AIR CANADA review : 17 May 2008 : by Rowen Baker

Customer Rating : 2/5

Am a frequent traveller from Saint John (YSJ) to Toronto (YYZ). Service usually adequate, although flights are often late. Worst feature is the use of the CRJ aircraft. Small, cramped, uncomfortable, noisy and, if you are in the rear half of the cabin smelly. Dreadful aircraft.

AIR CANADA review : 13 May 2008 : by D Collard

Customer Rating : 3/5

Transcontinental trip Victoria to Halifax: outbound via Vancouver and Montreal Dash-8, A320, and Embraer E-190, return via Toronto a B767 and A320. Aircraft clean, flights on time, and luggage delivered promptly upon arrival. Junk food items offered for sale in-flight (pizza, chips, etc), with few passengers buying. The main problem, common to all four jet flights, was AVOD entertainment system. At the start of each flight the software had to be reset either for the entire aircraft or for some seats, taking 10 minutes each time. Touch-screen very slow to respond to selections. Several features - among them “News” and “Map” - were not functioning. Video selections routinely offered lengthy stream of advertisements before desired video appeared. Audio selections sponsored by a satellite radio service were occasionally interrupted by advertising at three times the volume of the music. Lengthy sequence of touch-screen commands needed in order to switch the screen off. The AVOD system needs a complete overhaul, but apart from that the flights were fine.

AIR CANADA review : 10 May 2008 : by P Vernall

Customer Rating : 1/5

Vancouver - Honolulu on a very tired 767-200. Asked and received a window seat. Boarding pass even had printed on it "16A Window". Imagine my surprise when I got to my seat - no window just a wall. Full flight with a very senior crew who did as close to nothing as possible. In 5.5 hours they sold nasty pizzas and did one drink run. The feature movie was "The Firm" !- how old is that! The seats were unconfortable, many broken and in a poor state of repair. How they got into the Star Alliance is another story.

AIR CANADA review : 10 May 2008 : by R Hayes

Customer Rating : 4/5

Sydney to Vancouver on new 777. The seats in economy are wider and more comfortable, the in seat entertainment system fantastic. Flying direct from Sydney to Vancouver, avoiding US Customs cut the total time by over 2 hours plus avoided the immigration at Honululu (and Vancouver flying home via US customs). Cabin staff were nice. Food was pretty gross.

AIR CANADA review : 10 May 2008 : by Y Mustafa

Customer Rating : 2/5

Not pleased with Air Canada, LHR to YYZ. Aircraft nice and modern, but there was a distinct lack of inflight entertainment, a large number of the videos and tv channels were not available, very poor indeed. Food service fast and efficient, but nothing special. Personally would not fly with the again given the choice.

AIR CANADA review : 5 May 2008 : by K Spensley

Customer Rating : 3/5

Air Canada needs to upgrade entertainment system on international flights. In this era of digital entertainment, drop down television screens are unsatisfactory. And why why why does AC like to stop the audio but not the video of the movie to announce duty-free shopping? On the past several flights this happened during pretty key parts of the movie, right at the end. We get it: shopping! Announced in French, then in English, then in German. I wasn't sure what the significance of the flight attendants walking through the cabin waving duty-free catalogs was.

AIR CANADA review : 30 April 2008 : by D Kearney

Customer Rating : 2/5

DUB-LHR-YYZ Return in Y. Incoming British Midland flight was delayed due to security threat at Heathrow. Air Canada ground staff refused to provide any assistance whatsoever, and even refused to place stranded passengers on standby, meaning a sleepless night in T3, and a 6am wait at the ticket desk to get on the next flight. In the air on the LHR-YYZ flight next morning was a poor experience. Previous comments about the inedible food are correct. Breakfast was a congealed egg mass advertised as an omelette. A snack was a cold "hot pocket". Aircraft unmodernised 767, IFE one screen at front of cabin. Ashtrays on armrests. Cabin staff indifferent at best. YYZ-LHR was a slight improvement. More modern 333, but again unmodernised. CC were present frequently throughout this redeye, although food was again poor. Seats were good though. Overall, a mixed experience, with the cavalier attitude of the ground staff at LHR making this a two-star review, but three star in the air due to the pleasant crew and plane on the return leg.

AIR CANADA review : 28 April 2008 : by T Foran

Customer Rating : 3/5

FRA-YYZ Business class. Check in acceptable. Food ok, service top notch. The entertainment system was bush league. Why is there less quality and fewer choices on an intercontinental business class flight, than on YYZ-YWG economy flight? I flight entertainment has become a very important aspect of long flights. Four stars for the service, two stars for the entertainment.

