Review: WestJet Elevation Lounge at YYC – Calgary International Airport

Last Updated: March 29, 2022

WestJet opened its flagship lounge, “Elevation Lounge” at YYC – Calgary International Airport in November 2020. We really enjoyed our visit to the WestJet Elevation Lounge and share our review and details to help you plan your visit in this post.

Access:

Here is how you can access the lounge:

1. WestJet RBC Mastercard holders can exchange their companion voucher for 4 lounge pases.
2. WestJet Rewards Platinum, Gold and Silver members are eligible for complimentary lounge access based on their tier benefits.
3. Guests travelling in the Business cabin of our Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners (including connections when a Business fare has been purchased) also enjoy complimentary access to the lounge.
4. Delta Sky Miles® members with Diamond, Platinum or Gold Medallion® status travelling on an itinerary that includes a segment between Canada and the US operated by Delta and/or WestJet also enjoy complimentary access. Those holding a Delta One ticket also have access when Calgary (YYC) is part of the same-day international itinerary.
5. Priority Pass, LoungeKey, LOUNGE CLUB and Diners Club members may access the lounge using their membership benefits.
6. All other guests, including those travelling on other airlines, are welcome to access the lounge for a fee, payable on lounge entry.

**Your flight needs to depart within 3 hours to be granted entry into the lounge.

Location and Hours:

The lounge is located in the Domestic terminal, Concourse B, with access to guests travelling from Concourse A, B or C. Guests departing from Concourse D in the International terminal can access the lounge via security checkpoint B or C before proceeding to Concourse D.

Notes:

• The lounge is not accessible to guests departing to the US.
• The lounge is more convenient for those travelling on WestJet but if you are travelling on Air Canada, you can access the lounge but be prepared to walk much further.

The lounge is currently open daily between 7:00-21:30MT.

Our First Impressions:

The WestJet Elevation Lounge is the nicest domestic lounge we’ve been to in Canada; you can tell they’ve designed it with elements of American Express Centurion Lounges and possible even some from the Alaska Airlines Lounge at the N-Gates at SeaTac. We are not surprised that WestJet took this approach with this lounge here at YYC, their most important hub, considering how Air Canada re-designed their Maple Leaf Lounge at YYC to make it nicer than most of their other ones.

There are numerous seating options, a nice and spacious bar area, lots of divided up food and beverage stations, and they even have showers.

Our Experience:

We used Priority Pass to access the lounge. Upon entry, we found the staff to be quite pleasant and friendly and they encouraged us to eat and drink as much as we wanted to sample the offerings.

We grabbed some seats with a table and proceeded to scan the QR code to access the drink and food menu. Right now, it is table service and so you order, and staff bring out the food and drinks. Once again, we were encouraged by the staff to enjoy as much as we wanted (maybe because we were 2 of 6 people in the lounge at that time…?). The service and staff were also very friendly and attentive.

We were super impressed by the food menu and even more impressed by the execution. Compared to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge at YVR that we visit the most, we have found the offerings at the WestJet Lounge to be far superior, varied and well-executed. The drinks selection is also quite expansive with wine, cocktails, hard liquor, beer, cider and non-alcoholic cocktails. WestJet even has its own Elevation beer; a nice light and crisp thirst-quenching lager! We are jealous this is people’s hub lounge!

After having the Air Canada Signature cocktail (Crown Royal Canadian Whisky, gin and cranberry cocktail, garnished with lemon​), we had to have the WestJet Elevation cocktail (Confluence Alberta gin, Curacao, lime juice, beer syrup, wild rose bitters, green melon liqueur, gelatin, egg white, N2O, sugar). Both are good for different reasons and you do get a sense of each airlines’ unique branding based on their signature cocktail. Jason likes the Air Canada cocktail better but Maxine likes the WestJet cocktail better!

PSA – Consume responsibly: Always be mindful of how much alcohol you consume on the ground and in the air because alcohol affects you more at high altitudes…even if the cabin is pressurized to a lower altitude.

PSA – Eat mindfully: Foods high in sodium will make you more thirsty and can cause bloating and swelling which can make your flight uncomfortable.

Our Recent Visits:

We visited this lounge 2 more times since our first visit when this review was shared. The lounge has gotten much busier and the quality and selection is still good, but has been reduced since it opened. There were less options on the food and alcohol menu but we still enjoyed it a lot and prefer it to even the Air Canada International Maple Leaf Lounges in Toronto and Montreal.

Final Thoughts:

The WestJet Elevation Lounge is a great addition to the YYC Airport; we wish this was our home airport as we could see ourselves being more motivated to fly WestJet to use this lounge! SO far, it is the only WestJet Lounge in Canada but we wouldn’t be surprised when aviation and travel recovers to see one at YVR or YYZ to continue the completion for greater market share for Canadian travellers.

If you don’t have access to the lounge with a credit card or airline status, we would recommend paying the $59 fee to experience it because the food and drink offerings are worth it. On our last visit, the lounge was actually much busier; many people were redeeming their expiring companion vouchers for lounge access. We expect this to be the case this summer as Canadians begin to travel again.

For now, we will continue enjoying this lounge because we think it will get much busier when all those Americans with Delta Elite Status can access it when the US-Canada Border re-opens to non-essential travel.

Have you been to the WestJet Elevation Lounge at YYC? Have you been to the Air Canada Lounge at YYC? Which one do you like better?