So I Finally Flew Sunwing...

Sunwing Airlines is a Canadian low-cost leisure carrier and tour operator that flies over a dozen 737-800s and MAX 8s, mainly focusing on point to point flights from various Canadian cities to sun destinations.
Because of that, they don’t really do many domestic flights, so they're a bit harder to find an inexpensive flight just to give them a try.
I ended up finding a rare domestic flight from Vancouver to Toronto, and finally got to see what Sunwing was like!
With many thanks to Will for the thumbnail photo ( / willrdaviation )
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FLIGHT INFORMATION
Airline: Sunwing Airlines (SWG/WG)
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800 (B738)
Flight Number: WG804
Seat: 5F
Livery: New
Engines: 2x CFMI CFM56-7BE
Registration: C-GLRN
Route: Vancouver (YVR) - Toronto (YYZ)
Callsign: SUNWING 804
Runway used: 26R (YVR) - 23 (YYZ)
Date filmed: May 2022
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Outro song - "Take Flight" by Nyhtian: • Nyhtian - Take Flight ...
© Alex Praglowski Aviation 2022
This video is the property of Alex Praglowski Aviation and may not be used for any purpose without prior permission. Contact me at the email in the "About" section of my channel for usage.

[@RusteyGuy]

RE: Screens and Entertainment - Sunwing no longer offers inflight entertainment. The screens on the -800NG fleet are all disabled and the Max fleet was delivered without an IFE all together (though the Max's at least have USB Power ports at each seat). Funny enough though, on this aircraft the entertainment system is still loaded with all the programming that was in place at the time WG discontinued it and cabin crew can activate and view it from the FWD jump seat station. In fact the safety video audio will play over the PA, but since all the screens are disabled, they wont drop down in the cabin. -from a WG Flight Attendant.

[@AlexPraglowskiAviation]

Good to know! Thank you for that!

[@brownbear1657]

Very interesting, do you fly in Europe for the summer, I've heard that people get based in some random city working for TUI / Sunwing for a few months.

[@RusteyGuy]

@@brownbear1657 Mostly just the pilots get that opportunity, though occasionally a small number of cabin crew and cabin safety trainers do get summer deployments to Europe. I've bid for the deployments, but my seniority just isn't quite high enough to get it. Also, due to the WestJet purchase the deployments with TUI are coming to an end.

[@brownbear1657]

@@RusteyGuy ooh I see, I guess the crew on those where mostly TUI crew? How do poeple at Sunwing feel about westjet? I know that people at transat hated the idea of becoming air canada.

[@RusteyGuy]

@@brownbear1657 it varies - there's certainly a lot of uncertainty about what our future will look like, but I would say as a whole we're pretty positive about it. We're very much looking forward to the travel benefits.

[@brenden109]

I’m cabin crew at sunwing YVR based. Very happy you had a nice flight , love your videos and happy to finally see us on here

[@jasanrichards]

Does the 1 free check in bag with vacation packages apply to both flights? or is it only free on the first flight and we have to pay $70 for returning flight home?

[@derekcox6531]

My family has flown with sunwing to Mexico a dozen or so times from Calgary. We’ve personally never had a negative experience with Sunwing,but just know that the seats are often worn out and really uncomfortable for a long flight. Overall though,we still think we will fly with Sunwing in the future. They offer some very reasonable vacation packages to Mexico and the Caribbean.

[@sandrasennhauser1776]

Boo… Sunwing is one of the worst airlines out there. Want a better airline flight experience? Fly with WESTJET to Mexico. They’re a MILLION times better.

[@Aleko-mtl]

And that is why people will continue flying with them is because of the packages

[@Ispeakbaguette]

@@sandrasennhauser1776 i went to mexico with sunwing a week ago and had to wait 20 hours in the damn airport

[@blueleafy7167]

@@Aleko-mtl Yeah I'd much rather fly with AC or WestJet but the deals are too good with sunwing

[@DFrockcity]

Every now and then I see some Sunwing flights arrive to Mexico City while spotting. I always wanted to know more about this airline! Thank you so much for your trip report!

[@michellevesque2130]

I traveled with them from Quebec City to Varadero once and was totally happy with my experience !

