Review: Air Canada Business Class 777 London Heathrow To Toronto

Do you have any idea of the reasoning behind the announcement for flight attendants to take their seats? Was there an expectation of turbulence that never materialized?

@ Pietro -- Never found out, but that's what I suspect.

Lucky,

For reference, a university like McGill (one of Canada's best) is only about $2,300/year in tuition. Saving a couple hundred a month for several years probably does put a kid through college in Canada. The more you know!

Ben

Hmm, 90 minutes seems like an awfully long amount of time before starting the meal service! How many rounds of drinks did they do during that time? It seems like if they started the meal service sooner that would solve most of the problem of the drawn-out meal service. That being said, on a daytime flight, I quite enjoy drawn-out meal services when traveling in a premium cabin. For those who wish to nap or want more time to work/rest, they do offer executive dining.

Lucky, I'd be curious to hear how you compare this type of seat to the variant on AA/CX. Did you find that the tray table placement restricted you? That seems to be a common theme in reviews I've read of the seat.

What is that strange green hybrid bird next to the VS hanger? DC10 tail and a strange 747-ish second deck?

Do you know if all AC 777's with Premium economy have the new business class configuration?

@GringoLoco That looks to me like a fire department training model aircraft... the kind that bursts into flames for them to practice extinguishing.

I love Income Property! It's on HGTV in the US. Plus, I've had a crush on Scott McGillivray since I started watching the show years ago. <3 Unfortunately, he's straight and married. 🙁 😛

In any case, I'm actually amazed that AC managed to install the new "Executive Pod" seats so quickly. It feels like it wasn't that long ago when I read loads of complaints about the high density version of the Vantage style staggered "Studio Pod" seats on their 777-300ERs. They were so bad that people were longing for the "old" herringbone seats.

I do wonder what AC's Premium Economy is like; it baffles me why they (and SAS) chose not to install leg rests. Personally, the behind-the-seat foot rests just aren't enough, especially on overnight flights. Their fixed position just isn't conducive to sleeping. At least with leg rests, you can move your legs around to make yourself more comfortable...

Wifi is coming to all AC widebody fleets by the end of 2017 I believe.
All narrowbody Mainline and CRA aircraft already have wifi.

An hour to get proper headsets! That seems an awful long time based on a smooth climb without turbulence. That would annoy me. (Although I always have my own Bose anyway!)

What about Air Canada's staggered product, what routes does that fly and will those be refurbished?

Air Canada is done converting all their 777 aircraft to the new business and premium economy cabins.

Why did the convesions happen so quickly? One reason and it was NOT passenger comfort. Air Canada added a ton of extra seating in economy class by going to 10-across seating, and moved the rows closer together. Went from 349 to 450 seats. OUCH!

You're forgetting that people allot a portion of their income to rent/mortgage. Erase that and then add a few hundred bucks a month, then you're saving a lot.

Minor quibble, but...anyone else not like when items like bread and/or scones are served onto the cloth instead of on a plate? Granted, it's definitely up there on the list of "First World Problems", but still.

For example, the couple wanted to buy a rental property to put several daughters through school, and the net profit basically ended up being a couple of hundred dollars per month per property. I doubt that will generate enough income in the next few years to put your daughters through school!

Ben... this is Canada, it might be enough...

Interesting that the pre landing snack (finger sandwiches, scones and orange segments) served is the same as the afternoon tea that British Airways serves in "Club World" on the appropriate flights out of Heathrow also and yet, with a small amount of effort (i.e. taking the wrapper off the sandwiches and putting them on a plate!), you can make the whole product look and feel better.

Cappuccino and cheese??? Aaaargh!! 😉

How many J configurations does AC have on their 777s. I did a NRT-YYZ flight two years ago and it had a regular herringbone config. Does that still exist? I see people above mentioning staggered seating too.

I answered my own question. Looks like they are all refurbed now:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-canada-aeroplan/1577254-air-canada-plans-refurbish-18-its-777-a-76.html

Excellent review Lucky! Thank you. I'll agree with one of the posters who said a drawn out service is nice in business class during the day when one doesn't want to sleep. Just watch movies and the staff keeps the food & drink coming - works for me!

@ Charlie McMillan -- Heh, fair enough, though I guess in my case I *did* want to sleep, since I came off a redeye where I didn't get any decent sleep.

@ Tom -- Yep, they were super quick with refurbishing their 777s.

@ Marco -- Heh, with the pace of service, it ended up being more like a cheese course and then 10 minutes later a cappuccino.

