Hello from Toronto! For the second to last segment of my review trip, I flew Air Canada’s Boeing 777-300ER business class from Frankfurt to Toronto (prior to connecting on a Boeing 787-8 from Toronto to Miami).
Continue reading: Impressions Of Air Canada 777 Business Class
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Your comments on the service sum up my thoughts about Air Canada perfectly. I live in Canada so they are one of the few options I have when flying domestically. They are very inconsistent when it comes to service and more often than not it feels like the flight attendants are just going through the motions.
Hey Lucky, do you happen to have an overview of Airlines that offer individual air nozzles in C/F that you could list in a post?
Air Canada has got to be the flag carrier that I see the most complaints about online. I'm always tempted to book them since their fares are usually cheaper, but I always read complaints about the service (and arguably more importantly, the customer service in the case of IROPS), and I end up booking elsewhere.
Luckily I haven’t had a poorly catered intercontinental flight on Air Canada yet. Someday you have to get a (reasonably priced) paid ticket and visit the Signature Suite, that’s where their best food is!
Perhaps this is just my experience, but catch a flight between Western Canada and Europe, and the service seems to be better. I find Toronto/Montreal based Air Canada staff to be rather indifferent on the ground and in the area, but have had very good experiences with those based out of Vancouver and Calgary.
I fly air canada a lot as a Canadian and have to agree. Everything is just fine in terms of hard product, etc. I've had absolutely amazing crews on Air Canada transatlantic and completely indifferent ones. Luck of the draw.
I would say the pre-landing meal reminds me of what LX served me on a flight from ZRH to YUL in business class, and Swiss is considered the "premium" carrier. I can't imagine its much different than what LH or UA would serve either. So, in that regard they match their peers. Could they do better, yes, do they need to, no - that seems to be the theme in most TATL business class service.
That's what Air Canada does: middle of the pack, IKEA-style service, no frills nothing out of their comfort zone. No smiles, no drink refills, zero proactiveness: a "here's your food and leave me alone" attitude. Did the call bell test and waited 4' before the FA showed up and instead of asking what I wanted she said "what's up?". Also constant announcements in both languages, couldn't get thru my movie as there were always interruptions. Seat and business class area is just dull and boring. Wifi, IFE consistently good.
The most depressing thing about a flight I flew in J from DUB-YYZ on the 787 a few months ago was the wine list! Literally none of the whites or reds retail above $15 on the ground. I’d expect better wine in Y let alone J!
Agree with others that service out of YYC is far friendlier than YYZ or YUL.
A cappuccino after midday, with lunch ???
It’s a complete myth about Canadians being so friendly. They are no different from many other countries. Many I deal with have “le feu au cul” and are as arrogant and rude as you can find elsewhere. C’est tiguidou 🙂
Flew Air Canada on the 787 a couple of years ago and had exactly the same impression: great seats, good Champagne, great amenity kit, bland food and lousy service. My flight attendant on that flight answered with grunts and eyerolls for basically everything. The contrast between people's attitude also struck me at the time. I had the best possible impression of Canadians in general, except the ones working for Air Canada… LOL
AC = AA = UA = DL service-wise in J. Lack of meaningful competition is what ails the airline industry in North America, and why we must endure subpar service in premium cabins. The only way to have a pleasant experience in business class in any North American airline is to lower your expectations to Greyhound bus service level.
Flew up from Sao Paulo on the weekend and the crew were exactly the same - Prior to the flight I watched them walk to the gate from the lounge - they all looked so miserable. Its always been the same for me and I fly them as a last option - all I want is a smile and a greeting - am I asking to much ?
What a shame. Long gone are the days when AC was considered the best North American carrier. I have flown their international J, and it was nice enough, but clearly every blogger has the same thing to say.
What is going on at AC?
I find Delta crew to be the best. Generally very customer focused and friendly. On my last flight they were all quite young and very proactive. I was also impressed when one of them was able to converse in Spanish, English and German with some customers.
At this point all i want is a good seat with no threat of a plane swap, change of seat potential worse seat or swap from j to pe and the consistency of Air Canada's seats deliver this. I really dont care about the food and drink on board, i can get much better food before the flight or when i land than any airline in the world can provide at 36000ft.
More than 85% of AC transoceanic flights on widebodies cost 250,000 - 450,000 Aeroplan points in Business Class. For that price, what expectations would be reasonable?
I too fly AC regularly and frequently across the Atlantic to continental Europe. I find that flights from Canada are always better in all aspects: food, service, reliability, cleanliness.
