WestJet Airlines
reviews and complaints

Wow what a nightmare dealing with west jet... Reserved and paid for a larger seat as my husband has bad knees... Emegency exit rows and just found out that they bumped us after our "confirmed" reservation of the exit row seats. Just spent over 2 hours trying to resolve bu! Is t did not happen. Is this not a contract when we book and pay and get confirmation? Escalating it to transport canada as this is unacceptable. We had choices of other airlines but because west jet had the bigger seats we booked through them. If we were not leaving in the next 18 hours. All the west jet rep could do is have someone get back to us in "3-4" business days. Is this how a canadian company treats their canadian clients. Oh did I mention this is the 2nd time this has happened within a 2 year period. I see on other web based complaint boards it seems to be a common happening! And the rep we spoke to said it doesnt happen.
The complaint was taken by a laura at west jet on todays date dec7/17
D Priest and C Denuzzo

My spouse Bernada Rolko and I, Ramon Nelson Archer are completely upset and dissatisfied with the service we received from OneTravel.com while making a reservation for Bernada on Westjet to travel from Phoenix to Regina 12-20-17 and return 10-1-18.

Upon receipt of the confermation of these flights for Bernada we noticed Bernada's last name was misspelled. It read Rojkp instead of Rojko. We immediately called OneTravel, com and requested them to change this. They refused to change it and were very nasty about it. They told us the would have to increase the price of the ticket since making the reservation 15 minutes ago the price had changed. They wanted $65 extra for this. And then they told us they would charge the spelling but would have to charge us and additional $75 for this. We told them to cancel our reservation and we would start over. They refused to do this.

We then called Westjet and the lady answering graciously said to go to the airport early and they would change it for nothing. We intend to do this.

I, Ramon Nelson Archer made a reservation on the same flights one week later through Expedial The price was $400. The price thru OneTravel.com for Bernada one week earlier was $461. We do not understand the difference in price.

We advise that we travel on Westjet two or four times per year and have never had these kinds of problems before. As far as we know we have always booked directly with Westjet and have been happy with the service. We have been doing this for the past 19 years and consider ourselves good customers.

Regards,

Ramon Nelson Archer/Bernada Rojko

Yesterday Nov 26/2017 my wife was booked on flight Res code RXEZBT. Orlando to Toronto at 925 pm. I checked the return flight early evening to find out it was delayed until 11.25 pm departure. I called to find out why and spoke to a women the first time and later to Nelson where both told me the plane had a maintenance issue after taking off from Halifax to Orlando. They delayed the plane two hours to deal with the maintenance issue. At 9:50 PM I called again to make sure it was leaving on time, and also to say I did not want my wife making the hour drive only to find out it was cancelled. I asked Nelson to have a manager call me back to confirm the plane was fixed and the flight would leave at 11.25 pm. I too have an hour drive to Toronto Pearson to pick up my wife. No one from WestJet called back ? I called my wife at the gate at 11:07 pm where they had just announced the flight was cancelled due to maintenance. Already frustrated my wife had another drive back to her accommodations. Taxi cost both ways and back again today, so three taxi bills at $ 89.00 each way. Today at late afternoon I get a call too late from WestJet saying the flight was cancelled due to lightening, a total lie. I confronted the WJ service person Corene that she was not telling the truth so WestJet would not be liable for compensation. I also told her what the two WJ customer service people told me last night. She said not in so many words they were not telling the truth. We get there can be delays but not telling the truth, cancelling the flight at the last minute and leaving my wife having to go back to her accommodations and then lying to me today does not cut it. WestJet should be ashamed at the lies their customer service person told me in an effort to not pay up. By the way the Orlando weather showed no lightening as Corene alluded too yesterday. I would be happy to send you the weather report. So today my wife gets her check in notice only to find that WestJet also removed her from the upgrade seat I purchased, why ? She should have been placed back n the same seat. I checked on line and it was open, so another miss. I will be seeking compensation not only for flights, paid for up graded seats and Cynthis's loss of pay today as she missed work. Regards, Jeff Dart not a happy WestJet client.

