Privacy policy

At WestJet, we are committed to respecting and safeguarding your privacy. This policy describes how we collect, use and disclose personal information. We reserve the right to update or modify this policy at any time without prior notice by posting an updated version on this website, at which time we will update the effective date of this policy to alert you of a change. This version is dated March 24, 2022. 

For the purposes of this policy, "WestJet" means WestJet, an Alberta partnership, WestJet Encore Ltd., and WestJet Vacations Inc.  We are responsible for ensuring that we comply with relevant data protection laws when processing your personal information.

This is our main general privacy policy that applies across our business.  We have a separate privacy policy that sets out how we process the personal information of employees, which prospective, current and former employees should refer to.  

Personal information is information that identifies a person, can be used to identify a person, or would enable contact with a person. Personal information can be identification information (name, date of birth, passport number), contact information (telephone number, email address and social media handle), travel information (reservation number, travel destination), and general information relating to your interactions with WestJet (transaction information and information about how you use WestJet’s website collected through “Cookies,” which is data that is sent to your browser from a website's computer, and stored on your computer’s hard drive or mobile device). Personal information does not include anonymous information or information that relates to a group of people rather than individuals where the information does not otherwise contain identifying information. The most important types of personal information for you to know about are outlined below.

This is information about your health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs and trade union membership, your genetic data and biometric data, and information concerning your sex life or sexual orientation. These categories of personal information often have additional protection under data protection laws around the world, and local data protection laws may limit the way in which we can use this information when compared to, for example, your name and address.

This is information relating to your criminal convictions and offences. Local data protection laws may restrict the way in which we can use this information when compared to, for example, your reservation number and travel destination.

WestJet collects, uses and discloses personal information with your knowledge and consent (unless otherwise required or allowed by law). We limit the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information to the purposes we have identified in this policy. If we identify a new purpose for your personal information, we will update this policy and/or contact you to obtain your consent for the new purpose (unless otherwise allowed or required by law).

Where we process your personal information on the basis of your consent, you can withdraw your consent to our collection, use or disclosure of your information at any time. Once we receive notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your personal information for the purpose(s) to which you originally consented (unless there is another legal ground for the processing). Please note that where we rely on your consent to process your personal information and you choose to withdraw your consent, we will advise you of any consequences of the withdrawal of your consent as sometimes, withdrawing consent means we can no longer provide a product or service to you.

We collect personal information where necessary to provide you with the products and services we offer. For example, if you would like to fly with us, book a hotel through us, browse our website, participate in a program we offer, use a WestJet-branded credit card or enter a contest we sponsor, you will be asked for certain types of personal information.  Here is a list of some of the personal information we might collect (this list includes only some examples and is not exhaustive):

• Your full name, date of birth, contact information and credit card number when you book a domestic flight with us.
• Your passport number or permanent residence card number when you book an international flight with us.
• Your credit card information when you redeem rewards for WestJet services using a third-party rewards program partner.
• Medical information about you, and/or the special equipment you need to bring on the aircraft with you, to accommodate a medical condition. 
• How you interact with the applications and technologies that we employ on our website when you access westjet.com and Cookies are enabled on your device.
• Your permanent resident card number, citizenship, immigration visa number, the means by which you paid for your flight, and details as to how you booked your flight when legally required to do so by a government authority. 
• Your age range, income range, occupation, and transactional information from your financial institution when you use your WestJet-brand credit card and have opted-in for personalized promotions and offers (which you can opt out of at any time). 

Generally, we collect your personal information directly from you but we may also collect it from a third party service provider (like your financial institution), or someone acting on your behalf (like a travel agent or family member who books a ticket for you). Unless and until we are advised otherwise, we will consider a third party booking on your behalf to have your authority to provide us with your personal information in the same manner as if you were providing that information yourself.

The way WestJet uses your personal information may differ depending upon how you interact with us, and what services or products you request and we provide.  The sections below provide details on specific ways that we may use your personal information.

