WestJet Airlines: A Comprehensive Review of my Experience [2023]

Winglet views on my WestJet flight – so gorgeous.

If you’ve ever wondered what flying on WestJet Airlines is like, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog article, I’ll detail my complete experience flying WestJet on my journey from Fort Lauderdale in the United States, to Nassau in the Bahamas. From the check-in process, to leg room, to overall experience compared to other airlines - this is your comprehensive review of WestJet Airlines.

Brief History of WestJet

All checked in for my WestJet flight – ready to fly!

As one of Canada’s largest and most respected airlines, WestJet Airlines have been impressing passengers for almost 30 years. Operating an average of 777 flights and carrying over 65,000 passengers a day, WestJet has been recognised as the number 1 airline in Canada, and the third best airline in North America by the SKYTRAX 2022 World Airline Awards – truly an amazing accomplishment.

The airline operates on a large network of flights, ranging from North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. For my journey, WestJet was my airline of choice across North America and the Caribbean. I flew both internationally and domestically.

What routes did I fly with WestJet?

Arriving at Montreal – one of WestJet’s many destinations.

For full transparency, this is a complete list of the flights I flew on with WestJet on economy class:

• Flight WS1221 from Fort Lauderdale (FLL), United States to Toronto (YYZ), Canada

• Flight WS3560 from Toronto (YYZ), Canada to Montreal (YUL), Canada

• Flight WS3533 from Montreal (YUL), Canada to Toronto (YYZ), Canada

• Flight WS2754 from Toronto (YYZ), Canada to Nassau (NAS), Bahamas

Check WestJet Routes Here on Skyscanner

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Airline Review Criteria

Views over The Bahamas on my WestJet flight to Nassau.

In reviewing WestJet, I’ll discuss my thoughts on points of criteria so that you can better assess if you’d like to fly with the airline. These are:

• Check-In and Bag Drop Process

• Seat Design

• Comfort

• Timeliness

• Service

• Entertainment

• Flight Network

Without further ado, let’s get into the review.

Check-In and Bag Drop Process

Checking into my WestJet flights using their convenient QR Code system.

WestJet’s check-in process was extremely seamless and hassle-free. First, they send you an email reminder to complete an online check-in before your flight. In case you forget to check-in beforehand (which, to be honest, I did), there was a handy WestJet QR code sign at the airport that lets you quickly check in on your phone before bag drop.

The bag drop process itself is also quite simple. At some airports, I was able to use an efficient self-bag drop machine and at other airports, I completed a traditional check-in with a friendly WestJet assistant. At the bag drop line, we had a WestJet staff member call out for passengers on flights that were departing soon, allowing them to check-in at a special line in case they were arrived to bag drop late.

This was really reassuring to see, as we have missed flights before primarily because of delays at the airport and staff not notifying passengers of any flight or gate changes.

Seat Design

Comfortable, black leather seats on my WestJet aircraft.

The seats at WestJet were sleekly designed, featuring a modern black leather design. They were easy to recline and overall very comfortable.

I found the leg room to be good, and the stowaway tray worked well. Sometimes on other airlines, the stowaway tray makes things feel very cramped, but I didn’t find this to be the case with my WestJet flights.

The Florida coastline, seen from my WestJet winglet view.

The views from my winglet window were epic. I got to witness beautiful sunsets, blue-water islets, imposing skyscrapers and stunning coastlines, all from the comfort of my WestJet seat.

Comfort

Ready to be on board my WestJet flight.

More than just seat comfort, I wanted to assess the overall comfort of the flight – which includes things such as the plane temperature, lighting, frequency of cabin crew walking around, and so on.

I prefer my flights to be on the cool side (honestly, nothing is worse than being stuck on a flight with poor air conditioning, you feel like you’re melting and there’s nothing you can do about it), so I was really pleased that my flight temperature felt just right.

The lighting was bright when the flight started, but dimmed as it got closer to night-time – perfect for catching some shut eye. This may seem like an obvious thing for an airline to do, but you’d be surprised how many flights I’ve been on where the lights would be on at 3am.

Cabin crew did walk around to offer food, water and shopping opportunities, but not to an annoying or over-frequented degree. I really appreciated this.

Timeliness

At the gate to my next WestJet flight. Luckily no delays here!

I absolutely loathe flight delays - especially when you have plans on the day of arrival. Fortunately, I didn’t experience any delays on any of my flights, and I arrived on time or earlier than the Estimated Arrival Time for all my flights. In fact, for my flights from Montreal to Toronto, and from Toronto to Nassau, I arrived almost half an hour early due to how organised the boarding process was.

Overall, I was fully satisfied with the punctuality of my WestJet flights. We were fell informed throughout and there were no major issues.

Service

The service was really great on my WestJet flight.

Flying with perhaps over 70+ different airlines, I’ve really seen the full spectrum of what cabin crew service can be like. From kind, caring and polite - to cold and unhelpful – the service onboard can really make or break a flight.

I was very pleased with how the cabin crew on my flights conducted themselves – friendly, professional, helpful and happy to assist. Seeing how positive the cabin crew were definitely added to the excitement of landing in a new city.

Flight Network

Enjoying these insanely blue waters in The Bahamas, thanks to WestJet.

WestJet operates over 770 flights per day and, together with WestJet Encore, boasts a fleet size of 168. Providing flights to over 100+ destinations all over the world, their flight network is truly extensive.

Toronto was another destination we flew to, on WestJet airlines.

With flights to more ‘off the beaten track’ destinations such as Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Costa Rica and more, there are so many great places you can visit when flying WestJet.

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Overall – How was my experience flying with WestJet?

How was my experience flying WestJet overall?

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with my experience on WestJet. It can be risky booking a bunch of flights on the same airline, so I was curious to see how my journey would be – but I’m so glad I did end up flying on WestJet.

Another look at the amazing Nassau, one of WestJet’s destinations.

Overall, WestJet’s comfort, friendly service, punctuality and professionalism impressed me, and I wouldn’t hesitate to book with them again.

Ralph enjoying his time at The Bahamas.

Thanks to WestJet, I was able to have a hassle-free holiday to Montreal, Toronto and the Bahamas! In Montreal, I marvelled at the beautiful French architecture.

Taking in the beauty of French-influenced Montreal.

In Toronto, I took in the big city vibes being among the tall buildings.

Views of the Toronto skyline.

In the Bahamas, I was able to relax on some of the cleanest waters in the world. Once again, a shout out to WestJet for helping this journey happen.

Iconic Paradise Island, minutes away from Nassau.

If you’re thinking of booking a WestJet flight, feel free to ask me any questions, or to find more information on their Official Website.

You can follow WestJet on their socials here:

• Instagram

• Facebook

• TikTok

• Twitter

• YouTube

Looking to contact WestJet directly? Click here.

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Are you thinking of flying with WestJet? Have any questions about my experience? Let me know in the comments below!

Follow my journey on Instagram!

Note: Although WestJet generously assisted me with booking flights on this collaboration, I have written this review from a true, transparent and honest perspective for Beyond The Bay readers.