'Give us $600 and also we hate you': WestJet's new UltraBasic fare gets roasted online

If there’s anything people can agree on these days, it’s that flying sucks.

And between the delays and cancellations, extreme turbulence, and jets literally falling apart in the sky, it seems that some people have had about enough of flying experiences getting ostensibly worse instead of better.

Which may partially explain the online roasting of WestJet’s new UltraBasic fare, where you can board the plane and that’s about it.

Announced Tuesday, the new “no-frills fare option” doesn’t permit carry-on baggage (unless you’re flying overseas), has pre-assigned seats at the back of the plane, and those who select the fare will be the last to board the plane. They also can’t collect WestJet Rewards.

Even then, an UltraBasic round trip from Toronto to Calgary at the end of June costs about $650.

iknowitwheniseeit,

This is why having classes in transportation is bad. You are literally in the same vehicle, but companies are trying to convince people to pay more. The only way for this to actually work is to make the cheaper options suck ass.

Airlines have ended up with a business model that depends on them providing bad service.

xmunk,

Dear antitrust folks… where the fuck are you.

Sincerely, Canadians when buying anything.

Beaver,
@Beaver@lemmy.ca avatar

Whaaat you don’t like high prices and poor service?

The propagandists said Air Canada would be better off privatized.

xmunk,

Can we backsies? I’d honestly love a serious conversation about nationalizing Air Canada.

mPony,

they’re also saying that health care will be better off privatized.

corsicanguppy,

And America is RIGHT THERE to show them otherwise, and still they pitch that to their slobbering crowd of knuckledraggers.

FireRetardant,

It isn’t about providing health care, it is about generating profits while pretending to care about health care.

Theharpyeagle,

God damn it’s so stupid that we fill plans front to back just so people can feel special about sitting down first.

rab,
@rab@lemmy.ca avatar

Front is the best so you can get off the plane immediately

I never understood why people dick around with their bags after a 10 hour flight, I want to get the fuck out immediately

alyth,

I’m the opposite. I’ve already spent 10 hours so what’s another 15 minutes waiting for the corridor to clear up.

xmunk,

Yea, my partner has mobility issues, so we tend to wait until most of the other people are off before trying to get canes out and the deplane without the stress of being in front of people pushing to get off.

rab,
@rab@lemmy.ca avatar

The entire time is torture for me so I need to get out lol

corsicanguppy,

If you’re the type who immediately stands up and blocks everything, then you’re definitely on the list of flying gripes; sorry to say.

Boarding back to front, windows-in, was definitely really cool when I was on a plane with that rule.

A way to lock the overheads and publicize that info would go a long way, I think.

ILikeBoobies,

Front row is the best because I’m tall and it’s the only place with leg room

skeptomatic,

Meanwhile…
Oh how the turntables.

Kecessa,

You know what? Good, the less people fly the better it is for the environment.

GBU_28,

Not of they choose to drive

Kecessa,

Actually, you can put four passengers in a Chevy Suburban with a big V8 and they’ll be polluting less to travel the same distance compared to doing it in a passenger plane, the shorter the trip the better as well because planes burn a shit ton of fuel for takeoff.

GBU_28,

Not including externalized road infrastructure

Kecessa,

And not considering the impact of emissions at high altitude vs ground level which is much worse which explains why air traffic has a disproportionately high green house effect compared to the amount of emissions it releases.

I was just talking about the amount of fuel burnt over the distance covered. Also the road infrastructure will continue to exist even if it’s just for heavy transport (which is much worse on roads anyway).

corsicanguppy,

Also the road infrastructure will continue to exist even if it’s just for heavy transport (which is much worse on roads anyway).

If you’re not aware of how much it costs to maintain roads, that’s because it’s largely subsidized FOR trucking, and incompletely at that.

Witness the state of roads and especially bridges, and explain how they should be maintained considering who’s on them. Now remove trucking because we got smart and used rail for inter-city. You’re either going to be using a ez-pass a lot more or the roads will be straight outta Mad Max.

And finally, it’s a 6 hour flight or a 4-day driving trip. One’s shorter and far safer, and the other one destroys friendships because Dave will not stop snoring and I swear I’m going to stop this car right now.

Kecessa,

Even if you have rails, you still need roads to deliver from the train yard to the final destination.

The fact that people need to travel 6 hours by airplane on a regular basis is an issue in itself, we’re way too mobile for leisure reasons and it’s fucking up the world.

8ender,

The other thing WestJet has been doing lately is charging you full price for a ticket and then shoving you on one of the cramped former Swoop planes.

maxprime,

What about personal items?

harrys_balzac,

You are allowed to bring one personal item, that is, you can bring yourself.

maxprime,

Unless I’m going on a really long trip I never bring carryon. Just my small backpack with enough clothes for the trip (plus 2 socks and underwear). I feel like I should be given a cheaper [e] ticket for that.

wreckedcarzz,
@wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world avatar

But can I get personal with it? snaps fingers as lights dim, smooth jazz starts to play

M0oP0o,
@M0oP0o@mander.xyz avatar

https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/8f298f47-e70e-4989-a189-719a05e0c69e.gif

themeatbridge,

Just so everyone is clear on this, the airline isn’t trying to sell to a lower market. They’re trying to normalize higher prices for standard fares. By itemizing the things that are normally included, they can pin values on all of them and then make it seem like a deal to “upgrade”.

wreckedcarzz,
@wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world avatar

Ah so they are Delta.

What, you wanted to sit?! Extra money. Bag? Extra money. Oxygen? Extra money.

Tolookah,

So… You wear 10 layers of clothing, and shove everything else into a CPAP bag? (Medical things are often excluded)

MutilationWave,

Oh man I had a friend that did the clothes thing. It was his first time flying and the didn’t bother to learn or ask about carry-on stuff. He flew to visit his girlfriend’s family wearing all the clothes he would use that week.

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