Review: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal Airport (YUL)

During my downgraded adventure to Oman, I had the chance to spend a few hours in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal. This was during a layover, as I was arriving in Air Canada’s A220 business class from Miami, and connecting to SWISS’ A330 business class to Zurich. Specifically, I spent my time in the international Maple Leaf Lounge (not to be confused with the domestic lounge or the transborder lounge, since Canadian airports are kind of complicated in that regard).

Anyway, I was impressed by the Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal. The lounge has lots of natural light, and a great selection of food and drinks. However, it can get crowded during peak hours, and it’s also not quite to the level of the Air Canada Signature Suite facilities that you’ll find in Toronto and Vancouver (which is fair enough!). Let’s get into the review…

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal location

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal is located in the international terminal, near gate 52. As I mentioned above, Montreal airport has several distinct areas, dedicated to domestic flights, transborder flights (to the United States), and international flights (all international destinations except the United States).

I was visiting the international Maple Leaf Lounge, which is generally considered to be the nicest at the airport. I also have to mention how seamless the transit experience was, arriving from the United States and connecting to Europe. There’s a dedicated channel for international to international connections, and that took all of a few minutes.

Once in the international terminal, just turn right, and then you’ll see the entrance to the Maple Leaf Lounge on the left.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal hours

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal is open well ahead of all international departures from the airport. The lounge opens at either 5AM, 5:30AM, or 6AM, depending on the day of the week, and closes every night at 9PM.

As you might expect, the Maple Leaf Lounge will be busiest in the late afternoons and evenings, prior to all the flights to Europe, since that’s a majority of the premium international service from the airport.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal entry requirements

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges are pretty typical Star Alliances lounges when it comes to access requirements:

• Star Alliance Gold members flying same day on a Star Alliance airline have access to the Maple Leaf Lounge, and can bring one guest
• Air Canada business class passengers flying same day have access to the Maple Leaf Lounge, and can’t bring any guests
• Passengers traveling on a Star Alliance partner airline, like Lufthansa or SWISS, also have access to the lounge; business class passengers can’t bring any guests, while first class passengers can bring one guest
• Those with an Air Canada Maple Leaf Club membership, as well as United Club members, have access to the Maple Leaf Lounge

There are some other niche ways to get into Maple Leaf Lounges, so you can find Air Canada’s full lounge access page here.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal seating & layout

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal is roughly 11,000 square feet, with seating for 259 passengers. So while it’s plenty big during the day, it’s probably not quite big enough in the evenings, prior to the transatlantic bank of flights (then again, it seems like all lounges are overcrowded during peak hours nowadays).

The Maple Leaf Lounge has an interesting design, in that it has a ton of natural light thanks to the floor-to-ceiling windows, yet otherwise has very dark and cozy finishes, with wooden floors, and lots of dark furniture (which you might almost expect in a windowless facility). The lounge was renovated in 2016, and I’d say that feels about right. The design doesn’t feel cutting edge, but it also doesn’t feel outdated.

As you enter the lounge, you’ll first find a couple of seating areas with couches and chairs, which most people just seem to walk past, to get into the main part of the lounge.

Then the main part of the lounge consists primarily of one large, rectangular room, with two walkways going down the entire length of the lounge.

Along the windows, you have chairs arranged in rows facing one another. If you want to enjoy the views from the lounge, this is the place to sit.

Then along the center of the lounge, you’ll first find the bar area, where you can grab a cocktail, barista coffee, or glass of wine.

Then you’ll find the dining area, with a bunch of cafe-style tables, and even some booths, as this is near the buffet.

Deeper into the lounge, you’ll find more seating options, including lots of chairs and couches.

If you’re looking for a bit more privacy, in the back of the lounge you’ll find half a dozen loungers where you can relax and gaze out at the apron.

There are also six semi-private chairs, also facing one another.

As an aviation geek, I can’t emphasize enough how awesome the views from the lounge are, especially when a plane is parked at gate 52 (and especially when it’s in Air Canada’s lovely new livery!).

One other unrelated quirk — there were two Air Algerie A330s on the ground in Montreal during my visit. I thought the airline only had one flight a day. Am I mistaken, was there a maintenance issue, or…?

One thing to be aware of about the lounge is that the outlet situation isn’t ideal. There are outlets in the lounge, though this isn’t one of those lounges where every single seat has an outlet. Rather, you’ll have to look hard for outlets, especially when the lounge is busy (and I found some of the outlets weren’t even working).

Lastly, I have one sort of awkward interaction to share. I take a lot of pictures of lounges, though I think I do so carefully and without invading the privacy of others (as you can hopefully tell based on the above pictures). 😉

During the early part of my stay in the lounge, I noticed what appeared to be lounge managers sitting at tables with laptops and notepads, creating schedules for staff. One of the guys kept giving me weird looks as I took pictures.

Eventually he asked me, rather skeptically, “are you a passenger?” When I said I was, he didn’t say anything further. I found that a bit strange. Like, who else would I be… a flight attendant who just snuck into the lounge and started photographing it?

It’s also just not a very welcoming vibe. If you have issues with me taking pictures then tell me (though I wasn’t violating any Air Canada policies). And if you’re curious why I’m taking pictures, how about starting the conversation in a friendly way, like “are you enjoying your stay in the lounge?” or “first time visiting the lounge?”

Speaking of them, even beyond my own interaction, I didn’t find their presence in the lounge to be terribly professional. They were creating the schedules for employees for the coming weeks. It’s a bit odd to do that in public in front of customers, especially when you’re discussing how person X is very unreliable and can’t be counted on to show up on-time, etc.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal food & drinks

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal food and drink selection exceeded my expectations, and was very good. The food and drink spread was located near the center of the lounge, and consisted of a self-serve buffet and a live cooking station.

I was impressed both by the quantity and quality of choices. In one area, the buffet had chips, carrot cake, hummus, guacamole, and veggies.

Then the lounge had an excellent cold selection of tasty and healthy options, ranging from a Greek salad, to a beet salad, to a carrot salad.

There were two soups, including Italian wedding soup and cream of mushroom soup, which were offered with rolls.

There were three hot dishes at the buffet, including sriracha cod, potatoes, and roasted beets. I’ve gotta say, all three options were surprisingly delicious.

Then there was the live cooking station.

There were samples of three dishes on display you could order, including poutine, arancini, and a smoked meat sandwich.

The live cooking station also had three other options, including Moroccan chicken, pasta with tomato sauce, and rice.

Beyond the food, the buffet had a soda machine, water, coffee, tea, and beer on tap.

Then the bar had several wine options to choose from, including three white options, three red options, and one rose.

What I was most excited about is that the bar had barista coffee, so that was a real treat.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal bathrooms & showers

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal bathrooms are deep into the lounge and to the right. The men’s room isn’t particularly large, but is well appointed. It has three sinks, two urinals, and a few stalls, with toiletries from Molton Brown.

The lounge also has two shower suites, which are great. They each have a walk-in shower with two shower heads, plus a toilet and a sink.

Bottom line

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal is a pretty great lounge. It has lots of natural light, a really great selection of food and drinks, and several types of seating options. While it’s not to the level of Air Canada’s Signature Suites at other airports, it’s a solid Star Alliance Gold and Star Alliance business class lounge that I’d be happy to spend time in again in the future.

What’s your take on the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Montreal?