[@cathymckay3784]

Great video! I have flown Sunwing alot! Lately not too happy with the delays this past Christmas of 2022.

[@vucko3494]

December was a month of delays for that company, had a flight about a week before Christmas that was delayed for 8-9 hours. You’re lucky you missed out on the April 22 meltdown however.

[@Verztex]

Wow as alway, sunwing always lands smoothly

[@jonweigand3712]

I remember Sunwing for being the airline that we got the best ever deal on flights! In 2010, they advertised a short notice deal to Dominican Republic for, no joke, $97 cdn each. So for a family of 4, leaving the next day, $400 for 4 to DR!! Never to be repeated. We got simosas just after takeoff, and a hot meal to boot. Bet deal ever. Are they the same now? No not a chance. Prices are much different. Which I find that these so-called low cost airlines are priced very similar to the domestic airlines, unless you fly in country. At least they are still in business.

[@MarcvanExel]

Seen one of their aircraft yesterday coming in to Rotterdam, must have been operating for TUI again.

[@JD-ws2cu]

Yep Rotterdam is a crew base for us this year instead of Amsterdam.

[@ImranKhan-sd6dx]

Great video! I’m flying to Vancouver from Toronto in August and I may choose Sunwing because of your video. I don’t mind paying extra for the food. I will pay for the extra leg room. Also appreciated your comment on Sunwing merging w Westjet- as I recently started training to drive their crew shuttle and was wondering why I had Westjet crew on the Sunwing shuttle. Thanks again for the video.

[@mariachrzski18]

You finally flew Sunwing!!! And on their newest 737-800!

[@JPTech933]

2016 aircraft! I'm surprised this screen and in-seat channel and volume controls they had on Canadian Airlines & Air Canada planes I flew on, as a young person in the 90's - 2000's. The LCD screens would open one about every 5 seats, to show the CBC national news and then they would play a movie during the flight. They would hand out headphones with double plugs (to discourage people from pinching them). There was one channel for the French version the other for the English version of the videos being played and the rest of the channels were music with Casey Kasem and other music hosts, channels of pop, jazz, classical, etc. Since the flights I took where many hours Montreal to Vancouver the tapes would end. Then no music for about 10 mins (probably rewinding) then would restart from the beginning. "Hey thanks for flying with us here is your top 30 countdown". On one flight I saw the entertainment system, it was located in a upper carry on luggage bin, the flight agent was taking out and popping in Beta tapes, and some weird looking big reel tape like a film cartridge into the machines (I was impressed by all the blinking lights of these broadcast looking oversized commercial players). All this to say Sunwing is basically point A to B to get you to the south like Mexico and Cuba, but air Canada usually has the same price and you do get a a screen with stuff to watch and a usb to recharge your device on the 5 hour flight, check out Sunwing and Air canada vacations for deals on all inclusives. I also really like Porter that I flew recently to TO and Vancouver, nice seats 2x2 configuration, free wifi, a beer and snacks.. you don't get that on any other airlines in Canada.

[@kbhasi]

I doubt you watch videos from KZbin user Techmoan, but he did a video on the tape player used in a similar IFE system but it used Compact Cassette ("cassette tape") instead of Betamax. I can vaguely picture what format you were referring to by "big reel tape like a film cartridge", and the closest formats I can think of is 8-track, though that's an audio-only format. Your comment reminded me of when I was on a Qantas domestic flight in 2010 where the same thing was done, but being in Australia, it was with Channel 9 News in a specially packaged bulletin for the airline, and the plane I was on didn't have fold-down LCD monitors, instead having RGB projectors at the front of each passenger cabin and CRT monitors above the aisles, implying to me that the aircraft was built in the '80s or '90s, likely originally used on international flights before being relegated to domestic service and it was likely scrapped a few years after. The plane's audio-only IFE system also led to the first time I ever heard an audiobook, too.

[@carpumper7402]

Flown sunwing probably close to 15 times, you’re very lucky to have chosen elite plus, sunwing has the worst legroom of the Canadian airlines I’ve flown on, I’m 6’4 and wasn’t comfortable at all… other than that it’s a great airline!

