrow via Toronto at 6am. Planning on getting her to the airport at 4am. Hopefully there's no issue in Pearson where she changes planes. No checked bags, so that should help.



I hope it goes well for her, and the carry-on only should really help. I just paid a last minute $1,300 extra to avoid a family layover, deejays (thanks auto erect!) _delays_ and lost birthday presents in Pearson.

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## rage2

I flew out to the island last week Thursday morning, the security lineup was horrendous. Probably an hour wait through security. Nobody in nexus line so I got through in 10 mins.

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## ExtraSlow

What's the attitude recently for YYC security for allowing family through the nexus security line if only one parent has the card? That's been sort of discretionary in the past I think?

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## rage2

> What's the attitude recently for YYC security for allowing family through the nexus security line if only one parent has the card? That's been sort of discretionary in the past I think?



Can’t tell ya. We all have nexus. Worth every dollar, highly recommended.

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## Brent.ff

> Quick question. First time travelling with small child and we want to avoid checking anything in. Does car seat get gate checked like the strolled does? Or does it go into the arena of checked baggage meaning a wait on the other side?



Watched three familys lose car seats on my last flight.. losing a bag is shitty.. not being able to leave the airport safely is a whole other pile of shit

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## nismodrifter

> Watched three familys lose car seats on my last flight.. losing a bag is shitty.. not being able to leave the airport safely is a whole other pile of shit



I'll push for gate check and see what happens.

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## Brent.ff

> I'll push for gate check and see what happens.



I think 1 or 2 of those were gate checked (only reason i know is we gate checked a bag and they lost it so was in the baggage line with them)

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## Tik-Tok

> I flew out to the island last week Thursday morning, the security lineup was horrendous. Probably an hour wait through security. Nobody in nexus line so I got through in 10 mins.



Last week, Tuesday morning I breezed right through Gate A. This week, same time, Tuesday had a massive lineup. A lot of people going home after visiting Stampede for the weekend though.

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## g-m

I fly pretty regularly and I'd say Calgary has been largely normal. Feels like 2013 busy

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## ?????

> What's the attitude recently for YYC security for allowing family through the nexus security line if only one parent has the card? That's been sort of discretionary in the past I think?



As of recent it's still discretionary. You'll have to try and see. 
Our youngest is still waiting but the rest of us have them and it was ok. 
I've also gone through with a adult friend who doesn't have one. 




> I'll push for gate check and see what happens.



If your child has their own seat you can also take the car seat (if approved) and use it as a booster on the plane.
Otherwise I would push for gate check but you'll have to lug it around.
We checked ours in this time to reduce the amount of stuff we're lugging around and it was checked in with the oversized items. Came out no issues at Heathrow (weekend of luggage mountain).

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## 90_Shelby

Or buy this booster seat and put it in your carry on bag. I have two.

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## vengie

> I'll push for gate check and see what happens.



You can gate check 2 items with a kid.

We recently did this flying to and from Van (2 weeks ago).

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## ThePenIsMightier

> Or buy this booster seat and put it in your carry on bag. I have two.



I also have these and use them for travel.
But I think Nismo's question was about a full-on car seat and likely even an infant one.

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## Gainsbarre

> What's the attitude recently for YYC security for allowing family through the nexus security line if only one parent has the card? That's been sort of discretionary in the past I think?



I've been stopped a few times for "random" extra screening at the domestic terminal in YYC over the past few months where they swab your carry on items, paying close attention to electronics. Every time this has happened, the person doing this extra search had instructed me to use the Nexus line (even though I don't have a Nexus card). Staff up at at the x-ray machine in the Nexus line have questioned me about my non-existent Nexus card, so I tell them that I was instructed to use the line after being subject to additional screening, and they were fine with that. The same thing has happened to me at the international terminal in YYC. So a possible unethical LPT is to use the Nexus line and says that you were told to use this line after being subject to additional screening...

I can't say that I've found YYC to be particularly busy since the new international terminal opened in late 2016. Haven't had any major problems/delays in the past 3 years, though I've pretty much flown exclusively with Air Canada and United over this time. Even pre-pandemic I had issues with Westjet, especially when arriving after 10 pm, when apparently there often aren't any gate staff and you wind up stuck on the plane for another 20-30 minutes.

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## Twin_Cam_Turbo

25 mins from drop off to through security at international just now.

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## CRXguy

> What's the attitude recently for YYC security for allowing family through the nexus security line if only one parent has the card? That's been sort of discretionary in the past I think?



My buddy with Nexus got the 2 of us in no questions asked when we flew out to YVR last month. Friday afternoon but it wasn't insanely busy.

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## 03ozwhip

Was delayed coming home from firebag fir 2.5 hours today. System outage im told.

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## arcticcat522

> Or buy this booster seat and put it in your carry on bag. I have two.



Where did you buy this? I need one for Thursday morning. Link? Thanks in advance

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## mr2mike

Mid afternoon domestic flight.
Dead at yyc.

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## davidI

I flew out of YYC a few days ago. All was good except for security. They had a dozen trays queued to be manually checked and this one chick spent like 20 minutes with some stupid bitch going through all of her little cosmetic bottles which she had not packed correctly. She got her a clear bag then started putting them in one by one. Of course they wouldn't fit in the 1L bag so she took them out one by one and asked which the girl wanted to throw out. Tries again, stacking them in one by one. Doesn't fit. Takes them out one by one. So on and so forth while a dozen of us waited to find out why the fuck our bags had been flagged (I was "randomly selected" to have a bomb swab per usual).

The rest of YYC was smooth sailing.

YUL in Montreal on the other hand... appropriately named Trudeau airport, was a fucking gong show. I won't even go into it but it honestly made me never want to fly again. Fucking trainwreck. They were showing ~50% of the flights as delayed but my flight (which was supposedly on-time according to the board) boarded an hour late so my guess is 100% of flights were delayed or canceled.

I guarantee if I hadn't caught COVID on my way in through there I would have caught it on my way out (who knows, maybe I caught it again). 

Only good news is my luggage arrived (dirty and broken, but it's here). 

Honestly, I'm happy to be out of Canada. Other airports I've been through recently have their issues but nothing like Trudeau International.

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## mr2mike

That sucks.
Montreal?? Probably got monkeypox too.

Flying to John Wayne airport next month. Purposefully avoiding LAX.

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## ThePenIsMightier

> Where did you buy this? I need one for Thursday morning. Link? Thanks in advance



They are called MiFold. I believe Cdn Tire and many others sell them.

https://www.mifold.ca/en/what-is-mifold

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## 90_Shelby

> Where did you buy this? I need one for Thursday morning. Link? Thanks in advance



Sorry for the late reply, Amazon is where I got mine but they wouldn’t have been able to accommodate a delivery within 7 minutes of your post. That’s a tight deadline! Hope you found one!

https://www.amazon.ca/mifold-MF06CGR...&s=baby&sr=1-1

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## cyra1ax

Came home on Friday from Cancun, WestJet didn't have enough ground staff to unload my aircraft. Had to wait two and a half hours for my bag to be unloaded from the plane. Cousin had a connecting flight as well and they were waiting for the pilots to show up from another flight.

