News, Tips & Tricks
The biggest news today came from WestJet about their plan to reconfigure their
fleet by adding a premium economy section to all their planes. The good thing
about this news is that the new premium economy sections will offer a 36"
seat pitch, complimentary on-board amenities (I'm guessing headphones, pillows,
blankets etc) and priority boarding. The bad thing about this announcement is
that for those people who will not be using the premium economy section you
will now have less leg room than before as seat pitch will be at 31-32"
versus the previous 32-34" depending on the plane. Some flyers are already
asking the question, since you will pay a premium for more leg room on premium
economy will the seats with less leg room be cheaper now? I doubt it! One also
has to ask how much more is WestJet going to charge for the premium economy
section, Anyways, I forsee WestJet Rewards program adding some sort of elite
tiers in the near future where the elite members will be able to upgrade or
be upgraded to these premium economy sections. It also seems beneficial to someone
who may be buying a business class or first class ticket on one of WestJet's
partners which includes WestJet metal as part of the trip that instead of the
WestJet leg being strictly economy those people will now get seats in the premium
economy section. What do think of this announcement from WestJet? Let us know
below!
One of our Twitter followers (@jorgeluis500) let
us know that RBC is running a targetted refer a friend promotion, I assume this
is for the Avion cards and if you are an Avion card holder you can 5,000 points
for every person you recommend to the card (max. 3) and the person you recommend
will get the standard 15K point sign up bonus. If you have not received this
offer from Avion give their customer service a call to see if you can be included.
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About Westjet introducing their new sub-economy seating, I once had the displeasure of traveling in United's sub-economy ( I don't know the seat pitch relative to Westjet). I now refuse to fly United, unless I have no other choice. I feel that downgrading economy seating and then charging extra for what effectively amounts to what was previously offered in that class is what in the days of horse and carriage was called highway robbery. Shame on Westjet for following this practice.
ReplyDeleteSince I don't fly premium/business (I go economy to save my pennies for better things) I'm disappointed and going to miss those 2" of legroom. *sigh* Sure, coach might be in line with their competitors now, but that's not a good thing.
ReplyDeleteIt was to be a better/fun airline - being like a sardine is not what I had in mind! If it is to be, let the seat backs not recline ......I will go back to AC with most seats at 32".
ReplyDeleteI PERSONALLY WILL NOT FLY ON ANY AIRLINE WHOSE SEATING PATTERN INFRINGES ON MY COMFORT. I USE SEAT GURU.COM AND MATCH UP BOTH THE AIRLINE AND AIRPLANE TYPE TO CHOOSE OUR SEATS. WHAT WESTJET SHOULD BE DOING IS TO REMOVE THE NUMBER OF SEATS TO COMPENSATE FOR THE EXTENDED LEGROOM AND RAISE THE PRICES. THERE ARE THOSE WHO WILL PAY FOR THE BENEFIT. ONE PRINCIPLE YOU LEARN IN BUSINESS IS THAT YOU CAN ADD VALUE TO A PRODUCT, BUT TAKING VALUE AWAY WILL BACKFIRE! . WE HAVE FLOWN WESTJET IN THE PAST AND PERSONALLY WE HAVE EXPERIENCED FAR MORE PLUSES THAN MINUSES WITH THEM .THIS NEW POLICY IS JUST PLAIN DUMB! I PREDICT THEY WILL ALIENATE FAR MORE CUSTOMERS THAN THEY WILL ATTRACT AND WILL BE THE POORER FOR IT!
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