Open Mike

[blues deville]

[quote name='Thebean' timestamp='1314375758' post='1570607'

It's this sort of erosion that keeps the brain trust at legacy airlines awake at night.

[Seeker]

I don't really give a hoot about legacy airlines and their brain trust sleep patterns.

However, when I'm in the market to travel on someone other than my own airline, I haven't found any price difference between AC and the LCC sharing the airspace in Canada.

Someone will have to show me where WS currently sells these half rate air fares.

What beano is saying is that the legacy carrier is forced to match the lower fare and that it happens almost instantly so you'll never see a large discrepancy in price.

[blues deville]

What beano is saying is that the legacy carrier is forced to match the lower fare and that it happens almost instantly so you'll never see a large discrepancy in price.

The average consumer doesn't know who is raising or lowering their prices when shopping around for a flight on AC or WS. But if he says WS has fares at half the going rate I guess we have to believe him. Westjet certainly isn't a bargain anymore.

[blues deville]

This thread has taken a few twists and turns but I'd like to add something I received from Westjet today. It was a form email but it was signed by Greg with a well worded letter apologizing for the delay on my recent WS flight. Westjet has given me and my wife a 20% discount on our next flight in the hopes that we travel with them again.

In the many years I have travellled as a passenger or crew member, I have never received a letter like this before. I must say that I am impressed with the PR and their follow up to contact me. Excellent work!

Many years ago on a Wardair flight, a last minute aircraft swap traded away a nice DC10 for a not so nice Nationair DC8 at the old T1. It was a horrible trip. Traveling with a pregant wife, a young baby , and the inlaws (who I was treating to a planned Wardair style flight) were forced to run down a jet way and board at the last minute. We were on a pass, the inlaws were full fare. That should have been a sign and it just worse.

On the way home from Tampa, the same DC8 was parked out in the Florida sun waiting to take us home. No air conditioning and i had the same number of family members who were not impressed with the outbound flight all looking at me like it was my fault.

I should have written a letter to Wardair and complained. Never did.

Years later I met Max at a book signing of his life story and we exchanged some war stories about float flying but didn't mention my DC8 sub charter story. However, when I read his book, he said that several times he fully refunded unhappy customers on a regular basis.

We actually did fly with Wardair again and had a great flight with the standard first rate service.

So I can honestly say I am impressed with how Westjet has handled my delayed flight and I will travel with them again.