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## Gainsbarre

Flew out of YYC on a domestic flight this past Saturday (July 16) and back on Tuesday evening (July 19). No delays with Air Canada, and my checked bag showed up quite quickly. Maple Leaf Lounges appear to have done away with the QR codes to order from your table this month (QR codes were still in use in June in YYC and YYZ), but there was still hot food available in the Maple Leaf Lounge in YYC.

Flown in and out of YYC/YEG/YVR/YUL/YYZ/YOW with Air Canada since May and haven't encountered any major delays. Layovers at YYZ haven't been a problem for me, but these were all domestic layovers and I never had to leave the secure area - my understanding here is that many of the delays at YYZ have had to do with the security screening checkpoints.

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## nismodrifter

Update: Great experience flying out of YVR. Security let us bypass line, opened a gate so we could walk directly to a screening station and get things going. Car seat went on plane fine. Took me like 1 min to buckle it in. Stroller gate checked and waiting for me on the other end @ the gate.

For reference this is the car seat I have in my car (in which he does shorter trips) and for travel. 
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/c...w.ds#store=678

Thanks for the help.

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## mr2mike

> Came home on Friday from Cancun, WestJet didn't have enough ground staff to unload my aircraft. Had to wait two and a half hours for my bag to be unloaded from the plane. Cousin had a connecting flight as well and they were waiting for the pilots to show up from another flight.



I expect WestJet flights to get worse in short term with looming strike. Unless that's been settled?

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## arcticcat522

Strike averted. Very happy to hear that this am, since we travel on the 28th. Still looking for a travel booster seat if anyone sees any for sale. Not pink please.

Also, anyone hear of or use the appointment for security at yyc? Wife told me about it. Never heard about it before. Anyone use it before?

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## colsankey

We booked a security time on our flight to Cancun but it was for 7:30. When we walked up to security at 7:10 there was like 8 people in line so we just walked in cast say much beyond booking it was painless, but no idea how well it works if security is slammed.

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## Maxx Mazda

> I expect WestJet flights to get worse in short term with looming strike. Unless that's been settled?



WJ is struggling with their below wing service provider in Calgary, ATS. They contracted out their baggage handling a few years ago, and it's been a complete disaster ever since. Now that company can't attract staff, and can't hang onto the little staff they do have. Planes are leaving without baggage loaded. I don't mean a few bags get left behind, I mean NO luggage loaded. 0 bags. They only have enough staff to run over from another flight and push the aircraft out, because the airport authority needs the gate free for another airline, but not enough staff to actually load the bags.

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## 88CRX

WTF happened to the parking police at arrivals pickup? 

Was there last night and the entire fucking parking area is overrun by people sitting in their cars idling away... NOT PICKING ANYONE UP. 

Bring back those whistle blowing fuckers.

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## ?????

> Strike averted. Very happy to hear that this am, since we travel on the 28th. Still looking for a travel booster seat if anyone sees any for sale. Not pink please.
> 
> Also, anyone hear of or use the appointment for security at yyc? Wife told me about it. Never heard about it before. Anyone use it before?



I have one Mifold we just used on our trip to Europe. 
If you can't find anything you can borrow it for your trip. DM me today if interested since you're leaving Thursday morning.

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## rage2

> WJ is struggling with their below wing service provider in Calgary, ATS. They contracted out their baggage handling a few years ago, and it's been a complete disaster ever since. Now that company can't attract staff, and can't hang onto the little staff they do have. Planes are leaving without baggage loaded. I don't mean a few bags get left behind, I mean NO luggage loaded. 0 bags. They only have enough staff to run over from another flight and push the aircraft out, because the airport authority needs the gate free for another airline, but not enough staff to actually load the bags.



Even tho AC has been in the news non stop, WJ has been a worse shit show in comparison from what I'm hearing. They're just not talking about it in the news.

That said, my WJ flight I took last month to BC was flawless and on time haha.

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## ExtraSlow

Is that issue with ground staff worse at any particular airport? I could see them falling behind worst at Pearson since they are lower priority than AC there.

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## arcticcat522

> I have one Mifold we just used on our trip to Europe. 
> If you can't find anything you can borrow it for your trip. DM me today if interested since you're leaving Thursday morning.



Pm'd.....thanks

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## Maxx Mazda

> Is that issue with ground staff worse at any particular airport? I could see them falling behind worst at Pearson since they are lower priority than AC there.



It has nothing to do with priority. AC does it’s own ground handling at most stations in Canada so that they have complete control over the operation. WJ tried to look good to the bean counters when they were bought by Onyx and farmed everything out. I believe WS uses Swissport in YYZ. They’re 200x better than ATS, but they’re still a contractor, and WS is subject to them.

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## ExtraSlow

Gotcha. Penny pinching.

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## jutes

Is this a crisis emergency for the military to be called in? They aren’t doing much now anyway.

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## ThePenIsMightier

> Is this a crisis emergency for the military to be called in? They arent doing much now anyway.



Only if it affects deh cLiMaTe

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## mr2mike

> WTF happened to the parking police at arrivals pickup? 
> 
> Was there last night and the entire fucking parking area is overrun by people sitting in their cars idling away... NOT PICKING ANYONE UP. 
> 
> Bring back those whistle blowing fuckers.



I agree. Was there and it was a shit show to drive in and pick someone up.
Flight was delayed 1hr due to Toronto airport issues.

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## Gainsbarre

> WTF happened to the parking police at arrivals pickup? 
> 
> Was there last night and the entire fucking parking area is overrun by people sitting in their cars idling away... NOT PICKING ANYONE UP. 
> 
> Bring back those whistle blowing fuckers.



It's almost more common now to see parked, unattended vehicles in the arriving passenger pickup area of YYC, especially on the international terminal side. The staff were super vigilant in 2018/2019, but since the pandemic they have been completely absent. The only consistent staff I've see have seen in this area over the past few years are those touts for the limousine taxis. YYC staff are a rare sight, and the only time I've seen them in this area post pandemic has been to (maybe) collect abandoned luggage carts. Haven't seen them say/do anything about these parked cars in the passenger pickup area...

That being said, the international arrivals pickup area has been far less crowded - I always walk over to that area for my ride rather than wait on the domestic side.

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## Team_Mclaren

> Is this a crisis emergency for the military to be called in? They aren’t doing much now anyway.



Like the 10 people in the military wouldn't help the situation...

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## Maxt

They need a review of their parking systems and charges up there as well.

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## mr2mike

> They need a review of their parking systems and charges up there as well.



$5.75/30 min seems like that business is recession proof.

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## Twin_Cam_Turbo

YYC was a breeze compared to Heathrow. It took 1:40 to drop our bags with Westjet and get past security, thousands of people in the line id estimate.

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## flipstah

> YYC was a breeze compared to Heathrow. It took 1:40 to drop our bags with Westjet and get past security, thousands of people in the line id estimate.



