Oh. My. God.

So this post is a long time coming and I considered that given the love that Porter was getting from fellow bloggers like David Jones and Steve Palmer that I would keep my gushing to friends and family. That’s over. I’m in love. And it’s with a raccoon.

Well okay, not the raccoon specifically but the brand he represents.

I have flown Porter 6 times now. And I couldn’t like this service, brand and experience anymore if I’d created it myself. I’ve dedicated my life to evangelizing brand experiences like this one but rarely do I see one actually executed to the level of detail of the Porter brand.

Now truth be told, an airline could name themselves TinCan Airline and have stewards that spit on me as I departed. But if they landed at the Island Airport (in Toronto) I’d still stand in line for a ticket. But that’s a whole other post.

But Porter doesn’t just rely on their great location to draw customers, they rely on delivering an experience from the time you book your flight to the time you walk out of the terminal, that makes you feel like a civilized, sophisticated, jet setter. And that pushes my buttons.

Of course, (there’s always an of course) there are a few eentsy-weensty things I might have done differently…First, they make a point (in their brand book available in re:porter, their in-flight mag) to estblish one of their pillars as being authentically Canadian. Yet the brand was developed in the UK. Hmmmm…yes I know the creative director was Tyler Brule but I can’t help but think that there has to be some agency is this vast nation that had the creative capacity to pull this one off. Second, the “terminal” at Union Station is very odd. I didn’t even know it was there the first time. And when I did find it, you can’t sit there to wait because you can’t see the shuttle arriving. Finally, baggage claim was a bit of a fiasco. I recognize few of their weekday passengers are checking baggage but I flew on the Sunday after the holidays and the very small baggage area was mayhem and difficult to navigate without some unintended pushing and shoving.

Understand, these things are but mere sparse spots on the giant sprinkle donut of praise I’m offering to the airline. This airline is not only worth a try, its worth your loyalty. You will get as much as you give, if not more.