AIR CANADA review : 28 April 2008 : by S Wheeler

Customer Rating : 5/5

LHR-YYZ return in Exec on new 777. Check in on both flights very quick, lounges fine, however liked LHR better then YYZ. Cabin crew friendly and food on flight quite nice. The pods however need a bit more cushioning as I couldn't sleep on them - I found them quite hard. IFE could be a bit more updated. Pods are not great if you are flying with someone as they are not situated in positions convenient for conversation. The center seats do have a center partition that does go down a bit more so you can at least see your travelling companion. Luggage in YYZ was quite quick even tho we had an oversize item we still only waited about 20 mins or so, back in LHR we were only 10 or 15 mins and out the door. All in all we enjoyed our flight and no complaints.

AIR CANADA review : 28 April 2008 : by Damian Hultz

Customer Rating : 4/5

YEG-YYZ-YEG with a large group in March 2008. Flight there on new E90 jet. Seats great, good legroom, comfortable padding. Crew very nice, and smiled a few times. Our personal TV's were broken, so Air Canada handed out vouchers for Aeroplan miles. Crew did not do safety presentation, just showed the exits, and referred us to the card. One lavatory for coach cabin was very crowded. Plane also very loud. Food we bought was quite good! Return a nice A320. New seats, working Tv's, and it much quieter. Crew friendly, smiling, and greeting every passenger. Every one of our checked bags arrived! Overall, not too impressed with the new airplane, but other than that, Air Canada was surprisingly good!

AIR CANADA review : 27 April 2008 : by S Sundberg

Customer Rating : 4/5

London Heathrow to Toronto return. The food was good and seat comfort excellent. AC's new 777s are comfy and inflight entertainment is very impressive (it has satellite radio, with live NHL games). Both on the day and night flight there were plenty of water rounds. Cabin crew positive and had informal conversations with passengers who liked to talk.

AIR CANADA review : 22 April 2008 : by Victor Avayou

Customer Rating : 2/5

YUL-YVR via YYZ, both legs on A330-300 in Economy class. Check-in was fast at the Elite desk and a nice spread at the Montreal Maple Leaf lounge. FA's were polite and friendly. Inflight entertainment a recent movie. However the sound left a lot to be desired for. Ancient system, and you have to wriggle the jacks to get a decent sound. I like the newly renovated planes where it is on demand videos. Had a look at the movies playing and they were all recent releases. One major complaint abot AC is the legroom - non-existent in the A333. very cramped especially when the passenger in front reclines their seat. The return was a whole different story. Check-in was very fast - flight going to YYZ was on a 767-200. Ancient, run down and seats were horrendous. There were nearly fistfights on the plane at least twice because passengers complained that the person in front of them reclined their seats. To make matters worse, 5 minutes before take-off the cargo door was damaged as they were loading the suitcase containers 1.5 hours delay on the plane in this terrible seat. Missed my connecting flight back to Montreal. AC paid for the hotel, Sheraton Gateway attached to Pearson Airport. Booked a 9am flight the next day. Overall FA's and ground check-in Staff are good but the seat pitch is way tight. YYZ-YUL was on an A319. Exit row aisle made the flight painless and was fast at only 50 minutes gate to gate.

AIR CANADA review : 22 April 2008 : by M Kroeker

Customer Rating : 4/5

YWG-YYC E190 both ways in Y class. Both flights were great, ontime if not early, bags were slow in YYC but eventually got them. Crew excellent both ways, cheerful and attentive for a 2 hour flight. Only complaint would be the IFE from YWG-YYC was inop entire time, received a card to fill out for either aeroplan points or flight credits. YYC-YWG a week later, IFE was inop till it was reset, worked after that but had no sound. All in all AC is making improvements in fleet renewal and customer service.

AIR CANADA review : 22 April 2008 : by D Sorel

Customer Rating : 5/5

YVR-YYZ-YUL A-319. Full flight but pretty comfortable. Excellent onboard service with professional and smiling flight attendants.

Air Canada review - by R Sandler

16 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Vancouver to Toronto to London Business Class 13th April 2008. Flew Air Canada after our flight to London from Vancouver with BA was cancelled. The check in at Vancouver was particularly helpful as we had only re-booked minutes before checking in. On both flights the staff were charming and although the food was not outstanding it was pleasantly served and accompanied by good wine. The flat beds in 767 on flight to London were the most comfortable we have had and the baggage arrived within 10 minutes of us landing.

Air Canada review - by Stefan Drenkelfuss

6 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Fra-YYZ on B777, YYZ-YVR on A320 and YVR-SYD on B777. Although these aircraft are pretty new, one could see that AC isn't paying much attention to the maintenance of the interior. Inflight entertainment was good and staff helpful. Flight got delayed for over an hour because of troubles with engines, mood light out of order and the main light was always on, broken monitors in the armrests. At least the flight attends made my trip FRA to YYZ cheerful. In my opinion the next thing Air Canada should focus on is on maintenance and on customer satisfaction by training their staff better on how to deal and interact with passengers better.