@tim re your comment "Air Canada added a ton of extra seating in economy class by going to 10-across seating, and moved the rows closer together. Went from 349 to 450 seats. OUCH!"

AC didn't convert any planes from 349 to 450. On this specific 77W, it went from 349 to 400 (new J cabin + added PY) and there are 5 specific 77W that went from 458 to 450 when they installed the new J seats.
KL AF EY EK all have 77W's with more seats than AC's flagship 400 seat config.
I would say AC has the best in class J, PY and Y+ among the above carriers and a pretty competitive Y spec!

The unionized FAs have always been slow. The Asian FAs were always complaining how slow and lazy the FAs are especially the Montreal attitude as I was told. Pass on AC since major devaluation.

AC6 HND-YYZ, 789 in business home after ANA ORD-NRT first class over to Japan. Love those aeroplan points.
One hr and 20 minutes from HND departure until a drink was served. During that time, i got my customs card and duty free catalogue as well a a personal chat from the cabin director. It is ridiculous to wait that long, even for a glass of water.
The difference in service between ANA and AC was like night and day. Inefficient and takes way too long.
couldn't agree more.

A couple days ago I flew FRA-YYC on AC in J. Similar experience as you, Lucky. First drink was served well over an our after departure. Overall, meal service was finished 3.5hrs after departure. FAs and food were good, Thankfully the flight was booked for 9h30min so I still had enough time to sleep a solid 5 hours. I skipped the pre-landing snack though, on purpose.

What other routes are going to get these new business class seats?

No, the meal service was not lagging. It was just not the mechanized, rush, get it over with meals that you are used to on US based airlines.

They dont even serve you a drink, before they are trying to get the meal over with, in an hour, for an 8-10 hour flight.

Kudos to AC for not rushing it.

I read some negative comments on Seatguru about the new business class seat on the 77W particularly the foot well. From the pictures, they look similar to the EVA or Cathay's design. What do you personally think of this new seat?

WOW, what a complete review. The service we are looking at is a Boeing 777-300ER, and there is one question no one has been able to answer: Seated in one of the two seats in business class in the center, is the privacy panel between the seats removable ? We're used to business class where you sit side by side (United) and we appreciate enjoying the flight together.
Thanks

Thank for your great review! Do you usually prefer the mini cabin? it doe seem more intimate. IF you had ot be in forward cabin,which seat would you choose?

@ Luke -- I do prefer the mini cabin because it's more private. In the forward cabin I think any window seat other than the bulkhead or last row is roughly equal.

"For reference, a university like McGill (one of Canada’s best) is only about $2,300/year in tuition. Saving a couple hundred a month for several years probably does put a kid through college in Canada. The more you know!"

Ben. really? I graduated from the U of Western Ontario in 1985 - a good Canadian U - and then tuition was $1400 a year with a 90% Ontario subsidy for Ont-based students. The subsidies are long gone and tuition is now $28K - $36K per year depending on the program. I can't believe that in 2016, McGill was only $2300 a year. If so, I know where my kids are going!

Paul

Lucky,

I'll be flying from London to Halifax soon. I am less enamoured with BA for a host of reasons. Do the new seats in Air Canada Biz Class recline to an almost horizontal angle?

Cheers

I’m considering AC business class from Vancouver to Australia in the fall. Option is 777-200 to Sydney or 787-9 to Melbourne. Cairnes and some liveaboard diving the ultimate destination. Interested to know, having flown both new cabins, is there any compelling reason to go further just to get the newer aircraft? I hear the increased pressure and humidity and decreased noise on the 787 improve the experience, but is this cancelled out by the extra almost hour in the air (and inconvenience of being that much further from my destination)?

I'm surprised by how UN-Canadian the menu is. The only thing somewhat "Canadian" was a single beer -- Molson Canadian. Ontario wines, particularly ice wine, can hold their own very well against the competition. Ontario lamb. Alberta beef. BC Salmon. Quebec cheeses. Oh, they did have Second Cup coffee, which I think is Canadian. Red Rose "Only in Canada you say? Pity" would be a good tea selection. I bet passengers would choose a Canadian butter tart or maple fudge over a Lindt chocolate.

Beyond using Canadian ingredients, there are traditional regional recipes that could be re-worked or brought up a level, as it were, to make them suitable for finer dining rather than traditional home cooking. I'd love to see a young Atlantic chef take something like Cape Breton Boiled Dinner and turn it into something that would impress international airline passengers' palates, but also be of cultural interest to them on a Canadian airline.

Hi. Do the seats recline fully?

Thanks,

Liam