However, I prefer them over other A* carriers for their J seats and their authentic yet friendly attitude. That said, I've found the YUL based 787 crews to be superb. Courteous, polite, and efficient. My few flights out of YUL remain with me as some of my favourite flights (I normally fly in/out of Canada further west).
December 26 2022, Business Class, first stretch AIH to YYZ in a new A220. Great flight, great plane, good food and terrific service. Next leg YYZ to YVR. Although delayed no real problem, it happens. It is now getting late and we're destined for a night flight. After almost an hour we were offered a drink with warm nuts no smile and no kindness. Then after a long time a mediocre dinner is slapped in front of me and nothing offered to drink, not even given the chance to ask. In collecting the trays I heard her snapping her fingers to pass my tray. I tried some shut eye and with about an hour to go she told all to prepare for landing and all the sleepy heads had to put their seat backs vertical. WHY!!! Just laziness. What a horrible woman she was.
Agree about the service being no better on average than United. I do find the food quality to be higher. And the Signature Suite is incredible. Had a chance to spend a 7-hour layover there last April on the way to Buenos Aires. The food and service there was on par with AA Flagship First Dining at JFK (RIP), which I experienced last summer.
If you arrived within 3 hours of schedule and didn't get stranded for your connection, that is considered a win with AC.
The good Canadian airline was "CANADIAN" "CANADIEN" with a cute logo instead of the before-last letter to make the title look the same in either language, French and English. They wsere Oneworld members and Air Canada bought them to get rid of a better competitor (much as Air France bought UTA).
Air Canada has gone downhill ever since.
Ordering a Cap v a latte is right up there as an all time DB move.
'I'm a douche and have no idea im a douche, so let me order a cap'
I'm an American who has lived in Nova Scotia for almost 20 years, and who has flown Air Canada internationally numerous times. To be honest, I avoid them if possible, and usually fly to Europe on Air France. Your report pretty much mirrors my impression of Air Canada. Nothing is terribly wrong, but I always disembark feeling underwhelmed.
As a retired, 30-year flight attendant, it's second nature to me to closely observe the cabin crews on my Air Canada flights, and most of the time they do indeed seem to be merely going through the motions. I don't ever remember having any kind of pleasant verbal exchange with a crewmember. Halifax - London is only a bit over 5 hours, but the flight attendants on that route have always seemed tired and disinterested; eastbound and westbound. I'm quite puzzled by this, since Canadians have a well-deserved reputation for friendliness!
Next month I'm flying one-way, Halifax - Montreal - Buenos Aires. I (reluctantly) chose Air Canada because it was a great Business Class fare (around $1700 CAD). But I can't say I'm particularly looking forward to the flights. Hopefully I'll be pleasantly surprised!
I must admit I’m not sure where Canadians’ reputation for friendliness comes from. It’s a myth in my experience as they’re much the same as the rest of us. Air Canada service reflects that.
As an AC Super Elite MM, I get some special attention, so YMMV, but I would make a couple of observations.
Catering ex-outstation can't be seen as truly indicative of quality. You would have had a different experience flying YYZ-FRA, though the second meal would have been breakfast. I've had some nice meals returning from away, but it's just never the same as outbound. Return trips can be a bit hit or miss in terms of catering.
Regarding the crew, I've noticed recently that there are a lot of new staff flying longhaul and at best they tend to lack polish. New hires after Covid layoffs, I'd guess. Hopefully they will raise the bar. But pre-Covid I've had some spectacular flight attendants on AC. One recognized me from another flight a couple of months earlier and proactively offered a doppio espresso, recalling my order from the previous flight. (I had asked for an espresso, and he had asked if I'd like a doppio.) Another, in Premium Economy (!) was doing magic tricks, perhaps to amuse himself as much as the passengers, but it was fun. Another welcomed me on board like a long lost friend and in topping up my champagne said, "you may as well finish the bottle" before filling my glass to the brim, then later mentioned the onboard espresso machine and shared that she made a mean cappuccino. (She did.)
Bottom line: I usually have had a good to excellent experience flying longhaul on AC. Lately it's been a bit spottier from indifferent or amateurish to very good. Hopefully AC can work on some improvements.
But the Signature Suite is spectacular.
Looking forward to my next trip, as I will be able to compare AC, BA and SN all in J.
I fly many airlines on different long hauk flights.
My experience on AC is that they are better than average, but like every airline you don't always get a friendly crew.
To the person who said AC bought CP to put CP out of business wrong. They bought CP as it was going out of business.
Despite the negative comments on here AC constantly wins Best Airline In North America.
My experience? Yup better than the others including Europe’s so called best.