The scale of traffic is also way off. YYC is a townie airport compared to LHR

It was already a shit storm in June; can’t imagine peak shit show

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## ExtraSlow

Townie airports FTW baby. Avoiding any airport larger than YYC is smart planning.

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## Maxt

> $5.75/30 min seems like that business is recession proof.



 Yeah, and there is some issues with their equipment, they tried to get me twice on the same visit.

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## Twin_Cam_Turbo

Fucking RIP, I spoke too soon. Landed an hour and a half ago in YYC, our entire flight still waiting for bags. My AirTag shows them still sitting on the plane.

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## mr2mike

> Fucking RIP, I spoke too soon. Landed an hour and a half ago in YYC, our entire flight still waiting for bags. My AirTag shows them still sitting on the plane.



Update? Airline?

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## Twin_Cam_Turbo

> Update? Airline?



Westjet. Took two hours and eight minutes to get my bag after landing.

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## ThePenIsMightier

> Westjet. Took two hours and eight minutes to get my bag after landing.



This boils my jimmies. You should just leave and they can fucking deliver it to you, after. It's lost luggage at that point of holding you hostage in the airport that long.

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## killramos

Union Employees. The pinnacle of efficiency and competence amirit.

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## flipstah

From my experience the past couple of trips, WJ has shit the bed since they got bought out and AC stepped up with their offering. 

Food and service really improved at AC for long haul flights. Not sure if they have the same contractor for the ground crew but AC flights for me have been on time

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## asp integra

Flying yyc to toronto on wednesday. Hope everything goes smoothly. wish me luck

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## killramos

> Flying yyc to toronto on wednesday. Hope everything goes smoothly. wish me luck



You ded

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## arcticcat522

Left yyc last Thurs heading to yyz. No issues on either end. Actually, got our bags faster than ever....if only the dam rental car companies could open there spots in terminal 3 and not make me cart 2 kids and 2 carts of luggage up 3 floors, take a train ride and walk to the opposite end of a parkade to get to terminal 1 car rental place...

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## 89coupe

We had zero issues flying to Hawaii, no line-ups, no baggage issues, no delays.
We flew WestJet 
Hopefully the same coming back to Canada.

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## killramos

Wait. You went to Hawaii?

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## g-m

No issues flying Calgary to Dublin through Heathrow on July 31. Had to get our bags in Heathrow. Very few lines in Calgary or Heathrow and the bags came at both airports within 40 minutes.

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## jutes

> Wait. You went to Hawaii?



Wait. He uses airlines and not private jets?

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## killramos

> Wait. He uses airlines and not private jets?



He wasn’t kidding anyone there

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## Maxx Mazda

> Union Employees. The pinnacle of efficiency and competence amirit.



It's cheap ass Westjet contracting out their ground handling to a beater 3rd party company who can't staff properly. You get what you pay for.

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## killramos

Same shit. Different pile.

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## jutes

Didn't westjet have their own ground handling at one point? Probably cost too much and ate into their bottom line. We don't need happy workers.

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## bjstare

> Didn't westjet have their own ground handling at one point? Probably cost too much and ate into their bottom line. We don't need happy workers.



I believe they did so for a long time.

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## Maxx Mazda

> Didn't westjet have their own ground handling at one point? Probably cost too much and ate into their bottom line. We don't need happy workers.



Yep, then when Onyx took over they axed them all in favour of a cheap 3rd party vendor with 1/4 the employees.

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## killramos

All I am hearing out of this is that Air Canada manages to still provide the same shit service with 4x the staff

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## mr2mike

The way it is currently, might as well eliminate the jobs and put a vending machine on the planes.
#OptimizationYr2000

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## Maxx Mazda

> All I am hearing out of this is that Air Canada manages to still provide the same shit service with 4x the staff



Huh? Air Canada has been grossly understaffed for decades. Maybe if they had a "care-antee"?

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## killramos

> huh? Air canada has been gross for decades. Maybe if they had a "care-antee"?



ftfy

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## suntan

AC had pretty good wages, way better than WJ.

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## C4S

Well, picked our my cousin couple night (morning) ago .. from 9pm arrival ... delayed to 2am ..  :facepalm:

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## littledan

Currently at gate in saskatoon heading back to etown. Holy fuck if you think ground handling is bad wtf is with the bathroom cleaners. I took a pee, left washroom and attendant was just going in. Flight got delayed, whisky had filtered thru so took another pee. Same stains on floor and piss stench everywhere. Ewtf u doing if you not mopping the floor. Ffs. Cant I just pee in a fragrance other than mammal urine. Ugh.

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## haggis88

> Well, picked our my cousin couple night (morning) ago .. from 9pm arrival ... delayed to 2am ..



I just had a stroke trying to read this  :ROFL!:

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## haggis88

I'm flying to YYZ tomorrow...RIP me

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## ExtraSlow

> I'm flying to YYZ tomorrow...RIP me



Yeah you've had a good run.

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## haggis88

> Yeah you've had a good run.



$899/night for the Hampton Inn at the airport  :ROFL!:

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## ExtraSlow

Insane

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## ThePenIsMightier

I just bent the Calgary airport over. Bags came out in 15 min and ours were in the first dozen. Nothing lost/broken/stolen.
No bullshit ground crew delays and a free ride home.

Like a Bauss!

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## Tik-Tok

> AC had pretty good wages, way better than WJ.



As aircraft maintenance, WJ starts hilariously low. I audibly snickered in my interview when they told me the start wage and told them it would be a 33% paycut for me, the interviewer got defensive and proudly proclaimed that he had to take a paycut when he started. Like his poor decision making was supposed to be a industry standard.

Needless to say I wasn't offered the position.

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## Maxx Mazda

> As aircraft maintenance, WJ starts hilariously low. I audibly snickered in my interview when they told me the start wage and told them it would be a 33% paycut for me, the interviewer got defensive and proudly proclaimed that he had to take a paycut when he started. Like his poor decision making was supposed to be a industry standard.
> 
> Needless to say I wasn't offered the position.



This. Westjet acts like they’re doing you some sort of favour by “allowing” you to work for them. It’s a joke. Fortunately, the effect of the Koolaid seems to have worn off a few years ago, and now they’re having trouble attracting staff for almost every role within the company.

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## ExtraSlow

WestJet probably at one point had the kind of culture or environment that could justify a bit of attitude. I am not surprised to hear that's no longer true.

