Good afternoon all, my name is Alex, and welcome back to another trip report!
Today I’m in Abbotsford, British Columbia, where I’ll be flying out to Edmonton, Alberta
on Swoop Airlines flight 124.
Swoop is an ultra-low-cost subsidiary of WestJet, and started operations in 2018, with a small
fleet of refitted WestJet 737-800s.
These were repainted into Swoop’s livery and reconfigured into a high-density 189-seat
configuration.
For this particular flight, I paid a $9 base fare, yes, single digits, not including taxes,
fees, or other things like seat selection.
Round trip though, the total cost ended up being about $120, which is still a crazy good deal
for Canada!
Swoop has 39 seats in their 737s with extra legroom, which, fortunately for me, is where
I’m sitting today.
Their extra legroom seats do cost extra, but I picked my seats well in advance, so
it was only $15 for each flight, travelling with just a backpack as a personal item.
This was my first time flying through Abbotsford, which serves the greater Vancouver area.
Since I filmed this, they’ve opened an expansion of the terminal, which includes more space
as well as two additional gates.
Let’s head through security.
And through in about…
30 seconds!
It turns out I was the only person in line at the time so I was through right away!
That was the fastest security I’ve ever been through in the country.
Post-security, Abbotsford has one restaurant and lots of seating,
it's pretty much what you'd expect from a low-cost airport like this one.
Here’s my gate, number 2, which is also being shared by another Swoop flight going
to Winnipeg.
Abbotsford also doesn’t have jetways, all the better for me with this great apron view!
The aircraft I’m flying on today is Swoop’s fourth 737-800, registered as C-FONK.
Here’s the aircraft I flew on in my first Swoop trip report,
arriving from Edmonton and going to Winnipeg,
followed by the aircraft I will fly on today, arriving from Hamilton.
Eventually, boarding started, except that it got a bit… chaotic, is the best way to describe it.
At check-in, I also paid extra for priority boarding so I could get a nice cabin shot
for you all,
but moments after they started scanning boarding passes, they realized the Winnipeg
flight was about to taxi out, meaning we couldn’t go onto the ramp.
And yet, despite crowding people in the tiny area between the desk and the door, they were still
scanning boarding passes!
Once that was over though, it was a short walk across the ramp on this beautiful summer evening.
Here’s my seat for this hour-long trip across the Rockies, 17A.
Row 17 is behind the two exit rows on this 737-800, but still has extra legroom thanks
to the positioning of the exit row seats.
I’m 6 foot 8, so the amount of space I have here is fantastic!
I also lucked out with nobody in the middle seat for even more space, so, basically, it’s
European business class.
Maybe that’s what the title should be.
In-seat power is also available, and I’ll take a look at the contents of the seatback
pocket once we’re airborne.
The headrests are adjustable, as well.
In the meantime, here’s our departure from Abbotsford, taxiing, and taking off from runway 25.
Here’s a look at the contents of the seatback pocket, which includes a pamphlet on connecting
to the wifi and entertainment system.
I’ll go over that shortly.
There’s also a menu for food and drink to purchase on board.
And of course, the usual safety card.
On Swoop, there’s zero complimentary food and drink, everything is paid which is understandable.
Swoop’s aircraft all have wifi from their time with WestJet, and lots of flight information
can be accessed through their app, once connected.
Since I flew Swoop during their first summer of operations, all of the in-flight entertainment
was free, with an impressive selection.
I did buy wifi for this flight, just to try it out, although it was a bit slow, as you
can see while I try to track myself on FlightRadar.
Moving on to the rest of the cabin, where it becomes apparent that this really is a
high-density aircraft.
The rear lavatories are a bit on the small side.
I’ll share my overall thoughts on the whole Swoop experience once we’re on the ground,
but in the meantime, enjoy this gorgeous sunset on our descent into Edmonton!
For a $120 day trip, Swoop really impressed me!
Their website was easy to use and I had no issues at all with booking, picking seats
or checking in.
The Swoop app was also easy enough to use and the free (even if for a limited time)
entertainment was great, though the wifi was on the slow side.
The extra legroom was exactly as advertised and I was very comfortable.
My single can of Coke on this flight was obviously not free, but I really don’t mind for the
price that I paid just to fly in the first place!
The crew was also pretty friendly, and aside from the boarding mix-up on the ground in
Abbotsford, the whole experience was a very positive one!
As I said in one of my earlier videos, namely, that one with Swoop’s main competitor, you
get what you pay for.
That still holds up here, but overall, Swoop just had a few more positive points.
Unfortunately, the only city in Alberta that they fly out for the moment is Edmonton, but I would gladly
fly with them again sometime in the future.
Thanks for watching my experience on Swoop from Abbotsford to Edmonton!
If you liked this trip report, leave a thumbs up, and you can also follow me on Twitter
and Instagram for more frequent updates as well as some sneak peeks of trips that I’m on!
For now, safe travels, and I will see you in the next trip report!