Air Transat

Air Transat has been the cheapest way out of Toronto and Montreal for European leisure travel since the 1990s. I've flown them three times in the last 18 months. The price is real. The seat is small. Here's how to make the trade-off work.

What you're actually buying

Air Transat is a Canadian leisure carrier — not a low-cost airline in the European sense, but not a full-service flag carrier either. They fly Airbus A321neos and A330s on routes most Canadians fly twice in their lives: Toronto to Lisbon, Montreal to Marseille, Calgary to Glasgow. About 65 destinations across 35 countries, depending on the season.

The base economy fare gets you a seat, one carry-on, and water. Everything else costs extra. The food is mediocre but edible. The seat pitch in standard economy is 30 inches, which is fine for a six-hour transatlantic if you're under 6 feet, and miserable if you're not. Pack a memory foam travel pillow or accept that you're not sleeping.

The Club Class question

Their Club Class is roughly business-light: 36-inch pitch, wider seat, hot meal, lounge access where available, faster bag drop. On a Toronto-Lisbon overnight it usually runs about $1,800 round-trip vs. $750 economy. Worth it once if you can swing it. Twice if you're tall. The upgrade is the difference between landing in Europe needing a nap and landing ready to walk Lisbon's hills.

Option B: book economy, buy yourself an upgrade with a good pair of flight compression socks and a real eye mask. Cheaper, and you arrive 70% as fresh.

Bags — read this before booking

The published carry-on dimension is 23 x 40 x 51 cm. They enforce it. I've watched the gate agent at YYZ pull people out of line and force them to check oversized bags for $80. Buy a 22-inch carry-on rolling case that actually fits, not the 24-inch "international carry-on" some U.S. brands sell. The U.S. domestic limits are looser than Air Transat's.

Checked bag is $35-50 if you pre-pay online, $90 if you wait until the airport. Pre-pay. Always pre-pay. And throw packing cubes into the bag — Air Transat's smaller overhead bins eat 25-inch bags but tolerate compressed soft luggage.

The delay problem nobody mentions

Air Transat is on-time about 75% of the year — worse than Air Canada, similar to most leisure carriers. The diversion in 2017 (Lisbon to the Azores, 19 hours stuck on tarmac) is still cited in case law about passenger compensation. They've cleaned up their procedures since, but if you're flying them for a connection on the European end, build in a four-hour buffer. Travel insurance is not optional on this airline — get a policy through your credit card or buy one from a recognized travel insurance provider before you fly.

Who should fly Air Transat

You're flying once or twice a year, you're price-sensitive, and you don't have status with Air Canada or a Star Alliance partner. The savings are real — usually 20-40% under the full-service alternative for the same route in the same season.

You should not fly Air Transat if you need flexibility (change fees are punishing), connect through a tight European hub onward (their bag transfer protocols are weak), or are over 6'2" without buying Club. The math doesn't work.

My next booking on them is Montreal to Athens in October. €70 cheaper than KLM round-trip. I'll take it. And I'll bring the compression socks.