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## haggis88

No issues at YYC

Beer in WJ lounge at gate b was cold and the brisket was tasty

Flight took off about 25 mins late, seemed to take the gate staff forever to check everyones papers

Took almost 1hr to get my priority oversized baggage at YYZ

Then another hour to get over to Terminal 1 to collect my rental car...which could have taken a LONG time if i wasn't emerald executive status (and didn't care what vehicle i got) some people there had been waiting for almost 2hrs for a car (I'm assuming they wanted something specific)

In short, fuck YYZ

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## Gainsbarre

> No issues at YYC
> 
> Beer in WJ lounge at gate b was cold and the brisket was tasty
> 
> Flight took off about 25 mins late, seemed to take the gate staff forever to check everyones papers
> 
> Took almost 1hr to get my priority oversized baggage at YYZ
> 
> Then another hour to get over to Terminal 1 to collect my rental car...which could have taken a LONG time if i wasn't emerald executive status (and didn't care what vehicle i got) some people there had been waiting for almost 2hrs for a car (I'm assuming they wanted something specific)
> ...



Did they still use QR codes to order from your table at the WestJet Elevation Lounge? They stopped using the QR codes at the Maple Leaf Lounge in July. Westjet Elevation Lounge is easily the best lounge at YYC and dare I say, one of the best in Canada - it's head and shoulders above the Maple Leaf Lounge in concourse C or the Aspire lounges in the new terminal. Disappointed that one of my credit cards dumped LoungeKey for DragonPass earlier this year, meaning that I can't access the Westjet Elevation Lounge for free anymore. The Elevation Lounge had an impressive menu, attentive service, and a bar + bartender with a lot more depth than the Maple Leaf Lounge, while the Aspire Lounges have never had bartenders (always self serve). My only gripe with the Elevation Lounge is their specially brewed "Elevation Lager," which is pretty lousy.

I don't think baggage handlers at Canadian airports care about checked luggage with a "PRIORITY" tag - it's rare (<10% of the time) that my bags have shown up first in a Canadian airport. Contrast this with US airports, where "PRIORITY" tagged checked luggage (from my experience) shows up first about 40-50% of the time.

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## haggis88

> Did they still use QR codes to order from your table at the WestJet Elevation Lounge? They stopped using the QR codes at the Maple Leaf Lounge in July. Westjet Elevation Lounge is easily the best lounge at YYC and dare I say, one of the best in Canada - it's head and shoulders above the Maple Leaf Lounge in concourse C or the Aspire lounges in the new terminal. Disappointed that one of my credit cards dumped LoungeKey for DragonPass earlier this year, meaning that I can't access the Westjet Elevation Lounge for free anymore. The Elevation Lounge had an impressive menu, attentive service, and a bar + bartender with a lot more depth than the Maple Leaf Lounge, while the Aspire Lounges have never had bartenders (always self serve). My only gripe with the Elevation Lounge is their specially brewed "Elevation Lager," which is pretty lousy.
> 
> I don't think baggage handlers at Canadian airports care about checked luggage with a "PRIORITY" tag - it's rare (<10% of the time) that my bags have shown up first in a Canadian airport. Contrast this with US airports, where "PRIORITY" tagged checked luggage (from my experience) shows up first about 40-50% of the time.



Haven't been in a Maple Leaf Lounge since before COVID as my Air Canada status elapsed and I was doing a bunch of WJ route only flights so was going to hit the status with them way quicker

Yes QR codes still in effect, service was still quick for my first beer and my meal, but didn't get my second beer as after waiting about 15 mins I had to go board

The Elevation Lager was pretty boring, but not any worse than your run-of-the-mill North American "beer" like Molson or Coors.

As far as the priority baggage, I guess it might depend on the airport, certainly at Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, FSJ, Saskatoon, Regina and Halifax my stuff has all come out rapid style, but none of them are anywhere near the size of YYZ, so perhaps it was still among the quicker stuff considering the size and weight of it

----------


## jutes

> As aircraft maintenance, WJ starts hilariously low. I audibly snickered in my interview when they told me the start wage and told them it would be a 33% paycut for me, the interviewer got defensive and proudly proclaimed that he had to take a paycut when he started. Like his poor decision making was supposed to be a industry standard.
> 
> Needless to say I wasn't offered the position.



AME wages are hilariously low. Not like they are responsible for the safety of hundreds of passengers.

----------


## 89coupe

Smooth sailing coming home from OGG, connected in YVR. Zero issues, no lines thanks to TSA approved credentials.

We bought Apple air tags just in case, worked great but not needed.

----------


## g-m

> Haven't been in a Maple Leaf Lounge since before COVID as my Air Canada status elapsed and I was doing a bunch of WJ route only flights so was going to hit the status with them way quicker
> 
> Yes QR codes still in effect, service was still quick for my first beer and my meal, but didn't get my second beer as after waiting about 15 mins I had to go board
> 
> The Elevation Lager was pretty boring, but not any worse than your run-of-the-mill North American "beer" like Molson or Coors.
> 
> As far as the priority baggage, I guess it might depend on the airport, certainly at Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, FSJ, Saskatoon, Regina and Halifax my stuff has all come out rapid style, but none of them are anywhere near the size of YYZ, so perhaps it was still among the quicker stuff considering the size and weight of it



Hah that's funny, I'm in Ireland and think all the beer is awful. I've just been drinking Heineken because that's as close to 'boring' as I can get

----------


## haggis88

> Hah that's funny, I'm in Ireland and think all the beer is awful. I've just been drinking Heineken because that's as close to 'boring' as I can get



What have you tried? The paddys make some tremendous beers and lagers

----------


## haggis88

Oversize bags dropped at Pearson and through domestic security in about 20 mins all together, was expecting way worse

Most annoying thing is the car rentals at T3 being closed for reno, so having to drop the rental at t1 and take the train with 100kg of bags is a freaking pain in the tits

The Plaza Premium Lounge is nice in T3

It says World Elite Mastercard users can access too, should have tried with my Triangle card hahah

----------


## Gainsbarre

> Oversize bags dropped at Pearson and through domestic security in about 20 mins all together, was expecting way worse
> 
> Most annoying thing is the car rentals at T3 being closed for reno, so having to drop the rental at t1 and take the train with 100kg of bags is a freaking pain in the tits
> 
> The Plaza Premium Lounge is nice in T3
> 
> It says World Elite Mastercard users can access too, should have tried with my Triangle card hahah



I've never had issues with car rentals at Toronto Pearson (most recent was January of this year), although I think I've flown Air Canada every time I've pick up/dropped off a rental car at YYZ, so it's not a bad walk to/from Terminal 1.

I think almost all World Elite Mastercards (e.g. Triangle, Rogers...) will get you the "membership" to access these lounges, but then it's an additional 30 some dollars (US) for one time access. Some WE MasterCards (e.g. a few through BMO) give you 4 to 6 complementary passes per year, and only a few cards (e.g. HSBC Jade World Elite) give you unlimited passes. With the exception of the HSBC Jade WE Mastercard, I think that all of the WE Mastercards that include complementary airport lounge access will have an annual fee. 

I checked out the Plaza Premium lounge in Edmonton during a layover last month and discovered that they charge for most alcohol so I pretty quickly headed back across to the Maple Leaf Lounge across the hallway. Glad to hear it sounds better in YYZ - apparently the big reason for my credit card dumping LoungeKey in favour of DragonPass was to regain access to these Plaza Premium lounges. Since my home airport is YYC, there's no Plaza Premium lounge here, and the WestJet Elevation lounge is part of LoungeKey but not DragonPass, going from LoungeKey to DragonPass is a pretty big downgrade for me.

