Original plan was to fly to Sardinia and beach it. Europe flights are insane. Thinking now of Southern Cali. Since we are on the east coast, the Pacific is always a treat. Would love a beach, cafes, walking around and forgetting for a moment the world is on fire.
We live in Southeast Michigan. We only have a 1 week window for a vacation this summer, the week of June 22. Looking for something on a lake with a fun town with plenty do for the family (kids are 13 and 20).
Trying to avoid the upper midwest since the weather can still be dicey and lakes might not be warm yet, so excluding Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota etc.
We're fine with up to a 12 hour drive.
Currently considering Lake Okoboji in Iowa. Would love some other ideas. Thanks!
Let me begin by saying this is NOT a rant. It is my lived experience with Westjet vacations.
My flight was a bit late getting into Toronto, and they told us that it was late by no fault of their own. I can accept that.
However, even if my flight was at the gate on time, WJ, created an itinerary for my family, with an impossible connection to Ottawa, VIA Toronto.
WS2501 is scheduled to arrive Toronto at 9:45 PM.
WS588 is scheduled to leave Toronto at 11:30 PM.
This leaves 1H 45M to deplane, clear customs, receive baggage, and recheck baggage.
As highlighted by a redditor last night - baggage is only accepted up to 1 hour prior to flight departure. This narrows my task list down to 45 minutes.
If anyone has traveled through YYZ, you know it takes 30-45 minutes to receive baggage alone. Not counting getting off the plane, clearing customs, and the 15-20 minutes of walking between locations.
That would clearly put anyone past the 1 hour baggage drop-off limit. Why would they book an itinerary with a near zero chance of making the flight?
In my case, because my flight was delayed by approx 45 min, this also meant that there were zero WJ agents to speak to, as they had closed up for the night. My wife called and was in the process of re-booking for a flight that left 24 hours later. When they were about to wrap up the call, the agent disconnected the call. Certainly he'll call back. Right? Nope. And not only didn't he call us back, when my wife called them, the call center had closed for the day, leaving us unsure if we were actually booked on the flight or not.
We ended up getting a hotel for the night ($300), and rented a car in the morning and drove to Ottawa.
Now, I wouldn't expect WJ to cover the cost of the rental, because they may have been able to book us for the evening flight when we called in the morning.
When my wife did call them in the morning, they said everything was "out of their control". They won't cover the cost of the Hotel, because we were supposed to sit in the terminal for 8 hours, and call in the morning, then sit a further 15.5 hours until our flight left.
Is this reasonable? If it is, and I am off base, please tell me!
Total compensation offered by Westjet: $26
Chances of me ever flying Westjet again? Zero chance