Question

[keyanm]

Hi

I'm flying from Vancouver to a U.S midwest destination on the noon of Jan. 5th.
I have to connect from Kelowna, and on the morning of that day there are two flights to Vancouver:

1-AC, aircraft DH3, 6:00 A.M - Arriving 7:00 A.M
2-WJ, larger jet, 7:00 A.M - Arriving 8:00 A.M

The prices are the same, and they both allow ski's, which I'm carrying.
However, since this is going to be two tickets, I want to make sure I don't lose my flight to U.S.

I thought about getting AC, so I might have a chance to get on WJ, if AC gets canceled or very delayed,
but if not, it's too darn early.
Which one do you recommend, considering the time of the year, weather, cancellations record, ... ?

Thanks,

keyanm

[KAG]

WJ...
Sorry I'm partial.

[Pourdu_fun]

No weather can stop a Dash8....

Pourdu

[Troubleshot]

No weather can stop a Dash8....

Pourdu

Except these two that happened in the same month....sorry couldn't resist...

http://www.canada.com/Another+plane+ski ... story.html

[BLZD1]

Even Westjet has bad luck Troubleshoot.

Hope everyone can have a safe 2010 /2011 winter!!!!!

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story ... 77&k=70718

[SilvrSurfr]

Hi

I'm flying from Vancouver to a U.S midwest destination on the noon of Jan. 5th.
I have to connect from Kelowna, and on the morning of that day there are two flights to Vancouver:

1-AC, aircraft DH3, 6:00 A.M - Arriving 7:00 A.M
2-WJ, larger jet, 7:00 A.M - Arriving 8:00 A.M

The prices are the same, and they both allow ski's, which I'm carrying.
However, since this is going to be two tickets, I want to make sure I don't lose my flight to U.S.

I thought about getting AC, so I might have a chance to get on WJ, if AC gets canceled or very delayed,
but if not, it's too darn early.
Which one do you recommend, considering the time of the year, weather, cancellations record, ... ?

Thanks,

keyanm

If it were me I would take the earliest flight I could get, with as much connection time as possible. It's winter so if it happens to be a snowy morning you will be deicing no matter who you ride on. You are heading to the states so you will have to get your skis and other baggage in YVR to head through customs. All of this takes time, so leave yourself lots because rushing sucks especially on holidays. It's only 1 hour difference from the looks of it. You will be far happier sipping a latte at Starbucks because you got there a bit early than you will standing in a line-up at customs missing your flight to the US. One hour of sleep is all you're giving up. Seems like a good trade to me.

Cheers,

Surfr

[Troubleshot]

Even Westjet has bad luck Troubleshoot.

Hope everyone can have a safe 2010 /2011 winter!!!!!

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story ... 77&k=70718

Agreed, I was just poking a bit of fun. Jazz is an excellent airline, and I am sure safety is just as important to them as any other airline. I just couldn't resist the Dash 8 comment by Pourdu Fun.

keyanm, Slivrsurfr post is a good one. Good luck in your travels!!

[ywgflyboy]

Out of Kelowna I always suggest Westjet. Family is there and I am always seeing Canceled, delayed across Jazz there during bad weather days. Westjet always seems to get in (RNP approaches I assume?)

[mbav8r]

Something wrong with the ILS to 250'? I didn't think RNP limits would be that low. As for always seeing AC/Jazz cancelled and WJ getting in, I'm calling BS, why do people exaggerate to make a point. While you're visiting your family are you standing there at the airport watching the screen, are you there often enough to say it's always AC/Jazz and never WJ? Well then I guess I should suggest that when flying out of Fort McMurry, you should take Jazz, because we got in one time last winter and WJ didn't, so during inclement weather in YMM it's always Jazz that gets in and WJ doesn't. Must be the RNP limits, I don't know.
P.S. I've been in Kelowna many times during bad weather, in a Jazz aircraft. How many times you ask, well at LEAST a MILLION

[prop2jet]

If the trip to the midwest is that important and you are concerned about getting out I suggest you fly out the day before and spend the night in YVR. No stats are going to provide any guidance and you could have a freak storm happen the day you want out and no one moves.

