How Bad Are Canada’s WORST RATED AIRLINE?

I took a 5 hour transcontinental flight on the airline rated as Canada’s Worst Airline. But just how bad are they really?
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[@yungkneez]

I love the juxtaposition of flying an ultra low-cost carrier and then staying at the Fairmont 😂

[@richardc8738]

Not only a Fairmont, but the Fairmont Pacific Rim-the priciest of the four in Vancouver. lol

[@pip321]

paid more for the hotel room than the flight. convenient location for the seaplanes though.

[@nikoscosmos]

All paid for by us watching the video!

[@LiamWalsheliamskitchen]

Yep...I did just that when I went to Winnipeg. Flew Flair out there and stayed at the Fairmont for the first few nights of my trip. That said, the Fairmont Winnipeg is probably the worst Fairmont property there is. The (category 1) Fairfield Inn was waaaaaaaaaaaay better.

[@karinkarameng9652]

I am doing that 😅

[@paulnielsen8528]

Many years ago I was in one of the Vancouver harbour hotels and was watching a seaplane depart. He sped up and then started to wobble side to side. Then dipped a wingtip and cartwheeled - AND ENDED UP UPRIGHT (very rare). I saluted him as he cleaned out his shorts and idled back to his mooring. I'll never forget that. Also saw a motor-yacht with a helicopter on board. Thanks for sharing Noel.

[@pip321]

Flair is fine if you expect ULCC service/additional fees. With the lack of ULCC in Canada, I think the reviewers are often comparing them to WestJet/Air Canada, so it's not a fair comparison. One of the most common complaints that I've seen about Flair is their frequent cancellations with alternative flights being scheduled days later.

[@Zyphera]

Alternative flights days later must be fair critic though.

[@I_am_Allan]

to be fair, WestJet started as an ULCC, and only recently pivoted into a mid/high price carrier.

[@ltagames01]

@@I_am_Allan nope they started as a low cost but not ultra low

[@alanm3440]

I imagine it's frustrating for the passengers but I think that's common with ULCC's if there is a cancellation because their schedules are stretched so thin with some routes only flying a few times per week. So one delay puts everything way out of wack. AC and WS have huge fleets with multiple flights per day on each route.

[@donaldpaluga]

I blame JJ Dillon #fourhorsemen

[@kerryeff407]

I have flown flair several times and have nil complaints. Great crew, clean cabin, and we arrived alive! We were delayed once at boarding due to a maintenance issue with the aircraft but Flair resolved the issue and utilized a new aircraft within an hr so water under the bridge. I have experienced much more unpleasant flights with Air Canada.

[@SmallFridgeMinority]

Agreed, I haven't had any major issues with Flair, Air Canada on the other hand? You'd have to pay me to endure that torture. Haven't flown AC in over 15 years.

[@lvthud]

It's the same as all ULCC's like Ryanair, Easyjet, Spirit, British Airways Eurotraveler. As long as nothing goes pear shaped it's fine. Yes they should have told you at check in there was no buy on board, that's really not good.

[@geneszabo476]

Just would like to point out that Toronto is not “one end of the country” . It is more in the centre. The east end of the country is probably St. John’s Newfoundland.

[@juanroblespinilla6361]

🤷🏽‍♂️

[@xXPyrophorusXx]

Close to the South end of the country??

[@adad-ec6ht]

I would have said Montreal. East of Montreal, its Newfoundland for me, exotic and isolated.

[@juliogonzo2718]

Technically winnipeg is the center of canada. It's very close to the geographic center of canada

[@slukas1375]

At the time of this filming, Flair Airlines was not the only ULCC airline in Canada. Swoop was also in business (and you captured one of their planes at 4:54). As of today, Lynx is also operating. By and large, the reviews (to-date) of all 3 are highly critical. It appears that on this trip, with the exception of a surprise "no food catering" announcement after take-off, all went well, including the arrival of your bag at the destination, YVR. Canada definitely needs more airline competition. Fingers crossed these ULCC's make a successful go of it.

[@juliogonzo2718]

I have flown swoop several times with no problems and a few times with flair and they pissed me off by changing my flight date. Won't be using flair again

[@camweeks3420]

Canada jetlines is up and running now to 👍

[@krysc2009]

As of June 2023, westjet has announced they will be discontinuing Swoop later this year. That was kinda short lived, haha.

[@905shadz8]

West jet bought swoop. But lynx air has extremely competitive pricing

[@bryalogicalgaming5817]

Do you know where that airplane's at? Swoop there it is! Can you tell me where that airplanes at? Swoop there it is!