----------


## littledan

Weird, I was just at plaza premium in YEG and they didn't charge me for any boos??? I think beer and any of the standard boos on the bottom shelf are included and the ones on the top shelf you gotta pay?

----------


## Gainsbarre

> Weird, I was just at plaza premium in YEG and they didn't charge me for any boos??? I think beer and any of the standard boos on the bottom shelf are included and the ones on the top shelf you gotta pay?



There were two Alley Kat beers on tap that were complementary. I think there was a charge for all other beers there. Plaza Premium YEG also has a pretty loose definition of top shelf liquor (e.g. Jack Daniels Old No. 7). All alcohol is complementary in most (all?) non Plaza Premium lounges in Canada including Maple Leaf Lounges, Aspire lounges, and the Westjet Elevation Lounge at YYC.

----------


## rage2

Pretty easy to YYZ. No wait on the tarmac, actually arrived early, even tho we were delayed slightly on departure.

Gonna miss lounge access and all the perks next year. Super elite this year, peasant status next year. Just not even close to enough flying for work anymore. I do miss the grind sometimes.

----------


## The_Penguin

Flew Westjet to Santa Ana last week. The bag drop wasn't working (again) on the way there. Took 3 different people bitching at Westjet for an employee to go "Oh, the belt is off. Lemme go push the button" Westjet kiosks were slower than a PC Jr. Otherwise no issues.
Coming back last night, kiosks (still slow but better) wouldn't print bag tags. No staff at the check-in till 1.5 hours before the flight. 
Much to my shock, bags in Calgary were out in 20 minutes. Priority ones first, and actually close together. Maybe they're starting to get their shit together.

----------


## haggis88

AC Super Elite is nice, one of our guys is close to the Million Mile status with them...that would be quality

Now that I have my WJ gold status I might go back to AC for the rest of the year and try to get to 35k with them again, the Star Alliance benefits used to be among the better ones

----------


## haggis88

> Much to my shock, bags in Calgary were out in 20 minutes. Priority ones first, and actually close together. Maybe they're starting to get their shit together.



Calgary was always good for priority bags in my experience i got mine in about 10-15 mins last night too, but not many WJ flights were arriving at that time - they went thru oversize to load but came out on the regular conveyor, funny

I did notice they changed their bag policy...used to be that if you paid for extra bags, you got the 32kg allowance but now it's just normal bag weight and you pay again if it's overweight, so with all 3 of my cases being 30kg it cost $400 for baggage (2 free, 1 extra, 3 oversize)

----------


## ExtraSlow

I'll post tomorrow morning how it goes, but I'll be the guy rolling through gate D with sullen tweens and a grumpy wife. booked a "reservation" at security, which I had never seen before, but maybe it'll be nice. Or maybe I'll flash the nexus card and start screaming "do you know who I am" or something, we shall see what my mood is like.

----------


## ThePenIsMightier

> I'll post tomorrow morning how it goes, but I'll be the guy rolling through gate D with sullen tweens and a grumpy wife. booked a "reservation" at security, which I had never seen before, but maybe it'll be nice. Or maybe I'll flash the nexus card and start screaming "do you know who I am" or something, we shall see what my mood is like.



The phrase that pays is Allah Akbar!!
It's like a secret code for security personnel to let you through much quicker.

/Today's episode of _Just The Tips_ with TPiM.

----------


## littledan

> The phrase that pays is Allah Akbar!!
> It's like a secret code for security personnel to let you through much quicker.
> 
> /Today's episode of _Just The Tips_ with TPiM.



The correct term is Aloha Snackbar.

----------


## Masked Bandit

General airport question, are masks still mandatory A) in the airports and or B) on planes? I've been paying attention to news clips at the airports and it seems about 50/50 soooo?

----------


## redblack

> General airport question, are masks still mandatory A) in the airports and or B) on planes? I've been paying attention to news clips at the airports and it seems about 50/50 soooo?



Just got back from the UK. Mandatory mask in the YYC terminal and on the plane (westjet) but there were people walking around the terminal without it. I don’t even know why they bother anymore.

----------


## haggis88

> General airport question, are masks still mandatory A) in the airports and or B) on planes? I've been paying attention to news clips at the airports and it seems about 50/50 soooo?



Mandatory everywhere in the Canadian airports but only security and flight crew will challenge you on it

----------


## rage2

Apparently it’s anything Canadian federally regulated. Airports, planes (not sure how US flights work), trains and stations (but only Via is federal?). It’s annoying as fuck. I’ve got yelled at a bunch of times cuz I pulled the mask down to eat and forgot to pull it up. 

Basically, fuck Trudeau.

----------


## ThePenIsMightier

Several airports are saying they're only required once you get to security. Most aren't.

----------


## haggis88

> Several airports are saying they're only required once you get to security. Most aren't.



Grande Prairie had security waiting at the door saying we're not in a communist town now and could take our masks off last time I flew up  :ROFL!:

----------


## Tik-Tok

Just be like the guy I saw last month. Chewing gum while standing in line, and then loudly proclaiming how "he's eating" when security challenged him.

It worked out great for him.

----------


## ExtraSlow

Be sure to argue with the flight crew too.

----------


## mr2mike

> Grande Prairie had security waiting at the door saying we're not in a communist town now and could take our masks off last time I flew up



Can confirm this is still happening.

California: Masks "required" in any public transportation including Uber. But most don't wear a mask and was never asked to put one on when picked up. But Uber has a checkbox every time, "you're wearing a mask?"

----------


## digi355

> Apparently it’s anything Canadian federally regulated. Airports, planes (not sure how US flights work), trains and stations (but only Via is federal?). It’s annoying as fuck. I’ve got yelled at a bunch of times cuz I pulled the mask down to eat and forgot to pull it up. 
> 
> Basically, fuck Trudeau.



Flew to Houston in June. When the departing door closes, masks off. When you return, masks have to be on when the door opens.

----------


## ExtraSlow

No line at d gate security this morning. Literally none. Easy oeasy aside from WestJet changing our flight to C.

----------


## killramos

My wife had some loser at air Canada try and deny her and a baby boarding becuase she was only 2 hours early for her flight this AM.

Baggage was first off the plane once it got here though so that was nice.

----------


## haggis88

> My wife had some loser at air Canada try and deny her and a baby boarding becuase she was only 2 hours early for her flight this AM.
> 
> Baggage was first off the plane once it got here though so that was nice.



What?

How can they even?

Was that the check in desk?

----------


## killramos

> What?
> 
> How can they even?
> 
> Was that the check in desk?



Entitlement. It’s called entitlement.

----------


## haggis88

Ah, the enhanced feeling the the serfs seem to have since covid because they believe no one else will eventually come and do their jobs for less money

----------


## Maxx Mazda

> My wife had some loser at air Canada try and deny her and a baby boarding becuase she was only 2 hours early for her flight this AM.
> 
> Baggage was first off the plane once it got here though so that was nice.



