Alaska Airlines has just announced its newest international route, which makes sense in light of a recently announced partnership.
In this post:
Alaska Airlines will fly to Toronto as of May 2024
As of May 16, 2024, Alaska Airlines will launch daily, year-round flights between Seattle (SEA) and Toronto (YYZ). The route will operate with the following schedule:
AS972 Seattle to Toronto departing 7:00AM arriving 2:40PM
AS973 Toronto to Seattle departing 3:40PM arriving 5:55PM
The 2,060-mile flight is blocked at 4hr40min eastbound and 5hr15min westbound. Alaska intends to use a Boeing 737-900ER for the route, featuring 178 seats. This includes 16 first class seats, 24 extra legroom economy seats, and 138 economy seats.
This will be the first time ever that Alaska operates flights between Seattle and Toronto. However, in the early 1990s, the airline flew between Los Angeles and Toronto, so it’s not the first time that the airline is serving the airport. Toronto will be Alaska’s sixth Canadian destination, complementing Calgary (YYC), Edmonton (YEG), Kelowna (YLW), Vancouver (YVR), and Victoria (YYJ).
The Seattle to Toronto route is currently served by Air Canada, which is the only competitor in the market.
Why Alaska Airlines is adding Toronto flights now
Historically, many US carriers have been hesitant to fly to Canada, despite its geographic proximity. For example, Frontier, Southwest, Spirit, etc., all don’t fly to Canada. JetBlue has very limited service to Canada.
Why is that? The issue is that Canada has very high airport and government taxes. For example, a one-way flight from Canada to the United States comes with about $90 in government taxes and fees, including fees imposed by the US as well.
That’s not something that can’t be overcome, but many airlines decide they can better utilize their planes elsewhere, since they can’t necessarily pass on those full taxes to consumers, due to the competitive landscape. Furthermore, Canadian airlines have a competitive advantage when it comes to costs, given that the CAD is significantly weaker than the USD, so employees at Canadian airlines aren’t quite getting US pay rates.
Anyway, the timing for Alaska finally adding a (nearly) transcontinental flight to Canada makes sense. The Seattle-based oneworld carrier has launched a partnership with Porter Airlines, which is continuing to expand its network both within Canada, and in transborder markets. Now Alaska will have connectivity in Toronto for its service, which wasn’t previously the case.
Bottom line
Alaska Airlines will be adding a new flight between Seattle and Toronto, which is the first time the airline will be operating this route. This development comes as Alaska is launching a partnership with Porter.
While the partnership with Porter was initially billed as being about Alaska offering connectivity for Porter passengers in Los Angeles and San Francisco, it’s clear that this works in both directions, with Alaska also expanding to Porter’s Toronto hub.
What do you make of Alaska’s new flights to Toronto?
Porter doesn't use YYZ airport. Connecting would require ground transfers between airports
Lol of course they do.
Think before you comment
YYZ flights are to long-haul destinations like YVR, YYC, LAX, but there are some Florida routes.
IIRC the LAX-YYZ route was flown by VirginAmerica not Alaska per se. Like VirginAtlantic’s foray into YYZ, this service didn’t last very long.
Yeah Virgin had LAX and SFO to YYZ. AC had a pretty strong response. They increased capacity substantially, got VERY competitive with fares and started deploying wide bodies on those routes so they had a better product. Made it pretty hard for Virgin to compete. I’m not sure we will see the same response from AC on this route.
I actually think Porter Airlines will surely be flying to Seattle too. Their typical schedule is mid morning departure from Toronto with an early afternoon arrival, and then an afternoon departure with evening arrival in Toronto. It will complement this Alaska's schedule perfectly. Their partnership can really create some real competitions to Air Canada. I hope it will eventually lead to Alaska starting a SF to Toronto flight, and Porter will hopefully start a Portland,...
I actually think Porter Airlines will surely be flying to Seattle too. Their typical schedule is mid morning departure from Toronto with an early afternoon arrival, and then an afternoon departure with evening arrival in Toronto. It will complement this Alaska's schedule perfectly. Their partnership can really create some real competitions to Air Canada. I hope it will eventually lead to Alaska starting a SF to Toronto flight, and Porter will hopefully start a Portland, OR to Toronto flight. Their E-195 is perfect for Portland OR.
