Flair Airlines

The flight to and from Toronto were awesome. The flight crew and pilot were fantastic.
The issue I have is we waited for 2 hours to get our bags at Pearson in Toronto. It would have been nice to be given a heads up that it was going to take that long. We would have eaten in the airport before we picked up our bags.
Next time we will be going carry-on no matter how much it is to pay for carry-on.
I don't know that I would fly Flair into Toronto again. When we arrived in Calgary, we waited less than 40 minutes, which is still too long but it's better than 2 hours.

First time flying Flair airlines and while the actual flight itself was fine, the check-in process was not. With the long line-ups at Pearson airport, we arrived 3 hours ahead of time to check in for a US flight from Toronto. We travel often and like to arrive early for international flights so that we are not rushed and can have a coffee before boarding. Didn't happen this time. The check-in counter didn't open until 2 hours before flight time so almost 180+ passengers were already in line for an hour. There were no posted signs indicating it was the check-in desk for Flair. After asking several people, including other passengers, we were directed to a line up that was finally the right one for our check-in. Boarding passes did not scan and each time we passed through a check point, we had problems (saw this with other passengers too). Arrived at the gate about 15 minutes past the boarding time and luckily the majority of passengers still had not made it by then so they delayed take-off to wait for everyone. Most felt that if Flair had started check-in earlier (with more staff), the remaining line-ups for security and US customs would have been much more efficient.

Checked-in luggage fees were very expensive. With that cost added to the price of the flight, the total cost is in line with other carriers.

That being said, the flight itself was good and the staff were nice.

No major complaints! We were a bit nervous because Flair is a newer discount carrier, but everything went fairly smoothly. We had a small issue with check-in. We’d done it the day before, but when we got up for our flights we both had texts telling us we hadn’t. We tried again, and the website said that we were already checked-in. Not a major glitch, but slightly annoying. The boarding could have been smoother. Instead of calling sections, they just boarded the whole plane at once. That was a bit surprising, as it was a full flight. However, they had 3 desks open, so it went fairly quick. Their fleet looks to consist of brand new 737-800s, and they were clean. It’s a budget carrier, but we found reasonable leg room. We were seated separately as we didn’t want to pay for seat selection, but no big deal. I’d probably pay for a longer flight. The baggage charges are high, but that’s expected for a carrier like this. Pack light and you won’t have any issues. All in, the price was right and the flight was decent. I’d happily book with Flair again!

The first flight from Ottawa to Vancouver went fine, might even say great. As there were children under 12 sitting in the emergency exit row, my partner and I volunteered to switch with them which gave us extra leg room, which was awesome. I felt bad for the parents who had paid extra for their kids to sit in the exit row. I wonder why the website would let them book the exit row seats for children if they are not permitted to sit there. Seems like a fixable oversight on the part of the airline. As well, my partner volunteered to gate check his carry-on so that worked out well.

However, I have to say that the return flight from Vancouver to Ottawa was not as great. The airline sent us messages that the fight was delayed by an hour but then when we arrived at the airport, the flight was only actually delayed by half an hour. This communication error created a huge line up at the check-in desks. As well they didn't properly arrange the line up through the markers so that made the line up appear even longer than it was in reality. In total, the flight ended up leaving about an hour and a half later than the original scheduled time.

As long as you keep in mind that it's a budget airline (no TVs on the back of headrests, food for sale only on the flight), it's fine, but it appeared to me that there are some organizational flaws. A final note, we paid for "priority boarding" but that was not a thing on the outbound flight, so didn't feel worth the money.

It was my first time flying with Flair Airlines (red-eye) and I must say the night crew was amazing. From the crew that I interacted with at the check-in counter until I disembarked the plane. And I felt that they really listened to me when:
1. I asked the rep to add a "Fragile" sticker on my check-in luggage as it fell even before I arrived at the airport. It was cracked and it was only being held together by cheap tape. The attendant simply added a sticker across the cracked side of my luggage and tagged it as a "carry-on" and when I arrived in Toronto and picked up my luggage from the baggage claim - it was one of the first ones to come out. So happy that it came back to me the way I gave it to them :) Thanks for doing that!
2. We arrived at the boarding gate just in time for us to get in, I was lucky to be first that they called up so I didn't have to wait in line.
3. Did I say that the night crew was amazing? They are SO AMAZING.
They were so accommodating during my flight, very humorous in fact, and I have to say it was the best domestic flight I have ever had. P.S. I slept like a baby!

I highly recommend this airline if you like cheap direct flights to anywhere within Canada!