CanJet review
This afternoon’s flight on CanJet was an interesting experience. Overall, I would say that CanJet failed to make a major impression on me; they are just another airline. They started out well, with a short line up despite the fact that we arrived a mere 50 minutes before our flight. WestJet by comparison had a line up that snaked back and forth and seemed to go outside the terminal. The actual check-in was speedy and Alison and I had seats together thanks to CanJet’s web booking system. Then it was through security and off to the gate with only two minutes to go (there is an interesting story associated with our trip through security for this flight but I’ll leave that for another blog). We flew in one of their 500 series 737s, and like WestJet, they have nice leather seats but no leg room whatsoever. The flight crew were friendly and, unlike most WestJet flights, had at least one bilingual crew on board. The flight deck crew were way more talkative than I’ve ever seen and kept us informed of everything from the flight time, the turbulence, the weather patterns and which of the Great Lakes we were over flying at the time. That said though, we did take up pretty much all of runway 23’s 10,000+ feet of runway as we floated forever and then finally landed rather firmly.
CanJet, like all the other airlines (it seems) is going with ”no extras” business model and as such only provides complimentary coffee and tea. This worked well for us as we grabbed lunch in the airport and only wanted to drink tea. This is where CanJet lost a lot of points with me; they charge for everything else, including chips or cookies or peanuts or canned pop. This in itself is okay, but CanJet charges $2 for a pop. Yes, two dollars for a 355 ml can of pop. Two dollars for a can which I can get wholesale for 50 cents is a complete rip off and something you expect from a hotel mini-bar (Novotel in downtown Toronto charges $2.50). I understand completely that CanJet wants to keep costs to a minimum but charging people four times the cost of a product is outrageous. One dollar would be more than enough to recover any costs associated with getting that can of pop from the factory to my seat at 37,000 feet.
So will I fly CanJet again? Absolutely, but they are not at the top of my list. That spot is still reserved for Air Canada. Why? AC has the most flights to wherever I want to go. I’d rather pay $50 more if I can sleep, work or do whatever a little longer. With Air Canada I can fly around my life’s schedule not schedule my life around my flight. And at least Air Canada still offers me (for now) complementary pop.
Thu, 09 Jun 2005 20:52 Posted in Flying