I always thought that "Our friendly neighbor to the North" referred to the country relationship (like, it's not North Korea/Iran/etc), and not the behavior of the individual citizens, but YMMV.
100%. If you live in Canada and want to fly up front there are very few options when it comes to convenience. Three direct flights YVR to Australia, just a single example. But as someone who's flown their biz class since 1997 I would say catering has never, ever been above mediocre. And I've had food poisoning not once but twice. Compare to, say, Air France direct to Europe from Canada and it's baffling how much better AF is and how little AC would need to do to meet that standard. Ditto Turkish out of Montreal. The one sweet spot for Canadians is flying across the country in a lie flat seat (if you select flights carefully).
"You may as well finish the bottle" ?
I'd much rather hear "I have just popped the cork on a fresh bottle for you!"
I’ve read a lot of nonsense on the internet, but cappuccino = douche, latte ≠ douche is right up there with the most nonsensical!
Lol it's a garbage airline that no self respecting Canadian will fly unless they have to.
They fill their planes in Y and J with poor saps who have no other choice of airlines, and with connecting Americans attracted by low ex-US fares.
100% agree with you, Super VC10.
Air Canada service is incredibly lacking and leaves a lot to be desired. I flew a few J legs within 2022 with them, and every time it just felt...bland. From service, to the food (and yes, these legs were YYZ departure transatlantic), it was incredibly forgetful, and on multiple occasions, I wish I could forget the terrible service long enough to not make me shudder when the best option for travel is with ACDe
Have had quite a few AC experiences all most all in J to yyz, vyr, and TPAC, TATL I've theast year. I'd say yours is about average for what I experienced. I've had worse and had better. But not in regards to food. It's always like this. Bread in a plastic bag is not bread (among many other grievances about food). When added with other ops issues affecting timeliness and mediocre to downright rude ground staff, I wish I had more options where I am to get to Canada. I've taken some solace in a great yt video by a Canadian comic Julie nolke about 'air canadaY'. I'm pretty sure most Canadians dislike AC more than me.
You obviously havent flown JetBlue, not even to include them in your list is criminal. Best service out there.
Ahh CAI the rebrand of Canadian Pacific went bankrupt and the government forced Air Canada to buy Canadian to avoid travel and political chaos, given that CP mostly centered on western Canada due to former protectionist federal policies. As much as I loved sitting in the back of the smoking sections of CP DC-10-30 in burnt Orange island hoping across the pacific the circumstances had nothing to do with buying out a better competitor. Mapleflot is a terrible airline but let’s not compare it to Unlikely to arrive (UTA) Air Inter, TAT, AOM in France and Air France.
As a Canadian I have flown AC transatlantic J from YYC, YVR, YYZ and YUL. I also have found western crews friendlier and more responsive, but not all YYZ/YUL crews are bad either. My observation is that the service director often sets the tone for the entire crew.
On the catering, I agree with YULtide that the return catering is often inferior, except if departing from CDG for some reason (maybe the foie gras?).
As the dominant Canadian carrier, especially for international connections, AC gets a lot of criticism, some of which is warranted, some is not. Most of us who read these blogs have some sort of status, and AC treats most *gold members well . Much of the criticism comes from regular flyers which may be valid as I imagine the level of service given to them is non-existent, especially in the case of IRROPS.
Overall I think AC is better than its reputation (given a good crew), but does have room for improvement as do most carriers.
I'm reminded of a certain young travel blogger who upon boarding made sure to have his camera pointed to the floor ( so as to avoid capturing crew) and managed to be in his seat talking to his, carefully & intentionally positioned, camera for all of 4 minutes before he was accosted by the CSM ( or whatever it is AC call their head/ senior cabin crew) to be told that not only was it "illegal" to film himself but that if he was caught doing so at any point they would think nothing of diverting the flight & having him arrested! His assurance he was only filming himself, offer to let them review current footage and/ or footage at the end accompanied by his explanation that he never films crew without permission & blanks out any faces captured by accident unless said individual CC said they didn't mind fell on deaf ears.
All this being a mix of lies & gross over reaction AC reached out to him to apologize and invite him to fly back to YYZ at their expense to put things right, give him a tour of their Ops their & reinforce their company ethic of being welcoming and open. All went well.
Well until he boarded his flight home. Can yall guess what happened
always default to Air Canada because the protectionist government gives them the most direct flights out of Vancouver, Toronto or Montreal . I feel like WestJet was not allowed to succeed in Toronto and Montreal because Air Canada had the ear of government. I am so rooting for porter with the hopes that they succeed in force Air Canada change domestically at least
As another comment on here, as a AC SE100K I also get some special attention but have generally noted that the western based crew is a lot friendlier than the eastern based crew, not that there isn't good crew from YYZ, I found YVR based crew the best. YUL based crew seem to like you only as long as you speak French to them which I don't.
