We were told that the new Basic fare:
As if this would make us feel better, we were also informed that WestJet refused to make changes for others in much more dire circumstances including:
Various staff repeatedly said this was a “policy decision from management”, which does not at all answer the question of why this policy exists. After contacting the office of Westjet CEO Edward Sims, we were eventually told that the reason for the policy is to avoid setting a precedent that others could use as an argument when complaining to the Canadian Transportation Agency
There is a logic to that argument but the better fix is to avoid the complaints in first place by setting rational limits and clearly marking the reduced service levels.
A customer driven company, as WestJet has claimed to be, should make accommodations when their is no cost to the airline and/or when there is an exceptional situation. That is what customer service MANAGERS are for, exceptional situations.
There are three critical points to consider:
The premise of the zero service “Basic” fair is a fiction. There are no ultra-low-cost airlines in Canada at this time. The only two that claim to be ultra-low-cost are owned and operated by WestJet and Air Canada. This is like Telus claiming they offer a crappy service plan because Kudo and Public do… Telus owns Kudo and Public.
To avoid undesirable legal precedents WestJet could:
WestJet should make the reduced service level MUCH more apparent to consumers. We had no conception that BASIC was less than ECONO. Because we were flying to a less popular destination, Palm Springs, the WestJet web page did not display the usual raft of ticket options. There are only one or two flights per day and the ticket options are quite limited, which means we did not see (or perhaps notice) an Econo option.
To get around this problem, WestJet could:
The refusal to make such minor changes based purely on policy and not common sense will surely affect loyalty. In our case, we paid about 10% more to fly WestJet on this particular flight because of the fine service they have provided in the past. Those days are done for us.
To add further annoyance:
It is one thing to offer a low level of service. It is quite another to have punitive fees and malicious policies.
As stated we were completely unaware of the difference between Basic and Econo and in fact thought it was simply a branding change. So you don’t make the same mistake, you might find the grid below useful
| What do you want to do? | Basic | Econo | Econo Flex | Premium | Premium Flex | Business | Business Flex | |
| Change or cancel your flight within 24 hours of booking | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | |
| Refund to original form of payment | No | No | No | No | Included | No | Included | |
| Flight Cancellation | Non-refundable No credit for future travel | $25 CAD outside 60 days of departure | Included | $25 CAD outside 60 days of departure | Included | $100 CAD | Included | |
| $100 CAD within 60 days of departure | $100 CAD within 60 days of departure | |||||||
| Flight Changes | Non-refundable No credit for future travel | $25 CAD outside 60 days of departure | Included | $25 CAD outside 60 days of departure | Included | $100 CAD | Included | |
| $100 CAD within 60 days of departure | $100 CAD within 60 days of departure | |||||||
| Same-daIncludedflight changes | Non-refundable No credit for future travel | $100 CAD | Included | $100 CAD | Included | Included | Included | |
| Name change, more than 24 hours after booking | No | $100 CAD | $100 CAD | $100 CAD | Included | $100 CAD | Included | |
| Checked baggage | 1st bag $30 CAD/USD | 1st bag $30 CAD/USD | Included | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |
| 2nd bag $50 CAD/USD | 2nd bag $50 CAD/USD | 2nd bag $50 CAD/USD | ||||||
| Advance standard seat selection | $5-50 CAD | $5-50 CAD | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | |
| Premium food and beverages | $ | $ | $ | Included | Included | Included | Included | |
| WestJet Rewards earn | n | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | Included | |
| Call Centre Booking Fee | $15 per guest | No | No | No | No | No | No |
The WestJet online system did not accept a WestJet discount so I called the call center and they explained it was a known issue and to simply re-book the seats under two different orders. Unfortunately when rebooking I selected the wrong time for one of the flights (2:30pm rather than 5:30pm). That mistake is on me, although it should not have been a problem in the first place because the WestJet system should have allowed me to take the credit on the original fight… but I digress.
The day before we left we checked in online and detected the mistake. We called the WestJet call center and confirmed there were MANY spare seats (about 60% load) on both flights but were truly shocked when they refused to move us. We appealed to the manager on duty, the customer service manager at 7am the next morning and I even contacted WestJet President, Edward Sims. WestJet consistently told us that the new basic fair provided no flexibility even if it cost WestJet nothing to make the change.
They also told us that we had to click on two alerts during the booking process, and I am sure we did, but we certainly did not detect any alerts about a departure from normal WestJet service.
We have loved WestJet for the last 20 years but this has permanently tarnished their brand. WestJet is fighting hard to play with the big boys of the airline world and I suppose this disappointing level of service means they have arrived.
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Was booking flight to Toronto for a wedding in October last night and was somewhat bemused to see these new no-service fares. Especially the $30 bucks or so to pick your seat (I have long legs and big feet so I like aisle seats. Decided what the heck and booked Air Transat for about $100 less. At least they only charge $10 to pick a seat. $30 is gouging plain and simple. Any vestige of loyalty I had for Westjet is rapidly disappearing. Next they will start charging for smiles.