[@airplanegod]

I guess it's good Canada has an ULCC considering the cost of the regular carriers up there, although I wonder how long they can get away with the "ruse" of no BOB due to "Covid".

[@Bad_Karma1968]

Covid Is the great excuse for insane airfare and crappy service across North America

[@alanm3440]

I know airlines are trying to limit interaction between crew and passengers (even in the US most buy on board is still not back). But it is odd that's it is still discontinued, because buy on board is a big money maker for LCC's. People should not expect free snacks or even drinks from a ULCC.

[@JeffCD77]

Don't forget, this was probably filmed during the height of Covid.

[@joshualau4070]

I've flown United almost throughout the pandemic, and with the exception of the shorter flights (IE: SFO-LAS, CLE-EWR, ROC-IAD), I've got something, even if it was just a water pod and a stroopwafel.

[@Tanzadog1]

@@JeffCD77 No, usually his videos are at most 2-3 months old at the very extreme

[@calaveth]

I have no experience with Flair, but my experience with low-cost carriers is that they're usually fine as long as everything goes to plan. It's when delays happen and you need to reschedule on the fly, when luggage gets lost etc that you realize that you get what you pay for which is basically a bus service.

[@TXnine7nine]

I take web reviews with a grain of salt. They're usually heavily skewed toward the negative as "usually" the only people who take time to write a review are those with an axe to grind. If all goes as planned and the trip is uneventful then most people just go on with their days.

[@rscott2247]

I wouldn't be surprised if the competition payed someone to give a bad review of Flair.

[@josen.9079]

So true.

[@tkevin6643]

Try go to Flair's check in counter and have a 5 minute look, half of the customer aren't happy, Thats my observation when i was waiting.

[@henminglee9563]

@@tkevin6643 that’s because they are expecting the same level of service as they usually get from the other airlines. For example don’t go to the gate “knowing” that your carryon exceeds the limit then have to pay extra to continue. Play by the rules set by budget airlines like Flair and all is good. Don’t think there are no complaints against AirCanada or Westjet they have the same complaints maybe not as much as Flair cause they are laughing at the price customers paid for their over priced ticket.

[@jsilverchannel]

I was visiting Vancouver a few weeks back! I don't know if it's just me but, it seems like a lot of Canadians don't fly within Canada for travel, mostly just for business maybe. Flights within Canada are usually very expensive, so it's nice to know that Flair is a low cost option.

[@milohrnic2023]

That's true. Most Canadians in fact rarely if ever even visit other regions.

[@lazypercussionist]

It's because it's so expensive to fly within Canada (talking pre-pandemic, normal times). Tickets were about $500 for YYZ-YVR round trip, if not more. Why travel within Canada when I can pay the same to go across the Atlantic to Europe to experience the history and culture we don't have? That said, this past summer was fantastic and many Canadians took the opportunity to travel their own country for once, myself included.

[@ihmpall]

I mean it’s Canada why would they travel within Canada with us next door

[@sm3675]

It's such a shame that tourism is almost nonexistent in most of Canada.

[@goldenretriever6261]

We can fly to Mexico for the same price as a one hour flight to Montreal. To be honest, there's not a whole lot to see in most of Canada.

[@lucascalma605]

In website view: It's really the worst ultra low cost airline ever! In reality: It doesn't look too bad to me!

[@TXnine7nine]

I take web reviews with a grain of salt. They're usually heavily skewed toward the negative as "usually" the only people who take time to write a review are those with an axe to grind. If all goes as planned and the trip is uneventful then most people just go on with their days.

[@ciaranmac646]

@Lucas Calma Well Lucas. Have you even flown with Ryanair? For example, you could choose a destination like Berlin and they'll land 150km away and still call it Berlin. At least with Flair you'll land at the actual destination. And I like Ryanair lol.

[@Osmaa21]

@@ciaranmac646 Ryanair is pretty good

[@scotsmuscle]

As is always the case with nearly all bad reviews, cheap people paying very low prices, and not understanding (not reading) what they purchase

[@jakedesnake97]

I never personally took Flair, but my friend did to go from YUL to YYZ, which is normally a 1 hour flight. Not only was the plane delayed by almost 8 hours due to non-weather issues (apparently there were some mechanical problems with the airplane, and once that was fixed part of the crew was MIA) but, once they landed, they waited another good hour on the runway because they couldn't get the door to open. As a compensation, they were all offered during the flight a "meal" of a granola bar and a bottle of water. Considering a full-service carrier on this route would have costed about 50$ more, I really question wether or not this experience was worth it.

