Showing posts with label Flight Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Flight Reviews. Show all posts

Monday, March 28, 2022

March 28 Update: MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard Review (Updated for 2022), new Flight Reviews page & last few days for the amazing KLM sale!

Here's your Rewards Canada Daily update! Your near daily dose of loyalty program, credit card and travel news, bonuses, deals and more.

Today we released an update to our review of the MBNA Alaska Airlines World Elite Mastercard. The card was first reviewed on Rewards Canada in 2013 and I have to apologize to our readers as I don't think did an full fledged update on it since then so some of it was out of date. Now that's all fixed and the review is fresh for 2022 and I promise to keep an eye on it and update more frequently as required. The card itself isn't well known to most Canadians but is somewhat of a hidden gem and a favourite in the points and miles community. Read our review here to find out why!

Thursday, March 17, 2022

Flight Review: Air Canada Business Class Vancouver - Toronto (YVR-YYZ)

 
Today we are pleased to present the latest Rewards Canada Flight Review! This review is provided by Dee who has contributed to Rewards Canada in past with the articles  A look at the great value provided with the Annual Worldwide Companion Pass from Aeroplan's Ultra Premium Credit Cards and Earning Stories: An elite status boost and nearly 20,000 bonus points thanks to Aeroplan's credit card promos and more. 

I recently had the pleasure of flying from Vancouver to Toronto with Air Canada as my work had me heading out for the first time in two years. For this flight I used four of my eUpgrade credits to upgrade from Premium Economy to Business Class. The eUpgrades I have are part of the yearly benefits for being an Air Canada Aeroplan elite member.

Saturday, June 5, 2021

Flight Review: Air Canada AC215 Calgary to Vancouver - There is nothing like that new plane smell


It's time for another Bill W review for you!
Bill is a true road warrior, his work has him driving and flying across Western and Central Canada every week while staying in a variety hotels from a variety of chains.  Bill has been reading, following and even giving Rewards Canada tips and updates for a very long time so let's welcome him back with this contribution!  COVID-19 put a stop to much of his travels for awhile but he's back at it now!

I am on my first Air Canada flight of 2021 and was booked on Air Canada’s newest aircraft, the A220-200. For this flight I was able to upgrade to Business Class which on this aircraft is 3 rows, 12 seats.  

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Flight Review: Air Canada Business Class AC578/579 Calgary - Los Angeles (YYC-LAX)


Catching up on a flight review from the summer where the Rewards Canada family once again made our way to Southern California. I have to admit we love it down there and with it being a mere three hours or less by plane from Calgary, we do frequent it quite often. Whether it’s the LA area, San Diego, San Francisco or Palm Springs you can easily get there from Calgary. I have to be honest I have lost count how many times we have gone now but it’s been something in the neighborhood of at least a dozen times in the last 4 or so years and lately most of the flights to LAX have been in business class on Air Canada. Why? It usually prices cheaper than WestJet Plus (now called Premium) and each time we’ve booked, the business class fares weren’t much more than Air Canada or WestJet's economy class prices, especially when you factor in seat selection fees, baggage fees, food and drinks that you have to pay for with those economy fares. Such was the case for the flights in this review, there were five of us traveling and all booked into business class for roughly $50 more per person than we would have paid in economy class after you include all the various extras that economy brings.

The flight down (AC578) was operated with an older Airbus A320 as is typical for this route. A red alert was literally called just a minute or two before push back as a major storm blew threw and delayed us by over an hour for the departure to LAX.
The storm that kept us on the ground looms over the YYC Marriott
Business class had one seat open on the way down which happened to be the seat beside mine (I was in 4A) and the the other four in our party took up row 3 in front of me.
Seat 3A
Once in the air the flight was non eventful with great service from flight attendant looking after the business class cabin.
AC's hot nuts and drinks
The storm that delayed us:

And the nice view from 4A:

 This is the menu from the service on AC578 to LAX.



