With several airline options to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which airline to book your travels with. Often, when booking a flight, I opt for the least expensive direct flight as long as the airline is reliable. Recently, on a trip from Calgary, Alberta to Toronto, Ontario, Porter Airlines offered the best price. I had never flown with this airline before, but given the higher prices of other airlines, I decided to give Porter Airlines a shot. If you’re wondering what it’s like to travel with Porter Airlines, here is my review.
Interested in flying with the budget airline called Flair Airlines? Check out our post: Flair Airlines Review? Is Flair Air Worth It?
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About Porter Airlines
Porter Airlines has been around since 2006 and is based in Toronto, Ontario. It offers North American flights with a special focus on business travelers. With flights within Canada being notoriously expensive, I was excited to see that Porter Airlines offers lower fares, making travel within Canada more accessible. The airline has won awards for its customer service and was named the best regional airline by Skytrax in 2017. Porter Airlines provides free snacks, beverages, and Wi-Fi for all passengers, which is a major bonus. Before flying with Porter Airlines, I did some research and found it to be quite popular and well-loved by people in Eastern Canada.
Porter Airlines Check-In and Booking Process
Booking your ticket with Porter Airlines is straightforward. You simply enter your departure city, destination, and travel dates. It’s important to ensure that Porter offers flights on your specific dates, but other than that, booking tickets was easy. On the day of departure, I arrived at the airport the recommended amount of time before my flight. I always complete my online check-in 24 hours prior. The line for checking baggage was very short, and the staff were friendly and efficient, making the process smooth.
In-Flight Comfort and Amenities
I was thoroughly impressed with the comfort of the flight. The free in-flight Wi-Fi was an added bonus that I haven’t seen on other flights I’ve taken. Additionally, Porter Airlines provides complimentary snacks and drinks, including beer and wine—another amenity that most other airlines do not include in economy seating. The flight attendants were friendly and provided excellent service throughout the flight.
Regarding the cabin, I didn’t notice a significant difference compared to other airlines’ economy seats in terms of legroom. The cabin and seats were clean and comfortable, and I had no complaints. One notable positive about flying with Porter is that there are no middle seats. I loved this feature and it definitely made the flight much more comfortable.
Porter Classic vs. Porter Reserve
There are several fare types to choose from when booking your ticket. Porter Classic tickets are in economy and come in several sub-options: Basic, Standard, Flexible, and Freedom. Each type caters to different needs. The Basic fare is the least expensive and covers only your plane ticket and a personal item; carry-ons and checked baggage are not included. Additionally, with the Basic fare, you have to pay to select your seat and cannot switch flights. As you move up through the fare types, you gain more included amenities. The Porter Classic Freedom fare includes the most amenities within economy. I flew in the economy class and found the flight to be very comfortable. Unlike other airlines in economy I still received several snacks and drinks throughout the flight.
Porter Reserve seats are at the front of the plane and are akin to business class. Guests can enjoy all the perks of economy plus dedicated airport check-in, extra legroom, early boarding, unlimited snacks, and meals (on flights longer than 2.5 hours), and the ability to change flights. My parents flew in Porter Reserve and were impressed with the snacks and meals they received (they also may have snuck back some food for me in economy which was much appreciated haha).
Porter Air Reviews from Passengers: Is Porter Air Worth It?
Having flown with Porter Air twice, I sought opinions from others who have traveled with Porter. Colleagues from the East Coast, who have more experience with Porter, generally agreed that the airline had issues with canceling flights without much warning in the past. However, this was a few years ago, and it seems Porter has resolved these issues in recent years.
Porter Airlines Customer Service
For customer service, Porter Airlines can be reached by phone at 1-888-619-8622, Monday to Sunday from 5:30 AM to 2:00 AM EST or check out https://www.flyporter.com/en-ca/.
Porter Airlines Review Final Verdict: Summing Up the Porter Experience
Overall, I was very happy with my experience flying Porter Air. I appreciated their focus on customer service and the extra amenities included in the economy fares. The prices were the least expensive compared to other airlines, making travel within Canada more accessible. I would definitely book with Porter Air again; my experience was positive and I had no complaints.
13 Comments
Shabnam
It is the worst airline I have ever seen or dealt with. I had a flight from Toronto to New York that was abruptly cancelled three hours before our flight, and we lost one day of our trip. They rebooked us for the next day with a connecting flight. The layover time was 6 hours, which was then delayed to 9 hours. We lost two days. I honestly don’t recommend this airline to anyone, as it has proven time and time again that it has no qualms about cancelling and delaying flights by hours and even days. The baggage itself was even late to arrive. We are not even the only flight that was delayed or cancelled. While waiting, we heard announcement after announcement about other Porter flights no longer being available or being moved. We spoke with other passengers who also confirmed that the same thing had happened to them. This is an extremely untrustworthy airline, and to use it is to risk losing a lot of pre-spent money.
Yusuf
I wish I saw this before booking, at the airport right now regretting my decision to book with them.