[@Milnoc]

ALWAYS bring packaged food with you on ANY flight! You never know what might happen. Long haul, short haul, doesn't matter. I always bring something along that's proportional in quantity to the estimated duration of the flight.

[@Neville60001]

Can you bring on your own drinks to have with said packaged food?

[@anirudh9059]

@@Neville60001 nopw

[@Milnoc]

@@Neville60001 No liquids permitted through security unless it's less than 100 ml (there are medical exceptions). There are water dispensaries and shops after security. The one possible hiccup would be flights to the USA where I believe you can't bring any liquids whatsoever on board in order to preserve Homeland Security's security theatre.

[@paulkensington4069]

Hide it if you fly Scoot. They ban any and all outside food and drinks. Even for an 11hr flight!

[@Tom_avfc05]

@@Milnoc them are some airports which allow you to take ad much liquid as you want after having new security scanners including Amsterdam schipol and shannon airport in Ireland

[@keck2001]

Thank you so much for this Noel. I work at Phx Mesa-Gateway Airport and Flair is going to be flying in and out soon. I've been wondering about them since they announced the new routes. Wonderful review as always

[@CptAlex96]

Never take opinion pieces from Trip Advisor seriously. They are usually written by self-righteous elitists who think that the Airline should always cater to them. I've flown many times on Flair and its been a relatively pleasant experience on most of their flights. At the end of the day, you're only paying for a seat to get to your destination. I would recommend Flair or Swoop especially to those who are on a budget, or don't want to pay for the unnecessary extras.

[@CptAlex96]

@Giga Chad I don't use any website to check reviews for airlines because at the end of the day all airlines are the same. If you check out the bad reviews of all the airlines in the world, you would realize that all the airlines have relatively similar issues. Fundamentally speaking, you pay for the seat on a plane to take you your desired destination.

[@CoroaEntertainment]

@Giga Chad I would try looking at Porter Airlines the next time you want to fly in eastern North America. They are around the same price as Flair/Swoop, but you get a free in-flight snack and drink (alcohol or non), you don't have to pay extra for your checked bag unless it's overweight, they have more legroom than most, and Porter's pre-flight lounge even has free snacks with water/coffee/tea/soda, as well as free internet access using their computers and/or wifi (at least Toronto does).

[@neonunderground5972]

Flying to Morocco next week so I’m binging your videos again in my attempt to keep the fear of flying away. Your videos are therapeutic.

[@CaptainMuffin]

are you a Moroccan or you are going there on vacation

[@fluttergrrl]

I also have a fear of flying. I don't have any flights booked yet, but I am also watching these videos as a strategy.

[@Wolverines77]

I feel safer flying in a 40 year old MD-80 in a spring Texas thunderstorm than driving anywhere.

[@thomasflynn6421]

Great review Noel. However, I’m sick of airlines using covid as an excuse to provide poor customer service or poor customer experience with shit like no food and beverage service when in reality, it’s a way for them to cut costs. Most airlines however are now back to giving snacks, meals and beverages or selling them so this makes no sense other than a way for them to be cheap.

[@alanm3440]

But I think even in the US, buy on board is not back to its pre-Covid days. I know it was discontinued because airlines wanted to limit staff-passenger interaction, but it's also a money maker. So I don't see how it's cost cutting or them "being cheap". On a ULCC, I don't think people should expect anything, even drinks, for free.

[@Harley-and-Her-Ruff-Riders]

@@alanm3440 All companies have brought back alcohol and the like except Southwest and I believe American. Delta, United, etc are back to normal. The other two said they'd resume in 2022. But SW and AA not having alcohol isn't terrible. Assaults have increased because people would get drunk and then get into arguments about masks, proximity, etc. I saw it on a Southwest flight myself (though the woman was drunk before she even got on).

[@MikeLikesChannel]

@@Harley-and-Her-Ruff-Riders Yep, when I book Southwest, it’s when I’m flying with the family since it’s so cheap. I’d be thrilled if alcohol never came back.

[@kevanhubbard9673]

Not just airlines using that as an excuse!

[@danvalentine2997]

It’s doesn’t make sense for low cost carriers to not do buy on board. Along with other add on’s, it’s where budget airlines make fairly substantial add on profits on each seat.

[@danalamborn4464]

I've stayed at the Fairmont YVR and you can get an excellent view of the north runways. The room even had a telescope for spotting.

[@larry6682]

Welcome to Vancouver! Be sure to take a Harbor Air seaplane flight to Victoria. If you ask, you can usually sit in the co pilot seat in the cockpit.

[@canadajointops]

Flair is not the first low cost carrier. Can't forget about swoop, zoom, and Air Canada Rouge.