lleana Maria Tamaian /Gheorghe Alexandru Tamaian
#4 Evansdale Way NW
Calgary, AB, T3P0B1
Nov 22, 2017
To West Jet Head Office
I have to bring to your attention that I was unhappy how West Jet handled my trip to Turks in Caicos
from Nov 1st to to Nov 8, 2017.
Here is the explanation of what actually happened:
We booked the airfare for this trip early in June 2017 with Westjet through airmiles. Please see attached
the itinerary UOUPIZ. From the time of booking and my actually trip, the island was struck by Hurricane lrma
and Maria. Please note that we have been in communication with the resort on the island and we know
that everything is ready for us when we get there. We have been asking the resort if the airport is
operational and they told us that is fully operational. The accommodation was booked separately, not
through airmiles.
Please note that we had no communication from West Jet nor anybody else before our departure, even
though my email and phone number were provided at the time of booking.
On the 31st of Oct early morning I tried to get my boarding passes online. I could do it but only to
Toronto. At Calgary airport I checked with WestJet to get the rest of boarding passes and have my
luggage tagged and sent. The agent at that time told me after he checked in the system that we cannot
get the boarding passes to Turk and Caicos because there is too much delayed time in between the
flights, so I will be able to do that only in Toronto.( told us that I have to pick up my luggage in Toronto).
Got to Toronto on time at 3:44 am and ready to check in for my flight to Providenciales at 10:30 am. I
asked an agent to give me a hand . The agent told us to wait and she came back with a duty manager
(Diana). The manager Diana told us that the Providenciales airport is closed because of Huricane lrma
and there are NO airlines flying to the island only if we have a private jet and the island is high risk of any
crime and the only thing that she can do is to put us in the next flight back to Calgary. I told her that is
not possible that we have been in contact with the resort and they told us the complete opposite. I
thought if this is true and accurate why nobody had communicated with us, why did WestJet at Calgary
airport not say anything when we checked in.
Got back in Calgary, we just ask for an explanation from duty manager Heather in Calgary. She was
surprised to find that Toronto sent us back in Calgary and actually she told us that only West Jet is not
flying to Turks until the 20th of Dec, but the airport is open and there are some other airlines that are
going to Providencials. Your manager in Toronto actually lied straight to our face, ls that normal? ls this
the practice that West Jet agrees with? Very disappointed ll! ! ! |
At that time I was asking Heather that West Jet need to send us anywhere else all-inclusive vacation.
She said she cannot do that, but what she did was to put us on American Airline flight next day and
coming back on 10th of Nov, so she sent us back to Toronto again on 4: 30 pm flight. Just to mention that
my luggage was labeled Calgary to Providenciales and we got instruction not to take them in Toronto as
they go straight to Providenciales and she gave us a voucher for food in Calgary and hotel in Toronto.
Got in Toronto aprox 11:00 pm, and when I ask for hotel voucher they told me that I have to get my
luggage because they do not keep it overnight. I was waiting there more than an hour for my luggage,
talked to luggage kiosk people and told me that the reason why luggage did not arrive is because they
were tagged as Providenciales and it will be with American Airline. Got to the hotel around 12:00
midnight, and got up at 3: 30 am that morning because my flight was 6 am to Miami. Please note that
more than 24 hrs have gone by. Try to check in at 4 am. Went to see American Airline agent and they
said we supposed to have luggage and they do not have the image of it and escort us back through
security to go back to pick up my luggage from West jet carousel. A lady worker could not find my
luggage stated that it was not read, and probably it is at open area space at the airport and she does not
have anybody to send there to check until 5 am. 5 am came by, nobody showed until 5:10 am; I begged
her to do something to help us. The person sent to check my luggage could not find it, so at 5:40 the
person in the office came out and told us that she signed for us to be able to go on the flight without the
luggage that will get them later. lt was too late at that time because they could not take us on that flight
anymore, so they put us on anotherflight 6 hours later, and of course I lost my connection to Provo as
well getting there at 8 Pm instead of 2 pm?
We asked to put us on another flight Air Canada that was going around 8 am to Miami, but West Jet said
they cannot do that. Then I asked to talked to a duty manager and believe me or not lgot the same
manager Diana that met us a night before. This time she lied again stating that WestJet does not fly to
Provo, which is not true, she said nothing is flying there because the airport is closed caused by
hurricane. She just left us there stating this is Calgary's fault and she cannot do anything else for us
other than accept the flight offered to us 6 hrs later and gave a voucher for food court.
After 48 hours of flying and being in the airport we finally got to the destination, but it was too much for
our body and mind to handle, so I got sick.
There was mistake after mistake from West Jet employees regarding my trip, and for this I need to be
compensated accordingly
- 3 days accommodation hotel Seven Star $1800.00 (3 daysx600)2 day extension + L day
because of:6 hrs delayed ( Iuggage lost)
- Meals for 2 days extension in Turks in Caicos S500.00
- 2 days missed work because of extension $1700.00
- Compensate for the bad experience ( sick, tired, etc ) - free trip for 2 anywhere Westjet flies
I hope that I receive a response from you by Thursday 30th of Nov, 2017
5 PM ( Alberta Time)
This situation is not similar to the experience outlined in the CBC report
Thank you
lleana & Alex Tamaian
[protected]@telus.net

