My sister and her husband flew from Brandon to Kamloops, via Calgary, with WestJet on July 15. All went well. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the return trip that turned into a real mess. Feeling like the top was soon to blow off her head, she chose to write about the experience in an attempt to get it all out of her system. . . . The result is right here. . . .
While I normally don’t write reviews of any kind, I really felt the need to unburden myself after our unfortunate experience with WestJet on July 22 and 23.
After a wonderful week in Kamloops with my family it was time to head home to Brandon. On Saturday, July 22, my brother and sister-in-law dropped us off at the airport in Kamloops at 9:30 a.m. (PT) to catch our flight No. 3314 that was scheduled to leave at 11.
Shortly after our arrival at the airport we noticed on the departure screen our 
plane was going to be late. Our new departure time was going to be 11:55. This really concerned us because we had to catch our connecting flight to Brandon in Calgary at 2:30 p.m. (MT). So my husband headed to the WestJet desk to inquire about the late departure and whether we would be able to catch our connecting flight. The WestJet agent told him “there should be no problems in Calgary.”
Once we were on the plane the pilot came on the radio to let us know that our flight was delayed an hour because the aircraft needed some maintenance in Calgary due to the landing gear not working properly.
Flight No. 3314 left Kamloops at noon (PT) and landed in Calgary at 2:15 (MT). Now remember that our flight to Brandon was to leave Calgary at 2:30.
But there was some kind of hold up getting the door open and the stairs attached to the plane so we didn’t disembark until 2:30. Now we were really worried about missing our flight. Oh, and what about our luggage? As we were leaving the plane I asked the flight attendant about our bags and she said, “You’ll have to go to the baggage area and pick up your bags there.”
We had arrived in Section C of the airport. At this point I was totally confused and stressed out.
We looked at the departure screen and saw that our flight No. 3382 to Brandon had left without us. I felt sick to my stomach. We only needed the plane to wait 15 minutes for us to get there. Nobody tried to get us off the plane quicker in Calgary so we would make our flight; nobody was at the arrival gate to help us get to our next flight; nobody asked the plane to wait for us to arrive. Where was the customer service?
By this point, it really was beginning to sink in and we didn’t know what to do or what our options were.
Well, we decided that we had better go and get our luggage. We couldn’t find the baggage claim area without leaving the security area. So we headed back to the gate where we had arrived to ask someone
where to go. The agent said: “You need to go to the very end of the airport and go down the escalator to the baggage area.” So that is what we did.
We now were at the carousel waiting for our bags and . . . nothing . . . no bags. We went to the WestJet desk beside the carousel and asked about our luggage. The woman there took our tickets to search on the computer to see where they were.
Guess what? Our bags were in storage to be put on the next flight to Brandon. When would that be? Sunday, July 23). We asked who we needed to talk to and were told that would be the WestJet agent at the check-in area. So we headed over there.
This agent was very nice and helped us and printed us new tickets for the flight on Sunday, which was to leave Calgary at 9:25 a.m. Remember this is Saturday at around 3 p.m. We asked the agent what options we had. She said: “No problem, just go to the security check-in and they will scan your boarding pass.”
We headed to security in Section D now realizing that we had a very long wait ahead of us. There were two women working the gate. One of them scanned my boarding pass and said, “You’re too early to go through security, come back at 6 p.m.” She must have thought our plane was to leave at 9:25 p.m. So we explained to her that we had missed our connecting flight to Brandon, through no fault of ours, and now we were having to wait for the next flight, which would be on Sunday at 9:25 a.m.
She giggled and then said:“You can’t come through security until 6 a.m. on Sunday,” which was three hours before our flight.
Now what? I tried to explain our situation to both of them — that we just wanted to go through security and get something to eat. I told them that a WestJet agent had told us that because we had boarding passes security would let us through. So then the other woman started laughing and said: “Nobody at WestJet would say that.”
By this point she could see that I was getting upset so she called her manager over. I tried to explain the situation to him but I was starting to get emotional so my husband took over. Even the manager said “nobody at WestJet would say that.”
I started to feel as if we were being treated like criminals. Nobody believed what we were saying. I walked away because I started to cry uncontrollably. I WAS SO TIRED AND STRESSED. No one had offered us a hotel room or a meal voucher. We were on our own.
We walked through the entire front airport section looking for a good spot to rest and recharge my husband’s phone. Lucky for us we were able to find a spot but couldn’t guarantee to get it back if we left to eat. Our stomachs made that decision for us. We went looking for food. We finally found the food court but half of the places were closed. Good old Tim Hortons was open but we found out it would close at 9 p.m. We ordered subs for supper and two muffins and juice for a later snack.
We then returned to our favourite spot. But my husband couldn’t sit still. So he wandered off while I was reading a book. He came back and said he had just been talking to a WestJet employee and was told that security in Sections B and C was letting passengers through.
My immediate thought was: “Oh my God, that’s fantastic!! So do we drink our juices first or do we ask the guys at the security gate if we can get through?”
The time now is 11 p.m. We asked and were told that we aren’t allowed to proceed any further because WE ARE WAY TO EARLY FOR OUR FLIGHT. We are told to come back at 4 a.m. My husband tried to explain our circumstances but nobody was listening.
All we could do was hope that our little corner of the airport was still available. Thankfully, it was. We hunkered down and tried to get some sleep.
Have you ever tried to sleep in an airport? This was when they clean all the floors, so no sleep. I finished my book and my husband wandered. We ate our muffins and drank our juices at 2 a.m., and then just sat and waited like we had been for the previous 11 hours.
As soon as the clock read 4 a.m., we were at the security gate . . . and we got through. We were so happy . . . but we still had 5 1/2 hours to go.
We looked for the gate number on our tickets; it was C59, so we headed to that section and sat. We constantly checked the departure screen to make sure we were at the right gate.
Sometime around 6 a.m., the gate changed to B40.
Let me just say that the Calgary airport is a nightmare to navigate and their signs are useless. We now were in search of Gate B40. Shortly after we arrived at B40 the gate changed to C51 . . . are you kidding me? WTF!! So we headed back to section C.
By now we were hungry so I stood in line at Tim Hortons for muffins. It only took about 25 minutes because the lineup was so long.
I was up and down constantly checking the screen to make sure our gate didn’t change again.
At 9:05 a.m., WestJet finally announced our plane was boarding. I was too tired to be happy. I just wanted to go home. At 9:25 a.m., the plane was in the air and headed to Brandon. I tried to get some sleep but I couldn’t get comfortable because for the previous 18 hours I had been so tense that now my whole body ached, and there also was a four-year-old girl who wouldn’t listen to her Mom. Sometimes she laughed but most of the time she cried and screamed, and my nerves were shot.
We landed in Brandon at 12:15 p.m. My back, legs and feet hurt so bad I could hardly get off the plane. We finally got our luggage and were in the truck headed for home. Believe it or not, even after all this turmoil, my husband and I are still married.
Thanks, WestJet, for pooping on the last 24 hours of our vacation.
TAKING NOTE 