Multiple delays, rerouting, and not compensation of any sort.
Mimi
Was it cancelled due to the storm in the east coast on August 18th? I had a connection that day in JFK but got stuck for two days because a storm caused the outgoing flights to get cancelled. Everything was full until the 20th. This was with JetBlue though, so I was curious if you had the same issue with Porter.
Shamim I Coulter
I wish I had seen this before booking my flight
wanderwoman
Hi Kamaljeet,
I’m sorry to hear you had sauch a difficult time with a check-in agent at Porter. Thanks for sharing your experience. As I understand it, you can get on an aircraft with one piece of government-issued photo ID or two pieces of government-issued ID that do not have a photo. My husband once went to the airport planning to use his driver’s license to get onto the plane. Unfortunately, his driver’s license was expired. He had a gun license in his wallet with a photo on it. Since it was government issued and had a photo, he was able to board the aircraft with it. Unfortunately, some check-in agents might not understand that other forms of ID can be used.
I hope you have safe travels in the future. Welcome to Canada!
Debbie
Managing Editor, Wander Woman Travel Magazine
Greg Smith
I have just flown Porter Airlines from Toronto to Vancouver for the first time and it is one of the best domestic flight experiences I have had. There was a small issue with my reservation code which was resolved in less than 5 minutes and one phone call ( something our major telecommunications companies could learn from ). Check in was a breeze. More than enough staff to ensure it was smoothly completed. The flight crew were friendly and helpful. Absolutely I would fly with them again.
Adekunle Michael Aregbesola
I recently moved to Canada with my family, I booked a flight from Nigeria to Edmonton through Qatar airways and we were supposed to board 3 airplanes of which Qatar airways were to fulfill 2 while porter air was to fulfill Montreal to Edmonton. On getting to Montreal, trying to connect with the final flight we discovered that porter air wasn’t even aware of our booking. There was a problem that they couldn’t explain. A woman named Valerie or Valeria (pardon me) went out of her ways, did her utmost best, fought tooth and nails, ran up and down here and there to resolve the issue for us. She was able to resolve this issue despite all odds and still went ahead to lead us till we got to our allocated seats cos the boarding time was almost over at the time the issue was resolved. Finally, our check in luggage couldn’t go with that flight cos of the limited time, Valerie/Valeria still ensured these luggage got to Edmonton by the time we landed. I wish she gets the recognition she deserves for her hardwork, selflessness, kindness and love for her job and humanity. Thank you Valerie
wanderwoman
Thanks so much for sharing your story. Glad to hear Valeria came through for you! And welcome to Canada!
-Debbie
Himanshidevi
I booked my roundtrip through porter airline from Montreal to los angles. When i was going to LA i went on airport to montreal to get boarding pass. There was no one on that time i waited for 1 hour . Then two person came for check in. Somehow i was able to fly. But when i was going to back to Montreal and arrived at LA airport. I was there 2 hours before. There was big line for check in and only one person was available to handle everyone. When i was on the 3rd number to get my boarding pass. Porter customes said no more check in and run away from there without giving reply. I talked with them over the phone and they denied to give me my refund and told this was not there fault. I totally waste my money on porter. If anybody can seen my review i will just recommend never ever make booking through porter. The service of porter is really disgusting. Please do not trust and spend money on porter.
Thankyou.
Les
Worst airline ever!!!
Their commercial advertising is so misleading, I do believe airline understaffs positions do not necessarily employee’s. Still so disorganized and mislead.
Now…..this joke of an airline kicked off a 14 year unaccompanied child.
Please go out of business.
John
Porter was easily the worst airline. Flew from Toronto to edmonton. I did not know that the only ID I had was expired, and i was allowed on the flight anyways. As I’m about to check in for my return flight (through westjet) from edmonton, I was told I couldn’t be allowed on the plane because of my ID. I had to go to the porter desk, and was told I couldn’t be allowed on any flights due to my ID. Even though I was allowed on the original flight by porter. Because of porters careless employees I had to purchase a last minute ticket. I asked to be refunded the ticket due to employee error. But I was met with rude costumer service and no help ir refund. Never fly porter, they do not care about you, only your money
Jarrod Barnes
I was leaving Montreal, flight PD373, to Vancouver on Sept 12.2024. I was in the airport very early in the am, around 6am. The wonderful lady at the counter took my ID and was producing a boarding pass. I thanked her kindly and off to security I went. After going through security it was then that I noticed she had bumped me to first class! I had already take the flight from Vancouver to Montreal and Porter was great!!! Now my flight home as even better thanks to her. I wish I had paid attention and thanked you then. Dear Porter airlines worker, you freakin rock and so does porter airlines. I highly recommend this airline.
JB
Anne Hermary
My experience is the opposite. When they started flying Vancouver-Toronto, they offered competitive pricing and good service. They fought for business. Now, the service is not great or bad and the pricing is not better…adding to that the limited number of flights, we are back to Air Canada for domestic travel.