This morning I got a sneak peek at the new WestJet website design with a group of other bloggers. This is cool for two reasons: (1) WestJet.com is getting a much-needed redesign and (2) they invited bloggers (a.k.a. my people) to get the scoop.

I didn't have a bunch of time to play around, but here's what I saw (and what you're about to see):

• White space. The design isn't cluttered. You can take in the whole page without feeling overwhlemed. There is a great flow to the page and the elements are weighted appropriately.
   
• Rebuilt. This isn't just a facelift to the site. The digital team rethought everything from the ground up (IA, UX, flows, etc).
   
• Search. I never realized this before, but the current (old) site doesn't have a search function. WestJet.com is a huge site and the search is going to be a major addition to easily finding information.
   
• Fun. The new design is much more suited to the WestJet brand. There is a sense of caring and playfulness with the design. It just screams WestJet.
   
• Booking. This is one of my favourite new elements is the booking widget. No longer will you have to deal with searching through a giant list of destinations. Just start typing the city, province/state, country or even the airport code. The auto-suggest works really well and it will remember your recent selections.

The new site is going to be launched late this evening so you can either stay up for it or check it out first thing tomorrow morning. And the best news is that this redesign is just Phase 1.

We were let in on a little secret this morning that WestJet Vacations is getting a whole new site in 2011 and there is additional functionality being planned for WestJet.com that will be iterated throughout the new year as well.

Check out the gallery below for more screenshots.