What’s the real story here? No way were they boarding a flight 2 hours prior to departure.

----------


## killramos

They claimed the security line was too long and “they would never make it” and didn’t want to take their bags.

Heaven forbid an Air Canada employee do their job.

Hint: They made it to the gate just fine

Useless morons. The whole airline should just be allowed to fail. It would be the kinder outcome than stiengling them along another decade.

----------


## littledan

Ive sworn off air canada. They delayed a flight to yyz, then removed me from my london bound flight because "there wasnt enough time to get from gate to gate" even though I was out of the plane door 25 mins prior other flight and I had no checked bags. Missed chelsea v cardiff at stamford bridge the following day because of that.

I tell westjet I take 50% of trips with them so I still get free upgrades to premium steerage class but in reality I will never again fly air canada

----------


## Maxx Mazda

> They claimed the security line was too long and “they would never make it” and didn’t want to take their bags.
> 
> Heaven forbid an Air Canada employee do their job.
> 
> Hint: They made it to the gate just fine
> 
> Useless morons. The whole airline should just be allowed to fail. It would be the kinder outcome than stiengling them along another decade.



What does the security line have to do with their baggage? Bags go down the conveyor and are screened separate from the passengers. Seems strange that the agent (no matter how useless) would try to deny someone from checking in. 

This is why you stick to online check-in, and use a self serve kiosk to print your baggage tags. Avoid the ineptitude of the middleman completely.

----------


## ThePenIsMightier

> What does the security line have to do with their baggage? Bags go down the conveyor and are screened separate from the passengers. Seems strange that the agent (no matter how useless) would try to deny someone from checking in. 
> 
> This is why you stick to online check-in, and use a self serve kiosk to print your baggage tags. Avoid the ineptitude of the middleman completely.



This isn't an option at some smaller airports.

----------


## haggis88

> This isn't an option at some smaller airports.



Haven't been to one yet that doesn't have kiosks...

I only go to priority check in to get my magic bag tags

----------


## ThePenIsMightier

> Haven't been to one yet that doesn't have kiosks...
> 
> I only go to priority check in to get my magic bag tags



I assume it's rare, but Charlottetown doesn't and it's technically even an International Airport.

----------


## killramos

> What does the security line have to do with their baggage? Bags go down the conveyor and are screened separate from the passengers. Seems strange that the agent (no matter how useless) would try to deny someone from checking in. 
> 
> This is why you stick to online check-in, and use a self serve kiosk to print your baggage tags. Avoid the ineptitude of the middleman completely.



While I generally agree with avoiding interaction with as many air Canada personnel as possible.

When you fly with an infant unfortunately none of that shit is an option.

- - - Updated - - -




> I assume it's rare, but Charlottetown doesn't and it's technically even an International Airport.



This was in Halifax. So close enough.

----------


## Maxx Mazda

> While I generally agree with avoiding interaction with as many air Canada personnel as possible.
> 
> When you fly with an infant unfortunately none of that shit is an option.
> 
> - - - Updated - - -
> 
> 
> 
> This was in Halifax. So close enough.



I don’t get it. You hate Air Canada, (who doesn’t?) but you continue to book with them time and time again. Why not just stick to another carrier if they’re so terrible? Unless Air Canada was $12 cheaper on the round trip, in which case the Marth checks out.

----------


## killramos

All airlines are garbage. Duh

If you thought this was some kind of preference game you were clearly not understanding my disdain.

Plus Westjets business class is laughable unless you are on a 787, which they don’t drag out to Halifax often.

----------


## haggis88

> I assume it's rare, but Charlottetown doesn't and it's technically even an International Airport.



Charlottetown did at one point, i remember because i went to use it (singular) and it printed me out blank labels and they had no toner left to fill it up...i thought this was in keeping with being transported back to 1986 when i stepped off the plane from Toronto, i had a good laugh

This was 2015 of course, so maybe the locals removed it and burned it at the stake for performing witchcraft or something

----------


## Gainsbarre

> Charlottetown did at one point, i remember because i went to use it (singular) and it printed me out blank labels and they had no toner left to fill it up...i thought this was in keeping with being transported back to 1986 when i stepped off the plane from Toronto, i had a good laugh
> 
> This was 2015 of course, so maybe the locals removed it and burned it at the stake for performing witchcraft or something



Didn't see kiosks for Air Canada at Charlottetown airport 2 months ago. To me the bigger check-in pain for these smaller airports is when they don't have a conveyor belt behind the check-in counter to accept your checked luggage - after tagging you have to lug it on your own to a separate screening checkpoint. Had to do the same thing in Saint John in April, though I suppose this is standard everywhere for oversized checked luggage (e.g. YYC).

As for Air Canada staff - yeah, I've dealt with a few over the years. I've often been questioned if I'm in the correct line for check-in, so I just leave my old tags (with the big orange "PRIORITY") sticker on to try and avoid this problem. One of my favourites was in 2015 when I presented my British passport at the gate in YYZ to board an Air Canada flight to Istanbul (at the time it was 10 GBP for a Turkish visa upon arrival in a British Passport, versus $60 US for a visa in a Canadian passport) and the lady (ground staff, not CBSA) asked me if I was in Canada legally - I pointed out that the passport listed my place of birth as "CALGARY" and that yeah, it's Calgary Alberta, not Calgary Scotland...

----------


## Mostwanted

Does this affect any international travel? I have a trip to Maldives in October and will have to go YYC>YYZ>LHR (Heathrow) > Sri Lanka Airport?
I havent bought airline tickets yet, and was thinking of buying the flight insurance just in case.

----------


## redblack

> Does this affect any international travel? I have a trip to Maldives in October and will have to go YYC>YYZ>LHR (Heathrow) > Sri Lanka Airport?
> I havent bought airline tickets yet, and was thinking of buying the flight insurance just in case.



Try to get a direct flight to LHR, YYZ is a shit show and you’ll definitely miss your connection.

----------


## Mostwanted

Yeah just double checked the flight itinerary, looks to be YYC to LHR direct.

----------


## g-m

AC flight home from LHR went super smooth, bags in like 5 minutes

----------


## Team_Mclaren

> Does this affect any international travel? I have a trip to Maldives in October and will have to go YYC>YYZ>LHR (Heathrow) > Sri Lanka Airport?
> I havent bought airline tickets yet, and was thinking of buying the flight insurance just in case.



Isnt that the long way out. Why not go yyc-yvr-sin-mle. 

I mean.... Its still shitty, but I figure skipping Sri Lanka is probably a good deal right now?

----------


## cet

I'm flying a bunch in the next few weeks so keeping my fingers crossed that I don't get screwed too badly

----------


## Mostwanted

I've been watching the flights on google flight and all of them go across Europe somehow, haven't seen one that goes through YVR or SIN.

