You Trip Report

	DATE	FLIGHT NUMBER	SEAT	AIRCRAFT
28 May 24	PD 504	3A	195-E2
CLASS	VIEWS	LANGUAGE	AUTHOR
Premium Economy	709	English	jetsetpanda

Prologue:

I recently took advantage of a holiday weekend and went to Orlando to visit family. For my return I wanted to use Porter since I had a coupon for $150 given to me when I took the inaugural SFO-YYZ back in Jan.

You cannot fly from a US destination to another using a Canadian carrier, so I booked a MCO-YVR via YOW. Here is the first segment of my flight.

Terminal C in MCO is separate from the main domestic terminal an is used for most intl flights.

The check in area is very spacious and I was helped by an agent quickly.

Some shots of this new terminal.

Security.

Post security at the gates.

This terminal was built to impress with its high ceilings and vast interiors.

There is only one lounge in this terminal and it is operated by Premium Plaza. Besides pax traveling in premium cabin or having status members of Priority Pass and those with the "right" credit cards can also access this lounge. It's not really that exclusive when you think about it.

Interior is nicely appointed with different sections.

Bar and dining area.

Buffet is a bit disappointing. Not too many hot dishes to choose from.

Individually plated salads.

Dessert.

View from the lounge.

I left the lounge and proceeded to the gate.

My plane to Ottawa.

Boarding started in an orderly fashion with pax requiring assistance and family with children boarding first.

I purchased a ticket in Porter Reserve which are the first 4 rows of the E195/E2

Porter Reserve gives you extra legroom and complimentary meal service in addition to extra luggage.

Cabin view.

View from my seat.

JetBlue dominates MCO.

We pushed from the gate but sat at the tarmac for about 1 hr. The plane was delayed due to a mechanical issue with one of the engines which needed to get restarted.

We finally took off about 1 hr. I was worried about my tight connection but it turned out that my connecting flight was also delayed for 1 hr.

Leaving MCO.

Cruising.

Menus were handed out by the purser and were the same as the inaugural flight that I took back in Jan. All four options were cold.

Distribution of box meal.

Appetizer and bread.

Korean cauliflower.

Sun dried tomato bread with a pad of butter.

I chose the grilled mango chicken. The rice was cold and a bit hard. Not the best.

Pre-landing snack.

Arriving in Ottawa.

========== Orlando Intl Arpt (MCO) - ==========

Security/Immigration efficiency: 9/10

Access and parking: 9/10

Services and activities: 9/10

General cleanliness: 10/10

========== Porter - Airline ==========

Cabine comfort: 10/10

Crew: 9/10

Entertainment: /10

On-time performance: 4/10

Appetizer: 8/10

Starter: 0/10

Main Meal: 5/10

Main Meal-2: 0/10

Cheese: 0/10

Desserts: 8/10

Alcohols: 0/10

Mid-flight snack: 9/10

Breakfast or light meal before arrival: 0/10

========== Ottawa Intl Arpt (YOW) - ==========

Security/Immigration efficiency: 10/10

Access and parking: 9/10

Services and activities: 9/10

General cleanliness: 10/10

Summary:

It was nice to fly Porter again and despite the 1 hr. delay in the tarmac things worked out because my connecting flight was also delayed.

Porter is an airline that prides itself in offering "extras" like free wifi, premium snacks and complimentary beer/wine served in glasses to all pax. All of these make the experience a little more dignified if you are in the back of the bus compared to the competition.

They have been expanding quickly and have added more routes since I flew them in Jan. There is a danger of growing too fast and not having enough resources to meet demands. Time will tell and in the meantime I wish they succeed since they have carved a special niche with the flying public by offering a little more than the rest.

9 Comments

Vendredi13 — Jun 08,2024

Woof ! JetSetPanda !

This new international terminal at Orlando is impressive. And more than one lounge is expected.. Catering is unexpectedly less impressive...
On board, Porter gives a facelift in the airline transportation world. And you are right : we all wish them luck in their growth.

Thanks JetSet' for sharing this so interesting report.
Reply

jetsetpanda — Jun 08,2024

Salut mon oauf!

The new terminal is grand and modern. It's too bad that there are no airline lounges are pax in J rely on a third party lounge. Hopefully there is room for growth and expand in the future. There are airline lounges but those are in the domestic terminals.

MCO is a hub for JetBlue and they have a few intl flights but this airline does not have lounges. I think they are very behind and not competitive since they offer have a J product to Europe and transcon.

Thank you for visiting.
Casper — Jun 14,2024

Nice report Amigo!
Reply

jetsetpanda — Jun 24,2024

Thank you amigo.
Thomas — Jun 15,2024

Not that bad all things considered, it was a fun ride.
Reply

jetsetpanda — Jun 24,2024

This airline has a fun personality and I think the racoon is quite charming.
Capoune — Jun 24,2024

Hey Adan!!!

Plazza premium lounges are really very different from one airport to another...
If we forget the delay, the service is nice and the overall experience is very good.

Thank you for this nice report my friend!!
Reply

jetsetpanda — Jun 24,2024

Hi Seb,

There is really a consistency problem when it comes to the lounges. In the case of MCO since there is only one lounge for the whole terminal and I don't think there is an incentive to "improve".

PD is a very good airline in my opinion. My worry is that they are expanding too fast and they might not have enough equipment to sustain all this growth. I have heard stories of flights being cancelled in order to use the plane for other routes.

Thanks for commenting my friend.
Bibopaul — Jun 25,2024

A good report Jetset^^
Reply

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Coming Soon!

Prologue:

========== Orlando Intl Arpt (MCO) - ==========

========== Porter - Airline ==========

========== Ottawa Intl Arpt (YOW) - ==========

Summary:

9 Comments