WestJet Increases Fees for First Checked Bags

For the third time in less than two years, WestJet has made amendments to the structure of its baggage fees. This time, WestJet has increased the amount you’ll have to pay for your first checked bag in most markets by around $5.

The change was quietly implemented on September 16, 2025, though it’s just starting to get attention in the media.

WestJet Increases Fees for First Checked Bags

On September 16, 2025, WestJet quietly increased its checked baggage fees by $5–6 for passengers travelling on UltraBasic, Econo, and Member Exclusive Fares to most markets.

As a reminder, WestJet introduced an additional $10 fee for checking bags at the airport in October 2023, and then increased checked baggage fees by around $5 across the board in February 2024.

This latest change is the third such amendment to the Calgary-based airline’s baggage policy in the last two years.

For passengers travelling in Canada and the US, the following table illustrates the baggage fee increases:

For passengers travelling to/from Latin Caribbean and Mexico, the following table illustrates the baggage fee increases:

For passengers travelling to/from Europe, the following table illustrates the baggage fee increases (if any):

For passengers travelling to/from all other locations, the following table illustrates the baggage fee increases:

As you can see, WestJet has increased the checked baggage fee by $5–6 (if at all) for your first checked bag.

It’s worth noting that baggage fees for travel to/from Asia remain unchanged.

Note that the amount that you need to pay for checked baggage (if any) is based on the date of purchase, not on the date of travel.

This means that if you purchased your WestJet ticket on or before September 15, 2025, you’ll be subject to the “old” set of fees, which can be found on the WestJet website (or in the above tables).

WestJet Doubles Down on Ancillary Revenue… Again

In the past few years, WestJet has found creative ways to generate ancillary revenue from passengers.

Aside from introducing an extra fee for checking bags at the airport and increasing its checked baggage fees (twice), the airline brought in UltraBasic fares and introduced Extended Comfort as an ancillary option in 2024.

The former fare promises a low price in exchange for a seat on a plane (and not much else), while the latter option…