[@dougbriggs4176]

In some regions of Canada all you get is Rouge and you get the same price as an Air Canada flight but with ULCC options and the crappy seat.

[@canadajointops]

@@dougbriggs4176 I flew rouge from Arizona - Toronto. It was easily the worst flight I've ever been on.

[@_Toralu_]

But Swoop is owned by WestJet, and Air Canada Rouge is -obviously- owned by Air Canada. And Zoom no longer operates. So Flair is Canada's first modern and indipendant budget airline

[@carlhall6836]

Flair launched before swoop, and rouge was never really the same low cost as flair

[@SkyblueAviation]

Rouge? A low cost? Lol

[@bryalogicalgaming5817]

Ah yes, Canada's Flair Airlines and their motto: "Flair: because we are still fixing the Hindenburg"

[@chaleco82]

I found Flair to be almost identical to Swoop and AC Rouge. Which in turn are the same thing as WestJet and Air Canada itself. Its always a tiny seat in a crowded plane

[@placidpaddler]

Flair left me stranded across the country and though they promised to comp my expenses it’s been four years and I’ve received nothing. Canada’s weak enforcement means these criminals will continue to rip off and abuse customers with impunity.

[@Wolverines77]

It gets its reputation based on 1 star reviews from single time complaints. Your flight might garner 5 to 10 four and five star reviews, whereas a canceled flight will instantly generate 40 to 50 one star reviews and that is before any other off hand complaints like re-booking issues. I ALWAYS review the first ten 5 star reviews and the first 50 or so one star reviews on anything that is new to me. At least half of the 5 star reviews are just the product or company doing their jobs and at least 75% of the 1 star reviews could be cut-and-paste nonsense of those thinking they are "special"...

[@yuprulesing]

Flair's issue is no customer service, ZERO if something goes wrong. You end up in a call center in the middle of nowhere that has NO clue what is wrong/when it will be fixed. They will even forget to e-mail you when your flight changes because they couldn't fill the plane enough to be profitable.

[@LiamWalsheliamskitchen]

I flew with them a few months ago and it was quite good. The MAX I flew on did not have reclining seats, but they were leather as opposed to cloth. In my case they did make it quite clear that nothing would be available for purchase.

[@TheTiktok4321]

Great review, but I don't see the cost breakdown as was promised. How much more was the legroom? Bags? Boarding pass? Do they offer e tickets?

[@liamcoll2697]

Chill out Jim.

[@philhowells7715]

Calm down! Put up another video for your handful of subscribers.

[@paulnielsen8528]

Agreed Jim, that was mentioned and it would be good to see. Liam and Phil are just frustrated because mommy hasn't washed their PJ's in a month and they're getting itchy.

[@lanespyksma8402]

Having flown Swoop (the other ULCC in Canada) and Flair many times, I find if you get what you pay for: a basic flight experience with no frills, which is fine for many people flying (including myself). If you expect a premium airline, you will be disappointed. But you shouldn't be expecting that

[@Andy-ty2ni]

gee it was extremely windy and rainy yesterday here...in Vancouver...lol....apparently not in your video!

[@scouse97]

9 months ago Air Canada didn’t give snacks either, but now they are all giving them. West jet even give snacks and water on their flights from Kamloops to Calgary 1 hour 10 min flightb

[@glennknowles4020]

vancouver is a lovely part of canada ,loved it when I was there in 2018 and will be going there again hopefully in june 2022 bar no problems with covid.,good video but you said you break down the prices of your leg room,baggage?

[@Grimb-0-tron]

We did the float plant trip from VAN -> VAN Island a few years ago now. It was a very surreal flight, watching our luggage getting packed into one of the waterskis! The flight itself, if a bit loud was a superb way to island hop for us.

[@michaelle7434]

It's too costly to fly in Canada. I look for the best deals. Great video Noel!

[@willycanuck]

lol Flair - I hope you're coming back via WestJet for the complete opposite experience.

[@glenlewis4668]

You lucked out. Booked my in-laws on a Ottawa to Abbotsford back to Ottawa in August 2021 and both legs were cancelled only after arriving at the airport. Trying to contact anyone at Flair has been a headache and when they do respond they claim they are not at fault and refuse to refund and compensate, even with the passenger bill of rights in effect. Horrific service!

[@aston-martin-internationalist]

I find that even in flight mode, the GPS will still work, so on low cost airlines, you can still see where you are if you have the phone by the window (takes about 30 seconds fo the phone to triangulate).