I had the cheese tortellini which was pretty good. In fact I usually go for this one as the chicken dishes are well, airline chicken dishes. Granted the rest of the family got the chicken and it was edible. The lemon chiffon cake is a decent dessert while the salad is pretty much the same one with the slight variation on the adder (Feta, seeds etc.) that is seen on these flights.



We arrived at LAX about an hour after the scheduled arrival time and the Priority Bag service worked well! All of our bag were in the first batch out on the carousel and we were out catching out Uber probably 25 minutes after arriving.

On to the return flight:

If you haven’t flown Air Canada to/from LAX in sometime you may not be aware that they moved from Terminal 6 from Terminal 2 early in 2017. Terminal 6 isn’t too bad and is comparable to Terminal 2. Dropping our bags off took sometime as the agent was trying to help people who were having some sort of issues. We were second in line in the Priority Check in lane and waited close to half an hour to drop our bags off. Having Nexus and registering our numbers prior to departure meant we had TSA Pre check (including one of travelers who doesn’t have Nexus) and that made clearing security a breeze. There is an Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge here in Terminal 6. The lounge is smaller than the one they had in T2 hence it is no longer accessible to Priority Pass members. You can read my review of this lounge here.

On the return the 5 of us had business class all to ourselves and the flight attendant commented on how it was like he was attending a cozy family dinner with us.  Here are some shots of the empty cabin:



And the return flight menu:
Once again I went with the cheese pasta and the others went with the Chicken. All in all the food was pretty good, not stunning, but good.

The rest of the return flight was uneventful and easy.  Overall these flights were great as we have normally experience in Air Canada Business Class. We've never really had any issues flying Air Canada, the service has always been good and for the most part things like Priority Baggage has worked in our favour. I would definitely recommend people don't look past the little bit extra you may pay for Business Class on these shorter routes as I find it is totally worth it. I’m also excited that Air Canada has now launched service from Calgary to Palm Springs and it’s not Rouge - it’s mainline aircraft like the one in this review and that they have replaced Rouge for their flights to Phoenix. Might have to book to one of those cities soon!

The flights in this review were purchased on the American Express Gold Card which earns 2 Membership Rewards points per dollar spend on travel which translates to 2 Aeroplan miles per dollar. No other card actually offers this many Aeroplan miles for travel bookings!

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Flight Review: Air Canada Rouge Premium Rouge Calgary - Las Vegas (YYC-LAS)


Another Bill W review for you! This is Bill's first flight review for Rewards Canada. You can find many of his hotel and lounge reviews right here on the blog. Bill is a true road warrior, his work has him driving and flying across Western and Central Canada every week while staying in a variety hotels from a variety of chains.  Bill has been reading, following and providing Rewards Canada tips and updates for a very long time so let's welcome him back with this contribution!  
 
The check-in experience was very good.  As we were flying Premium Rouge, we were able to utilize the Air Canada Priority Check-in. The agents were very pleasant and were able to process us through very quickly. They also mentioned that with my status (Altitude Elite 50), we would be able to access the Plaza lounge once through security. (The Maple Leaf lounge is only available for domestic flights, not trans-border or international).

Clearing U.S. Immigration was also a breeze thanks to our use of the NEXUS card. No line at the kiosks (compared to about 20-25 persons in the regular line). A couple of questions, fingerprint scan and pictures was all it took and we were through in less than 5 minutes.

The lounge itself was not too crowded, but over 80% of the tables had not been cleared of dishes/glasses from previous guests.  The food selection was good, several hot dishes were available. They had a good selection of beverages, all self-serve. (The ice was actually not in a very prominent place, finally found it in a bucket in the cooler in the counter). The washrooms were very clean and well-stocked with toiletries.

The tables were finally cleared after we had been there about 30 minutes, not sure if there was a staffing issue. Our flight out was the last one of the evening, so they gave us advance notice about last call, which was appreciated.


