Westjet introduces checked bag fees

Hopefully this will reduce fly-to cruise travel. WestJet (WS) introduce a $25 fee for the 1st checked bag for anyone flying on the cheapest (Econo) ticket.

WestJet today announced it will charge a $25 fee for a first checked bag on Econo fares for travel within Canada and between Canada and the U.S. The new fee will only apply to bookings made today onward, for travel on or after October 29, 2014. Guests flying to any of WestJet's international destinations including Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America and Europe may continue to check a first bag at no charge.

http://westjet2.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=917

Hopefully this will reduce fly-to cruise travel.

Why hopefully?

People usually assume that when airlines start charging for bags that the base fare drops to reflect this. Although I have no scientific data to support this I'm guessing the base fare doesn't change and the airline pockets the baggage fee on top of the base fare resulting in an increase in revenue.

Westjet introducing a baggage fee was inevitible. Lets just hope they don't start to try and match Air Canada and it's lack of service :)

Westjet introducing a baggage fee was inevitible. Lets just hope they don't start to try and match Air Canada and it's lack of service :)

Air Canada's got great service, if you ignore the Rouge side of things.

Nothing beats Porter though. Just had the great experience of a regional trip on Porter, and I continue to be amazed at how they stand out above the crowd.

Air Canada's got great service, if you ignore the Rouge side of things.

 

Nothing beats Porter though. Just had the great experience of a regional trip on Porter, and I continue to be amazed at how they stand out above the crowd.

Air Canada does a good job of getting you from Point A to Point B which I guess is key. Heaven help you if need to call them (hour long wait times are the norm) or have any issue/questions with your booking. So far I've been able to avoid Rouge but have noticed many of the Europe flights I'm looking at are now Rouge branded. Guess those flights will be with someone else.

I've been lucky so far other than Air Canada taking over 1 hr to unload bags and missing my connection in Montreal.... oh, and being told I was booked on the next flight only to get to the gate to be told I'm standby and am 20th in line...

You are right about Porter. I hope they get approval to expand the runway at Toronto Island and add more destinations.

Air Canada took all of four days to match for domestic flights (although they were already charging on US flights, so it probably doesn't make much of a difference to those of us flying to cruises)...

Air Canada took all of four days to match for domestic flights (although they were already charging on US flights, so it probably doesn't make much of a difference to those of us flying to cruises)...

What does make a difference, at least right now, is that Air Canada is cracking down on carry on sizes and weight. I'm sure the desk agents aren't bothering to differentiate between domestic and international flights when they start fussing over people's carry ons.

Hopefully, they'll be over it by the time I have to fly to my next cruise in January. Not because I carry on more than I should (which I don't, I'm paranoid they'll force me to check it) but because of the delays at check in.

What does make a difference, at least right now, is that Air Canada is cracking down on carry on sizes and weight. I'm sure the desk agents aren't bothering to differentiate between domestic and international flights when they start fussing over people's carry ons.

Hopefully, they'll be over it by the time I have to fly to my next cruise in January. Not because I carry on more than I should (which I don't, I'm paranoid they'll force me to check it) but because of the delays at check in.

of course they're cracking down. Now with checked bags costing money; there's a financial incentive to say "that's not going to fit"

of course they're cracking down. Now with checked bags costing money; there's a financial incentive to say "that's not going to fit"

In my experience on AC, even if it's oversize, as long as you manage to get it past security they'll check it free of charge just to avoid a second argument with the passenger (the first being the fact they have to check it)

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What does make a difference, at least right now, is that Air Canada is cracking down on carry on sizes and weight. I'm sure the desk agents aren't bothering to differentiate between domestic and international flights when they start fussing over people's carry ons.

Hopefully, they'll be over it by the time I have to fly to my next cruise in January. Not because I carry on more than I should (which I don't, I'm paranoid they'll force me to check it) but because of the delays at check in.

I think it's the opposite -- I want them to keep enforcing the rules, because that will mean there are fewer people creating havoc during the boarding by people rushing to get on and trying to over-stuff the overhead compartments. I'd rather have delays at check in that some of the ridiculousness I see now with people trying to rush on to find enough room for their carry-ons.

Dh and I use carry ons for most of our cruises, and we weigh and measure carefully. This time in spite of our home scale we were 1 lb and 2 lb over respectively for the 22 lb (10 kilo) limit when we checked in at our home airport with Air Canada and we reshuffled a bit into my purse and his knapsack with his laptop. Since those are always well under we were fine.

I don't mind the fees, we seldom use the checked bag since our lost luggage cruising incident (after the cruise thank goodness, explanation below, thanks Air Canada).

But I also don't mind them enforcing the limits. Especially now when people will be motivated to use the carry on only. I hate being the last to board and people have taken WAY more than their fair share. I do use the gate check when we run into this problem but it's not perfect. Air Canada was caught on video tossing bags from the plane to the tarmac in the gate check. It went onto the Global Tv News hour. They've stopped that practice, but who knows how long. We use the hard shell super light Heyes carry ons with the 4 spinner wheels and so far that protects my stuff from rough handling at the gate.

We had another Air Canada fiasco on the way home from the Crown Princess Coastal last Saturday. Landing gear. We got out of LAX 11 hours late, missed connections, awful stuff AT LAX due to mismanaging stuff, finally got better in Vancouver, slept 3 hours in hotel courtesy AC, then onto the next flight home, almost a day after we should have. Stuff happens, but some things like the rude counter staff changing gates, queus, blaming the customers, forcing us out of security then back thru it again weren't called for.

Talked with my aunt yesterday and she was coming in from Paris last week and they (Air C) stranded her in Montreal. Typical Montreal airport issue, AC NEVER allows enough time for the connections there, because coming in you go out of security, claim your bags, go thru customs who don't care if you are running late due to flight delays, then you have to dash over and join the security line AGAIN, and check in at the gate only to find your connection has departed already. And there is often a bottle neck for the single line thru security at rush hour although they may have changed that since 3 years ago.

They lost our luggage in Montreal, due to that problem.

My aunt and I had a chuckle comparing our troubles. She got unusable meal vouchers too and she also had a nap in a hotel for a couple of hours before waking up to get back out to the airport for the connection.

Normally we prefer WestJet or Air North. In the States Alaskan Air and Southwest are wonderful. Great service. This last cruise the preferred airlines were all booked up for the dates by the time we bought into the cruise. Air Canada was the only one left with seats we could reserve for those days. HMMMM! It's a clue!

But count me one of the ones who hopes they DO enforce carry on rules more carefully.