Porter Airlines

After a 5h delay, we weren’t able to meet the Toronto city airport curfew and were taken to Hamilton, ON, where we had to wait for another 1.5h to get on a bus to downtown Toronto (another hour ride). The staff was uninformative and inflexible with the drop off location and passengers were dropped off at 3 am near Union Station. We were only informed of the airport changes after boarding, and since it was an international flight some of us had to internet or phone line to communicate with your families of the changes. A 1.5h quick flight from BOS to Toronto city became a 10h headache.

Fantastic airline! Comfy seats, free beer and wine, free premium snacks (Walker’s shortbread, Blue Diamond, Terra chips, etc), super clean, friendly staff. Even a dedicated lounge in Toronto with free drinks and snacks while waiting for connecting flights. All of this for a cheap domestic flight with service to select US locations. No carry-on luggage fees either. I’ll be back!

If you like frequent flight schedule changes, flight departures that leave early without notice, an airline that has zero consideration to assist you if have a connecting flight, an airline that does not treat you as a valued customer, then Porter Airlines is for you.
On January 6, 2017 my daughter was booked on a Porter itinerary to fly from Montreal to Boston via Toronto. Before departing Montreal, Porter informed her that the flight number was changed and that the flight was departing about an hour later. That flight arrived in Toronto 38 minutes late despite departing at its scheduled time. As quickly as possible, she retrieved her carry-on bag and rushed to the gate for the flight departure to Boston. She arrived 8 minutes before the scheduled departure time, however, the aircraft had already left the gate! Porter had to be aware of passengers scheduled to connect with this flight arriving a bit late from the previous Montreal flight, and yet sent the flight off early. By the way, that flight from Montreal to Boston arrived 26 early. My daughter had to wait 2 hours for the next Porter Airlines flight to Boston.

Terrible support service – if you have a problem, Porter treats you like dirt, even if it’s their fault.

Not being familiar with Porter I assumed that the reasons its prices were lower than other airlines was because it operated on the same principles as Frontier and Spirit: “Buy low now, but we’ll get you later with fee after fee.”

After reading glowing review after glowing review I was assuaged and am very glad I decided to fly with Porter.

I expected the free snack but the complimentary wine/beer was a total surprise. My flight connected in Toronto and the lounge was great: plenty of space, free coffee/tea/water/sodas, free cookies, free wifi. The staff was very professional and friendly enough.

Not to say that everything is perfect. They do fly on turboprops and the Bombardier Q400 I flew in, while comfortable, could have used a little more elbow room. But that’s quibbling, and would not prevent me from flying with my new favorite airline again.