Sadly there is an error. Alaska does not fly to YLW - only seasonal (Dec-Apr). As an MVP and long time member we lost our Credit Card and now our regular escape route.
Can someone please explain how 3X full daily flights have become uneconomical given the extreme demand for Mexico in the spring and fall
This will be great for those of us with AS Mileage Plan balances. Should open up one or two-stop partner availability from a ton of US cities without a positioning flight.
My rebuttals don't publish. They include apologies for snark, praise for y'all and fascinating insights. But that needs to be filtered out I guess. Peace
They try and put a MAX on that route and I'll NEVER FLY IT!!! Horrible that AS added a POS aircraft to their fleet!
C’mon Alaska, this’ll be your 6th destination in Canada, it would be nice if your Canadian customers could pay finally pay in Canadian dollars in your site
It will be interesting to see what Air Canada does in response to this. Their YYZ-SEA flight is not that old and they added SEA-YUL in 2023 (or maybe 2022). Alaska's First/Business fare on the new flight is 50%-67% of the Air Canada fares (in USD). It is not unusual to see Air Canada selling business class on this route above $3,000 USD. I flew both YYZ-SEA and YUL-SEA in 2023 and both times the...
It will be interesting to see what Air Canada does in response to this. Their YYZ-SEA flight is not that old and they added SEA-YUL in 2023 (or maybe 2022). Alaska's First/Business fare on the new flight is 50%-67% of the Air Canada fares (in USD). It is not unusual to see Air Canada selling business class on this route above $3,000 USD. I flew both YYZ-SEA and YUL-SEA in 2023 and both times the ticket was $1900 or more round trip. YUL-SEA in December had 2 people in first class, my wife and I - and the coach load was less than 50%. I am not sure how well Air Canada is doing with these relatively new routes but it's hard to imagine that their loads are going to get better when there's another option at a fraction of the cost.
Air Canada's routes are all about connecting traffic beyond YYZ/YUL.
That's why pricing on AC ex-usa is cheap. Of course with AC being 50% on time in good month, those low prices come at a cost.
Any direct SEA YYZ traffic is bonus for AC
Discovered this a few days ago searching for AS OW partner awards via yyz so the schedule & award availability has been there for at least a few days. AC flys an A220 to yyz & yul, which are usually full but there's tons of connectivity there. I'm sure AS agreed to try this as part of the porter agreement. Hopefully it works out.
Good to see this connectivity, I guess. AC's widebody service to LAX will be more attractive to me, tho: often 12k in economy, often 25k in Premium Economy (equivalent to Alaska's "First") and sometimes 25k in lie-flat Business. Not sure what they're going for here. Toronto pax heading for WA, OR, CA? AC's brutality will kill that fantasy. WA pax travelling to Toronto? Montreal? Ottawa? There's 2.7 people in Washington who've even heard of Ottawa....
Good to see this connectivity, I guess. AC's widebody service to LAX will be more attractive to me, tho: often 12k in economy, often 25k in Premium Economy (equivalent to Alaska's "First") and sometimes 25k in lie-flat Business. Not sure what they're going for here. Toronto pax heading for WA, OR, CA? AC's brutality will kill that fantasy. WA pax travelling to Toronto? Montreal? Ottawa? There's 2.7 people in Washington who've even heard of Ottawa. If they flew from LAX it would make more sense to me, but I'm often proven wrong. Let's see what the loads are like. It's only a 737.
I hope it works out for them. And it expands, and their partnership with Porter grows.
AC is utter garbage, and anything not AC is welcomed news here in YYZ.
Stats say otherwise, your sour grapes notwithstanding.
Interesting. "AC is utter garbage" is not as descriptive as some might hope for. As an AC hub-captive I use them sometimes and while I marginally prefer the inflight and ground experience of AA, I rank UA below AC in those categories. I take no interest in LCCs so no opinion there. And I consider WestJet an LCC with lipstick. I guess this last point could be argued but the dismissal of AC as garbage...
