up! magazine, WestJet’s inflight magazine, is a Canadian travel-lifestyle magazine designed to reach WestJet passengers each month. Dedicated to inspiring travel and enriching trip experiences, up! appeals to a global market that is passionate about the world. With prongs into 71 destinations and a focus on WestJet destinations in Canada, United States, Mexico and the Caribbean, up! explores destinations through people, places and ideas that excite us.

What makes an up! story?

Story formats are smart, tightly constructed pieces that may range from “charticle” formats to compelling Q&As, features and profiles, infographic style pieces and destination roundups. We are seeking stories that are off-the-beaten path, that examine social trends impacting travel, that are about unusual or quirky little gems not found anywhere else. Feature stories about urban and adventure tourism are complemented by timely news, events and gear to make travel as enjoyable and exciting as it should be for both our leisure and business readers.

How to pitch for the magazine

We work with long lead times of at least six months so please inform us of timely stories and events with plenty of advance notice. For seasonal stories, think a year out. If you have an idea for a summer specific feature, it’s best to pitch it in the summer so if the story is accepted, we can arrange for summer photos.

Please target your query letter towards a particular magazine section and city to the respective section editors of the magazine if you have a specific story pitch.

In the Field (Senior Editor Lynda Sea)

Eat + Drink (Senior Editor Lynda Sea)

On the Ground (Managing Editor Pam Fieber) 

Brief Case (Managing Editor Pam Fieber)

Ultimate Guides (Editor Deb Cummings)

Features (Editor Deb Cummings)

By the Seat of My Pants (Editor Deb Cummings)

Web Stories and blogs (Web Editor Diana Ng)

Editors have the final say as to where and when any commissioned work runs and fees are determined on assignment. We are a multi-platform magazine so if you have ideas for related online elements, blogs, videos, multimedia components or a great idea that is better told in a digital platform, we are seeking submission ideas for online exclusives or print stories with web elements too.

Before you pitch, read some back issues to get an idea of the section or department you’re targeting. We review these pitches on a regular basis and have monthly meetings to discuss story ideas and will be in touch if we accept your pitch. If you have not heard from us in a month from when you pitch, feel free to submit your query to other publications. 

All story ideas should be submitted by emailed query letter and should contain:

• No more than a one-page query letter outlining the story idea, including its angle, direction, elements and length
• The availability of photographs or other artwork to illustrate the story
• All contact information, including phone number and email address
• A detailed pitch outline
• A list of where the writer has been previously published, including examples of the published work

Unsolicited material will not be sent back without a self-addressed, stamped envelope or international postal coupon. Contributors need to inform up! whether or not your submission has been previously published or is scheduled to be. Contributors must also inform up! about any flights, accommodations, meals, etc. that were given free of charge as part of a familiarization or press trip. Writers submitting story ideas should be aware that up! may have already assigned a similar story.

See the full version of our writers guidelines for detailed information on the various departments.