[@gregs2284]

Indeed. He often says he has no idea where he is, I guess it's just a way to say there's no moving map entertainment system. But yes, you can hold your phone against the window for a minute and get a GPS lock just fine. I like to do it before taking photos out the window so they're tagged with GPS coords in the middle of the ocean :)

[@joeprokopanko2730]

To be fair, Flair's service itself is reasonably good, particularly for a ULCC. It's the delays and operational issues that are the real problem -- half-day delays are not uncommon, and a cancelled flight means you are rebooked on the next available Flair flight, but with the frequencies Flair has on many non-trunk point-to-point routes, that may mean the next available flight is several days in the future! That's where most of the complaining comes from -- if your flight on Monday afternoon cancels, AC or Westjet will put you on the Monday evening flight, but Flair might tell you "we've booked you on Friday afternoon, that's OK right?".

[@JoJo-nx7ls]

I'm surprised you didn't have a cheeky bottle of red stashed in your bag 🤣

[@peipaulT]

I wonder how comfortable he would have been if the centre seat was occupied?

[@briocheoleary5043]

Hi Noel, I’d love to know how you kept your channel going thru Covid, I think you’ve done remarkably well! My favourite was the boat to Scandinavia when you hit the mini bar, KZbin gold!

[@brentcontois9337]

First and only time I few with Flare was August of 2019 flying out of Edmonton to Vancouver the flight was delayed 8 hours with no notification.

[@adamd858]

This airline would infuriate me, I completely understand when things go wrong it’s when they don’t tell you that there’s a problem until it’s already happened that drives me nuts, whether it’s being delayed but I’m not actually ever telling you why or in your case not telling you that there is even water on the plane. It’s the things like that that make me really angry at airlines just a sheer lack of communication.

[@marko1855]

Thanks for the review Noel. Everything is relative. I have paid the same amount for a full economy fare for the same route on AIr Canada and West Jet. That is where the complaints come from.

[@TheMuirite]

As with all ultra low-cost carriers are perfectly fine when things are going right. try when they're having weather delays or something else is going on and you'll see how horrible they really are

[@vjscott4240]

When we’re you here? It’s not sunny now, just pouring rain. Welcome! We live near where you are and watching the seaplanes from the seawall is always fun!

[@EddieMorsVlogs]

Haha I want to be the Noel Philips of Kenya. I have been reviewing local airlines in Kenya this year. I am remaining with just a few of them to go

[@TXnine7nine]

7:04 That's still more of a tray table then you get on Spirit or Frontier 🤣

[@mattbc787]

Great review as always! Hope you'll be taking harbour air over to Victoria in next weeks video!

[@Springbok295]

Every time I think of the route Toronto- Vancouver flying on a CPAir DC-8 comes to mind.

[@organiccold]

Amazing view from the hotel

[@4ELEVENTV]

Great work Mr Philips ^_^ would love to hear about your favorite airports, airplanes, lounges and the lot keep up the great content

[@jimsteinway695]

I really like how you showed the taxi out. That’s shows part of the air port a lot of people don’t get to see. Unless you’re a frequent flyer. Thanks

[@well-blazeredman6187]

I have still to see any news of mass COVID outbreaks linked to airline in-flight service.

[@JeffCD77]

I don't know, I've found roundtrip east to west coast flights on major US airlines for as low as $300. It all depends on when and where you fly out of and if the sun, moon, and stars are all aligned when you happen to be looking at fares.

[@PlanesAndGames732]

0:52 Swoop: exists

[@PeterA__]

THANK YOU! Flair is not the only ULCC in Canada

[@krysc2009]

The main gripes from people are the cancellations from Flair. Though the second largest passenger airline in Canada - westjet, has been cancelling tons of flights last minute in the last 3 years. I think it comes down to cheap people who pay less than $300 round trip relying on an ULCC, then getting upset when they get the ULCC treatment. Want someone waiting on you hand and foot, book with AC or WJ

[@grahamrothphotography]

They’re cheap, and you get what you paid for, I personally fly WestJet for more reliable on time flights, also Flair has very few planes so when one plane goes late, it’s messes up the whole network, it’s getting better now vs over summer when they took on a ton of new routes. Great video!!

[@lightplane]

Really enjoying your videos. While in Canada I really hope you were able to get up to Yellowknife and fly on the only commercial DC-3 still in passenger service. It flies Yellowknife to Hay River. Buffalo Airways - and you should check out their other aircraft, C-47s and Electra mostly for cargo.