I want to share my bad experience with Westjet. It was happened at 10 November 2017 at LaGuardia Airport. I was ready for boarding and when I reached at Westjet staff for boarding. She told me very politely and verbally that my seat no has changed from 16F to 11E. I reached at my seat and one gentlemen was already at 11E however flight steward told to go to my original seat of 16F .
I sat on 16F and after a while one gentlemen was came with boarding pass and seat No 16F. Westjet staff took my boarding pass after a while she returned my old boarding pass with a new one and the seat no was 11E. It happened on flight no WS1205

Booked a flight home from Puerta Vallarta, Mexico to Calgary, Alberta and then on the same day to Kelowna, B.C. for Nov. 11th/17. We were contacted that our flight was being changed and we would now be flying from Mexico to Vancouver, B.C. a day earlier than scheduled (Nov. 10) and we would not have a flight home that evening so we would have to book a hotel and pay for it ourselves. We agreed to the change since we had already had our holiday planned in Mexico and did not want to cancel.

Now the problems begin.

1. We booked and paid for Emergency Exit row seats to Calgary but since that flight was changed by West Jet we found out 3 days before we were coming home from Mexico that we were not in the Emergency Exit row for the flight to Vancouver. We phoned from Mexico and were told we were okay and in our booked seats. When trying to confirm out flight home 24 hours before flight time we were told there we NO Exit row seats and we weren't in them and that we could not even book Plus Seats either. So a 5 hour flight was made on a very small West Jet plane to Vancouver where my 6'4" husband was jammed into a small tiny seat with no leg room. We paid for Emergency Row seats and did not get them.
2. Since our flight was changed and we had to stay overnight in Vancouver we realized also that we would have to wait all day in order to fly to Kelowna at 7:00 at night instead of them scheduling us on the first available flight home in the morning. We phoned in and were told we could come home on an earlier flight but it would cost us $300.00 to make the change. Unbelievable. Where is the customer service? Very frustrating way to end a wonderful trip in Mexico. I think a refund at least for not getting to sit in the Exit Row seats or some sort of travel voucher should be forth coming.

We are delayed over 1.5hrs for a 1hr flight from Vancouver to Calgary, sitting on the tarmac in the plane waiting to depart. The captain's explanation is that there is a staff shortage on the ground crew that has delayed all procedures. If this is true, then this is a blatant sign of poor management and coordination. If staff are not able to make it for their shift, then the company should have a well designated line of procedures in place to ensure that those positions are still being covered to ensure that all flights are dealt with smoothly. Instead, all the paying customers suffer the consequences and the company still reaps the profits. This will be the last time we choose westjet, as this was not the first time westjet has provided poor services and proved that their profit is more important than its customers.

My grandparents recently went to Quebec from Edmonton and were put through the wash at arrival and departure.
First their departure plane from Edmonton to Calgary was an hour late so they missed their connecting flight from Calgary to Montreal. After a 2 hour delay in Calgary they were re-routed to Toronto. And after a 3 hour wait in Toronto they finally flew to Montreal.

This all wouldn't have been such a huge deal except that they were only in Quebec for 7days total and the flight delays wasted an entire day. Which could be overlooked and excluded- HOWEVER- on their return their flight was cancelled!