Here is a list of some of the ways we use your personal information when you, or someone on your behalf, book services provided directly by WestJet (this list includes only some examples and is not exhaustive):  

• Process your request to book a flight.
• Contact you about your booking, including schedule changes or cancellations.
• Identify you to permit you to board an aircraft.
• Notify you that WestJet travel credits have been created or are about to expire.
• Process a refund.
• Confirm identification and timing relating to the process of dropping off and meeting a minor registered in our unaccompanied minor program.
• Review medical information to ensure that you qualify for a special arrangement, and to better assure the health and safety of all concerned in accommodating your special arrangement.
• Contact you following your flight to ask about your experiences in the form of a survey (which you can opt out of at any time).

If a third party like a travel agent, family member or employer makes a booking or request on your behalf, WestJet uses your personal information as provided by them to manage those booking or requests. The way in which that third party collects, uses and discloses your personal information is subject to your dealings with them and their privacy policies and practices, not those of WestJet. Any inquiries about the privacy practices of third parties should be directed to them.

When you book a hotel room, a car rental and/or any other service made available through a third party to WestJet, WestJet uses your personal information to confirm, provide and/or otherwise facilitate the service you have booked. WestJet also engages third parties for information technology, data processing, data storage and other services that assist us with delivering products and services to you. We use your personal information when interacting, engaging with or using the services of these third parties.

WestJet uses your personal information where required by Canadian or  international government authorities.

If you sign up for a WestJet Rewards account, WestJet uses your personal information to manage your bookings and travel with us, and to administer and process WestJet flight credits, travel credits, and WestJet Dollars. If you opt-in for electronic communications, WestJet uses your personal information, including your travel preferences and demographic information, to communicate specific information to you that we think may be of interest to you.

If you have a WestJet-brand credit card, we use personal information to administer products and services like WestJet Rewards, to fulfil redemption requests and to serve you relevant advertising. If available, you may also opt-in to provide personal information that WestJet will use to provide you with a more tailored program experience based on where you shop including more personalized and relevant offers, travel benefits, programs and awards opportunities. You can find more information about the type of personal information used in relation to WestJet-brand credit cards by reviewing the cardholder agreement issued by your financial institution, which was included with your credit card.

WestJet has a Facebook bot (“Bot”) facilitated by third party service provider MSG.ai, which enables you to reach out to us over Facebook Messenger, and enables us to respond to your requests for information and services. If you communicate with WestJet over Facebook Messenger using the Bot, we use your personal information in order to respond to you. 

WestJet uses MSG.ai to facilitate your usage of the Bot. MSG.ai also performs services relating to the Bot’s functionality on our behalf. MSG.ai collects and uses your personal information in accordance with its own privacy policy.

Because our Bot operates on the Facebook Messenger platform, any information you submit on the Bot will also be submitted to Facebook, who may make separate uses of your personal information for its own purposes in accordance with its own privacy policies. Please refer to Facebook’s Data Policy for further information regarding Facebook’s uses of your personal information. In choosing to use the Bot, you accept the terms of service and privacy policies of Facebook Messenger, in addition to this policy. WestJet is not responsible for Facebook’s collection, use and disclosure of your personal information via Facebook Messenger and does not influence or control the policies of Facebook as regards collection, use, disclosure, and monitoring of and access to, the content of the conversations by Facebook. 

You should exercise caution when using the Bot. If you choose to share sensitive information on the Bot, such as identification information like your passport  or payment information like your credit card number, you do so at your own risk. WestJet does not accept responsibility for any loss of or unauthorized access to such information when shared by you on the Bot.  We recommend that you only share sensitive information through our website or by phoning us.

WestJet has a feedback section on our website where guests can submit comments. If you submit comments through this process, WestJet may use your personal information for training or employee recognition, and we may publish your comments internally.

WestJet offers promotions from time to time. If you enter a promotional contest, we use your personal information to administer the promotional contest, to confirm your eligibility according to the specific contest rules, and to communicate with you in the event you are a winner. Other information related to the promotion or contest may be used if required by law or by the particular type of promotion.

