@movernie
MoKenny & I were invited by Porter Airlines to fly on its inaugural flight from Toronto Pearson (YYZ) to Halifax Stanfield Airport (YNZ) on February 23, 2023. During this flight, Porter wanted us to experience its “PorterReserve” services. Thank you Porter!
NOTE: Although both Porter jets E195-E2 and Dash 8-400 offers PorterReserve, in this MoVernie BLOG, I am referring my feedback and experience based on the new jet E195-E2.
That’s coz Dash 8-400 (propeller plane) that flies in-and-out of Billy Bishop is a smaller plane and it doesn’t offer in-seat power plug. It also doesn’t offer WIFI or in-flight entertainment. This is another reason that if you want these goodies, you will have to fly out of Toronto Pearson to enjoy these standard features on the Embraer E195-E2.
Basically, there are 3 major categories of Porter flying experiences. 1) PorterReserve, 2) PorterClassic Stretch and 3) PorterClassic.
PorterClassic is the more economical version compared to the other 2 categories, however, PorterClassic does already offer many standard features that it’s #ActuallyEnjoyEconomy experience. It includes complimentary WIF, complimentary beer/wine/non-alcoholic beverages along with no middle seat if flying out from Toronto Pearson with its new Embraer E195-E2 jets.
If you want a little bit more leg room to stretch your legs, you can opt for the PorterClassic Stretch.
But of course, PorterReserve is the highest option that comes with even more extra goodies for those who are looking for more perks and extra comfort and convenience when flying with Porter. So, you got options.
If you go on the Porter website, it clearly shows the list of perks each PorterClassic and PorterReserve provides, so you can compare the differences between the 3 categories and whether you want to pay extra to get the PorterReserve.
There are just so many perks and benefits to list all of them here about PorterReserve, so it’s best you check out the full details on Porter’s website.
Notable PorterReserve Benefits:
Although there are just so many perks that PorterReserve offers to list here on my MoVernie BLOG, I am just going to list out some of the notable ones that both MoKenny & I appreciate and value dearly. (if you want to learn more about PorterReserve, you can click here to read more).
Complimentary Checked Bags:
For each PorterReserve passenger, you are entitled to 1 complimentary personal item, 1 complimentary carry-on and 2 complimentary checked luggage. Since we are not planning to stay for more than a week in Halifax and it’s a short flight, although it’s complimentary checked bags, we opted not to to check in any luggage. Nowadays, we just pack light as we tried to avoid check-n any bags while flying as we find it more versatile when we just have our carry-on. Thus, we couldn’t maximize this perk but I am sure it would be beneficial for many who have kids or planning to stay at a destination for a few weeks or so, especially those passengers who are returning home to visit parents or family or those who plans to work at the destination for a long while.
Priority Boarding:
As a PorterReserve passenger, you get priority boarding and we think this is a valuable perk that we value dearly. The Porter crew gets to board first, followed by people who requires assistance and family with small children. Then, PorterReserve passengers get to board first. We got to enjoy our spacious PorterReserve seats while others were still boarding and we got 1st dip to put in our carry-on.
More Leg Room:
PorterReserve seats are only being offered in the first 4 rows of each Embraer E195-E2 so there are only 16 seats available. Although people can pay extra to upgrade from PorterClassic to get the PorterClassic Stretch (34″) seats from rows 5-7 and rows exit 13-14, you still get more leg room with PorterReserve (36″).
Complimentary Premium Liquor:
Although we were a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to try the premium liquor as we were told that it’s a short flight to the East Coast, that premium liquor wasn’t offered. Even though the welcome card and the website clearly stated that PorterReserve will get premium liquor. This is a perk for PorterReserve passengers that PorterClassic don’t get. PorterClassic only gets complimentary beer/wine, which is still a good perk. I think they should put an asterisk on those flights where they won’t be serving cocktails for those PorterReserve passengers who are on those specific flights.
Fresh meal or enhanced snack service (depending on time of day and flight duration):
So….fresh meal is only being offered for PorterReserve passengers with flights that flies longer than 2.5 hours. Since our flight from Toronto Pearson to Halifax was approximately only 2 hours, we didn’t get any meals, which we are ok with. But if you really want to maximize the complimentary experience, I recommend you fly somewhere further to enjoy the meal, perhaps flying to places such as Calgary or Vancouver will make more sense.
Changing your flights WITHOUT a fee:
I think this added flexibility of changing your flights without a fee is a huge one, as nowadays, flying could be unpredictable. Whether you need to postpone your flight due to illness or other reasons, it’s nice to know that you can change your flight without paying a penalty.
MoVernie VERDICT:
So….what are my thoughts about PorterReserve? In my opinion, it’s always nice to have this extra bit of luxury on an economy flight, however, I feel that it’s not really necessary as PorterClassic does a good job providing lots of standard features already. I mean, PorterClassic already comes with lots of complimentary perks such as free WIFI, free beer/wine and free snacks that it’s good enough for a relatively short flight for me. If you really want to have more leg room for your flights, I would recommend you to pay extra to get the PorterClassic Stretch, so you have more stretching leg room on your flights.
I do enjoy the priority boarding as a PorterReserve passenger and I do enjoy sitting in row 1 of the plane with good leg room and with no one sitting in front of you with reclining seats. However, with short flights, I will be fine with PorterClassic seats.
Who do I think will benefit from PorterReserve? People who have long legs or require more spaces. Or perhaps those who are taking longer flights such as flying to Vancouver or Calgary. For those longer flights, you will definitely appreciate more leg room to stretch your legs. You will enjoy the free beer/wine more as they serve the beverages twice in those longer flights (I know coz I sat in the inaugural Vancouver flight with Porter). Furthermore, a complimentary meal is being served on any flights with 2.5+ hours duration.
Since our flight from Toronto Pearson to Halifax was just about 2 hours in duration, we didn’t get to try the complimentary meal. We also only got one round of beverage as the flight wasn’t long enough to go 2 rounds. Of course, if you request, you can get more drinks but I am just basing this on a normal 2 hour duration flight.
Since it’s only a 2-hour flight and we don’t plan to stay in Halifax for more than a week, even with complimentary 2 checked bags for each person, we couldn’t maximize that perks either as we opted to bring only our own carry-on and one personal item.
All-in-all, PorterReserve definitely offers lots of premium perks for those who needs it and utilize it. But for people such as myself who doesn’t need to check-in any luggage and with flights that is less than 2.5 hours in duration, there is really no need to pay extra for the PorterReserve option. PorterClassic has elevate its economy experience that flying with Porter #ActuallyEnjoyEconomy!
The inaugural return flight experience was provided by Porter Airlines. However, as always, the opinions expressed in this post is entirely my own.
