Porter Air to Florida

[Ex-Airbalancer]

All airlines are crappy now 

cutback everywhere just like cruise lines 

[rodndonna]

8 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

All airlines are crappy now 

cutback everywhere just like cruise lines 

 

I agree and like the cruise lines have no allegiance when it come to air lines. 

 

Price ...schedule .. and "how many planes/alternatives do you have in case something goes wrong?" mostly come into play when we book air.

 

We do have a leaning to Air Canada as we have an Aeroplan Visa so no baggage fees which can wipe out savings on some of the lower cost options (at least for trips requiring a bag each).

 

Somebody here mentioned looking at Detroit airport as an option for flying. Was looking at cruises from New York and flights to New York from Detroit verses Toronto. I was stunned - as low as $75 CDN round trip from Detroit ...crazy prices .. I keep my expectations in line when airlines have to try to compete with pricing like that.

[LHT28]

On 9/4/2023 at 2:24 PM, Dancer Bob said:

Thinking more in terms of overhead bins and if larger bins makes the cabin feel more cramped.

Flew to Yul Friday  looks like  the overhead bins  will take  small bags   21"   saw many rolling them down the aisle

the head space is low ..I did bang my head  I am 5'4"

 

we were in row 2  so not sure if they ran out of space in the back or not

[spethstation]

So happy to see Porter step up as a contender to AC and give us what we want. With WestJet focusing more on the west, it's nice to see some gaps are being filled.

I ended up snagging a great price for Porter Reserve to FLL for my Dec cruise! Excited to experience the upgrade. I don't even care about a connection, the price was worth it.

[Dancer Bob]

I suspect their advertising that there is overhead space for everyone is only if they enforce carryon limits.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

On 8/24/2023 at 2:05 PM, broberts said:

Return flights from FLL and MIA to YYZ depart at ~08:40. I guess Porter is not interested in attracting cruise passengers.

The savings could be enough to stay over and fly out next morning if you have the time.

[Fouremco]

11 minutes ago, D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL said:

The savings could be enough to stay over and fly out next morning if you have the time.

Porter's flight times have evolved since the time of that August post. We have a direct flight FLL - YOW that departs at 4:30 PM. No need to stay overnight.

[D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL]

12 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Porter's flight times have evolved since the time of that August post. We have a direct flight FLL - YOW that departs at 4:30 PM. No need to stay overnight.

That’s good !! I checked last month for FLL and only return flight was 8:30 am.

[broberts]

18 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Porter's flight times have evolved since the time of that August post. We have a direct flight FLL - YOW that departs at 4:30 PM. No need to stay overnight.

 

Those flying FLL - YOW are fortunate, if they can get a seat, January 2024 departs 17:40. I just checked middle week of January, only non-stop flight FLL - YYZ all week departs 08:40.

[Fouremco]

27 minutes ago, D&N LUV 2 TRAVEL said:

That’s good !! I checked last month for FLL and only return flight was 8:30 am.

 

11 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Those flying FLL - YOW are fortunate, if they can get a seat, January 2024 departs 17:40. I just checked middle week of January, only non-stop flight FLL - YYZ all week departs 08:40.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that the time doesn't get changed.

 

We'll be on a family cruise comprising 4 separate groups flying a variety of airlines. All have had their original flight times changed, some quite significantly. That's why we changed our original AC flights to Porter. My sister will fly Porter YYZ - FLL, but can't get a direct flight back at a doable time. Instead, she'll join us on the afternoon flight to Ottawa, then connect to a flight to YYZ.

 

I've heard that the problem lies with the airport, that there is simply too much demand for FLL gate availability during the preferred hours that would accommodate cruise passengers. If true, I've no idea how they decide which airlines get priority in time allocation.

[Oceangoer2]

34 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

 

We're keeping our fingers crossed that the time doesn't get changed.

 

We'll be on a family cruise comprising 4 separate groups flying a variety of airlines. All have had their original flight times changed, some quite significantly. That's why we changed our original AC flights to Porter. My sister will fly Porter YYZ - FLL, but can't get a direct flight back at a doable time. Instead, she'll join us on the afternoon flight to Ottawa, then connect to a flight to YYZ.

 

I've heard that the problem lies with the airport, that there is simply too much demand for FLL gate availability during the preferred hours that would accommodate cruise passengers. If true, I've no idea how they decide which airlines get priority in time allocation.

So far we've only had our AC flight changed by plane and by 10 min. on return from FLL. Tried Porter as an alternative from Toronto in case of AC pilot strike, but the many hours layover in Montreal is not doable for us.  🤞AC works out.

[TheShag]

To those that are curious about Porter's E Jets, in a word they are wonderful. We upgraded for a return flight YYZ to YVR a while back. Seats in the 'front' are no better than in the back with the exception being more legroom. A little bit more food and they also had some pre-mixed cocktails. Nice spacious cabin, good overhead storage, great service, weird food though. Not even close to Rouge on any Florida routes! Never again for us on Rouge to anywhere!

[thon]

We are flying YOW-YYC in late Nov on Porter and are looking forward to it (even though we have to go via YYZ).  When we booked our Jan cruise out of Tampa, Porter had not yet announced their new routes to various Florida destinations so we were stuck with booking AC Rouge (ugh!).  However, I see online that there are very, very few seats booked on our flights so if AC cancels or amalgamates our flights I will cancel, get a refund and switch to Porter if there are still available seats.  Would be considerably cheaper too.