Interesting. "AC is utter garbage" is not as descriptive as some might hope for. As an AC hub-captive I use them sometimes and while I marginally prefer the inflight and ground experience of AA, I rank UA below AC in those categories. I take no interest in LCCs so no opinion there. And I consider WestJet an LCC with lipstick. I guess this last point could be argued but the dismissal of AC as garbage doesn't square with my recent experience. I'd rather fly AC J YYZ-LAX/YVR than any competitor on that route, given that it's often under 25k for lie-flat and Maple Leaf Lounge.
Until half your AC flights are late, and you are stranded and noone picks up the phone.....
LAX and SEA are not the same market and they are separated by a 24 hour drive. You are comparing options for two completely different routes as though they are the same. That's like comparing the aircraft and service options between LAX-JFK with the options between LAX-ATL. The options between LAX-JFK are better, but if you are not going to JFK it doesn't really matter does it, because it's a different place. And why is...
LAX and SEA are not the same market and they are separated by a 24 hour drive. You are comparing options for two completely different routes as though they are the same. That's like comparing the aircraft and service options between LAX-JFK with the options between LAX-ATL. The options between LAX-JFK are better, but if you are not going to JFK it doesn't really matter does it, because it's a different place. And why is it necessary to denegrate the significance of Seattle and Washington and Oregon and the awareness of the people there? There are 4 million people in the Seattle metro area and 6 million in the GTA, does being 50% larger somehow bestow a higher level of sophistication, awareness and importance? Only people who live in LA could understand the true importance of Toronto and Ottawa?
Hm I did insert an ounce of snark, which I now regret, especially in light of the pound of snark I got in return. And, having annoyed you, I am probably partly responsible for your misunderstanding of my main point: traffic between SEA and eastern Canadian cities is very low, notwithstanding AC's nonstop service. The 4 biggest eastern Canada cities are not important in the minds of most residents of WA, OR. Perhaps you disagree...
Hm I did insert an ounce of snark, which I now regret, especially in light of the pound of snark I got in return. And, having annoyed you, I am probably partly responsible for your misunderstanding of my main point: traffic between SEA and eastern Canadian cities is very low, notwithstanding AC's nonstop service. The 4 biggest eastern Canada cities are not important in the minds of most residents of WA, OR. Perhaps you disagree about what's on people's minds but the data isn't opinion. They don't go. As for the westbound direction, few in Canada will choose this service to the west coast, when the alternative is cheaper and better. Sorry about the snark.
Didn't denegrate. 100% agree you should be this annoyed if I had. My point: WA-ON/QC point-to-point traffic isn't the aim here, onward connections is. Therefore, the goal could be better achieved by a YYZ-LAX service. If I denegrate anything it was the provincial towns Washingtonians understandably aren't flying to. If I want to get to the western USA, I'm gonna use my Aeroplan points for the YYZ-LAX widebody. If I actually want to visit Seattle,...
Didn't denegrate. 100% agree you should be this annoyed if I had. My point: WA-ON/QC point-to-point traffic isn't the aim here, onward connections is. Therefore, the goal could be better achieved by a YYZ-LAX service. If I denegrate anything it was the provincial towns Washingtonians understandably aren't flying to. If I want to get to the western USA, I'm gonna use my Aeroplan points for the YYZ-LAX widebody. If I actually want to visit Seattle, maybe I'll use this service, or maybe I'll use Aeroplan points on an equivalent nonstop in Business Class, cheaper than I could ever get a seat on AS
"Why is that? The issue is that Canada has very high airport and government taxes. For example, a one-way flight from Canada to the United States comes with about $90 in government taxes and fees."
Lucky, take a look at the breakdown on those taxes. Yes, Canadian Airport Improvement Fees are rather high across major airports, but the US government taxes imposed to fly into the US are an even bigger chunk. On a simple...
"Why is that? The issue is that Canada has very high airport and government taxes. For example, a one-way flight from Canada to the United States comes with about $90 in government taxes and fees."