[@sevenapertures]

Ayeee, you accepted my dare! Nice video! I flew Sunwing in 2018 from Cancun to Calgary, and let’s just say it was… not great. It’s great to see you finally flew them though.

[@Miftahjaya96]

Safe flight friend...enjoy watching your video

[@idxluaviation]

Sup Alex! I'm First! Alex, you should review another VIA Rail train! There is more to the system than just Toronto to London!

[@AlexPraglowskiAviation]

Soon, hopefully!

[@seanmortensen7040]

Have flown Sunwing many times to Cuba and no issues yet, I am a easy flyer and think of the plane as nothing more than a transit bus with wings hahaha .... as long as i get to my designation its all good. I now book elite plus for the extras like early boarding and extra luggage allowance. The extra legroom is nice but for someone who takes public transit most of the year I can survive 4 hours in coach with no problems as long as I get an aisle seat.

[@PLANEMANIA747]

This is great 👍 Beautiful filming 😍

[@maskedbananavr910]

I fly sunwing every time i fly. They are nice for 5 hours and its not my favorite airline but it works for a cheap flight

[@alextravel9219]

Flew Sunwing a lot to the Caribbean’s and Mexico, always average service and hard landings but the last time was horrible. A 35 hour delay in Cancun and then the worst landing I’ve experienced almost going off runway because of crosswinds, never flying Sunwing again… It’s sad they are disappearing because it had some good offers, now prices are so high.

[@simontherainbowmoose]

Bro first of all crosswind landing is hard for pilots to do and also there is like a 2% change to get delayed trust me I have flown sunwing 36 times and got delayed 5 times

[@HiFiBaller]

Waiting for you to do a video on Harbour Air and Helijet.

[@ghostrider-be9ek]

flying a full Helijet flight is pretty tight on board

[@dave4shmups]

Great trip report as always!

[@luxair1997andTAP]

Awesome trip report as always!!

[@smallmj2886]

My problem with leisure airlines like Sunwing is that by the time you pay for the upgrade to a non-sardine seat, you might as well fly a mainline carrier. That and I have little interest in their destinations like Cuba or the DR.

[@Ben-go1iq]

Problem is , for me at 6‘4 weather the pitch is 29‘ like sunwing or 30‘ like AC or WS makes zero difference, I have to pay for extra legroom anyway and it still cost an extra 50$ on AC so why not buy a ticket for 200$ instead of 400$ when I still have to pay for extra legroom. It’s not like AC gives you exit rows for free

[@samjohnson4550]

Sunwing has left hundreds of Canadians stranded in Mexico including my family! December 26, 2022

[@mclegend7618]

You get compensation

[@ronmaynard9496]

They left me and 300 others stranded in Dominican Rep. Then refused to give us any compensation. I and several others will never fly with Sunwing again. If you can choose another airline.

[@HighFlyGamer]

I flew on that aircraft to Tenerife a few weeks ago what a beauty great video Alex!

[@jessicagushue2462]

One of my favorite the -200.Great job on the video.

[@karlossargeant3872]

Sunwing Airlines Boeing 737-800's & Boeing 737 Max 8's there Awesome they use to Operate to Barbados from Toronto years ago which was Awesome keep going Alex nuff respect to all your Videos Dream Big my Friend on Aviation 100%

[@citizinse]

When I flew Sunwing, the coffee brought back nostalgia to me but I didn't know why. It wasn't till the seat in front of me tried tiers. He explained that it tasted just like bucket coffee. He was right, it's the same coffee they serve in the Ontario jails. He was my cell mate for o e little time out, and the best man for the wedding, until the groom's brother showed up. Wild ride.

[@Demosthenas]

Im surprised you haven't tried them until now. Thanks again for the great video.

[@Mravilet18]

I just did the pushback of that bird this morning, our beautiful C-GLRN :D nice video as always.

[@FireFace143]

One time I one time had a 11 hour delay on this airline, but the airline was excellent! The reasons I got the delay was because when we boarded, we were supposed to go out and de-board because when we boarded, the ground crew realized the plane was dangerous and broken, so we had to wait for a new b737. But the airline is really amazing!