[Fouremco]

We have a family cruise in January, and one member has had to cancel. Her basic tickets are non-refundable, but I'm wondering if there is any benefit in not advising Porter that she is cancelling. Although the chances are slim, I'm thinking that if the outbound flight is cancelled at the last minute due to weather, mechanical issues or for some other reason, she might get a refund at that point. Any thoughts?

[TheShag]

1 minute ago, Fouremco said:

We have a family cruise in January, and one member has had to cancel. Her basic tickets are non-refundable, but I'm wondering if there is any benefit in not advising Porter that she is cancelling. Although the chances are slim, I'm thinking that if the outbound flight is cancelled at the last minute due to weather, mechanical issues or for some other reason, she might get a refund at that point. Any thoughts?

Just to be sure, have you confirmed that she can’t put in into a travel bank account (thinkin’ FCC 😁)

[Fouremco]

31 minutes ago, TheShag said:

Just to be sure, have you confirmed that she can’t put in into a travel bank account (thinkin’ FCC 😁)

If you mean an FCC for the cruise, that wasn't an option for her. 

 

As her Porter Airlines ticket is only a Basic Fare, she can't make any changes or cancel for a refund.  

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, TheShag said:

, weird food though

Can you clarify "weird food" ?

 

We only had a short flight  no food just "premium snacks"  which were awful  to us

drinks  as well but  it was 1 hr flight

[LHT28]

59 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

We have a family cruise in January, and one member has had to cancel. Her basic tickets are non-refundable, but I'm wondering if there is any benefit in not advising Porter that she is cancelling. Although the chances are slim, I'm thinking that if the outbound flight is cancelled at the last minute due to weather, mechanical issues or for some other reason, she might get a refund at that point. Any thoughts?

depending on the ticket fare base  maybe she can get a credit

The price dropped on our ticker so called Porter  & got a credit for the difference  we had booked the NAVIGATE  fare

[TheShag]

2 hours ago, LHT28 said:

Can you clarify "weird food" ?

 

We only had a short flight  no food just "premium snacks"  which were awful  to us

drinks  as well but  it was 1 hr flight

Basically, box lunch meal. Served cold. I would not waste my money for their “premium” product. No lounge. Certainly NOT a business class type experience. 

[LHT28]

10 minutes ago, TheShag said:

Basically, box lunch meal. Served cold. I would not waste my money for their “premium” product. No lounge. Certainly NOT a business class type experience. 

Thanks 

I did not think  it was advertised as BIZ class the fare we  had  but we took it for extra leg room

Price was good  for us

 

[cmaleblanc]

We are in NL, so flying out of here regardless of carrier is always a pain, Our first trip down to FLL a few years ago we went Westjet, and it wasn't bad, but they stopped flying down on Saturdays. Considering our cruises tend to leave on Sunday, it was a pain. When Porter announced the new trips to FLL I was excited. I flew Porter when I was in school in NS. Ended up booking today for our trip in Feb using the black Friday/cyber Monday deals. But had to book our down with Porter and home with AC. Porter wasn't flying back from FLL until Wednesday after our trip. I didn't want to spend an extra 4-5 days in FLL waiting for the flight. I still ended up saving almost $2000 on the tickets compared to round-trip with AC. We also had an eCoupon from AC from our trip last year that got delayed, so I added that helping to lower the cost a bit more. We need to find better options, Competition is great if they actually compete. I'm hoping, that porter gets more time as they build out the business in Florida. As someone else said, they might just be stuck with the slots at FLL that others didn't take/can't fill so we get what we get. 

[mrell345]

We have the direct YOW-FLL flight booked with Porter for next week.  I was checking after they started flying Nov 30 and they were consistently departing 2 to 4 hours late, though they never cancelled a flight.  The last two flights have left and arrived on time so here is hoping they sorted whatever the problem was.

 

Ive told the wife hope to leave on time but plan for a delay.  We always fly down a couple of days prior to the cruise and its a direct flight so not worried.

[Janedoe2012]

We had a great flight yesterday YYZ-FLL with Porter.

The flight was delayed an hour from departing but they did a good job keeping us informed of the situation.

I had Porter Reserve seats ( front section of the plane, more leg room, very nice meal with different options, snacks, and generous beverage top ups, speedy wifi, friendly crew). It was a full plane and carry on baggage/storage didn’t seem to be the usual gong show for passengers like other carriers). 
I had similar positive experience when I flew YYZ-Vancouver this spring.

 

 

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, mrell345 said:

We have the direct YOW-FLL flight booked with Porter for next week.  I was checking after they started flying Nov 30 and they were consistently departing 2 to 4 hours late, though they never cancelled a flight.  The last two flights have left and arrived on time so here is hoping they sorted whatever the problem was.

 

Ive told the wife hope to leave on time but plan for a delay.  We always fly down a couple of days prior to the cruise and its a direct flight so not worried.

Were you able to determine why they were consistently departing late? We are flying YOW-FLL next month.

[mrell345]

3 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Were you able to determine why they were consistently departing late? We are flying YOW-FLL next month.

No but I will ask when we fly next week if they are still leaving with delays. The last two flights left on time.