The flight from Montreal to Toronto was cancelled because the plane was being safety checked in Boston. So they sat in Montreal for 2 hours waiting. Because of the previous delay they missed their flight from Toronto to Edmonton by 3 minutes after ruining like fools to race and catch the flight. When they arrive at the gate to board they were told they couldn't board due to safety issues dispite the flight not being scheduled to take off for 10 minutes. Then they waited another 2 hours later before leaving for Edmonton.
They are so discouraged with their flights. Is there anything west jet can do to compensate them for their disappointment?!

Nov 11 2017
Flight 3453 res number JKYMZT
The man sitting beside me was a massive man consequently I could not even place my left shoulder on my seat and had to sit twisted up for the duration of the flight approximately 2 hours. Total body contact the whole time with legs and arms in my area. This was extremely uncomfortable. I did not complain to the staff as I did not want to make a scene. The flight attendant also hit him in the leg with the beverage cart and apologized immediately. The man also needed an extension to his seat belt to accommodate his size and was actually quite rude to the flight attendant when requesting it. There is no way this individual would have be able to sit by the window. I could no get the air above me to blow fast enough to rid the stench of B. O. Obviously the gentleman requested an isle seat as his travel companion was opposite him in the adjacent row. They knew how to book themselves as they did not sit together. I am sure both enjoyed their flight. The flight was full therefore no option to move to give this man the space he needed. I have flown many times and I must say this was very frustrating and uncomfortable for me.
[protected]@digbypines. ca

Flight 3441 from Moncton to Toronto
Connexion flight 3650 scheduled to leave for Nashville at 9:35 with 1h27 layover
Flight delayed in moncton by 15 min due to pilot who decided to fuel as we were to depart. Air studest told us that as long we made it to the gate in Toronto by 9:25 we would be able to board. We are both Nexus so we were at the gate at 9:15. Then they announced a 20 min delay 10:55. As we gave our boarding pass to board we were told our seats were sold due to delay from Moncton.
Who gives the right to an airline to sell already booked & paid seats without emailing, texting or even paging clients at the airport to make sure we won't make a connexion on time. Airlines overbook flights & then sell our seats if our connexion is delayed 5 min. What type of BS service is that. We are spending our vacation day in airports which our hourly rates are $400 & $520 per day
How about airlines reimbursing the cost of our lost vacation day!

I had a flight to calgary Alberta. I had to be there 45mins before my flight, I was at the air port and trying to get my pass and [censor] and the kid standing in the way of the gate proceeds to ask me where I'm going. I tell him Calgary and he then tells me "you aren't getting on that flight your past cut off" yet the WORLD CLOCK says 5:12 and the flight is at 6 by doing basic [censor]ing math pretty sure thats before the 45min window! But the unhelpful kid standing there is going off the wrong clock in the airport that is 5 mins fast. All the kid tells me is wait till the next flight at 10:35 that's a 5 hour [censor]ing difference. 1. I don't have time for it. 2. It is very inconvenient for everyone. I travel a lot and I've never had this terrible of an experience ever in my life. I spend $300 to west jet for convenince. I could have just drove and saved money and probably been faster. I'll be sure to remember this experience with westjet for when I travel with family and for friends. Terribly handald and terrible service.

Above Flight was Cancelled due to malfunction of the aircraft and was told there may be flight on 15th Morning, but none of the ground staff was attentive to passengers to give clear instructions on transport to home or hotel/hotel vouchers. My wife spent about 45 minutes in a line-up with other passengers with a checked in luggage. She was a patient after undergone an arm rotator cup operation and the arm in a sling, but no one was there to help her to move the luggage in this line-up. She got fed-up with waiting and called a taxi and went back home at mid night. Her expenses for the Taxi was $49.80. I do not have a scanned copy of the Receipts and Boarding pass, but unable to attach any document to this complain. I will try to take a picture of these documents and attempt to attach it.
She went back to the Hamilton Airport next day October 15th and flight was there but there was no crew. Ground staff announced that the crew has to come from Toronto and they were halfway to Hamilton. Flight delayed again and with all the unfortunate incidents she was scared but manged to reached Winnipeg safely.

If this happened with Emirates Airlines, they would have compensated for the inconvenience faced by the passengers plus any other expenses. Unfortunately there was not a single comment/statement from West Jet as of today.