[@CorkeryCoop]

My wife and I have flown Sunwing many times YOW-PVR. The only airline with a direct flight. I always assume that our flight will be about 4 hours late, and I’ve rarely been disappointed. Yes, twiddling our thumbs at the airport for hours. We’ve been on a 737 leased from TUI, and one leased from a Greek airline, with all cabin writing in English and Greek. The direct flight to PVR and often lower price than Air Canada or WestJet, means we’re willing to put up with the likely delays. Yeah, fully 3/4 of our flights have been delayed multiple hours, or rescheduled the next day.

[@Dexter037S4]

Wait a minute, Greek? What year was this? Aegean have only operated A320s and Olympic never operated 737NGs. and Helios shut down before Sunwing, so it could've been a 737-400 on a short term lease.

[@garyjeffries1041]

Joined the channel my friend sunwing has been through ton of hick ups lately

[@viscount757]

Was the fare exceptionally low? If possible, could you include the actual date of the flight in your video descriptions, not just the month? Thanks.

[@HenrikRBX]

Hi Alex! Nice video!

[@TyNovakAviation]

Neat video Alex!

[@wiktorplayer1425]

I saw one of these in rome under the smartwings livery

[@planeandsimple_official]

What camera do you use to film? The stability of the image is incredible!

[@marie-sophie4]

I have been flying Sunwing from Quebec City to Cuba for more than 10 years and never had a bad experience with them ! It’s too bad they don’t sell sandwiches and pizza anymore only snacks now so I will bring my food when I fly next month to Varadero. ✈️

[@praveen4143]

What’s the airline at around the 4:23 mark?

[@idxluaviation]

Eva Air

[@donnayhz3568]

Another great video.

[@justranch]

I remember i had a sunwing flight once we took off it was 3 hours of straight turbulence

[@andreforcier97]

1st it’s YYZ (Zed, not Zee 🤨). 2nd I’ve been with them a few time out of YYZ to Cuba. Crews have always been 👍. Very friendly yet also professional. On one return out of VRA, I had injured my foot and was on crutches. VRA didn’t have any pre-boarding for those who needed a bit of extra time. So I got stuck in a very tight crowd. The incharge at the door saw me and stopped everyone in their tracks, grabbed me out of the crowd and got me settled before restarting boarding! On final she came up to me and asked if I could stay in my seat till others got off. She had the Capt call ahead to get me a wheelchair at the door. That girl took me through customs all the way to baggage claim. I thanked her and was about to get up, she tell me “no, no, stay there and point out your bag… ok Thks! She took me all the way to the limo stand! I thanked for multiple times! Was very impressed with the whole experience! 👍

[@VuNguyen-wo8bp]

I work at Pearson and everyone I know says Zee, 'Sir, I need your boarding pass that says YY ZEE on it'

[@andreforcier97]

@@VuNguyen-wo8bp ok, but I worked at YTZ (Zed) then with Gemini/Galileo where ResII(AC), Pegasus(CP), APG/APO (travel agents) were hosted on. From working there on the helpdesk, to inside Sales Manager for Alberta and NWT. From Coast to coast to coast, we all used Zed. The only time we would hear Zee was taking to Americans. 🤷‍♂️✌️

[@VuNguyen-wo8bp]

We say zed for everything else, but YY ZED is just really awkward - you just always hear YYZee here

[@andreforcier97]

@@VuNguyen-wo8bp I would think because of the number of Americans that come through YYZ. I always had fun with our American customers. Would point them to the phonetic alphabet. There it’s Zed as in Zulu, not Zee as in zebra. 😉✌️… now back to Sunwing. Any impression? Ever fly with them?

[@VuNguyen-wo8bp]

@@andreforcier97 I work domestic screening, every manager and other screener says YYZ, and the ramp agents and bag handlers. We just say YYZee cause it flows better

[@crispybacon420]

Their NG's are pretty tired inside, but Sunwing has always had great vacation deals. Looking forward to them having more MAX 8's in their fleet.

[@brownbear1657]

I don't think they have more on order...

[@Ben-go1iq]

Define tired, that was a NG and it looked spotless

[@goodtimes474]

Nice i always wanted to know what the inside of sunwing looked like.

