YYC Airport delays update?

[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.

[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

[Gainsbarre]

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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

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.

[haggis88]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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]

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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?