Air Canada review - by Ron Duncan

6 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

YYZ-LAX Economy. Booked using Aeroplan Points so assigned seat near the rear, result is little food available from the so-called "On board Cafe". Staff surly, appeared to be putting in hours for the month. Cabin crew appeared to think passengers should carry the exact change to purchase food & Bev. One of the poorer Star Alliance partners.

Air Canada review - by M McFadyen

6 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LHR-YYZ B763 Economy. On the way out the flight was delayed and lack of communication between BAA and AC. For a 8hr flight the IFE was not working (Overhead). YYZ (T1) was such a nice place! Although lack of shops. On the way back We were delayed by nearly 1hr. IFE was working but rubbish entertainment! Fly BA or Air France to YYZ never Air Canada!

Air Canada review - by R Stubbert

1 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Toronto to Hong Kong return economy. New 777s already slightly tatty in places. Not particularly comfortable seats for such a long flight. Movies and music worked OK, rest of the entertainment system (news, map etc) not available at this time. Food acceptable, economy airline standard. Crew efficient, not particularly friendly but not obnoxious either. Except for the set meal services they clustered at the back, chatting and snoozing but would get you what you wanted if you went back and asked. Most importantly though, check in on my computer at home meant that it was a breeze at the airport even avoiding the line-up to check in my bag at Toronto where they have a special express desks if you already have your boarding pass. Both flights left and arrived pretty much on time, the fare was good and they didn't lose my luggage so all in all it was an acceptable experience.

Air Canada review - by Trevor Street

31 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Flew to San Francisco on evening of March 20th. Left over an hour late with no reason given for the delay. Airbus 321 with seat-back screens. Mine did not work. Left over an hour late, people panicking about their now very tight connections on to Las Vegas. On a 5.5hr flight, charmless flight attendants come around once with drinks cart right after hawking the snacks and sandwiches. Air Canada used to be at least a head above their competition in terms of service and comfort. Now they are worse than Southwest who at least are cheery and fun and cost a third of what Air Canada charges, and just slightly below par to Westjet who are much more service oriented even though they are a non-frills airline too.

Air Canada review - by Jane Mitchell

31 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Ottawa to Calgary on Easter Sunday and the steward was so rude to me. I thought that FA's were there to help you. He would not help me put my suitcase in the storage bin. It was not in his private policy. I have no idea what he meant. The stewardesses helped much younger people put and take out of the storage bin. I was not the least bit impressed with the service.

Air Canada review - by D Howe

28 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

YYZ-MEX return. I am a vegetarian and on the flight down they had no vegetarian food available for sale. So the FA went to the trouble of finding extra salads and fruit from business class so that I could eat something. I like the IFE, plus you control when you watch it. Connecting flights YOW-YYZ and return were not as good. AC always seems to oversell these flights, and this causes delays as they search for people to bump, and then so many passengers seem to have too many carry ons causing further delays while these are transferred to the hold. So for this route I will put up with the Westjet patter, as their flights are rarely full on this route.

Air Canada review - by Richard DaSilva

27 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Last year it was 4 flights between Toronto Pearson & New York LaGuardia. The service, while not terribly remarkable, is quite adequate as far as I'm concerned. I'm not a fussy flier so I don't need to be pampered nor do I require lavish amenities to enjoy a flight. As far as the meals that they offer inflight (or don't) they are no different from other major carriers in the US where you have to pay for meals, pillows, blankets & drinks.

Air Canada review - by Jean-Louis Vergaert

20 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Toronto to London Heathrow Business Class - the night flight leaving at 9:45 pm, with the 777 new configuration, and sleeper beds are top of the range: flat and comfortable, wide TV screen, complete AVOD. Service friendly. My big surprise was that they do not serve a good dinner, just some sandwiches - so don't arrive starving, or you must wait until the (good) breakfast. Wine list remains the same than 40 days ago, and nothing exceptional. But overall, make sure you flight in a re-configured plane and this is very good.

Air Canada review - by D Dryburgh

19 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

March 15 Vancouver to Toronto. Check-In line up 80 minutes prior to the flight was the longest I have ever seen in my life. Air Canada had 4 check-in staff working. I already had my boarding pass but still stood in a line for 50 minutes. Air Canada doesn't seem to be able to do the simple math of having enough personnel for the number of flights and expected passengers. It is clear they simply don't care about their customers.