----------


## jutes

> Does this affect any international travel? I have a trip to Maldives in October and will have to go YYC>YYZ>LHR (Heathrow) > Sri Lanka Airport?
> I havent bought airline tickets yet, and was thinking of buying the flight insurance just in case.



When I did the Maldives i flew through Qatar, but that was 2015. Would avoid Sri Lanka lol.

----------


## rage2

We were delayed 2h on departure due to a plane swap leaving YYZ, but otherwise smooth sailing. No ground crew issues with YYC either, got to gate immediately and deplaned. 

Talking to family in the business, guess we’re just lucky. Still a lot of random flight cancellations, which fucks everyone over. That’s the bigger problem.

----------


## flipstah

No issues flying YYC-SFO and back.

Got delayed at SFO and NEXUS paid off a lot at SFO.

----------


## haggis88

My parents are booked up to come out here in October

GLA-AMS-YYZ-YYC

Yyz-yyc leg got cancelled already and they weren't informed lol...at least there's plenty of time and options to rebook...o ly problem is that they're flying KLM GLA-AMS-YYZ and then KLM have booked them the westjet flight to YYC

Acronym salad

----------


## G

Cool story time.

We booked flights to Orlando back in July. Come day of the flight was cancelled and rescheduled 10 hours later. Lucky we were still at home when the email came in so didn't really inconvenience us except for losing a night at the AirB&B. 

On the way back we had a layover in Toronto in which the flight from Toronto to Calgary was cancelled and rescheduled 7 hours later.

Both times we filed a claim at https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/interr...nsation-claims for the four of us.

Not really expecting any compensation but it made us feel better especially when Air Canada announced they are not compensating for any of their cancelled flights.

But surprisingly last Friday we got 8 emails in total from WJ stating that we will be compensated $1000 for the trip to Orlando and $700 for the trip from Toronto to Calgary.

Today we received $6800 (not WJ dollars).

This is pretty amazing since we only paid $1100 for all for tickets after using vouchers and WJ dollars.

----------


## ExtraSlow

You win sir.

----------


## haggis88

WJ customer service has been fairly good for me over the last year or so, the priority number for the gold status is awesome when they answer the phone in less than 15 mins compared to some of the times I have read

----------


## Maxx Mazda

> WJ customer service has been fairly good for me over the last year or so, the priority number for the gold status is awesome when they answer the phone in less than 15 mins compared to some of the times I have read



You have gold status and still wait 15 minutes for someone to answer the phone? Jesus….

----------


## rage2

> You have gold status and still wait 15 minutes for someone to answer the phone? Jesus….



Was gonna say, been splitting my family bookings this year to maximize eupgrades, and calling in for dumb shit, and the AC line is instant.

----------


## ExtraSlow

WJ customer service phone line wait times have been ridiculous.

----------


## bjstare

I’ve never had to sit on hold for longer than a minute on the WJ gold line.

----------


## mr2mike

> WJ customer service phone line wait times have been ridiculous.



Still due to covid?

----------


## Darkane

> Still due to covid?



Everything is. It’s the go to

----------


## jutes

Anyone still claiming Covid as an excuse just means they are incompetent.

----------


## killramos

Airline employees incompetent? Say it ain’t so…

----------


## ExtraSlow

My lack of taste and class is due to covid.

----------


## Tik-Tok

I'm a middle aged balding white guy guy because of Covid.

----------


## vengie

> I’ve never had to sit on hold for longer than a minute on the WJ gold line.



This belongs in the subtle flex thread

----------


## ExtraSlow

There's a real chance I'll make WestJet silver status this year.

----------


## littledan

What are the spend tiers for westjet again? Im platinum this year but only have like 2k spend so far

----------


## bjstare

> What are the spend tiers for westjet again? Im platinum this year but only have like 2k spend so far



$8k for platinum. WestJet statuses are ridiculously easy to get if a person travels frequently. 

They’ve also been much more generous around extending the status from Covid. I’m flying for the first time since 2019 today and I still have gold somehow. Air Canada took away my 50k status a long time ago though.

----------


## rage2

AC should have kept your status for 2021 and 2022.

----------


## g-m

Yea and 2021 + 2022 flights will go towards 2023 status

----------


## Maxx Mazda

> Airline employees incompetent? Say it ain’t so…



*isn’t

What employees? There aren’t any.

----------


## cet

Decent amount of people in the C gates security line this morning at 4:30. No one in the Nexus line though so it was quick to get through. Almost 5 hour delay for my flight meaning I’d miss my connection in Montreal. Thankfully I could get on the direct flight to Halifax so I’ll just hang out in the lounge until it goes

----------


## bjstare

> AC should have kept your status for 2021 and 2022.



That's what my co-worker told me; they extended his. Maybe I'll call them and see if I can get it back.

----------


## ExtraSlow

Well Halifax International was operating at zero delay today, no sign of a shortage of security screening staff or any issues. No flight delays on the departures board either. I'm going to say the small airports are doing just fine.

I will continue to avoid Toronto for numerous reasons, some of which involve the airport.

Currently a delay receiving checked baggage here in Cowtown. Not yet a concerning length of time. I will obviously monitor that situation.

----------


## flipstah

> Well Halifax International was operating at zero delay today, no sign of a shortage of security screening staff or any issues. No flight delays on the departures board either. I'm going to say the small airports are doing just fine.
> 
> I will continue to avoid Toronto for numerous reasons, some of which involve the airport.
> 
> Currently a delay receiving checked baggage here in Cowtown. Not yet a concerning length of time. I will obviously monitor that situation.



Are you still waiting?

----------


## ExtraSlow

Hah no, bags came in about 15 mins I'd say. Hopped Uber home, and wife rolled her ankle as we were walking in the door. Made for a chaotic evening, but no issues with WestJet t or airport I could see.

----------


## RX_EVOLV

Need to travel to Germany in November. With all the horror stories with LHR, is it worth paying extra $500 to connect in AMS or FRA instead? it's still a bit far away...

----------


## mr2mike

> Hah no, bags came in about 15 mins I'd say. Hopped Uber home, and wife rolled her ankle as we were walking in the door. Made for a chaotic evening, but no issues with WestJet t or airport I could see.



Sue the homeowner?

----------


## haggis88

> Need to travel to Germany in November. With all the horror stories with LHR, is it worth paying extra $500 to connect in AMS or FRA instead? it's still a bit far away...



I've never had a good experience at Schiphol, always delays and cancellations everytime i've been there

Frankfurt is okay, its a long flight from Calgary though...think like 10hrs, its horrible. The airport is fucking huge too, so prepare for a long walk haha

----------


## J.M.

^^ Yup, YYC to FRA just under 10hrs. Went in June, def lots of walking haha

----------


## rage2

I love FRA. Go through there so much, learnt all the cool shortcuts through the terminals. I heard it sucks right now with the rotating strikes. From security to ground crew. Or has it calmed down after the summer?

Super efficient airport. My connecting flight was 40 mins in opposing terminals. Never missed that flight. Even had time to grab a McRib on the go haha.

