Porter Air to Florida

[thon]

I really wish that Porter had announced its Florida flights earlier as I have already booked AC for our YOW-TPA (via YUL) flights in late Jan. With their now direct, non-stop flights from Ottawa to Tampa we were hoping that AC made changes to our flights so we could then cancel with full refund and switch to Porter.  But even if they did so now, not likely we’d switch as the one daily non-stop from Ottawa is sold out.  Oh well.  We recently flew to Calgary and back  with Porter and we were really impressed with it, even though we had to fly via Toronto - but in Feb they are initiating direct flights to Calgary.  If they stay the way they are now I think my favoured airline will be Porter and not AC.

[thon]

In our 4 recent flights to/from YYC via YYZ 2 of them were late - the flight to YYZ from Ottawa was about 15 minutes late due to the late arrival of the incoming aircraft.  On our way home the flight from YYZ to Ottawa was almost 45 minutes late leaving as they were waiting for 90 passengers connecting from a late-arriving Winnipeg flight.  The first delay was tolerable but the second one was a little annoying as we didn’t get to Ottawa until about 1:30 a.m.  But overall, I’m pretty sure I now prefer Porter to AC.

[Oceangoer2]

I considered Porter last cruise but flights from YYZ to FLL aren't workable...flight days/times don't correspond to need.  It'll be a while before they have a good range of flying times...IMO.

[MamatoJack]

We have Porter booked for March from YOW to MCO, flying Reserve. Looking forward to trying it out and it was much cheaper for March break than any other flights. We are going Monday to Monday to take advantage of the deals, but since we are not on a cruise for that vacation it worked out. I wish they had announced things earlier, we are flying AC next week and no direct flights so we have to change in Toronto. Direct coming home, thank goodness. I am looking forward to just getting away. A few days at Disney then a 7-night cruise. Where I won't have to worry about how much my teenage son eats. One of the reasons I love to cruise, he can always find a snack, and it's already paid for!

[Fouremco]

4 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

I considered Porter last cruise but flights from YYZ to FLL aren't workable...flight days/times don't correspond to need.  It'll be a while before they have a good range of flying times...IMO.

Today they had a flight departing Toronto at 12:53 and arriving in Fort Lauderdale at 16:04. That sounds pretty workable to me, unless you are flying in on embarkation day.

[mrell345]

We always fly down at least 2 days prior for a cruise, that way flight delays don’t bother us much.

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

Today they had a flight departing Toronto at 12:53 and arriving in Fort Lauderdale at 16:04. That sounds pretty workable to me, unless you are flying in on embarkation day.

That was today.  When I was booking months before the Nov. schedule came out, the flight departure time was ok but connecting in Montreal with, I think, a long interval between.  We don't like connecting flights especially on such a short route.  Coming home, the flight available after our cruise was 2 days away so not workable for us.  BTW, we never fly in on embarkation day.  AC works quite well for us and they have more flights throughout the day.  Porter just seems iffy to me right now.  Will keep checking for next holiday.  You do seem pretty positive complimenting Porter.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Oceangoer2

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, Oceangoer2 said:

That was today.  When I was booking the flight time out was ok but connecting in Montreal.  We don't like connecting flights.  Coming home, the flight available after our cruise was 2 days away so not workable for us.  BTW, we never fly in on embarkation day.  AC works quite well for us and they have more flights throughout the day.  Porter just seems iffy to me right now.  Will keep checking for next holiday.

How long ago were you looking at available flights? Porter now operates direct flights, with no need to fly through YUL, and no need to wait for a couple of days post-cruise.

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

How long ago were you looking at available flights? Porter now operates direct flights, with no need to fly through YUL, and no need to wait for a couple of days post-cruise.

This was in summer 2023.  Cruise was this Nov.  Your posts are very positive towards Porter (?)......guess it works much better for you in Ottawa.  As I said, I'll keep checking and may try it if it seems better for us than AC.

[mrell345]

6 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

This was in summer 2023.  Cruise was this Nov.  Your posts are very positive towards Porter (?)......guess it works much better for you in Ottawa.  As I said, I'll keep checking and may try it if it seems better for us than AC.

Porter is turning Ottawa into a hub it seems, they are also building the maintenance facility for their embrair planes here.

[Fouremco]

12 hours ago, mrell345 said:

The last two flights left on time.  

Today's flight was just over 2 hours late departing. 

[mrell345]

7 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Today's flight was just over 2 hours late departing. 

Yes, but they don’t change the displayed departure times until it is late leaving so you have to be at the airport on time.  I have told the wife to plan on sitting in the terminal for a bit.  Timmie’s is open till 5PM and Cork and Wells closes at 6 PM so bring some snacks.

[cmaleblanc]

On 12/9/2023 at 10:58 AM, Fouremco said:

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

Although this will be our first time flying with Porter to FLL, We fly to FLL every year for our cruise but have had to use WJ and AC in the past. Flying from Newfoundland I find we have very limited options,In the past we've found out, that FLL has limited space to fit the E195's and the AC international flights for boarding. With only one or two gates that can fit them appropriately. This causes the delays we've seen in the past.  We are used to a 3-7hr layover coming home in Toronto on our way, but last year we had almost a 6hr delay out of FLL trying to get home, between the gate being occupied by another plane and crew problems. I find we never leave FLL on time and we don't have a membership for the lounge in that terminal. 

 

I'm also hoping that Porter expands more for us. In Feb we are flying down Porter, but are flying back AC, because Porter wasn't offering (or didn't seem to offer) a flight home on a reasonable day. After booking I looked further into it, and I could have booked two flights, one to take us from FLL to YYZ followed by a 2nd domestic flight from YYZ back to YYT. Why, the Porter site couldn't figure that out for us I'm not sure.  But having to split our trip between the two carries saved us almost $2500 on tickets so I can't complain. Just hope it gets better as they grow, goodness knows we need more options from Newfoundland to fly anywhere. 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, cmaleblanc said:

Although this will be our first time flying with Porter to FLL, We fly to FLL every year for our cruise but have had to use WJ and AC in the past. Flying from Newfoundland I find we have very limited options,In the past we've found out, that FLL has limited space to fit the E195's and the AC international flights for boarding. With only one or two gates that can fit them appropriately. This causes the delays we've seen in the past.  We are used to a 3-7hr layover coming home in Toronto on our way, but last year we had almost a 6hr delay out of FLL trying to get home, between the gate being occupied by another plane and crew problems. I find we never leave FLL on time and we don't have a membership for the lounge in that terminal. 

 

I'm also hoping that Porter expands more for us. In Feb we are flying down Porter, but are flying back AC, because Porter wasn't offering (or didn't seem to offer) a flight home on a reasonable day. After booking I looked further into it, and I could have booked two flights, one to take us from FLL to YYZ followed by a 2nd domestic flight from YYZ back to YYT. Why, the Porter site couldn't figure that out for us I'm not sure.  But having to split our trip between the two carries saved us almost $2500 on tickets so I can't complain. Just hope it gets better as they grow, goodness knows we need more options from Newfoundland to fly anywhere. 

Is the  flight to Newfoundland from Island Airport? 
It is the same with AirTransat website trying to book at flight to the EU and a return from Florida, it cannot be done 

[cmaleblanc]

On 12/20/2023 at 6:32 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Is the  flight to Newfoundland from Island Airport? 
It is the same with AirTransat website trying to book at flight to the EU and a return from Florida, it cannot be done 

 

No not Island, from Pearson on the new E195s. I avoid transferring between airports whenever possible.