[@Token_Nerd]

C50? What an unusual gate. I've been on the AC wide body red-eye from Vancouver a bunch and it always departs from there, or one of the other C swing gates (C51, C52). Wonder why it was using Wide Body AC Territory.

[@koenbenschop4982]

Flew on sunwing (for TUI) few days ago. Legroom was absolutely terrible. I’m 200cm and I’m used to bad legroom, but this legroom was the worst I ever had. The seats were probably made for small Canadians and not tall Europeans😂

[@Harrtheoricale]

They have good pizza form what I can remember

[@VancouverAviation]

400th like and you inspire me I'm saving up for a camera to be like you!

[@terrelljestin376]

hey alex did you go to cancun to calgary on 777 200 united airliners okay Alex

[@stuartleckie]

Woah. Pre ordering food is awesome. Do any other Canadian carriers do that ?? I’m well over 6 feet tall, so knowing about Elite plus is very handy.

[@AlexPraglowskiAviation]

Air Canada has that option when you book Economy flights, usually.

[@WK_Jetz]

You should try to fly on one of the WestJet Disney planes

[@WK_Jetz]

@zeke439 they have custom seats and custom overhead bins.

[@AlexPraglowskiAviation]

@@WK_Jetz Not anymore unfortunately, and it's a roll of the dice as to whether you get either livery.

[@WK_Jetz]

@@AlexPraglowskiAviation I sent you an email with flight details for an upcoming WestJet Disney flight. Thought it might help.

[@JoeMalo]

Alex, can you please rank your top 5 airports in Canada?

[@JPTech933]

Not Montreal YUL, I'm a Montrealer and our airport sucks! Hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements doesn't show at all. Toronto and Vancouver airports are much much better, they spent the airport improvement fee we all pay on our tickets properly, in my opinion.

[@blackmorebyron]

My first and only flight was on Sunwing

[@flightsimulatorguy7668]

Pretty long takeoff, went right to the end

[@jazzyiscraz]

Those seats are just like southwests😂

[@dotzz]

i've been on this airlines 40 to many times

[@ryanbarnes631]

Tui used to charter these into Dublin every summer before covid

[@Ben-go1iq]

Still do, they’re normally pretty randomly assigned, we haven’t gotten any so far up in edi , but Newcastle is full of them. TUIs pretty much chartering anything they can get there hands on

[@dennisryckman5210]

Are you flying for business and filming for the channel in parallel, or are you buying tickets specifically for your vids?

[@AlexPraglowskiAviation]

99% of the time it's the latter.

[@juha-mattihakala3518]

I have tried to find reasonable flight from Toronto to Vancouver. Flair, Swoop etc offers 66€ return prices, but I have one checked baggage and a backpack. 250€ immeditiatly. 😀 Maybe I walk... 😀

[@brownbear1657]

do transat, they are worth it.

[@gmitchellfamily]

So not even any wifi streaming over an app. Alrighty, good to know!

[@damianpiotrowski7944]

I mean it’s a Lesiure LCC so what do you expect

[@zacktong8105]

There seems to be more and more airline competition in Canada which is supposed to be a good thing but there is a tendency for them to come and GO which perhaps is the reason the main two don't take them seriously. Looking at a prospective August booking SEVERAL MONTHS before hand one could see fares escalate to the point where one could reach the far corners of the earth for less than a Canadian Provincial small destination. No wonder Canadians AVOID THEM AT ALL COST! BUT THEY DO OFFER FREQUENT FLYER MILES just in case someone is contemplating an Arctic destination in WINTER. WHAT CAN THEY BE THINKING trying to promote Manitoba WINTER TRAVEL to Americans in newspapers? In the early 1990s Mary Walsh and the original cast of THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES (Salter Street Productions - Halifax) did a fabulous job taking down the AIR CANADA Chief Executive to his amusement in his office. Both are long gone and perhaps comedy in Canada as well as a means of bringing down to earth the ridiculous.

[@iv7nn]

My flight got delayed by a day and then diverted to Toronto extending a trip by like 5 hours lol

[@Marythundermug]

Sunwing is going to be sued of Existence very soon and deservedly so, very negligent airlines that does not give a flying F about their customers

[@coltonb10]

Did they give your trading cards

[@sebsaviationyyc]

mm, yes, coffee that tastes like soap will always help wake you up.