My Wife's Name is Mrs Doreen Fernando. (See attached Boarding Pass and Taxi Receipts)

Hello

My family is going to Arizona for Christmas. My oldest daughter was going to stay home with my service dog, to keep up his training and because he is such a big part of our family, we did not want him to be boarded for 2 weeks and did not want to place him in the hold, as we knew winter weather factors in to their safety at that time of year. I sent this email to WestJet to make sure we could use this opportunity to train him to fly in cabin, to prepare for future deployments. His entire team just came back from deployment where all 6 were in cabin, on another Canadian carrier. To make sure we were allowed to have him fly in cabin and that my daughter could then join us for Christmas in Arizona as well, I emailed WestJet the following...

I sent the following email to WestJet on September 18 2017...

My name is Susan Rai and I am flying WestJet to Phoenix AZ on December 20th.. I have a Service Dog, he and I are both part of CASDDA (Canadian Search Disaster Dog Association) I would like to request that Brody fly in the cabin with me at my feet for this particular flight. He is a knee height miniature Australian Shepherd. He is point trained, so he is able to sit in one spot for long durations. He will have his vest on, and I will carry appropriate ID for him. He and I both need to practice for upcoming deployments, this will be his first flight, and I feel like this reasonably short flight would be ideal to practice. He comes to work with me daily at the Firehall and is highly trained. As well, I am eager to have this opportunity to bring him with me for our family Christmas vacation to keep up with his 2 day a week training schedule. I am hoping you will be able to accommodate my special request? This is not a deployment, so you won't be contacted with the request by CASDDA, however they can vouch for me and Brody (my dog) as being part of the organization, when/if needed.
> Thank you
> Susan Rai
> [protected]

I was happy to receive this reply on September 24 ...

Hello Susan,
Thank you for reaching out to us.
You are more than welcome to travel with your dog in the cabin onboard WestJet. A search disaster dog falls under our specialty dog category and are subject to the regular fees and availabilities but are not subject to the kennel requirements (for inside the cabin only and checked dog must still be kenneled).
To assist you with this and to go over the finer details we ask if you could please call our contact Centre which is available 24 hours a day for your convenience at [protected] and one of our friendly Service and Sales agents would be happy to provide that assistance.
We have included a link below to our website and the information there on specialty dogs.
westjet.com
We hope that you found this helpful.
Thank you for your time and we look forward to hearing from you.
With regards,
Ryan
Guest Support Specialist

I just got off the phone with the 1-888 number provided and was told that Brody is not allowed to fly in cabin? I am very frustrated with the mixed messaging that I have received. I was told that I could book with another carrier or put him in the hold for our flight...both are options I don't feel are suitable and were truly out of character for WestJet (I am a faithful customer)...especially because I went through the proper channels to have his in cabin flight approved and our whole family being together at Christmas was a result of the approval reply email sent by WestJet on September 24 2017

Please help.
Susan Rai
[protected]

Dear Board,

I was very upset today and extremely angry.
I am flying from Edmonton to Ottawa so I upgraded to plus seat and after they checked me In and they got me seated. Before getting ready for departure, they come to me and were like “Oh someone already reserved this seat and it was a mistake and we need to move you out to a back regular seat !” Very very inappropriate ! I was already seated and have paid and everything supposed to be set ! Not about the money but very humiliating ! I told the attendant that with the way I was treated the company will likely loose my business and the business of my family for the next few decades...

Thank you,

Dr. Walid Barake MD, FRCPC, ABIM
Cardiologist, Electrophysiology.

[protected]@ualberta.ca
Oct 16 Flight 224

On October 5, the outbound flight from Vancouver to Toronto (WS710) informed passengers that there was no inflight entertainment services due to technical issues. They then came around promoting their ipad rental services if we want to watch in-flight movies. I was not impressed since I always watch free inflight movies on my laptop on Westjet and now have to pay to watch them due to their technical issues.

On my returning flight from Toronto (October 10, WS 717), same thing happened again!
We were so disappointed and couldn't believe if it is true that WS really has so many technical problems with their inflight entertainment services that they don't seem to care or is it a plot to charge customers extra so that they have to pay to watch in-flight movies from now on?

I think Westjet has lost its place to be our number one choice flying within Canada from now on.

