Added an extra day for minimal $$ - thanks WestJet!

[JKCDA]

Going in April with kidlet for her birthday. The original plan was a 9pm flight out for arrival at 11 or so - we wouldn’t be back at the hotel until after midnight, so I was worried about the next day.

I thought I’d look up WestJet’s change fees because I knew there was a 7:30am flight for arrival at 10:00 or so. Turns out that over 60 days out, the fee is only $25 plus the difference in flight!

The reservations were made through Disney, so I had to call them to update...and the first CSR told me it would be $172, including the change fee. Disappointed, I said no thanks & hung up, but kept thinking about it. I swear the flights were less now than when I booked them (nervous booker - I like to have it cemented as early as possible).

Turns out, I was right! A second call back revealed that the first CSR was wrong, and it was only $50 exactly to gain nearly a whole day (plus the $27 for an extra park day of course). I cannot tell you how happy I am - it was 3.5 days to start with, and I had added the park hopper to help with the tight schedules...but now I can remove the park hopper, and we’ll have more time to relax.

TL;DR, WestJet has great change fees, and I am happy!!

 

[alohamom]

WOW-Thanks for posting this info, I was under the assumption that all airlines charge $100+ to change reservations but this is great to know!

 

[friedela]

Going in April with kidlet for her birthday. The original plan was a 9pm flight out for arrival at 11 or so - we wouldn’t be back at the hotel until after midnight, so I was worried about the next day.

I thought I’d look up WestJet’s change fees because I knew there was a 7:30am flight for arrival at 10:00 or so. Turns out that over 60 days out, the fee is only $25 plus the difference in flight!

The reservations were made through Disney, so I had to call them to update...and the first CSR told me it would be $172, including the change fee. Disappointed, I said no thanks & hung up, but kept thinking about it. I swear the flights were less now than when I booked them (nervous booker - I like to have it cemented as early as possible).

Turns out, I was right! A second call back revealed that the first CSR was wrong, and it was only $50 exactly to gain nearly a whole day (plus the $27 for an extra park day of course). I cannot tell you how happy I am - it was 3.5 days to start with, and I had added the park hopper to help with the tight schedules...but now I can remove the park hopper, and we’ll have more time to relax.

TL;DR, WestJet has great change fees, and I am happy!!

Did you book a package with them, or just the flights??

 

[JKCDA]

I actually booked the park tickets, hotel and flight through Disney - they had to call and make the change, since they were acting as a travel agent.

It was charged USD because I booked through Disney but if I had booked through them it would’ve been in CDN. Ah well. I did get free seat selection (they picked for me, but they’re good seats & we’re together) which is normally $30/seat ahead of hand or free 24h prior (when you may not be guaranteed to have two side by side).

 

[youngdeb12]

FYI - not sure how young your "kidlet" is, but Westjet will allow you to select your seats ahead of time for free (2 kids for every 1 parent) as long as the kids are 12 and under. They usually put you near the back of the plane, but it's nice for peace of mind and to avoid paying the fee.

 

[mab2012]

OP - so glad this worked out well for you! I have had good experiences switching flights on WestJet in the past too. But just a word of warning to anyone reading this thread: WestJet's change fees used to be $25 pretty much across the board (subject to various deadlines), but they've recently revamped their fare structures. Now their lowest fare is completely non-refundable, no changes allowed. So just be sure you know what the rules are for the fare class you're booking.

Actually that new lowest fare class at WestJet is particularly nasty. Seats are auto-assigned at check-in and changeable at that time "for an additional fee". The actual cost is unspecified.

 

[starvenger]

Yeah it seems like most legacy airlines have managed to add a “basic economy” tier.

We decided some time ago that if seat selection wasn’t offered we’d bite the bullet and pay for seats. Don’t really like it but we like having that guarantee (more or less) of being together, in our preferred configuration, more.