With travel back in full swing, the airlines are starting to poach each other’s members.
Just recently, WestJet was spotted trying to lure away Air Canada and Porter Elite members to their own program.
Someone else from this group has joined in on the – well, we’ll call it fun.
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Porter Airlines offering status match for WestJet Rewards members
We like to think that someone at Porter saw WestJet trying to lure away VIPorter members and they thought to themselves “2 can play at that game”.
So, Porter Airlines is here with their own status match offer.
But it also appears to be more than that. Here’s the opening line on Porter’s status match page.
“WestJet has reduced its service in Eastern Canada” may seem like a false and misleading statement, but it’s very true.
WestJet is really cutting back on its Toronto operations to destinations to the east, reducing service to Ottawa, Montreal, and Halifax, while eliminating flights to places like Charlottetown, Moncton, and Quebec City.
Now with that said, WestJet is increasing flights between Western to Eastern Canada, but they don’t replace being able to easily travel within Eastern Canada (and quite a few of these flights are seasonal and not year-round).
A personal example – my partner is heading to Edmonton next month, and Charlottetown and Moncton are our 2 primary airports for travel. As of now, Air Canada is the only option for the trip. WestJet always used to be one, and it would be one for the July/August travel season as WestJet is flying straight to Calgary and Edmonton from both airports, but outside of that, the typical WestJet options have disappeared.
That’s the main play for Porter – trying to get disaffected WestJet members who have seen flight services cut back in Eastern Canada, but they’re also highlighting their new services to Western Canada between Toronto to Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton. You can see in this sample routes table.
Porter knows this, and they’re trying to see if there are any WestJet Rewards members who are ready to jump ship.
So what exactly is Porter offering? For WestJet Silver, Gold, and Platinum members, WestJet will match your status. Here are the VIPorter perks you can expect:
If you already have WestJet status, it certainly doesn’t hurt to take up Porter on their offer, even if you have no plans to fly with them.
You have until May 31, 2023 to get your status match. To get your status match, here are the steps for you to follow.
Now, your new status with Porter will only be valid for 120 days. But, Porter is making it easier for you to keep your new status until the end of 2024. You’ll need to meet a lower qualifying spend to get theses statuses:
You can view the full details of Porter’s status match here.
Get a free flight on Porter with a flexible rewards credit card
If you want to get a free flight on Porter, you’ll have to get a flexible rewards credit card that allows members to redeem for any travel booking as Porter doesn’t issue their own credit cards.
Here’s a listing of a few credit cards you can consider – a full listing of the best flexible rewards credit cards can be found here.
×4 Award winner 
GC: $100
4x Award winner
×1 Award winner GC: $100
1x Award winner
GC: $20
×8 Award winner GC: $100
8x Award winner
GC: $150
GC: $100
$100 GeniusCash + Up to 30,000 bonus points + birthday bonus worth up to 15k points.*
Will you become a VIPorter member?
For those of you who have WestJet Elite status, are you going to take up Porter on their offer?
Are you content with WestJet’s current strategy?
Let us know in the comments below.
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GC: 
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