----------


## flipstah

FRA is nice. LHR isn’t bad if you don’t have check in luggage.

Summer break is almost over

----------


## 16hypen3sp

Flying to Mexico tomorrow from Calgary. Anything special to be aware of other than the pathetically stupid ArriveCan app bullshit to return home?

----------


## 16hypen3sp

Zero security line for international flights this morning. Was a beauty. The Transborder departures looked a bit busy tho.

----------


## mr2mike

Everyone's back in school.

Enjoy Hedonism (I assume).

----------


## Zhariak

So YYC is still a breeze, but damn, YVR is having some issues...

A week ago I did YYC to YVR to SFO, with 40 minutes to connect and do pre-clearance in YVR. I rushed my ass, worried about time to clear customs (thank god for Nexus). Got to the gate when boarding. A full plane, and only 4 people at the gate. This is weird...

We end up sitting on the plane for 3 hours waiting for the full plane to show up. I guess some work to rule action in YVR shut down security and customs.

Coming back, SFO to YVR to YYC, had another big delay in YVR, they didn't announce why.


Doing YYC to LAX to PHX tomorrow morning. Thankfully avoiding YVR.

----------


## 2Legit2Quit

Today I Learned you can save 15% on airport parking by booking/paying early online - http://www.yyc.com/en-us/travellerinfo/parking.aspx

Googled to see what the current rates were and found that, intredasting.

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## 16hypen3sp

Got back into Calgary last night @ 9. (WestJet)

Didn't get on the road home until 10:30. 

Not great, not terrible.

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## haggis88

> My parents are booked up to come out here in October
> 
> GLA-AMS-YYZ-YYC
> 
> Yyz-yyc leg got cancelled already and they weren't informed lol...at least there's plenty of time and options to rebook...o ly problem is that they're flying KLM GLA-AMS-YYZ and then KLM have booked them the westjet flight to YYC
> 
> Acronym salad



Update on this

KLM called them today and cancelled everything and issued a refund

They're going to try Westjet or Aer Lingus

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## Maxx Mazda

The abortion that is CATSA never ceases to amaze me. 

Fred Durst back in action. Hope he doesn't "break stuff" while searching your suitcase.

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## jutes

Looks very professional to me, must be a government position.

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## Twin_Cam_Turbo

My flight to GP only boarded 1.5 hours late and with no heat at boarding today.

Fucking Westjet.

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## ExtraSlow

getting on a cold plane for winter work trips is something I don't miss. haven't flown north for years now.

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## Maxx Mazda

> My flight to GP only boarded 1.5 hours late and with no heat at boarding today.
> 
> Fucking Westjet.



Was it a Q400? The APU's don't like to work when it's cold outside. It's a Canadian built airplane, it's not designed for cold weather operations.

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## littledan

> My flight to GP only boarded 1.5 hours late and with no heat at boarding today.
> 
> Fucking Westjet.



I've flown Q400 like 1-million times+10 over the years in winter. Never had a problem with cold planes delaying takeoffs/boarding until this year. I think its Westjet penny pinching and not paying the pilots to be there early enough to warm up the planes properly. But I have no inside info. just speculation.

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## Twin_Cam_Turbo

> I've flown Q400 like 1-million times+10 over the years in winter. Never had a problem with cold planes delaying takeoffs/boarding until this year. I think its Westjet penny pinching and not paying the pilots to be there early enough to warm up the planes properly. But I have no inside info. just speculation.



Yeah it was a new Gen Q400. -10 wasn’t even really that cold but it really fucked up my day.

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## jutes

Major Canadian airports need drive-in parking, at least for the puddle jumpers that are too small for gates.

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## killramos

The answer. As always…

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## jutes

Don’t fly on Quebec made aircraft?

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## killramos

That goes without saying

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## Maxx Mazda

> I've flown Q400 like 1-million times+10 over the years in winter. Never had a problem with cold planes delaying takeoffs/boarding until this year. I think its Westjet penny pinching and not paying the pilots to be there early enough to warm up the planes properly. But I have no inside info. just speculation.



They can heat the plane without pilots. There is an external air cart that can be plugged into the aircraft. All aircraft have the same receptacle, from Q400 to 747. It's the big bendy yellow hose. WestJet contracted out their ground handling a few years ago to ATS, and they are the worst company in the entire industry (but cheapest) so it doesn't surprise me that they probably had no heater hooked up.

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## Tik-Tok

> They can heat the plane without pilots. There is an external air cart that can be plugged into the aircraft. All aircraft have the same receptacle, from Q400 to 747. It's the big bendy yellow hose. WestJet contracted out their ground handling a few years ago to ATS, and they are the worst company in the entire industry (but cheapest) so it doesn't surprise me that they probably had no heater hooked up.



Westjet went back to their own ground crews in YYC recently, but they have no people so the end result is worse service than ATS.

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## Maxx Mazda

> Westjet went back to their own ground crews in YYC recently, but they have no people so the end result is worse service than ATS.



I believe WJ just hired a limited number of baggage connection runners, less than 40 staff. The ground handling / loading is still done by ATS.

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## killramos

My bags were unloaded by ATS employees yesterday from a WestJet flight.

They also arrived at the carousel 9 minutes after we got to our gate.

So I guess everyone is some level of idiot.

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## shakalaka

If 2 people are traveling together and one has a Nexus and the other doesn't, can both go from the Nexus side or how does that work?

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## bjstare

> If 2 people are traveling together and one has a Nexus and the other doesn't, can both go from the Nexus side or how does that work?



No.

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## killramos

You can never bring someone into the nexus line with you. No exceptions. Seriously none. No “buts”. No one. Never.

Pretty sure this the first line on your acceptance letter.

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## mr2mike

> If 2 people are traveling together and one has a Nexus and the other doesn't, can both go from the Nexus side or how does that work?



You get to play the entitled prick or wait with the rest of the plebs.
You choose your adventure.

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## killramos

I travelled with a buddy once who didn’t have nexus. We landed at the escalator within 5 minutes of each other.

My nexus is currently near useless because I’m often travelling with my kiddo who doesn’t have it. Pre check is nice though, they usually toss it on everyone’s boarding pass if even 1 member of the booking has it. Only helpful inside the US imo, where you don’t have to do the shoe and laptop dance.

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## mr2mike

Shoe bombs still a thing with people walking around with large battery banks?

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## killramos

Only in Murica

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## tonytiger55

I flew out Christmas eve and came back late Thursday afternoon. No real issues at all. 
Canadian security is a bit more zealous and Murcia than Heathrow. I did not have to go through the scanner or take shoes off at Heathrow, they just waved me through.

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## mr2mike

Your privilege is showing.

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## haggis88

Orlando was a shitshow, baggage carousel screen didn't show correct number so everyone on the flight waited at the wrong place for like 30 mins before a steward redirected folks

Then oversized baggage came out on the normal carousel, which normally wouldn't be a problem but it was on the complete other side of the airport and you couldn't visibly see it

That's not on YYC though, the word oversized means something different in the Floridian dictionary

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