New Air Canada Cafe Vancouver Airport (YVR), With A Grab And Go Selection

I love the Air Canada Cafe concept. I tend to hang out there when I layover in YYZ instead of the main maple leaf lounge. It has nicer more modern decor, tends to be less crowded from my experience and offers a more chill vibe. I don't drink alcohol so the barista cafe is a better option for me then a bar.

This is very much needed. The domestic MLL frequently has a waiting line to get in. I've even made the walk to the Plaza Premium lounge (which I can use via AmEx) in the B gates, only to find that it too had a wait. I'll be there tomorrow and am looking forward to checking it out.

FYI, the "Air Canada Cafe" at Billy Bishop (YTZ) is not at all the same concept (grab and go) and has nothing to do with the others. It is actually an Aspire lounge that AC has co-branded with to allow access for their customers. AC just pays for use; they do not operate it.

CP@YOW is correct, but it's also a very nice lounge!

But YTZ's does have a grab and go section, although not as bigger as the other AC cafés.

Do Chase Sapphire customer get access?

We recently used the AC Cafè at YUL, which has a full complement of any Air Canada cafē has to offer, and is quite good if you don't have the time for a regular lounge. The threshold (50K+) for using these facilities however is a bit high, IMHO. As AC Elite 35K passengers who mainly book PE at 2X - 5X the price of economy to sit in their tiny premium cabins, It would be prudent of AC to at least allow Elite 25K & 35K passengers into the cafè to help justify and to add value to a much higher airfare! For example YVR- Yul Nov 20, OW; Econ: $242; PE: $1045; Bus: $1345. This will go a long ways in justifying the high premium for just a larger seat and a few more inches of legroom.

Can we use CSR to get into this space?

@lucky, have to call you out here that AC was the innovator here. You wrote about LH opening a grab and go concept in 2018 in MUC ( https://onemileatatime.com/lufthansa-munich-lounge-food-to-go/). In addition, I saw at least 2-3 SAS outstations that had this idea as well in the 2018-2019 timeframe. While AC may have enhanced the idea (which I like), pretty sure LH was first to the game here.

Seems their grab & go selection is kind of limited

I was there this morning. The space is a bit small but there were plenty of open seats, although that could be because it is so new. The hot food (all pre-portioned in small paper bags) was really good, so much so that I would go there to eat first, even if I intended to spend time in the MLL on a longer connection.