I recently purchased a vacation package for my fiance's 30th bday. It was a surprise. I got a WestJet vacation package to Las Vegas.
Upon looking at the packages I decided to go with Golden Nugget. The picture they displayed was the one on freemont .
The day came when we travelled. West jet was so kind to see it was both of our bdays and put us in plus on the flight from Vancouver to Las Vegas.
When we arrive at the Golden Nugget they informed us that we were not booked with the one in Las Vegas but the one in laughlan 2 hours away...
When we spoke to West jet they made it seem it was our fault. That we should have know that laughlan was not located in Las Vegas. I was quick to reply that we didn't know and that the picture displayed the one on freemont ... They continued to say that they look exactly the same ... They don't .. I have both pictures of both entrances.
We ended up having to pay $600 american out of pocket and putting 4 other people in out room that the same thing happened to. One being pregnant.
WestJet has done nothing to help us and to boot they changed the picture on the website . So after the most horrible trip which was supposed to be a surprise we ended up staying in the hotel we thought we were staying and no help from them or the hotel.

I purchased "Plus" tickets for these flights. This was a 5 hour flight. The only food I was given was a small cheese plate. I asked for a sandwich, the flight attendants on both flights said they didn't have enough food to give me more. I paid $2000 for these flights. I can fly Business Class on American Airlines for the same price. They give their Business Class passengers two full meals with desert & drinks for each flight.

On the flight WS 2599 to Toronto the flight attendant was rude.

WestJet has provided the single worst service I have ever experienced with an airline. I booked a flight to Thunder Bay to leave on September 18, returning September 25. It was meant to be a surprise visit to see my girlfriend. However, I found out two days before my flight that she was coming back into town permanently so my visit would have been pointless. So, I contacted Allianz Global Insurance, through which I purchased flight coverage. I told them exactly why I wanted to request a refund for my flight, as I outlined above. They denied my claim and suggested I contact the travel agent, Travelocity, to see if a flight credit could be arranged. I did just that this morning and there was nothing they could do for me, even after contacting WestJet on my behalf. I then contacted WestJet myself and was told the same thing. No refund, no credit, NOTHING. It was booking number RKKJSH.

Never mind that I'm *losing $345.62* on this flight, but no one seems to realize that I went to Allianz first *expressly because that's why I bought coverage*. The way WestJet's cancelation policy was outlined, and by extension Travelocity's, was that I had until the end of day when booking to cancel, otherwise I'd be stuck. THAT IS WHY I WENT THROUGH ALLIANZ, AND NOT WESTJET IN THE FIRST PLACE. But you people have deemed it perfectly acceptable to STEAL my money and not offer me anything in return. I don't even want a refund at this point. I'm just considering how far I can spread my story and get you some bad press.

Ideally, I want my money back. If not that, a credit coucher.

Upgraded my seat to plus for extra money. Turns out the flight seating is just two seats per row and the plus seats are the same as the rest of the plane. They moved people from regular seating to the plus seating for free because the plus seating wasn't full. Wondering what I paid extra for? Flight is less than two hours so it's not like I a take advantage of any kind of free food because the majority of the menu is not even available.

Bought four return tickets from westjet Halifax to Nashville via Toronto by means of RBC travel rewards on June 7 2017 for departure on Sept 13 2017. On Aug 14 2017 received notice that our flight home had been changed to include one of your flight partners American Airlines. I feel at this point of a reservation you should alert and warn your passengers of what they are in for. We arrived at the Nashville airport two hours and fifteen minutes ahead of our boarding time and reported to the AA counter where they couldn't figure out how to charge us for our baggage or produce boarding passes for connecting flights. After spending just over an hour at the ticket counter our bags were checked and we were told we had to check with a West Jet agent in Charlotte NC to receive our boarding passes. As it turns out there are no west jet counters in Charlotte and we were supposed to check with an AA counter in Charlotte which we didn't discover until we walked form one end of the airport to the other to discover that we had to be where we started from. Once we found the service counter they were eventually able to give us a boarding pass for the next flight after three different agents got together to figure it out including one supervisor. All of this was done with only an hour and a half between flights. Off we ran to barely catch our flight. Next we arrived in Toronto where we were to spend a four hour layover even though other flights for Halifax left during the time we were there. After clearing customs we arrived at the West Jet baggage counter where we once again tried to get boarding passes but were unable to because our flights had somehow been cancelled. We then had to go upstairs and wait again for approximately another 2 hours while that problem got sorted out. This was a stressfull way to end my vacation and you will never sell me a ticket again that involves other airlines.