If you use WestJet’ mobile application and/or access WestJet’s website or other online platforms, we use Cookies to track your movements, interactions, usage patterns and habits in order to better understand and meet your preferences for website use, to provide you with a customized experience when you visit, and to serve you advertising. We use third-party advertising technology to serve customized ads to you and while doing so, a third-party Cookie may be placed or recognized by your browser. If you want to opt out of customized advertising through AdChoices, simply click on the AdChoices Icon in a banner ad. If you want to opt out of customized advertising on Facebook, click the x icon or Close icon on the top right corner of a Facebook ad and select 'Why am I seeing this?'. If you want to opt out of receiving interest-based ads on Amazon, visit the relevant Amazon Ads Preferences page, the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out page, YourOnlineChoices page for your location, or the Digital Advertising Alliance of Canada’s opt-out page, as applicable.

WestJet uses pixels or transparent GIF files, often referred to as "Web Beacons", to help manage and optimize our online advertising. These are provided by external entities like Google, Amazon, and Facebook and other social media companies, and enable our ad servers to recognize a browser's Cookie when a browser visits our website, and to learn which banner ads bring users to our website. The technology may also allow other service providers to receive information from our website related to our online advertising. Cookies and Web Beacons do not contain your name, address, telephone number, or email address.

WestJet discloses personal information as reasonably required to process your request for travel services, including flights, hotel and car bookings, to provide other requested services to you, to display relevant advertising, as is required or permitted by law, or as otherwise set out in this policy. Here is a list of some of the ways we might disclose your personal information (this list includes only examples and is not exhaustive):

• Medical information to third party medical personnel where you have requested special arrangements due to a medical condition.
• Flight number, flight timing, and confirmation that you boarded your flight, to the individual who booked your flight after they have adequately identified themselves.
• Contact or other information to law enforcement to assist in a legally-authorized investigation.
• Credit card information and reservation details to our travel insurance provider after you purchased travel insurance with them through our website.
• Reward program-related information to participating partners and merchants to administer the applicable reward program or to fulfill your redemption requests under the reward program.
• Personal information to the U.S. government because your flight crosses U.S. airspace. 
• Information related to your redemption of WestJet Dollars, including redemption amount, destination and use of companion voucher and free checked bags to the financial institution that issued you a WestJet-brand credit card.
• Contact information to organizations with programs that are affiliated to WestJet or that might interest you so that they can get in touch with you and offer their products and/or services. This personal information is only disclosed with your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.

WestJet has sophisticated security measures and procedures in place to help ensure that your personal information is protected from misuse and from unauthorized access. However, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We cannot ensure the security of the information you transmit to us over the internet.

Personal information collected by WestJet is retained for as long as it is reasonably required for the purposes for which it was collected, or as permitted or required by law, following which it is securely destroyed or made anonymous. 

We use profiling (where an electronic system uses personal information to try and predict something about you) to provide you with customized experiences and serve you customized advertising. In most instances where we make a decision about you based solely on our profiling activities and you do not agree with the decision we have made, you have the right to request that we perform a manual reassessment of our decision using the same information.

Apart from as set out above, we do not use profiling or automated decision making (where an electronic system uses personal information to decide about you without human intervention). 

We operate and provide products and services to guests located in many different countries around the world. The global nature of our business means that your personal information may well be transferred across national boundaries, including, potentially, to countries that do not require companies to look after your personal information in the way you have come to expect in your own country. Where we transfer your personal information across national boundaries, we will protect your personal information by ensuring that those transfers are made in compliance with all relevant data protection laws. 

If you would like further details of how your personal information is protected when transferred from one country to another then please email us at privacy@westjet.com.  

If you sign up for a WestJet Rewards account, you can view, manage and modify your personal information on your own, and you can opt in or out of features like electronic communications about seat sales, WestJet Vacations promotional offers and special offers from our partners.

You can cancel your WestJet Rewards account at any time by contacting us by email. However, WestJet can only administer flight credits, travel credits and WestJet Dollars through a WestJet Rewards account so cancelling your account means that you will forfeit any flight credits, travel credits and/or WestJet Dollars you have. You will also no longer receive electronic communications about promotions and offers. 

If you have any questions or complaints in relation to our use of your personal information, if you wish to update or correct any of your personal information, if you want to see how we have used your personal information, if you want to exercise any of your rights in relation to your personal information, if you want to withdraw consent, or for any other issue related to this policy, please contact our Privacy Officer.