[@TheWeeble1]

Noel, it seems you have a 'Flair' for ultra low cost travel (like the pun?) ... but most Canadians don't ... because as you stated, this is their first low cost airline. So while you (and a lot of the world) are already used to the low cost flying experience ... they aren't. Still, its amazing how the industry has changed. It used to be that I'd choose SouthWest in the US only if I had to .. they were the 'low frills, low cost' airline. They haven't changed, but compared to a lot of the legacy US carriers, the SouthWest experience today is 'first class' compared to the legacy carriers economy!

[@jakejacobs7584]

If you are still in Vancouver go eat at the Flying Beaver sea plane dock. Good food and great views.

[@cascivic]

Noel you may know this trick but if you open google maps on your phone, and then go to the layers tab and go to the "default" map and hold your phone up to the window it will eventually load and show you where your at on the map

[@FAB1956]

Agree. It’s a seat you mostly want at a reasonable price and if that’s efficiently provided what more do you need

[@TBrain773]

I've flown Flair many times and the only complaint was flight delays. I've had more flight delays with Air Canada and West Jet.

[@pcorf]

2:58 believe it or not, C-FLKC is currently leased to Bonza Airlines in Australia.

[@seancoombs3181]

Well... they're not the only low cost airline in Canada per say. Westjet's Swoop airlines also brand themselves as a ULCC, and they're prices reflect that too.

[@Fungamer4570]

I just flew lynx air round trip from halifax to toronto. and I'd like to say that lynx was great, great service and ultra low cost

[@alexmaclean1]

Traveled with them and had no issues. Air Canada changed my flight to one the next day 6 hours prior to takeoff when we were flying to Ottawa for a hockey game the same night. We lost all the money we paid for the hotel and the NHL tickets as there was no other flight, at any cost that could get us there in time. And they didn't even want to refund the flight but instead offer a voucher. I explained that we would not be taking that deal and eventually was able to secure a flight refund, but we lost out on About $550 in hotel and NHL ticket costs. Very much not impressed by "Canada's largest carrier". Nothing but good things to say for my flight with Flair though. I imagine if I had checked bags and large carry on stuff with the extra costs, perhaps it wouldn't have been worth while, but for a 2 day trip I was able to pack light enough that I could fit everything into a no charge backpack that fit under the seat. No screens like the AC versions of the Max 8, but honestly for a 2 hour tour it's easy enough to have plenty of content downloaded onto a phone or tablet. Leg room is "snug" for anyone over 6' but entirely tolerable. Might be less than stellar for 3+ hour flights but under that was fine. I suspect the bad reviews are for people that expected the same experience on a $100 flight that they do on a $400 flight. If you go in with the understanding that Flair is the greyhound of the sky, and is priced accordingly, you'll have a fine time.

[@AVFCAM]

People seem to expect the same service that you’d get from a full service airline, just for a cheaper price when flying low cost. I remember being crew for a low cost carrier back in the mid 00s and every expected blankets, IFE, free food and everything BA would give you, for the price of a low cost ticket.

[@potita24]

All air lines in North America are low cost

[@kinjiru731]

Would be fun to see a followup review of Flair down the road, see how they've done since.

[@TheBudgetTraveller786]

Flair is not the only ULCC in Canada, there is also Swoop. Impressive seats tho, I was not expecting the seats to be reclines. I think this aircraft was white tailed since other Flair MAX aircraft have non reclining non-fabric seats.

[@nonenowherebye]

Hope you get a chance to fly Harbour Air and/or some of the other float plane airlines while in Vancouver. Add a Beaver, Otter, or Twin Otter to your resume. :)

[@Damon-me8cs]

Flair has put in A LOT of work to recover from their formerly well deserves awful reputation. They were notorious for canceling flights left and right, but since purchasing a large MAX 8 fleet and branching out their service, they've improved leaps and bounds

[@trevornelmes9331]