That said, on over 120 AC flights last year (most domestic) there was a noticable drop in cabin crew service as the year wore on.
On my recent trip to Paris, I was somewhat surprised to find Parisiennes to be quite a bit more friendly than Quebeckers. And French people outside of Paris were even nicer. I realized that my negative impression of "the French" actually came from Canada. What we learn when we travel.
I returned home yesterday flying from SYD to YVR in J. I found the crew friendly, of the 3 crew in my section, 2 addressed me by name, and tho they seemed very busy, they were very helpful. I also enjoyed the various cubbies for storage. It all went downhill when I tried to sleep. The bed felt more narrow than other J I’ve flown and the tray table doesn’t retract all the way, protruding 6 or 8 inches into where you may want to put your knees and I thought I might herniate a disc rolling over.
I have to say this is one of the most honest reviews I have seen.
Food is slightly better than average (not great), amenities are good.. but the service is inconsistent and mostly indifferent. It is more consistent (not as good LOL) on shorter flights.
I don't mind the dull colours as it gives it a cleaner look and when it fades it doesn't look as terrible as say the KLM blues in their J cabin.
I do wish the food/service was more Canadian.. so the piped music could be from Canadian artists.. and the menu could include a maple treat? Too kitsch maybe?
"If you’ve flown Air Canada’s long haul business class, what was your experience like?"
Well Ben, here it is (wink).
Had the opportunity to fly J on an AC 787 from YVR to FRA last May. The crew was very friendly. The attendant came by preflight and introduced himself, asked if we had any questions, etc. He was attentive and friendly throughout the flight without being overly intrusive. Food was good (not great, the chicken looked overcooked and dry, salmon was good). Found the seats to be very comfortable and liked the idea of the seat (mattress) pad. It made the space seem cleaner. The seats were comfortable and it was easy to sleep on the flight. We much prefered it over the LH A330 C class from FRA to SEA. Their service was lukewarm at best, awful amenity kit (a reusable grocery bag? Are you kidding me???), blah food, seats less comfortable. We'd fly AC over LH.
I flew Business class from Dubai to Toronto on AC and was pleasantly surprised. I expected it to be really bad but it was quite good
Business class: Flight to LA from Pearson was cancelled… because the flight was underbooked. Waited two plus hrs in the lounge ,another hour on tarmac. AC changed planes to a smaller one with no business class. Profit before customers, currying favour w/stake holders, taking $$ from COVID gov. funds and having a very profitable year. Shameful
The pod sucks for sleeping because the tray table slams your knees. Also Air Canadas in time performance is the worst in North America so it's a very risky airline to fly. IRROS is an utter failure.
I do however find the crews friendlier than most US airlines.
On long haul flights it's all about the comfort of sitting or lying down so that you're not in muscle spasms during and after the flight. I can put up with less than stellar food and drinks. I just want to catch a nap maybe without needing a chiropractor adjustment afterwards.
AC was phenomenal a couple of years ago. They had excellent, very experienced crew and provided a wonderful service, even from the outstations, including local specialties (e.g. Zuercher Geschnetzeltes on the ZHR-YYZ route). This all has been “mainstreamed” under Rovinescu (CEO 2009-21, one of the longest serving airline CEO). But I think it’s still a solid product. Crews are generally attentive and the food served is nice in J (same as your experience, Ben.)
As a Super Elite and 2 million miler with Air Canada, support your recent review and summary of your Air Canada experience - their level of service is inconsistent
There is no such thing as a universally "nice" crew in North America. It's a vibe by numbers lucky dip. If an FA takes a dislike or a meh-like to you, then oh boy they sure let you know. I've had this experience across the board on United, Air Canada, Delta and AA recently in business class. The most articulate were certainly in Delta but then I would say so was the hardest seat, so we'll call that a wash 🙂
Hey guy thanks for the comments here about flying Air Canada 777 Business class. I have booked this and will fly on December 1 from Brisbane to Vancouver. I will keep my fingers cross if am lucky to have a better flight
Frankfurt to Toronto is mostly German staff. They are not known for being overly friendly. Air Canada is partnered with Lufthansa so that's why. I had a similar experience but I know why. Again, most of the staff on this type of flight is German. So don't hold their behavior against us Canadians
I.m flying Business Class to Toronto next month - do I get (free) access to the Executive Lounge at Heathrow?
Have flown AC biz class and Premiun Economy.
Loved both!
Some crews bit quiet but generally have always had great service!!