A Review of Porter Airlines: Boston, USA to Quebec City, Canada

As I’ve mentioned here before, Matt and I have recently delved into the world of travel credit cards. No, we aren’t going into debt just to get free flights. (I don’t recommend anyone do that, obviously.) But we have used our credit cards to enhance our travel strategy. For example, with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card — our new go-to — we can get 5x points on any travel we book through the Chase travel portal.

When it was time to book our flights for my 30th birthday trip to Quebec City, Canada, we used a couple of our tried-and-true travel strategies in conjunction: fly from Kansas City to Boston on Southwest points, then book a separate flight from Boston to Quebec City. The whole thing ended up a lot cheaper than if we’d booked from KC to QC on one ticket. And, of course, we booked the Boston to QC flight using Chase travel.

But the big surprise was for the cheapest flight option we found: a company called Porter Airlines.

I’d never heard of Porter Airlines before, but I was willing to give it a try for the sake of an affordable flight and having something new to share with you all here! So, if you’re curious about what it’s like to fly to Canada with Porter Airlines, you’re in the right place. Here’s my review.

Booking Your Porter Airlines Tickets

Porter Airlines is a Canadian company headquartered at Billy Bush-Toronto City Airport (YTZ). You can probably find them on most travel booking sites. One caveat is that their website isn’t very friendly for booking flights — when I just tried to search for the same flight we took, from Boston to Quebec City, it only allowed me to select a Toronto airport as my departure point. But with Booking.com, for example, there’s no problem at all finding Porter Airlines flights from a variety of cities.

One advantage of choosing Porter Airlines was that, with their standard fare, we were able to have our carry-on bags included. (You know we only pack in backpacks by now, right?) Of course, there were some other, “lower” fare classes that may not have included carry-on bags. But considering that many airlines are forcing customers to pay for anything more than a personal item, paying for the standard fare was the best deal we could get after shopping around.

Logistics

We had our seats assigned at check-in, since we didn’t want to pay to choose them. Luckily, we were seated together since we bought our tickets on the same booking. Both planes — the one from BOS-YTZ and YTZ-Quebec City (YQB) were pretty small. There were only two seats on each side of the aisle. And it was a propeller plane!

When it came to boarding, it was a super relaxed process considering that it was a small plane and there just weren’t that many passengers. Our first flight was actually nearly half-full. Even on the full second flight, there was no worry at all about whether there’d be enough bin space. However, the bin space that was available… was smaller than what you might be used to on larger aircrafts. If you pack your backpack to the brims, keep the overall depth in mind. I had to take some stuff out of the front pocket so it could squeeze in.

Security

The security checkpoint in Boston was mostly typical — Matt was even able to use TSA Pre-Check, as it was marked on his ticket, but mine didn’t have it for some reason. No big deal.

The main thing I need to point out, though, was the experience connecting at YTZ. Unfortunately, since this is a very small and fairly outdated airport, you have to exit the secure area and go through security once again before you’re able to re-enter the secure area. Which alternates being used for arriving passengers, and departing passengers. For that reason, we also couldn’t de-plane until the departing passengers had completely cleared that area. Very weird.

Also, YTZ airport seems to be almost entirely made up of Porter Airlines flights. No matter where you fly on Porter, there’s a good chance you’ll connect in YTZ if Toronto isn’t your final destination.

Experience

I’ll just come right out and say it: I loved flying with Porter Airlines!

The smaller planes and smaller flights meant that there was no stress with boarding. Everything felt really chill. The plane was nice, with comfortable seats, and more legroom than you can find on most planes. Also, they had good snacks. While some of the setup at YTZ Airport was weird, that wasn’t really part of the flight itself, so I won’t count that against Porter.

Value

I’ll also come out and say this: Flying to Quebec City during December may be beautiful, but it’s not the most budget-friendly destination. If Matt and I hadn’t been going for my birthday, we would have had more flexibility with dates, advance planning, etc.

But looking at all the other options available, if you’re flying from the U.S. to Canada, or between cities in Canada, Porter Airlines definitely deserves a look. It may not be as well-known as many other carriers. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a low-quality or budget airline, so it doesn’t deserve a reputation as such. In fact, we flew Air Canada back to the Boston at the conclusion of our trip, and I found the Air Canada experience much less pleasant for the same price.

 

Anyway, those are my thoughts about my experience with Porter Airlines! Have you ever flown with them, or are you thinking about it? Let me know in the comments.

-Cathy

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Originally Published on January 9, 2023.