How Bad Is Basic Economy in Canada, Really?

After a recent Porter basic economy flight from Miami to Vancouver (via Toronto) and back, and amid many emotions along the way, I was curious about what Basic Economy is like on other airlines. Let us take a look at basic economy compared across Canadian airlines.

Now, let’s be real about what basic economy is. It’s not a new offering by airlines to offer you fewer things at a lower price; it’s more like offering you fewer things at the same price. Now you just pay more for standard economy to receive the privileges you previously always had.

With that out of the way, let us compare basic economy between Canada’s major airlines: Air Canada, WestJet and Porter. For the purposes of this article, we’ll be looking at flights within Canada and to the United States.

No Elite Status, No Credit Card

At the basic level, basic economy across all 3 airlines, when you have no status and no co-branded credit card, is as you might expect: personal item only (no carry-on bag), no free seat selection, and no changes or cancellations.

This means only a small item is allowed that must fit under the seat in front of you. Your seat will be auto-assigned at check-in and selecting a different one will incur a fee and you cannot voluntarily change or cancel your flight. Well, you can, but you would forfeit the entire cost of the ticket with no option to refund or even a future flight credit.

At this point, the in-flight experience sounds largely similar, but I do want to call out Porter in particular. With Porter’s basic economy, you cannot check in online and must check-in at the counter. 

At Toronto Pearson (YYZ), the check-in deadline for flights to the U.S. is 90 minutes and the line to check-in can take 20+ minutes simply due to the number of basic economy passengers needing to pick up their boarding pass. Porter does not even allow you to use the airport kiosk.

I believe this is so the check-in agent can verify the size of your personal item and ensure you don’t have a carry-on bag, but surely there’s a better solution, since both Air Canada and WestJet issue digital boarding passes for basic economy fares.

On the points-earning side, Air Canada and Porter basic economy fares accrue points and elite status credit, while WestJet basic economy fares do not earn WestJet dollars and do not count as qualifying spend for status. That said, whether elite status is earned should probably not be a factor if you’re purchasing a basic economy fare.

For Air Canada, you’ll want to purchase Flex and above to earn 4 SQC per dollar under the new elite status regime, effective now in 2026. Basic economy fares are also not eligible for eUpgrades.

With Elite Status and/or a Credit Card

Having elite status and/or a co-branded credit card does change things.

Air Canada

With Air Canada, having a co-branded credit card or elite status will entitle you to a carry-on bag even in basic economy. Any checked bag benefits will also apply as will lounge access based on your elite status or with a premium Aeroplan co-branded credit card (such as the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card). Your Zone 1 or 2 boarding benefits will also apply.

Seat selection on the basis of elite status still does not apply when flying basic economy and neither does same-day airport standby.

WestJet

If you fly WestJet with any regularity, the WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard likely already lives in your wallet. The biggest benefit is it includes a free checked bag for you and up to 8 passengers on the same booking even on WestJet UltraBasic fares. It also comes with an annual round-trip companion voucher that you can exchange for lounge passes if you don’t have any two-person trips planned.

Notably with WestJet, credit card and elite status benfits pertaining to carry-on bags do not apply in UltraBasic. On UltraBasic fares, you are not allowed a carry-on no matter what. Your checked bag benefits still apply.

Complimentary upgrades, seat selection, same-day changes/standby are also not applicable when flying on UltraBasic. WestJet officially states that you may not be seated next to another passenger, even if you were booked together.

Porter Airlines

Let’s address my biggest issue with Porter: picking up a physical boarding at the check-in desk. Digital boarding passes are issued to Basic Economy passengers with Venture, Ascent, or First VIPorter status. The easiest way to achieve this is with the BMO VIPorter World Elite Mastercard, which comes with Venture status, a complimentary carry-on and 1 checked bag, and complimentary seat selection.

Porter does allow online check-in on basic economy fares, so I had assumed I could pick up my boarding pass at any time (after all, I’m already checked in), but I discovered that was not the case when I went to the counter in YYZ and received a scolding for not picking up my boarding pass at the prescribed 90-minute deadline. (For the record, I was through security and preclearance in 10 minutes and spent some 25 minutes loitering at the gate before boarding started.)

If you frequently fly Porter and don’t mind the baggage restrictions of basic economy, I’d say picking up the BMO VIPorter World Elite is a must and the $199 annual fee is well worth it for the free seat selection, free carry-on, digital boarding pass, and free checked bags.

Flight Delay, Flight Cancellation, and other IRROPs

The biggest problem with basic economy tickets comes when something goes wrong. If your flight is delayed, cancelled, or your bags are lost, you are generally at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to being rebooked or assisted. The silver lining to this is that any flight changes before your travel date means you can change or cancel for free, the only way around the no changes/refunds policy on basic tickets.

If you have elite status, this is less of a problem because you can usually reach the airline much faster through a dedicated elite phone line, inside the lounge, or at an elite check-in desk that can assist with IRROPs.

When Does It Make Sense to Buy Basic Economy?

I’ll be honest, even with the restrictions, I will often buy a basic economy ticket if:

• I’m certain about my destination and dates and am 100% sure I will be travelling
• I have elite status and/or co-branded credit cards that gives me lounge access, priority boarding, and a carry-on
• I am not pursuing elite status and am not applying any upgrade instruments

At the end of the day, you are sitting in economy no matter what fare you buy. The biggest exception is seat selection, so I will not buy basic economy on Air Canada because my status entitles me to priority seating, and it is better enough that I will pay the difference to Standard to secure it (the seat selection cost alone is often more than the difference between Basic and Standard economy on flights within Canada and to the U.S.).

Takeaway

Without elite status or a co-branded credit card, the basic economy experience is largely the same between Air Canada, WestJet, and Porter.

With elite status or a co-branded card, however, the experience changes drastically: Air Canada will now allow a carry-on item, and Porter will now accept a digital boarding pass, but WestJet still does not allow a carry-on even if you are entitled to checked bags.

It’s important to be aware of the restrictions when booking a basic economy ticket and, even more importantly, what benefits your status or co-branded credit card provides.