Discount Airlines Ok?
 

Hi,

I'm planning a trip from Toronto to London in August. I'm curious if low cost carrier airlines such as West Jet & Air Canada Rouge are dependable / comfortable? They seem to be significantly cheaper and offer direct flights as opposed to some airlines with more big name recognition. Thank You!!

They aren't discount, they are low costs.



If you are the sort who expects your every whim to be catered for or are 7ft tall then you wont like low costs airlines, but if all you want to do is get from a to b then they are perfectly fine.

There are, however, some things to be aware of. Some:

Basic fares may be low but they tend to then charge for everything from checked (or even cabin) baggage to a seat assignment to a bottle of water.

Such low cost carriers (LCCs) don't always fly to a particular city's "main" airport. For example, Orlando flights may go to Sanford, Pittsburgh may go to Latrobe, or to some other city many miles from where you want to be. This may be ok but you need to check on how you will then transfer to where you want to be (and apocryphal data suggests transfer costs can eat up any flight savings).

Some LCCs have barely enough aircraft to maintain a schedule and if there's something like a mechanical problem you get to wait because there are no spare aircraft to step in. And there often are no agreements with other airlines to help, either technically or with alternate transport.

In the event of massive delays, they often don't have agreements with other airlines to help them recover. Again, delays can be days long.

NFZ gives good info. You can also go to www.airlineequality. Com for passenger reviews of the LCC's U R looking at.