Air Canada Economy Now Offers Free Beer, Wine, And Snacks, On All Flights

UA still doesn't give free alcoholic drinks in Economy Plus, unlike DL and AA. Long way to go, until they match AC.

Air Canada being dragged kicking and screaming into being competitive with Porter is so sweet.

Yeah I was going to say this but almost to the opposite point that it's already a 'thing' for US airlines in a very narrow way.

United's 'implementation' of this is essentially their 1K perk of a free drink and a free snack. I do wonder if they have held off on adding the perk to Economy Plus because they see it as diminishing a perk for 1K's when otherwise there is less and less differentiating 1K from Platinum / Gold.
And for the average economy passenger they likely have decided investing in seatback entertainment, etc. is where they add value (vs. American at least, this is really just catching up with Delta).

I am not able to use the free WiFi benefit as I’m a UA frequent flyer, same issue on SQ. It’s not as useful as they make it sound like. There really should be something offered to Star Alliance frequent flyers.

If they really wanted to differentiate, they wouldn't charge me for my carry-on bag.

Horizon used to offer free wine & beer, and often a premium NW snack (e.g., Tim's Cascade Potato Chips) until the bean counters took over. I always looked forward to the drinks on my frequent trips between PDX & BOI.

There is nothing stopping you from using the SQ ones, all you need is just a Free KF account. You don’t even need to tag it to your ticket, just sign in when prompted in flight.

United has much larger E+ cabins than either AA or Delta. For example, they have 57 E+ seats on their A321s, compared to 35 on American and 42 on Delta. So if would be a bigger cost to offer free booze.

Or on A320s, UA has 42 E+ seats compared to 18 on both Delta and AA. Overall, I suspect UA elites are happier at better odds of an extra leg room seat, even if non-1Ks have to pay for a drink.

First of all, I think this is a great move, and I generally think the Air Canada is a very decent airline.

That being said, the overall value proposition on the US3 carriers in standard Economy is better than ACA, as tickets on the US3 include complimentary advance seat assignment (rear section) and no change fees (fare difference may of course apply).

Agree, the "free drinks" are meh. AC is not competitive for me as a U.S. based flyer to YYZ if they charge for carryon-bag in basic economy.

@Todd

Ain't that the truth, buddy! AC did this because it had to. Not because it wanted to. Long may Porter be a thorn in AC's side.

Yes you are correct when you say they are forced to make these changes because of competition.
What would be great, if they could change their seating, comfort, standard of food and good customer service in their premium and business class cabins. ( I feel most of their staff are grumpy)
Then flying them internationally will be worth it. And many more people will use the airline.

I actually believe UA doesn’t even serve free booze (except beer and wine) in economy on long-haul. Can someone fact check me on that? AA and DL certainly do.

I fly from US to Toronto regularly, and rather than free booze, I wish AC (and Porter / Westjet) would offer free seat selection and free changes / cancel for credit in standard economy fares instead, just like most US airlines. That would be a more customer friendly move that would put it at parity to US airlines. Having people get drunk from free booze isn’t my idea of a pleasant cabin experience.

Agreed, thank you Porter. Except Porter serves beer in real glassware (at least when I last flew them)

Air Canada you have to do better than that. It is an insult to have to pay for breakfast when flying business class.