Lucky, take a look at the breakdown on those taxes. Yes, Canadian Airport Improvement Fees are rather high across major airports, but the US government taxes imposed to fly into the US are an even bigger chunk. On a simple cheap YVR-SEA hop on a random date in March, Canadian taxes and airport fees are about $43 (of which taxes are about $18), whereas the US Immigration User Fee, US Customs Fee, US APHIS, and US Arrival tax make up about $54 in taxes. That quickly drives up a $96 base fare, sure, but I'm not convinced that Canadian taxes are the main/only driver of the high cost to fly transborder. The US is very happy to tax flying into the USA. So, happy, in fact, that going the other way, there's even a $7.20 US tax for flying *into* Canada and having the temerity of landing at a Canadian airport that's judged 'close' to the US border, where 'close' is something like 300 miles. I think Edmonton YEG is pretty much the only medium- or large-sized airport that gets spared.
Alaska's LAX YYZ flight failed miserably. One reporter noted an almost empty flight. As a promotion, they gave away gold coins on a few flights.
Currently, Porter flights earn miles only when they are sold by Alaska bit maybe that will change.
As far as Canada having high taxes on everything, that's an example of Canadians ripping each other of. They do that with consumer goods, but the higher price is mostly due to...
Alaska's LAX YYZ flight failed miserably. One reporter noted an almost empty flight. As a promotion, they gave away gold coins on a few flights.
Currently, Porter flights earn miles only when they are sold by Alaska bit maybe that will change.
As far as Canada having high taxes on everything, that's an example of Canadians ripping each other of. They do that with consumer goods, but the higher price is mostly due to the businesses. Canadians are so jealous that they do 2 things.... cross border shopping and about 1/3 hate America. The rage is palpable. TV news shows it when they often make jabs at America. Americans generally have no idea of the hate that some Canadians have towards America. Jealousy.
I’ve noticed the hate goes both ways…and if anything, Americans seems to hate Candians even more.
As an American who spent a few years living/working in Toronto (Markham), hate for Canadians is the furthest thing from my mind. French-Canadians, however, is an entirely different story.
Who do you interact with? I dont know any American that hates Canadians. Most people care about their family and what they are doing, not what is going on with Canada.
I can assure you noone up here is jealous of anything American.
Cross border shopping is only because some things are cheaper, as long as we dodge the bullets flying around Buffalo.
I'm Canadian and know of absolutely no-one who hates Americans. And, "The rage is palpable"...WTF?
In regards to higher prices, actually quite a few things are cheaper here than in the USA. Here's an example: Say you want to buy a Porsche Cayman GTS. In the USA, the base price is $96,850 USD; in Canada it's $112,042 CAD ($83,219 USD) which is over 10k USD lower. The vast majority of cars are cheaper to buy...
I'm Canadian and know of absolutely no-one who hates Americans. And, "The rage is palpable"...WTF?
In regards to higher prices, actually quite a few things are cheaper here than in the USA. Here's an example: Say you want to buy a Porsche Cayman GTS. In the USA, the base price is $96,850 USD; in Canada it's $112,042 CAD ($83,219 USD) which is over 10k USD lower. The vast majority of cars are cheaper to buy in Canada than in the USA. Groceries are also generally cheaper, as are prescription drugs, restaurants, etc.
Milk is $7 for 4 litres, about $7/gallon.
Gas is $1.63/litre which is about US$4.60/gallon, much more than in the U.S.
Cheaper? Ha! No.
No Americans hate Canadians. Maybe 10 in the whole country of 300 million. Many Canadians are jealous and hate Americans. Just look at the comments above. Snarky comments like dodging bullets in Buffalo, NY.
This has to be one of the most delusional posts yet...
Yes Derek definitely jealous of your 3x higher per capita murder rate, and your 16x higher per capita rape rate
https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Canada/United-States/Crime/Violent-crime
Let’s keep in mind that AS’s LAX YYZ flight in the 90s was on an MD 82. AC was flying 767-200s and L-1011s against AS.