A detailed WestJet 737-700 economy trip report from 2016 (the good ‘ol days)

The following is a full review / trip report of my WestJet 737-700 economy class experience from Calgary to San Diego in September 2016. As you might imagine, it was a very basic experience.

WestJet economy class wasn’t exactly feature rich back then. Of course there weren’t any video screens in the seats. There weren’t any premium snacks or electrical outlets either. And you don’t even wanna know about the lack of leg room.

But the scenery sure was nice!

Flight Number:	WS1564
Route:	Calgary, Alberta (YYC) – San Diego, CA (SAN)
Date:	September 18, 2016
Aircraft:	Boeing 737-7CT
Registration:	C-FBWJ
Flight Duration	2 hours 49 minutes
Seat:	18F (Economy)

WestJet 737-700 economy from Calgary to San Diego

Mobile boarding passes (accessible via mobile phone) weren’t yet a thing in Canada as of September 2016. That meant that I’d have to check in the old-school way. Which , if you didn’t remember, is trudging on down to the departures hall just a few minutes earlier in the morning to get a paper boarding pass from a kiosk or (*gasp*)…a real human being!

Luckily there was a really nice check in and boarding pass printing station located right in the lobby of the Calgary Airport Marriott (where I stayed the night), so I took full advantage of that before walking over to the main terminal. Direct human contact avoided.

YYC Airport Marriott printing station — The very convenient printing station at the YYC Airport Marriott. A great place to print out the entire Internet. I mean my boarding pass.

Checking in at YYC

Check in for US flights at YYC are restricted to those that depart in two hours or less, so I had to wait until exactly 8:25 before I could enter the US pre-clearance customs hall in order to catch my 10:25am flight.

Westjet check in counter Calgary airport 2016 — Having a printed boarding pass and no luggage to check meant that this WestJet trip report was off to a really great start! Especially since I could avoid the check in counters altogether. The queue doesn’t look so bad this morning though (which always seems to happen when I come prepared).

Signs leading to the US departures entrance at Calgary airport 2016 — I had to hang out a bit in the main terminal before heading through security and US customs (it was the curse of being early). There didn’t really seem to be a need to rush though, as the queue to enter was very short and I assumed that I would be through in minutes.

Passport control took just 5 minutes to pass through, but the security checkpoint was another story. The line for that wasn’t all that long, but it was moving extremely slow. It took 25 minutes to get through into the gate areas, and I felt especially sorry for the poor souls in the ever-growing line behind me. By the time I reached the scanner/x-ray, the line behind me had grown 5 times in length and it was moving glacially slow.

According to the chatter I heard from others standing around me, this seemed to me a regular occurrence at YYC. At least the security personnel were coming through the line giving priority to passengers with the earliest flights.

Once I made it into the gate area, priority number one became breakfast. It was shortly after 9am, and I was starting to feel weak from not having anything to eat or drink all morning. Food options are limited here inside the gate areas of YYC, but I did find a nice bagel shop and was able to enjoy and egg and cheese bagel as I decompressed from the stress of trying to get through security.

Cheap breakfast at the Calgary airport 2016 — This egg and cheese bagel was a lifesaver. I was almost dead by the time I cleared security!

Gate 33 Calgary airport 2016 — The interior of YYC ins’t all that interesting, but at least it’s bright with decent windows to the outside world. That was an attempt at throwing shade towards MEX by the way.

After breakfast, I set off in search of getting pics of the aircraft for this WestJet 737-700 economy trip report / review. And guess what? The same aircraft that I flew from SAN to YYC two days ago would be the same one that would be taking me back to SAN this morning.

We meet again, old friend! C-FBWJ getting loaded up to take me back home to San Diego.

Gate 34 Calgary airport — Gate 34 is where my flight (and me and everyone else you see in this pic) will be departing from this morning.

Sitting at the Calgary airport waiting for my flight — I had some time to kill, so I found a quiet spot at the end of the terminal to sit and pretend like I was busy for a bit.

Calgary airport seat colors and styles in 2016 — The colors of the seats in the gate areas here at YYC were quite earthy back in 2016!

The boarding process

Boarding was called exactly on time, though I had to hold back a bit since I had a Zone 2 boarding pass. No worries though. I never use the overhead bins anyway, so at least I wasn’t planning on fighting for space to put my things. Although I do suspect that this trip report would be a lot more exciting if I had to fight for overhead bin space…

Westjet Calgary to San Diego boarding pass 2016 — My self printed boarding pass. Flying in 2016 was a bit more wasteful than it is today.

The gate area seemed pretty full as boarding commenced, so I assumed this was going to be a very full flight.

Ready to board westjet flight to San Diego from the Calgary airport 2016 — Passport in hand, ready as ever to get onboard.

Walking down the jet bridge to gate 34 Calgary airport 2016 — There’s something about walking into a jet bridge that has always pumped me up. A new adventure begins! And I didn’t even care that this new adventure was going to be on a lowly 737-700!

WestJet 737-700 forward boarding door — It feels even more adventurous when there isn’t a long queue to step onboard the aircraft. Walking down the jet bridge and stepping onboard without even stopping is about as baller as it gets IMHO.

WestJet 737-700 economy class seats

WestJet 737-700 economy seats were draped in dark blue leather back then. This was fairly common for most airlines at the time, and I didn’t even wrinkle my nose at it.

Westjet 737-700 economy cabin 2016 — WestJet 737-700 economy class. Korean Air 747-8 business class it is not.

