For the first segment of my exotic journey to Bangkok via Paris, I flew Porter Airlines’ PorterReserve product on the 3hr15min flight from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Montreal (YUL).
Porter Airlines is Canada’s fastest growing airline, as the carrier now has dozens of Embraer E195-E2s in its fleet, which it’s using to expand across the Americas. Given the amount of competition that Porter is giving to carriers like Air Canada, I’ve been curious to check it out.
Porter has a unique premium product, named PorterReserve, which is more along the lines of extra legroom economy than business class (the airline markets it as an “all-inclusive economy experience,” but I think that’s sort of underselling it). Still, it’s an all-around very pleasant experience, and I even lucked out with an empty seat next to me. If the price is right, I’d absolutely fly PorterReserve again.
How I booked my Porter Airlines ticket
Porter Airlines and Alaska Airlines have a partnership, meaning it’s possible to redeem Alaska Atmos Rewards points for travel on Porter. I booked the following for 10,000 Atmos Rewards points plus $5.60 in taxes & fees:
To kick off the trip, I flew Porter’s Embraer E195-E2 PorterReserve, on a flight from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Montreal (YUL). I booked the following for 10,000 Alaska Atmos Rewards points plus $5.60 in taxes & fees:
11/15 PD572 Fort Lauderdale to Montreal departing 12:50PM arriving 4:23PM
Atmos Rewards’ pricing for PorterReserve is exceptional, so at that price, it’s very hard to go wrong. For those curious, if I had paid cash for the flight, the cost (in USD) would’ve been $182 for PorterClassic, and $300 for PorterReserve (there are fare bundles within each of those options). So I’d consider the incremental pricing there to be fair.
Also keep in mind that the math will work out a bit more favorably if you’re checking bags and value other priority services, since those come bundled with PorterReserve.
Porter Airlines check-in & boarding
I had checked in online for my Porter Airlines flight, and the airline departs from Terminal 3 at Fort Lauderdale Airport. Security was a breeze, and I quickly made my way to gate E9, located at the very end of one of the piers. My flight was scheduled to board at 12:20PM, 30 minutes before the scheduled departure time.
Boarding began right on schedule, with PorterReserve customers being invited to board first.
Porter Airlines E195-E2 cabin & seats
Porter Airlines’ Embraer E195-E2s are equipped with 132 seats, spread across 33 rows, in a 2-2 configuration. The E195-E2 is an absolutely joy to fly. It’s a brand new jet, and the layout is ideal in terms of there being no middle seats. Despite this essentially being a stretched regional jet, the cabin feels quite spacious.
The premium PorterReserve cabin consists of 16 seats. Essentially, the first four rows of seats have extra legroom, so it’s the designated premium cabin. While there’s no partition or curtain between cabins, you’ll notice that the PorterReserve seats are blue, while the standard seats are grey.
While the standard seats on the plane have 30″ of pitch, PorterReserve seats have 36″ of pitch, so that’s very respectable, better than you’ll typically find in the extra legroom economy section on most airlines.
Beyond the additional pitch, seats are pretty standard, with a tray table that can be extended by folding over in half, plus a literature pocket.
There are also AC charging outlets between seats, though there’s no USB-A or USB-C charging.
Beyond that, it’s worth noting that the overhead console has individual air nozzles, reading lights, and the flight attendant call button. Even though the E195-E2 is a latest generation aircraft, am I the only one who thinks this aspect of the consoles looks a bit outdated?
The other thing worth mentioning is that the overhead bins on the E195-E2 are a respectable size, and could fit my full size carry-on.
There’s not much in the way of special amenities while on the ground in PorterReserve. So there are no pillows or blankets, with the only special service being a bottle of water, plus menus being distributed.
In terms of comfort, the value proposition of PorterReserve is pretty obvious, as you get quite a bit more legroom. I also lucked out by having not only an empty seat next to me, but the entire fourth row to myself (I assigned myself seat 4D, the window seat on the right side in the last row of PorterReserve).
So while virtually every economy seat was occupied, there were several empty seats in PorterReserve. I imagine that’s not so unusual, given that most people are looking for the lowest fare.
Porter Airlines E195-E2 entertainment & Wi-Fi
While Porter Airlines doesn’t offer seat back TVs or streaming entertainment, the carrier’s Embraer E195-E2s do have Viasat Wi-Fi. This is complimentary for all members of the carrier’s VIPorter program, and it can be used across as many devices as you’d like. You don’t actually have to credit the flight to the program, but you do have to be a member. If you don’t want to join the program, you can still get 30 minutes of free Wi-Fi.
It’s lovely to get free inflight connectivity on as many devices you’d like, and logging in with my account was easy. If you’re not yet a member of the VIPorter program, you can even register during the flight.
While not quite to the level of Starlink, I found the connectivity to be very good.
Porter Airlines E195-E2 departure from Fort Lauderdale
Since the flight was quite full, boarding took the entire allocated time. At 12:50PM, around departure time, the captain made his welcome aboard announcement, informing us of our flight time of 3hr15min, and our cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.
The main cabin door closed at 12:55PM, and moments later, the safety briefing was performed. While the demonstration was manual, there was an audio track the crew used (which applied for all announcements). At 1PM we began our pushback, and then at 1:05PM we began our taxi. I had a great view of the wing from my seat — the E195-E2 really feels like quite a big jet!
It took us around five minutes to taxi out to runway 10L.
We had to wait for a couple of planes to land, and then at 1:15PM, we were cleared for takeoff.