The plane was on time and we had a very short wait at the gate before boarding. The Premium Rouge section was actually full, though it had shown only 4 persons booked several hours before flight time. (I had checked before boarding, the standby for upgrade list was full). Nonetheless, there was no problem getting in and getting settled (Zone 1 boarding is nice….). The flight attendants were very attentive, making sure we had water, headsets and our complimentary iPads for entertainment before take-off.

It had been awhile since I had flown Rouge and it was nice to see that they had upgraded the Premium Rouge seats to a proper 2-2 configuration instead of the blocked middle seat that was previously used. The improved seat width (21”) and pitch (36”) was very much appreciated.

The service by the flight attendants was very good throughout the flight. We were offered our first round of drinks shortly after the seatbelt sign was removed and our meal followed within the first hour of flight time. We had a tossed salad and main course of chicken with a nice sauce along with rice and vegetable. Buns were made available and there was also a chocolate brownie for dessert. The meal was nice and hot and well presented. Again the flight attendants were very attentive and came and removed the dishes as soon as we were finished.


There was a good selection of movies preloaded on the iPad, with enough variety in genre to satisfy most everyone. On the Rouge aircraft (at least in Premium Rouge), there is a flap on the seat in front of you that you can put the cover of the iPad in so that it mimics having a seatback screen. This makes it easier as you don’t have to have the iPad on your lap or the tray (especially significant if you are watching your movie while eating).

It is important that you check the running time of your movie selection to ensure you have enough time to watch it in its entirety; otherwise you may have to finish it on the return flight. The iPads are collected 10-15 minutes before landing in order for the flight attendants to prepare the cabin for arrival. Of course, if you are using your own device, this is not much of a concern.

The flight itself was uneventful, was very smooth with no turbulence. The pilots did a great job with the landing and we were just slightly ahead of schedule. Deplaning was no problem with the Flight Attendants thanking everyone as we left.  All in all was a very pleasant flight and a good way to start our Vegas Vacation.

The return flight turned out to be a bit more eventful (as far as actually getting home).  We were scheduled to leave Las Vegas at 16:40, but received a text from Air Canada (around 11:00 am) indicating that our flight had been cancelled. No other information was presented at that time. So, time to get on the phone and find out what was happening as far as rebooking. I called Altitude Elite 50 contact line and went into the hold queue (for about 25 minutes). During the time I was on hold, I received an email from Air Canada explaining that we had been rebooked on a flight that left at 18:50. At least I had that information when I finally got through to an agent. I had tried to check the revised flight information on the AC app but was blocked. The agent was able to confirm that we did have our upgraded seats booked on the new flight and we already had the flight information, so we were ready. (However, if they hadn’t been able to rebook us until the next day, I don’t think there would have been much of an issue being stuck in Vegas for an extra day…..)


At the airport the check-in procedure was again very easy. Because of the delay, each of us received a $15USD voucher to be used for food. The agent was very pleasant and helpful and made sure we knew where to access the security line. He also reiterated that we had TSA precheck. This is also a nice perk to have as it saved about 15-20 minutes versus the regular security line. (TSA Pre✓™ Experience: Being referred to a dedicated lane, Quicker transit through airport security screening, Faster moving lines, Improved travel experience. No Removal of: Belt, Shoes, Light outerwear/jacket, 3-1-1 compliant liquid bag). With an extra 2 hours to kill, we did a bit of shopping and then went to the United Club lounge (again, a benefit with status and flying J). This lounge was very quiet and quite empty. They do offer some food, but mainly just snack items, cheese, crackers, veges. There is also a full bar with a bartender to serve drinks. If you stay with the well drinks, they are complimentary, but anything else above that is charged for. (For example, the well white wine was a Pinot, but if you wanted a Sauvignon Blanc, the cost was $12.00USD). And of course, a tip for the bartender.



