A WestJet customer’s recent negative experience has struck a nerve with Canadians online, leading to hundreds sharing their experiences with air travel lately.
In a post that has been seen more than 500,000 times, Kevin McCurdy wrote on X that he and his wife paid for premium seats on WestJet flights between Edmonton and Toronto and Edmonton and Halifax.
He never received his premium seats, however. McCurdy said that the jets on both flights were swapped out last minute for former Swoop aircraft, which did not contain premium seats or any of the perks one would expect while flying premium.
McCurdy wrote that in both cases, he waited on hold with WestJet customer service for an hour each time to resolve the issue but never spoke to a human and did not receive his credit for the first incident.
“I rarely publicize my frustrations; however, you have broken my trust, and that is not easily regained, also you are impossible to get ahold of,” he said.
McCurdy told Daily Hive that while he didn’t intend for the post to go viral, he wanted to “highlight the issues with air travel in Canada” and not just his situation.
Hi @WestJet
We need to talk.
I’m not sure what’s going on with you, but you’re slipping hard.
My wife and I paid for premium seats in both directions on our flights (one from YEG to YHZ the other from YYZ to YEG), and in both cases at the last minute our jets were swapped…
— Kevin McCurdy (@McCurdy1987) August 1, 2024
Daily Hive reached out to WestJet for comment on McCurdy’s situation but had not yet heard back at the time of publishing.
In McCurdy’s replies, WestJet apologized, saying that it “hit a rough patch” in June.
Hi Kevin – we agree, the time is right for a talk. It’s not you, it’s us. We hit a rough patch at the end of June, and it is taking us longer than we expected to recover. We absolutely understand we let you down-both directions-and we appreciate 1/3
— WestJet (@WestJet) August 2, 2024
you filling in the forms,as the automation is being worked on, as is the retrofit of our aircraft. We had to press them into service early as we needed the planes for our summer schedule. However, this is little excuse for letting you down twice 2/3
— WestJet (@WestJet) August 2, 2024
So please, accept our apology, and our commitment that the next month will be better than the last, and that we will keep working on ourselves until we are worthy of your loyalty. Please send us a private message with your reservation code and email. Thank you 💙 3/3
— WestJet (@WestJet) August 2, 2024
But, as McCurdy highlighted in his post, his issue is just one of many that people have experienced. Some comments pointed to a trend in the airline industry of frequent flight cancellations and difficult-to-reach customer service agents.
In July, a couple whose WestJet flight from Calgary to Kamloops was cancelled took matters into their own hands by renting a car and driving home after being rebooked on a flight two days later.
A dad from Alberta also expressed his outrage online after he said WestJet cancelled and didn’t rebook his wife’s flight, leaving her and their baby stranded.
It took @WestJet over 8 months to process my claim – they lost (should be read “left my bag in Calgary”) my bag on my honeymoon to Mexico.
I had to buy medicine, clothes, etc, to get by for 3 days until they returned it to me.
My receipts from my resort were apparently not good…— Megzer (@iMegzer) August 2, 2024
This just happened also to friends of mine yesterday Aug. 1 flying YYZ to YEG & yes the refunds should be automatic processed. It’s like WestJet is taking money from customers fraudulently & then making customers chase them on the phone & mocking you with “catch us if you can!”
— KimberDS (@KimberDeeS) August 2, 2024
Wait til you get the “refund” for the fare difference. It was unfairly low when I got downgraded. And took forever. Awful airline.
— Greg (@TravelsofGreg) August 2, 2024
What you have described is becoming more of a norm than an exemption in the airline industry.
Good customer service is becoming a rarity, especially in the refund department. It is hard to even get a helpful human on the line without spending hours on the phone.
I have avoided…— Mark K 💎🙌🍁 (@mkryst70) August 2, 2024
I am very frustrated with Westjet as well. I’m waiting on a refund on expenses incurred for a 3 day flight delay after the strike.
If I don’t get the refund on expenses I will be cancelling my world elite Mastercard and avoiding Westjet flights wherever I can.
Westjet has…
— Adam Byblow (@AdamByblow) August 2, 2024
How has your experience with Canadian airlines been in recent years? Let us know in the comments.