It was a gorgeous afternoon departing South Florida, and since we took off into the east, we made a turn toward the north soon after takeoff, after climbing out over the Atlantic Ocean.
Despite a smooth ride, the seatbelt sign remained on for around 20 minutes.
Porter Airlines food & drinks
When it comes to inflight service, PorterReserve offers an expanded selection of food and drinks, beyond what you’d receive in economy. On the ground, menus were distributed, containing the food options for this flight, and you can find that below.
The idea is that you’re getting one of the economy meals for purchase, with an added appetizer. So the airline has a pretty efficient way of offering this. Furthermore, the airline provides complimentary liquor to those in PorterReserve, while standard passengers receive beer, wine, etc., but not complimentary liquor.
The meal on this flight was served around 45 minutes after takeoff, and it was presented in disposable packaging (with cute Mr. Porter stickers, as he’s the company’s cartoon raccoon mascot).
The meal consisted of a “fiesta dip” appetizer, with refried black beans, guacamole, and sour cream dip, topped with black olives, orange cheddar, and green onions. Then there were three main courses to choose from, and I opted for the mango chicken bowl, with jasmine coconut rice with roasted chicken, pickled carrots, green onions, toasted sesame seeds, and a mango salsa. This was served with some lavash, plus disposable cutlery.
This was by no means the most exciting or gourmet meal I’ve ever had on a plan, but it was perfectly tasty, and a good example of how you can serve something semi-decent without having ovens. Then to drink, I had a glass of white wine, served in proper glassware (which is a lovely aspect of the Porter experience).
Later on in the flight, packaged snacks were distributed in PorterReserve, and I took one of each (with the crew’s permission). Options included cheddar fava beans, almonds, and milk chocolate shortbread cookies.
For those who are curious, you can find the standard economy menu below, which gives you a sense of what’s for purchase and what’s included. As you can see, the main course options for purchase coincide with what all passengers can buy.
Porter Airlines E195-E2 lavatory
Porter Airlines Embraer E195-E2s only have two lavatories, with one at the front of the cabin, and one in the rear of the cabin. The lavatories as such are on the tight side, which isn’t surprising, when you consider that this is a stretched regional jet. Then again, even many larger mainline planes have tiny lavatories nowadays.
One thing worth calling out is that Porter doesn’t have dedicated lavatories for PorterReserve, as there’s really no separation between cabins. With that in mind, two things stand out:
- Only two lavatories for 132 passengers is a really bad lavatory ratio, and causes crowding in the aisles throughout the flight
- This is a huge downside to PorterReserve, since you almost always have a queue of people in the aisle at the front of the plane, waiting for the lavatory
I was definitely happy to be seated in row four, since it looked like those in the first and second row basically had other peoples’ rear ends in their faces for most of the flight.
Porter Airlines inflight service
I found the crew on this Porter flight to be friendly but forgettable. All flights attendants were young, and I thought it was interesting that there were four flight attendants, rather than the three that you’d expect (I’m not sure if one was being trained, or what).
They went through the motions, though definitely expect PorterReserve to be more like economy than business class in terms of service, which is fair enough. In other words, I didn’t find there was more extensive service for those in PorterReserve in terms of being offered frequent refills, or anything. However, upon pressing the call button, the crew was happy to fulfill any requests.
Porter Airlines E195-E2 arrival in Montreal
I got some work done on my laptop for most of my flight, and before I knew it, it was shortly after 4PM, and we started our descent. At around 4:10PM the captain was on the PA to announce that we’d be landing in around 20 minutes, and minutes later, the seatbelt sign was turned on.
While it wasn’t the most beautiful day, I enjoyed the views on approach, as the sun was setting, and the scenery was nice and varied, including while approaching over Lake Saint-Louis.
At 4:30PM we had a smooth touchdown on runway 6L, and from there, we had a 10-minute taxi to our arrival gate, where we pulled in at 4:40PM.
I don’t frequently travel through Montreal, so little did I know how unpleasant the deplaning process would be. Major Canadian airports are complex due to having three distinct areas (domestic, transborder, and international), and I guess our flight arrived at the domestic terminal, for operational reasons.
As a result, we couldn’t enter the terminal, but instead, had to get onto a people mover, like you’d find at Washington Dulles Airport. This was super unpleasant:
- It took nearly 20 minutes to get off the plane, as deplaning happened back to front, and at a glacial pace
- All passengers were loaded onto a single people mover, and there simply wasn’t space; it’s amazing the extent to which people had to be crammed into this space
- It took well over 30 minutes before we actually arrived at the terminal
I get that airport logistics are complicated, but it’s unbelievable how airlines can put so much effort into passenger experience, only to have a 30+ minute extra “activity” at the end of the flight really leave people with a negative perception, even when it’s outside the carrier’s control.
Fortunately immigration was quick, and once outside the facility, I got into a car to the Four Seasons Montreal, where I’d be spending the night.
Bottom line
Porter Airlines is Canada’s fastest growing airline, as the carrier increases its network across the Americas using Embraer E195-E2s. PorterReserve is marketed as an “all-inclusive economy experience,” and I think that undersells it a bit.
PorterReserve offers a pleasant experience, with extra legroom seating, an expanded food and drink selection, and priority services. When you combine it with the general attributes of Porter, plus free Wi-Fi for all, it makes for a great way to fly.
I’d absolutely recommend this product if the premium is reasonable, and in particular, this is a great use of Alaska Atmos Rewards points.
What’s your take on Porter Embraer E195-E2 PorterReserve product?