Our (new) flight was on time. This was a mainline Air Canada A320 instead of the Rouge A319. Very similar in configuration, but without the Rouge “touch”. Again, the Business Class cabin was full, and it appeared that the entire flight was fully booked. Possibly this flight had passengers from another flight as the seating chart for the original Rouge flight had only shown about 60% capacity.
The flight attendants again were very attentive and addressed us by name when enquiring about our dinner choice. We had another chicken dish (the other option was a spinach lasagne) with rice and vegetables and slice of cake for dessert. The beverage service was good, though a Gin & Tonic was not available as there appeared to have been a problem with the cans of Tonic and Air Canada has temporarily removed them from their aircraft, apparently they were “exploding”. (This issue has since been resolved).



We were able to catch the end of the movie from the previous flight and watch another during the trip home. Apart from the cancelled flight, the return trip home was fine, the flight was good and on time.
As we neared Canada, the Flight Attendants started to hand out the Customs declaration cards to be completed prior to landing (Note: if you are traveling outside Canada and know you will need to fill out the card, bring a pen.  The flight attendants don’t have enough pens for a plane full of 146 Travellers. They will certainly appreciate it and you can be confident that you can get the card filled out before landing). However, they were also asking passengers if they were NEXUS members because it is not necessary for a card to be completed if you hold NEXUS membership.

Seated at the front of the plane obviously means you will be first in line at Customs and be able to beat the rush. Again, this is where the NEXUS membership is very useful. YYC (and most major airports) have dedicated NEXUS lines for passengers leaving Canada and returning. These lanes are way shorter than for those who do not have a low-risk traveller designation. (As a side note, we once returned from a U.S. flight at the same time as 2 or 3 other flights from out-of-country. Everyone must clear Customs and that meant that there were probably over 400 people all trying to go through at the same time. That does create a lot of long lines and perhaps frustrations as not everyone may have completed their declaration forms correctly.) Compare that to the NEXUS line where we had to do an Iris Scan and/or fingerprint check and answer a couple of questions and were through in less than 5 minutes.

(I highly recommend that anyone who travels even only once a year should obtain a NEXUS card. Not only does it identify you as a low-risk traveller with expedited Customs clearance, it also allows you priority screening at the security lines, even on domestic flights).

Overall both flights were very comfortable and the Flight Attendants very attentive. And hey, the plane was going to Vegas so everyone was in a good mood.

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Flight Review: Hawaiian Airlines First Class HA41/42 San Francisco - Kahului, Maui (SFO-OGG)


As you may have already seen we’ve put up a couple reviews for our Easter Trip to Maui and are trying to pump out all the reviews of this trip! We’ve covered the flights between YYC and SFO as well as the overnight stay on the way to Maui and now here we have our review of our flights on Hawaiian Airlines between SFO and OGG. Here’s a quick recap on how we got about flying this way to Maui instead of the direct flights out of YYC.
The Rewards Canada family made our annual pilgrimage to Maui, this time for Easter Break and for the first time in a long time we took connecting flights instead of flying direct. There were several reasons for this. First Air Canada rouged the Calgary to Kahului route so International Business Class pods are no longer available on the route and secondly since we were booking for Easter break which meant both Air Canada and WestJet were charging an arm and a leg for the direct flights! I started researching other options to get their comfortably and found Hawaiian Airlines was selling their first class (really business class but that’s what they call it for flights from the US mainland to the islands) but out of San Francisco. Not a big problem easy enough to fly to SFO from YYC and Air Canada has excellent pricing for business class there and back so it didn’t take long to book all the flights. The combination of AC business class and Hawaiian business calls came in at a price that wasn’t far off what WestJet and Rouge were charging! This was a good way to travel, try out a new airline and add in a day in SFO to our Maui trip
Now to the actual review of Hawaiian Airlines First Class!

We made sure the flights we booked on Hawaiian were on their relatively new Airbus A330 aircraft as they feature a newer business class cabin with lie flat seats. You can find these planes on the more popular routes between the US and Honolulu or Kahului out Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, New York and more. I checked most of the west coast cities for our trip and SFO priced out the best for Easter break. For flights out of the U.S. they classify the cabin as First Class while on their International flights to Australia, Japan etc. it is classified as Business Class.
Hawaiian Airlines does not have a lounge in SFO but with most of their departures being mid-morning and operating domestic flights you don’t have to arrive super early and really don’t need to hit up a lounge. Hawaiian does depart from the international terminal which means you could use the Air France KLM Lounge via Priority Pass.