It was a fairly dense 3-3 layout, with extremely tight seat pitch (leg room). And they say things aren’t as good as they used to be…

WestJet 737-700 economy class seats 18 D, E, and F in 2016 — WestJet 737-700 economy class seats 18 D, E, and F. If you’re not liking the way this looks, check out my American Airlines 737-800 economy review before making any judgements.

WestJet 737-700 economy class row 18 in 2016 — There’s no turning back now. Whether I like it or not, row 18 is going to be my world for the next three hours.

WestJet 737-700 economy class leg room in 2016 — Obligatory leg room (seat pitch) pic. See? WestJet was just is cruel back in 2016 as they are today.

WestJet 737-700 economy view looking forward from row 18 back in 2016 — I’m a bit further back on this flight. Row 18 is nearly 3/4 of the way back here in the main cabin.

WestJet 737-700 economy passengers back in 2016 — I was hoping for a row all to myself, but then 18D showed up. Even the people on the other side of the aisle seemed disappointed.

WestJet 737-700 economy magazines and reading material 2016 — Free Wi-Fi and streaming in-flight entertainment? Not in 2016 lol. They did have a magazines and pamphlets though. And lots of them!

Thankfully, luck was on my side and the middle seat remained vacant as the boarding door closed. Yes!!

The departure from YYC

It was a beautiful sunny morning in the Calgary area, which provided for some nice views of the surrounding area as we departed.

WestJet 737-700 wing and winglet as seen from my window at row 18 — Gettin’ ready to head south on an airline known for going west. That’s how I roll.

View of WestJet 737-700 wing and winglet while taxiing to runway at YYC

Climb out was smooth and uneventful. So much that the guy in the aisle seat never once twitched during the entire process.

Passengers sleeping in WestJet 737-700 economy 2016 — Knocked. OUT.

The view just moments after taking off from YYC in 2016 — I was a bit bummed that I was sitting on the wrong side of the aircraft to get a good look at the Canadian Rocky Mountains in the distance. So much for a WestJet 737-700 trip report with award-winning photography.

Flying over farmland just moments after taking off from Calgary airport 2016 — Nothing but flat farmland on this side!

Snacks and drinks

The snack and beverage service began 15 minutes after departure, with two carts (one at the front, and the other at the rear) being started at the same time. They both met in the middle approximately 25 minutes later. I absolutely took them up on their offer for a salty snack and a cup of water.

WestJet 737-700 economy in-flight snack bag 2016 — The 2016 WestJet in flight snack: salty, matched with a selection of fine Canadian Water (which was probably just tap water from the bathroom of a wig factory in Regina).

Enjoying the complementary beverage in WestJet 737-700 economy 2016 — Cheers! (Or however they say it in Canada, eh).

WestJet 737-700 economy seat back pocket opening with tray table down 2016 — Oh. It’s probably worth noting that when the tray table was down, any loose paper in the seat back pockets tends to fall out onto the tray. Life was very difficult back in 2016.

Seat and cabin comfort

The rest of the flight was completely uneventful and not all that interesting. I spent a lot of time napping in between taking pics for this trip report, but the sleep wasn’t all that good considering there was a crying baby nearby. The person watching an action movie a few rows away without headphones didn’t help either.

WestJet 737-700 economy cabin looking forward from the back in 2016 — Wide angle overview of the entire cabin as we make our way south towards San Diego. The guy in 18D is still face down in his tray table BTW.

Looking at my phone while sitting inside 18F in WestJet 737-700 economy — Killing time trying to look busy again. I sure as heck wasn’t partaking in the Wi-Fi (mainly because said Wi-Fi didn’t exist).

Looking out the window of a WestJet 737-700 while flying over the western United States

Arrival into San Diego

As we made our decent and approach into SAN, I became very thankful for having already cleared US customs up in Canada. I was feeling pretty groggy at this point, and not having to deal with the hassle of that was quite nice.

WestJet route map 2016 — I had a look at the in flight magazine just before beginning the descent, and I couldn’t help but to stop and take a gander at the route map. Even back in 2016, I had no idea that WestJet had such a substantial route network. They’re like…a real airline!

Flying over the southern California desert in a WestJet 737-700 — We began the descent directly overhead the scene of the crime.

Westjet 737-700 flying over the Anza Borrego desert in Southern California

Westjet 737-700 flying over east county San Diego on approach into SAN

Westjet 737-700 flying over Balboa Park on approach into San Diego airport — Skimming the treetops of Balboa Park and the 163 freeway. Welcome to San Diego!

WestJet 737-700 just moments before touching down on runway 27 San Diego airport — Technically, *we’re not quite there yet*. But it’s close enough for a welcome I guess.

WestJet 737-700 pulling up to gate 34 at Terminal 2 East at the San Diego airport in 2016 — Pulling up to gate 34 at Terminal 2 East. The fact that we departed from gate 34 to back in Calgary this morning made this moment especially amusing.

Deplaning a WestJet 737-700 upon arrival at the San Diego airport in 2016 — *“Get f****d.”* Of course that’s not what the kind looking flight attendant said to each passenger as they were deplaning, but only she knows if that’s what she was really thinking.

And that wraps this nostalgic look back at WestJet 737-700 economy from 2016. I have to say that this went pretty much like how I expected: cheap, friendly, no frills service. Of all the airlines I had flown up to that point, I guess I would have to say that it reminded me of Sun Country the most.

While not a true bare bones low-cost experience like Allegiant or Spirit of the time, it was hardly competitive with Air Canada economy IMHO.

A detailed WestJet 737-700 economy trip report from 2016 (the good ‘ol days)