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

Now 51% owned by TUI Airways of Europe.

[@Zxro13i]

How do you know this?

[@peterwilliamallen1063]

@@Zxro13i Try Googling it, TUI took a major share in Sunwing a few years ago and during the UK wintermonths some TUI Boing 737 Max aircraft go out to Canada and fly over there with the tail wing in Sunwing Colours and the fusalauge in the TUI livery and I have seen Sunwing planes fly into Birmingham Airport UK in Sunwing colours and have seen them in Birmingham Airport on TUI flights from Birmingham not only that last August I was going to Spain from Birminghm to Malaga and TUI actualy advised us that our flight me be by the subsidery company Sunwing, but in the end this did not happen and our flight was on a TUI Boing 737 Max aircraft

[@blackmorebyron]

Also it was going to cancùn

[@MostlyPlanes747]

I actually filmed this exact plane at Belfast lol

[@johnandrews3568]

whoa... dude it's why why ZED!

[@okotoksmarkh]

Long flight with sunwing. Could have done yyt to yyz, way shorter

[@Dodge34]

To get the real experience you have to book a regular cramped seat, not their elite plus package, all your review will be biased by the fact you paid for the extra leg room and premium features

[@paulmcbain3233]

Seems like a good airline if you do not have to pay to much .If you want very good coffee you have to drink Starbucks.

[@FirstLastOne]

Where is this WHY, WHY, ZEE's you speak of? :P

[@GenjeBot]

I heard the pickle

[@KEENERtheDJ]

Does anybody know if Sunwing is super strict on their baggage allowance???

[@bunzinod1964]

Yes they charge every extra kilo

[@teresawilson3893]

If you want crappy seats no food and a flight that feels like you’re in a sauna that’s the way to go it’s cheap and crappy.

[@geftiler2112]

Now part of Worstjet... and will only get worse.

[@WindowLickerPuddleJumper]

Westjet is far better than Scare Canada.

[@EndlessAviation_]

3 hours

[@ingridr8917]

I guess this company will declare bankruptcy soon!

[@VR6raddo]

First

[@shawnmorin8600]

YY Zeeee? Cmon Alex....

[@AlexPraglowskiAviation]

As opposed to "YY Zed", which feels wrong in every way imaginable? 😂

[@shawnmorin8600]

@@AlexPraglowskiAviation Keep it strictly Canadian! :-)

[@dalydegagne1839]

@@AlexPraglowskiAviation That's the American influence. Or you could go to the international phonetic alphabet and say Yankee Yankee Zebra.

[@AlexPraglowskiAviation]

@@dalydegagne1839 I'd say "zed" if it was in the middle like YZF, it feels completely wrong on the end though

[@rogerbenest3164]

Neil Peart stands alone.

[@n0tbran]

cancellation moment

[@patrickpick3091]

Don't they have or had some questionable practices abroad? No thanks

[@davepowell3293]

Also known as Sardine Wing...

[@matthewdehavilandkay8449]

No Copyright

[@matthewdehavilandkay8449]

Captain Natalie's 737-800

[@matthewdehavilandkay8449]

To: Air Canada

[@GenjeBot]

Snwngr

[@ivanbrown1961]

owned by Westjet

[@robbie7370]

Are you American? Cuz it's YYZed not YYZee

[@Teeebs]

Sunwing... 😡👎. Never again! You clearly got lucky.

[@dalydegagne1839]

After a Sunwing captain last winter allowed an in-flight drinking party go on in the aircraft aisle on a flight to Mexico, rather than divert to the nearest airport and be met by American law enforcement, it is hard to take this airline seriously.

[@karladelman6289]

Worst airline. Flew them back in 2013 from Vancouver to Cuba and all it ever was is delays delays delays. No notice or anything or compensation. Lost money on a hotel cause coming back it ended up being a red eye being delayed twice. They gave our departure to another Sunwing plane and made us wait. I usually do not give bad reviews but this was by far the worst airline I have flown. It might be better now I don't know.