The flight was scheduled to depart at 10am and boarding started at about 9:35am with those in First Class getting priority boarding. They board from door L2 so it’s a left turn to the premium cabin that has 18 lie flat seats. Since Hawaiian is primarily a leisure airline and there are not many single travellers flying the airline, the business class cabin is laid out in a 2-2-2 fashion for couples and families. Perfect for us as we are a family of four and for the flight there and back we grabbed seats 2CGHJ.

Almost as soon as we were seated we were offered drinks - a Mai Tai or POG. Both awesome options and very Hawaiian. On the flight there we started with POG, for those who have not been to Hawaii, POG is a staple juice of Passion, Orange and Guava juice.


For the flight back we took the mai Tais and also tried POG with Vodka and neither drink disappointed.


The seats themselves were quite comfy but I did find that when laying flat the space for the feet was quite narrow and I actually could not keep both feet beside each other comfortably, I had to cross them to fit better. Seats pairs have a privacy divider that can be extended up should you be traveling alone and don’t want to interact with whomever may be sitting beside you. A pillow and blanket were provided albeit both were small and light, more like something you would find in Economy class.


I also found the storage at the seat to be on the small side, you do have an area under the seat in front of you which I stuffed my laptop bag into but a good quarter of it was sticking out. It best fits a purse or something small like that. Each seat had a small personal reading LED lamp in addition to overhead reading lights, small storage on the side of your seat which was perfect for electronics or water bottles as well as 110V/USB plugs to charge electronics.

For in flight entertainment each seat has a retractable arm to which the flight attendants come by and  place an Apple iPad that’s loaded with TV shows and movies. Overall the selection was OK - not a ton of new releases but more than enough content for the 5 hour flight. You can choose to use your own headphones or use the noise cancelling headphones provided at no cost. Bose they are not, but overall quality wasn’t too bad.


Should your iPad get low on juice the airline does provide charging cables to power them up.
Overall the service provide onboard was impeccable - the flight attendants on both flights were very attentive! We were never short of drinks and the crews were all very friendly and eager to help. The attention to service was really good. As is customary on Hawaiian Airlines flights, the female flight attendants had the flowers in their hair.

Shortly after take off the first beverage service starts and as I mentioned above, in reality you have beverage service for the whole flight - the only difference with the after take off service is the addition of Mauna Loa Macadamia nuts. They are another Hawaiian staple and delicious to have alongside your drink!

Based on the menus the food for first/business class is developed by top Hawaiian chefs including one of our favourites from Top Chef, Sheldon Simeon. Alas our flight did not have any of his dishes. For our flight to Maui it had dishes by Chef Chai. I started with the cheese plate - can’t really mess that up and it was good. Our older daughter choose the Ahi and Salmon Poke which she enjoyed. All four of us chose the Sriracha chicken dish as our main. It looked better than it was as the chicken - as seems to be common when you fly - was rubbery. The sauce was OK but it really needed a gallon of it to help the poor chicken.





The flight back featured food by Wade Ueoka. We choose the Jidori chicken salad and the Meatloaf. These were a lot better than the food on the way Maui - edible and quite tasty. The POG pie was really good - one of the better deserts we have onboard in sometime.


After experiencing Hawaiian's premium class for the first time we may never fly direct again to the Islands (unless AC brings back an Internationally configured plane or WestJet puts their 787's on the route, both of which are highly unlikely now) as we really enjoyed the flights. The service, the comfort and overall feel of the flights were great. Sure it's not direct but the overnight stays add extra adventure to the travels and we have already talked about which city we'd connect in next time - so far San Diego is winning!

For most Canadians, if you don't live near Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary or Toronto you are going  to have connecting flights to get to Hawaii so this is something you can look at as many don't consider this option. If you are looking for a fun, Hawaiian themed and relatively well priced premium experience flying to Hawaii I would most definitely recommend flying Hawaiian Airlines on their A330's to the islands!


Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Flight Review: Air Canada Business Class AC8567/8568 Calgary - San Francisco (YYC-SFO)

It's been sometime since I've posted a flight review on here so I thought I would bring you one that I did take a few pictures on!

The Rewards Canada family made our annual pilgrimage to Maui, this time for Easter Break and for the first time in a long time we took connecting flights instead of flying direct. There were several reasons for this. First Air Canada rouged the Calgary to Kahului route so International Business Class pods are no longer available on the route and secondly since we were booking for Easter break which meant both Air Canada and WestJet were charging an arm and a leg for the direct flights! I started researching other options to get their comfortably and found Hawaiian Airlines was selling their first class (really business class but that’s what they call it for flights from the US mainland to the islands) but out of San Francisco. Not a big problem easy enough to fly to SFO from YYC and Air Canada has excellent pricing for business class there and back so it didn’t take long to book all the flights. The combination of AC business class and Hawaiian business calls came in at a price that wasn’t far off what WestJet and Rouge were charging! This was a good way to travel, try out a new airline and add in a day in SFO to our Maui trip

Here is the actual review of our YYC-SFO flights!

The flights between Calgary and San Francisco are operated by Air Canada Express (Jazz) with CRJ-900s. It’s been probably 10 years since we’ve flown on a CRJ and that last flight was in Economy Plus on United from SFO to Calgary! The flight down had an older plane while the flight back had a much newer one which was super clean, had LED lighting and felt and smelled brand new!

The seats seemed like your standard North American business class seats but all of us in the family did find them more comfortable than those used on Air Canada's Airbus family.  The business class cabin has a 1-2 layout which is perfect for families of 4 (2 and 2 ahead of each other) or for single travelers who want that coveted single seat! The seats offer a 37" pitch and are 21" wide. For a family that doesn't tower like ours the 37" pitch works just fine - here are shots of the leg room I had:


Flights in both directions were delayed especially so for the return. On that return flight the incoming plane was apparently held in Calgary due to ground delays at SFO for the rain. In SFO we wanted to visit the American Express Centurion Lounge for the delay, we went in and were out within about 5 minutes as it was so crowded! The line up to get drinks from the single bartender was at least 10 people deep if not more. Even with further entry restrictions on these lounges they are proving to be so popular that they can't be enjoyed. We found a much quieter and surprisingly comfier spot in terminal G where AC flies out of, sure the food and drinks weren't free but the sanity was worth it.
 
Arriving into SFO is always fun as it is one of the best airports to plane spot from your seat on the plane:

In flight service both ways was attentive and good. There are no complaints at all with the friendliness of the crews as well as  the drink and snack selections.

Food was so-so for both flights. Going down to SFO the chicken dish was edible and on the return flight you could tell the my wife’s meal was at the hottest part of the oven as the rice was rock hard while mine was probably next to it as it was partially hard!

AC8568 Menu SFO-YYC

General Tao Chicken with hard rice
On the flight back to Calgary the in-flight entertainment system was inoperative and despite several resets the cabin crew could not get it to work. They had issues on the flight down to SFO as well so the attendants already had compensation cards ready and handed them out to all of the business class passengers. Good planning on the flight attendant's part!

Overall flying AC domestic business class between Calgary and California is always nice and many times it is a great deal price wise - we've been lucky enough to do it quite a few times and find it a better option over WestJet's Plus cabin although the latter will start implementing a true 2-2 cabin so we'll have to see how that compares!

You may ask, why did we fly business class on this relatively short flight instead of economy and bring the price down even further? Well, we were lucky, when booking the flights business class was pricing out only about $100 more than economy - likely to compete with WestJet's Plus pricing and when you factor in bag fees, seat selections fees and so on with the economy class fare not to mention extra Aeroplan miles earned in business the difference ends up only being around $40 which is more than worth it on a ~2 hour flight.