I always had emergency snacks on flights (haven't flown for 20 years now) and a book to read. You in that tiny toilet reminded me of when I flew to communist Romania back in the 80s on a Tupolev 154. I am only 5' 7", and I think I was stooped in there!!. BTW. An airport you haven't been to: the highest jet served airport in the USA. But, go in deepest winter. It gets just shy of 40 feet of snow each year. Harrison Ford lives there. As do thousands of Elk, loads of porcupine, and lots of cool animals. Why? It is on the edge of Yellowstone National Park. It is a good old fashioned cowboy town. Lots of ranches. When I went, there were still horse hitches outside the bars and hotels. I stayed in a great B&B in the center of town. When we got off the plane (a small prop plane), the taxi we had booked was waiting for us with our bags already packed on board!! Such a friendly town. The guy who ran the ski lift company actually brought us our ski lift tickets to the B&B (he knew the owners), and he took me around the ski runs for a day! I ran out of money (as you do) by Xmas Day, with no working cash points accepting my card. No problem. The owner of the B&B knew the bank manager, he met me outside the bank (closed) on Boxing Day, opened up, and cashed me some money on my credit card. It is that sort of town in winter. You can book an eco day with the park rangers, to go out on Ski dos and go tagging and logging wildlife. We saw all manner of animals, tagged some porcupines, came across a pack of wolves. Saw a momma elk with its baby elk (she was not so happy to see us). When we got there (back in the early 90s I think), there was so much snow that they dug tunnels between the buildings to get across the street. Our upstairs balcony was actually snow 'ground' level! Of all the places I flew to, around the world, that was the most magical. The flight from Denver to Jackson Hole was on a tiny plane, 1 x 1 seating, and we sat directly behind the pilot, no screen between us! He welcomed us aboard the the steps, handed out snacks, strapped in and off we went. When we saw the runway, covered in snow, he told us that a tractor would go out in front of us to shoo the elk of the runway, and he proudly said the plane had uprated engines so it could stop and take off at this altitude on snow. I asked what happens if it doesn't slow down by the end of the runway? He said, the snow is soft and a tractor pulls us back up, happens a few times every year! Our luggage was nowhere to be seen on the plane (as we had been delayed a day, with Delta putting us up at a new (unfinished) hotel at the then new Denver airport - but we hadn't been allowed our luggage which was, we thought, still at the airport. It wasn't. Delta had trucked it up to Jackson Hole, as the storm the day before had made it so the plane had to be lighter than normal. Now we knew how the luggage got with the taxi driver before we had managed to walk through the tiny airport 'lounge'/arrivals. £299 return with KLM and Delta from Heathrow to New York to Denver to Jackson Hole. So good I did that trip twice, two years running.

[@odessajarman7920]

hahahah my friend has flown them on two round trips and delayed hours each time leading to 2am departures and arrivals!!

[@fishingjimcolon4339]

Really love visiting Vancouver. Been a few years and don't know what happened to some old friends that used to live there and visit but I'd love to go back and well as Toronto which I visited frequently for 20 years

[@moritz23.07]

Seeing the cabin empty is cool and bring the First one Boarding is a cool feeling

[@beckymunro2071]

People think they are entitled to everything handed to them on a gold platter. And if they don't get absolutely everything they are "entitled" to they complain.

[@aidangendreau9746]

If Flair gets you to where you need to go - which they do some of the time - congratulations, you got insanely cheap airfare. If not, which is also very common, expect no support from customer service, no compensation, no communication, and no reimbursement when you inevitably have to book on another carrier (as they tend to reschedule you for at least 3 days out without offering any hotel).

[@chrisjones9898]

You lucked out at the bonus empty seat. And these days, one should always have a little stash of snacks just in case service is cancelled, and a book to pass the time. You should know that.

[@AQWorldsRay]

Oh you flew on C-FLKC! I flew on that bird a few weeks before ya! Awesome video, love how you're giving Canadian Aviation some love!!

[@noelphilips]

Very cool!

[@ilikeships9333]

Lol I stayed in the airport where he is in a room facing the airport about half way up and to the left almost exactly where he starts the video lol two weeks ago because of being stuck there from the terrible service right now it’s called the double tree by Hilton idk there two or something but that’s the one I stayed at the odds. And almost the same room. Also went in the same shuttle.

[@KEITHGEE1000]

13.58 Eyes right, Noel, Eyes Right!! Great stuff as always!!!

[@tjsynkral]

The reason ULCCs are "bad" is because of their fault tolerance. When your airline operates only one or two flights a day per airport and has a fleet you can count on your fingers and maybe toes, you don't have *any* options if something happens to your original flight and you are left stranded for an extra night or buying a ticket at full price from another airline. When I've flown on a major airline, a disruption just means you end up rebooked on a replacement flight that goes out 2 hours later and it's much more of a minor inconvenience. By the way, on one of your flights on a MAX or Neo, I am very curious about the new aft space flex lavs and the extra rows of seats in the back. Those seats are narrower and shorter pitch than standard, and also the toilets are weird because they fill a previously unused cavity on the plane - that would make for a great loo review and seat review!

[@siphonsnob]

It is amazing that you had to explain that to an experienced traveller.