Air Canada review - by F Janzen

16 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Air Canada was the last leg of a recent 5 leg return trip from SE Asia. It reminded us of why Asian airlines are doing so well. Air Canada staff were belligerent, unhelpful, refused to provide wheelchair assistance, and to top it all off, ended up giving away our wheelchair to another passenger they considered to "need it". No apologies, no nothing. We will never fly Air Canada again.

Air Canada review - by Hannah Wye

16 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Have flown with them 4 times and not really impressed. Although they are an efficient airline the planes are very old and desperate need of renovation! Food is on the whole awful and small portions, although you wouldn't really want much of it. Staff nice and friendly, but overall would not fly again as you don't get any mod-cons which you should on airlines nowadays, such as tv's in the back of seats, choice of films etc. I would say they are basically stuck in the 80's! Please update your planes Air Canada! We are travelling to Toronto again this year and we are going with BA! Say no more.

Air Canada review - by R Caudron

16 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating : n/a

As a cabin crew I would like to clarify a point found in Ryan Gaytan. There are no foreign based flight-attendants and pilots at Air Canada. All flight and cabin crews are from one of the 6 Canadian bases.

Air Canada review - by Robert Humphreys

15 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Additional comment to those of Kevin McDougald, posted on 12th March. I have flown several times just recently, in and out of Regina on various Air Canada CRJ aircraft. Kevin comments on lack of IFE apply to the much smaller CRJ 100/200 aircraft. The CRJ 705 aircraft do have IFE. I find CRJs great fun to fly in! (I am just a passenger, and not connected to Air Canada.)

Air Canada review - by A Russell

15 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Traveled to the UK with a large group of around 35 for a week. Dedicated staff for our group upon arrival at Toronto Pearson, very personable and helpful when one passenger had a passport mishap. On time departure on a clean A330-300 with adequate leg room (seemed roomier than BA!). Food service excellent, with frequent drink runs through out the flight. Return flight very similar, very friendly flight attendants willing to help with landing cards and transfer information. Overall a fantastic flight experience, a highlight of the trip! It seems that Air Canada's downfall often occurs with winter storms, affecting large portions of their network. From my perspective, Air Canada is striving to be a better airline, and is working towards minimizing the customer service issues that have been arising during these winter storms. Would definitely recommend Air Canada for International group or individual travel!

Air Canada review - by Ryan Gaytan

12 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

LAX-YVR in Executive Class. Check-In at LAX was fully computerized, though the computers had some trouble finding our reservation. The agent behind the desk seemed upset that we had to "bother" her. Proceeded to Maple Leaf Lounge, which was pitiful compared to other international lounges. Newly remodeled A320 had a decent layout. Width of executive seats perfect, but we could have used an extra 6 inches of pitch and more recline. Luckily our flight was less than 3 hours, as these would not be acceptable first class seats on a 5+ hour flight. IFE system was on-demand, but missing about 50% of its content. Food in executive class was acceptable, but a far cry from a proper premium cabin meal. LAX based flight attendants quite nice and hospitable. YVR Maple Lounge was much nicer than LAX, but a big problem with flies all over the food and beverage bar. No one else seemed to care, so maybe this is acceptable in Canada! All in all, I would say AC is as good or better than US domestic airlines. Considering they constantly remind you about their "award winning" service, you'd think they would be a lot better. I would not want to fly intercontinental with them, but I would fly USA-Canada again.

Air Canada review - by Tim Howard

12 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Of 12 flights on 4 airlines in 10 weeks, Air Canada was the worst. Business class seating and service Vancouver to Honolulu was poor. Then on our last flight Vancouver to Victoria, they lost our luggage and delivered it 6 hours later, soaking wet on the inside. We will fly out of any city in the United States to avoid ever using Air Canada again. This was just the last experience in a long list of poor flights and attitudes over the years.

Air Canada review - by Kevin McDougald

12 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Winnipeg to Regina on an Air Canada Jazz CRJ in all-Economy configuration. Ground staff were courteous. The short flight over to Regina, taking less than one hour from take-off to touchdown, was pleasant enough, with the quick beverage service being handled well by friendly flight attendant working the flight. However, beware the CRJ on longer segments, as there is no IFE and every cubic foot of cabin space is used to maximum efficiency.

Air Canada review - by Alfred Braun

12 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Never again Air Canada. I booked a ticket Philadelphia to Toronto. Without any notification or explanation the flight has been canceled. After a very long wait at the end of a very musical telephone line they move me to US Airways for the next day. Already one day lost. Next day at the airport nobody new what I am talking about. Air Canada was impossible to reach. Now is US Airways problem. Excellent way to solve the problems. Pass them to the US. By the way you should include zero in your rating. "1" is quite high.

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