For future flights I would definitely fly Air Canada Express' Business Class on this route if the price is right like it was for these ones!

Thursday, October 12, 2017

The unveiling of WestJet's 737 Max 8 with photos and flight video

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the unveiling of WestJet's newest aircraft, the Boeing 737 Max 8. Over the past few weeks the Calgary based airline has taken delivery of two of the 50 aircraft they have on order. Fin 302 was on display in one of their hanger bays in Calgary for the media and WestJet employees to walk through and of course be able to take pictures and videos of it as well. Fin 301, was in the next bay over getting ready for the 1st Canadian flight of a Boeing 737 Max aircraft, that is a flight wholly within Canada with passengers on it. The event was mainly attended by employees but also the Calgary media, some of Calgary's best known plane spotters and Rewards Canada!

The new plane ushers in the latest technology and services for WestJet and the airline is really excited to be adding the planes into their fleet. While many features that the plane provides are huge for WestJet the recurring theme was the 14% increase in efficiency the plane will provide over the existing next generation fleet. Hopefully the decrease in costs for fuel are passed along in the fares..... ;-). Outside of it being way more efficient, the plane is much quieter! I sat in row 23 behind the engines and can attest to it being significantly quieter than the current 737NG fleet. This will be much appreciated by not only those on board the plane but even those on the ground who aren't fond of planes flying overhead.

Some other notable changes are the Boeing Sky Interior which boasts LED mood lighting with four different settings (Sunset, sunrise, WestJet Blue & anight time ambient service) and of course the larger overhead bins that on average will allow for 60 more carry on bags to be stored on the aircraft.
Overhead bin
Mood lighting in the ceiling

These will also be the first narrow body aircraft in WestJet's fleet to have ovens in the galleys which means hot meal service will be available!
Ovens!
 For seating WestJet is moving to hybrid three cabin style. You still only have two main cabins, Plus and Economy but there is also now an Extra Leg Room section at the front of the economy cabin right after plus. You'll know you are in these seats as they have the white headrests but not with 'Plus' embroidered on them. Seat pitch on these MAX aircraft are 34" for Plus and Extra Legroom sections while the rest of Economy will range from 30" to 31". While in the air we were told that Plus will actually be increased to 36" pitch sometime here in the near future to match the rest of the 737 fleet. The new seats in Plus and Extra Legroom sections feature a quilted back to further distinguish them from economy.

Plus Seating
Extra Legroom Seating

Regular Economy Seating
I had tons of room in the regular economy seat but then again I'm only 5'-9" (or 5'-8" as my kids claim)
View across row 23 in the economy section

Once through the plane on the media side we boarded fin 301 for the sightseeing flight that took us over the Rockies, unfortunately it was mostly cloudy over most of Southern Alberta and B.C. however the mountains did peak through on occasion.

Actual sightseeing flight path in green

During the flight there were speeches from Gregg Saretsky (WestJet's President & CEO), Boeing's Jeff Edwards and others.  There was lots of praise for the aircraft, the WestJet employees and more. Some more details will also revealed on more changes coming to Plus service. Primarily WestJet is working to add a cabin divider between Plus and Economy and they have set up a partnership with Giusti Wines of Calgary to serve Prosecco out of big bottles to all passengers seated in Plus.
Prosecco being served on the flight!
 It really seems WestJet is ramping up it's higher end service and they need to since they will be offering a full business class on their 787 planes. The better the two integrate the better and smoother it is for the customer. Overall the flight was an awesome experience to have and we have to pass along a big thank you to the WestJet and WestJet Rewards team for allowing me to join them on this special occasion. What follows is a Youtube video compiling some of the photos and videos taken during the event.

Finally today saw the first commercial flights of the plane (Flights 662 and 667) between Calgary and Toronto. Let us know if you were lucky enough to get on one of those flights and share your thoughts below! If not, feel free to comment anytime in the future when you do get onto one of the new Max aircraft once they start flying full time on November 9th!



Please note that some of the statements we pass along here from WestJet are subject to change!