Inquiries can be directed to WestJet's Privacy Officer via:

• Email: privacy@westjet.com
• Mail: 22 Aerial Place NE, Calgary, AB, Canada T2E 3J1
• Online: Privacy request form

Where you make a request to exercise your rights in relation to your personal information or you make a complaint, we ask that you provide us with sufficient information so that we can properly address your request. Our response will be subject to verifying your identity. We will respond to your request within 30 days of receipt unless otherwise allowed or required by law. We reserve the right to refuse to provide personal information where we are not legally required to do so.

If you are still not satisfied with our use of your personal information or our response to any request by you to exercise your rights, or if you think that we have breached any relevant data protection laws, then you have the right to complain to the authority that supervises our processing of your personal information. If you are unsure of who that authority is, please email us at privacy@westjet.com.

Whilst this privacy policy describes the data protection practices adopted by us generally across the world, local data protection laws may vary. Specifically, our operations in the United Kingdom and European Economic Area may mean that we are subject to different, or additional, local data protection requirements. 

Our main general privacy notice together with the information set out in this section constitutes our privacy notice for the purposes of our compliance with the data protection laws in the United Kingdom and European Economic Area.  We set out below additional information, over and above the information set out in our main general privacy notice, that we are obliged to provide to you to comply with local data protection laws in the United Kingdom and European Economic Area.  

Providing our services

Main purposes for which we process your personal information

WestJet may use your personal information where we are required to comply with requests from local or international government authorities

Legal bases upon which we process your personal information

• Compliance with a legal obligation.

Main purposes for which we process your personal information

WestJet has a Facebook bot (“Bot”) facilitated by third party service provider MSG.ai, which enables you to reach out to us over Facebook Messenger and enables us to respond to your requests for information and services. If you communicate with WestJet over Facebook Messenger using the Bot, we use your personal information in order to respond to you.

Legal bases upon which we process your personal information

• Legitimate interests - As an airline and travel provider we have a legitimate business interest to use the personal information we collect to offer an effective service and carry out our business.

Main purposes for which we process your personal information

If you enter a promotional contest, we use your personal information to administer the promotional contest, to confirm your eligibility according to the specific contest rules, and to communicate with you in the event you are a winner. Other information related to the promotion or contest may be used if required by law or by the particular type of promotion.

 Legal bases upon which we process your personal information

• Legitimate interests - We have a legitimate interest in keeping you informed about events. 
• When we send you marketing communications, there are separate laws regarding marketing communications that we adhere to, in addition to data protection laws. You may opt out of receiving marketing communications from us.
• Consent - We may use your personal information based upon your consent which you provide to us.

We cannot force you to provide your personal information to us and you can choose not to provide us with your personal information. Where we need to collect your personal information by law or in order to process your instructions, provide you with our products or services, or perform a contract we have with you and you decide not to provide that information when requested, we may not be able to carry out your instructions, provide our products and services, or perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you. In other circumstances where you choose not to provide us with your personal information we request, your decision not to provide us with your personal information may affect our ability to provide certain of our products and services.

Under certain conditions, you may have the right to require us to:

• provide you with further details on the use we make of your personal information;
• provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you;
• update any inaccuracies in the personal information we hold about you;
• delete any of your personal information that we no longer have a lawful ground to use;
• where processing is based on consent, stop that processing by withdrawing your consent;
• object to any processing based on our legitimate interests unless our reasons for undertaking that processing outweigh any prejudice to your data protection rights;
• restrict how we use your personal information whilst a complaint is being investigated; and/or
• transfer your personal information to a third party in a standardised machine-readable format.

 

In certain circumstances, we may need to restrict your rights to safeguard the public interest (for example, the prevention or detection of crime) and our interests (for example, the maintenance of legal privilege).

We are obliged to keep your personal information accurate and up to date. Please help us to do this by advising us of any changes to your personal information.

Where we transfer personal information from the United Kingdom to a country outside of the United Kingdom that is not recognized by the UK Information Commissioners Office (ICO) as providing an adequate level of data protection, we normally do so subject to safeguards that assure the protection of your personal information, such as the ICO approved Transitional Standard Clauses.

Where we transfer personal information from a country located within the European Union to a country outside of the European Union that is not recognized by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of data protection, we normally do so subject to safeguards that assure the protection of your personal information, such as the European Commission approved Standard Contractual Clauses.