[@benjaminzeev3272]

They are not the only one , swoop is ultra low cost too , owned by westjet

[@henminglee9563]

Great video, customers need to remember this is a budget airline “you get what you pay for”. You’re not going to get free beverages or charging ports and the Tripadvisor complaints about cancelled or delayed flights, lol, and Westjet or Aircanada don’t do the same lmfao. And yes they are going to weigh and check size of your carryon cause they need to follow the rules, no sneaking on oversize carryon like the other airlines cause that’s worked into the price of the ticket. Bottom line is Flair is menu offering of services, if all you need is transportation from point a to b with no other expectations then it’s a great option in Canada. Does anyone really pay any attention to all the trolls on TripAdvisor anymore?

[@martinweaver9373]

So great to see you in Canada! Love your content.

[@martinweaver9373]

Personally, I wouldn't fly on a LCC because I don't necessarily think it's worth it. Happy with the service I get on Westjet.

[@worldspottingexhibit]

Nice, I loved this whole tour of Canada that you've done

[@xXPyrophorusXx]

not even close....

[@RadBrad2]

He visited a couple of shit holes in the well fair province, and then flew over the Rockies to Vancouver. “Whole Tour” you mean 1% and has not even seen the best parts?

[@worldspottingexhibit]

​@@xXPyrophorusXx Yea technically not even close, but he has hit a lot of places no other KZbinrs would ever bother to go and document. When have you ever seen reviews for flights outside of Toronto/Montreal/Vancouver? I think this tour has been great.

[@worldspottingexhibit]

@@RadBrad2 Read my other comment in reply. Obviously, no KZbinr will travel all of Canada, there's literally no point, no one cares to watch someone fly to a shit hole airport up in tim buk 2 on an unknown airline. He did much better than anyone I've seen do it and I commend it.

[@juanpablocorreiaecheverria2857]

Wow! This must be the first 737MAX without a infotainment I’ve seen.

[@Milnoc]

Before the planes started crashing, I flew a WestJet 737 MAX from Toronto to LA that didn't have an infotainment system. I tend to avoid infotainment systems anyway because my phone with the chunky battery and stuffed microSD card has much better content.

[@michaelb3764]

AA in US also does not have infotainment in their max8. Only via WiFi and in for cell or tablet.

[@33kehinde]

sunday morning are my favorite time eat breakfast and watch you videos.

[@TheShedOccupant]

Great vid 👍🏼

[@TransistorBased]

One of the things that stands out to me the most in videos of the MAX is how the engines sound like they're exerting way less effort than the 800s. I haven't flown one yet, but fingers crossed that I can next year

[@greyjay9202]

North Americans are spoiled, that's all. They expect Flair to have amenities like a prestige airline. Comfortable seats, decent leg room, clean aircraft, friendly crew. What's wrong with that? Bring your own lunch and a good book.

[@remurraymd]

A lot like Spirit which I have flown a lot in the US out of Fort Lauderdale to South America (Peru Colombia) for less than $200. No frills everything extra great value if you are not too fussy.

[@haroldaranda8042]

Not too bad; no middle seat taken and that makes the room seem exaggerated. A sandwich and coffee purchased prior would hold you over nicely.

[@hunterhewko5350]

Not the only ULCC. Swoop is there too, and Lynx and Jetlines are launching soon .

[@NotJustPlanes]

Next time you're in Canada, it would be cool to fly Flair at the lowest cost. I've had a condition last year where I flew it for only $20, now days, the cheapest routes are Toronto to Saskatoon, Toronto to Halifax, and Vancouver to Kelowna

[@noelphilips]

I have flown on Flair before, you can see the video here kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6u2iHpvqNisgtU

[@pamelaskerrittricketts7413]

Have never flown flair, have a trip booked from YHZ-YKF in 2 weeks, so fingers crossed! Flown swoop once and then never again as they were 3 hours late leaving and then when I arrived in Hamilton I don't know if the pilot was sleepy or drunk, but almost ran off the end of the runway had to put the brakes on hard. Overhead bins flew open. 😳

[@PhlanMichellePurss]

Sorry Noel, My dream hotel room is waking up in the morning and seeing Trains running past my window. I'd proberly sit and watchthe trains all day and half the night. I am a 50ish woman that's had alife long love of Trains. But it was a great view of the Airport however.

[@paulnielsen8528]

You would be familiar then with the elevated train in Wuppertal Germany. Hotels advertise "rail view" rooms.

[@PhlanMichellePurss]

@@paulnielsen8528 Um, No. I prefer to stick to the Southern Hemispher. As the Northern is too overly publicised. However, my family and I are spending a week in Melbourne. Peppers in the Docklands. I have just spent the past two day's watching Trams and Trains on the balcony with a few to many Cocktails. I found Mecca Both Trams and Trains from my hotel room.