[ywgflyboy]

Something wrong with the ILS to 250'? I didn't think RNP limits would be that low. As for always seeing AC/Jazz cancelled and WJ getting in, I'm calling BS, why do people exaggerate to make a point. While you're visiting your family are you standing there at the airport watching the screen, are you there often enough to say it's always AC/Jazz and never WJ? Well then I guess I should suggest that when flying out of Fort McMurry, you should take Jazz, because we got in one time last winter and WJ didn't, so during inclement weather in YMM it's always Jazz that gets in and WJ doesn't. Must be the RNP limits, I don't know.
P.S. I've been in Kelowna many times during bad weather, in a Jazz aircraft. How many times you ask, well at LEAST a MILLION

Oh boy. Another Air Canada vs Westjet topic.

One precession approach doesn't leave much room for system outages, unfavorable winds etc. Last year for example. The ILS was u/s for a few weeks during which time the valley was suffering from those beautiful low vis, low ceiling, and rainy days. Had I known I would have to argue this I would have taken a screen shot of the NOTAM.

On the topic of exaggeration. You must fly a lot of times PER DAY into Kelowna given you can speak of the reliability of their ILS system and bad weather considering it was just installed in 2003.

Air Canada does not have the best rap sheet when it comes to cold feet in bad weather. I could google all the CBC stories from last Christmas about canceled flights but I'd rather go grab my morning coffee.

Shenanigans aside. keyanm, book with whomever gets you to where you need to go when you need to get there.

[mbav8r]

Out of Kelowna I always suggest Westjet. Family is there and I am always seeing Canceled, delayed across Jazz there during bad weather days. Westjet always seems to get in (RNP approaches I assume?)

Some might suggest you started the WJ vs Air Canada argument here, I have flown alot into YLW during bad weather, almost always use the ILS. You're using a 2 week period last year to illustrate your point of "always", but that is not the point. The point is you exagerated to make it sound like Jazz never(opposite of always) gets into YLW, whilst WJ does. I used my 1 time event of getting into YMM while WJ went to their alternate, and exagereated it, as sarcasm. Post all the cbc adds you want but there were alot of cancellations last Christmas and AC weren't the only ones.

[North Shore]

And the fight starts - something that, I'm sure, Kayanm has *Zero* interest in - s/he's simply a customer who wants to get from A to B as efficiently as possible. A pox on both your houses

Kayanm: What SilvrSurfr said. Take the early flight, and don't stress about your connection...

[whiteguy]

Instead of everyone arguing about who can get in where and when, why not address the fact that the OP doesn't seem to be able to make an informed decision for himself.

If your that worried about making your US connection maybe you should have booked with an airline that has interline agreements. Then you wouldn't have to worry about missing your connection! If either of these flights are late you'll miss your connection and you'll have no one to blame but yourself!

[mbav8r]

It's probably a situation where a cheap seat was available out of YVR on a low cost carrier now Kayanm is looking for a cheap seat out of YLW. The ironic thing is that if the 1st flt is delayed and Kayanm ends up having to buy a last minute seat on the second flight it will end up costing alot more than if he/she had just bought a ticket all the way from Kelowna. Just speculation of course

Whiteguy
no one to blame but yourself!

So true yet I've seen people who booked a flight with minimal connection time going to the U.S. yelling at the flight attendant or agent because of a weather delay they won't make their connection and are going to miss their cruise. I mean come on, cruise ships don't wait and it's not like there's one leaving every hour. Why wouldn't you go the night before and get a good nights sleep in a hotel down by the port, but no they leave on the last possible flight with no backup and now we're responsible for the blizzard outside.

[aroundthewing]

No weather can stop a Dash8....

Pourdu

Except these two that happened in the same month....sorry couldn't resist...

http://www.canada.com/Another+plane+ski ... story.html

Push back tugs can stop Dash 8 400's too....
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/st ... ision.html

Sorry.....couldn't resist!!

[aroundthewing]

Out of Kelowna I always suggest Westjet. Family is there and I am always seeing Canceled, delayed across Jazz there during bad weather days. Westjet always seems to get in (RNP approaches I assume?)

Plug Plug!

[sanjet]

Agree with the above post regarding flying with a carrier with interline agreement. I think I heard westjet now has one with american airlines. Check with them to see if you can connect via interline so you would not have a huge issue if you miss the flight due to irrops. That being said it is quite the busy flying season so I would suggest the earliest flights of the day, things just tend to get into a snowball effect on a dirty day if you fly later on.

[Troubleshot]

No weather can stop a Dash8....

Pourdu

Except these two that happened in the same month....sorry couldn't resist...

http://www.canada.com/Another+plane+ski ... story.html

Push back tugs can stop Dash 8 400's too....
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/st ... ision.html

Sorry.....couldn't resist!!

well done sir

[twinpratts]

Go the night before and spend the night in YVR...