AIR CANADA review :15 August 2008 : by David Gartside

Customer Rating :  3/5

LHR-YHZ return economy B767 . Online check in and bag drop worked well in both directions, and made the LHR T3 assault course a fair bit easier. B767 showing its age with IFE confined to a screen in each cabin. Food so - so. Late departure from LHR (1 hr) due to problems with APU, but good info and reassurance given en-route to folk with connections at Halifax. Late departure (30 mins) from Halifax awaiting connections from St John's NL, but time made due to strong jetstream.

AIR CANADA review :14 August 2008 : by B Thompson

Customer Rating :  1/5

Air Canada is a good example of how not to run an airline. Its good to see that most of you have had the same shared experiences as myself. The arrogance of staff is second to none. Planes are old with second rate entertainment systems. My usual route is Edmonton to Auckland and I do this trip about three times a year with another 20 trips to the USA. At first I was a loyal AC customer but about 12 years ago I limited my exposure to this airline as much as humanly possible. In conclusion I ONLY fly AC when I have to. All other times I use West Jet for domestic flights, American Airlines for US flights and Air New Zealand for Oceania flights. AC needs to be relegated to the scrap heap.

AIR CANADA review :12 August 2008 : by Nigel Hirst

Customer Rating :  3/5

LHR-YUL-LHR Business Class on A330-300. I cannot agree with previous comment by Bill Oprel of AC's business class product being second to none. This may be so in North America, but certainly not elsewhere. I fly two or three times a year with them on the same route and fare basis and have noticed a general deterioration in standards and facilities on just about every trip. Take the "gourmet" meal service. Gone are the Royal Doulton dinner service,b iscuits and cheese now served up with your appetizer. Cutlery is plastic except for the teaspoon (outbound) and metal (except for the knife) inbound! AC now serves all drinks in a generic glass tumbler whether you want water or a liqueur (not offered any more, you have to ask ) and it will be plastic next time, I'm sure. A generic ceramic mug for tea and coffee (designed to reduce the top up run. The whole service is hurried with plates whisked away from under your nose to allow the crew to get on with their real job - ie closing the curtains for an extended meal break. I know these complaints sound very trivial, but you do pay a huge premium for this service and are entitled to expect better. AVOD froze one hour into outbound flight, but frankly the quantity and quality of movies on offer is so poor that one is not missing much when this happens. Arrivals lounge at LHR a haven of peace and quiet with good shower, and breakfast on offer (that's where the Royal Doulton ended up, I recognised the pattern!) So overall rating 3* for getting me there and back safely and in reasonable comfort.

AIR CANADA review :11 August 2008 : by N Xavier

Customer Rating :  4/5

ICN-YYZ Executive First on new B777. Service was good although not on par with previous trips in Executive First on same route. Lie-flight beds are a welcome addition although the space in the suite is rather limited with regards to storage space. Everything has to go either in the overhead compartment or on the floor. I tend to have a lot of reading material and there wasn't much space to store it and access it easily. IFE good although the screen/system seemed to be quite temperamental and required resetting twice. FA's somewhat attentive but again, not as much as on previous flights where in fact, they referred to me by name. Meals and wine selection were excellent although the FA admitted that my meal choice was convenient as they had run out of the other choice. One would expect a bit more in Business Class!

AIR CANADA review : 7 August 2008 : by M Tay

Customer Rating :  3/5

SYD-YVR-YEG. 777-200LR and A320, all in economy. Online check-in was good, and allowed us to check- in all the way to Edmonton. Sydney-Vancouver leg was alright. Food okay in taste and portions, but I wondered if someone with a larger appetite would say the same. The touch-screen seat-back entertainment system was user-friendly, for the portions that worked. No route map, no games, and news section was only sporadically available. FAs okay, but ignored the call button when I pushed it. Seat was uncomfortable, only managed about 90 minutes sleep, and cabin temperature was too warm. Vancouver to Edmonton was fine. The frustrating part was making the transfer at Vancouver International. We were consistently misdirected by ground staff, and basically had to guess where to go.

AIR CANADA review : 3 August 2008 : by Bill Oprel

Customer Rating : 2/5

I fly Air Canada a lot for work. If you fly business class the service is second to none. As soon as you are in economy you can do no right. The employees really need to be reminded of who is paying their wages. On a flight back from Vancouver recently on a refurbished (should be retired) 767-300 the entertainment system failed to work. So they gave a card and a web site. I tried it, all that was offered was 5% off a future flight. That is not enough to cover the taxes (or more recently the fuel surcharge). If another decent airline was to come along with domestic routes, Air Canada is in big trouble.

AIR CANADA review : 1 August 2008 : by J So

Customer Rating : 3/5

YYZ-MUC return - outbound in Executive First, return in Economy, in refurbished Boeing 767-300. The service was generally good - some FA have good attitude while others a little indifferent. The dinner was not heated through, even though the dish itself was extremely hot. Even though there was IFE on demand, the system didn't work at all. It was rebooted several times to no avail. Everyone was given a compensation card, to be registered on the Air Canada website. Despite the angled flat bed, I was unable to sleep, but then that's probably just me! On the way back in economy, I had the misfortune of being told off by a very rude FA, admonishing me for using the overhead bin normally reserved for safety demo equipment etc. I told her I would never have used it - except another FA told me I could - given it was a completely full flight and the overhead bins were very tight for space. She retorted that it was illegal and I should not have asked in the first place! Other than this unpleasant incident, the flight was quite good. Once again there were problems with the seat back IFE. Mine worked intermittently, and eventually my screen froze for the last couple of hours. The food and drinks were acceptable. I didn't have huge expectations, so I suppose I wasn't too disappointed.

AIR CANADA review : 29 July 2008 : by C Ho

Customer Rating : 1/5

Vancouver - London on newly refurbished Boeing 767. Although this aircraft had recently been revamped and is supposedly "state of the art", the overall technology and design lags behind its competitors. In the business class section, Air Canada advertises its wonderful fully lie flat beds, although this feature has been available on many other airlines for quite a while now. In economy, it has just added personal entertainment systems. These however frequently malfunction and keep having to be reset. This happened on another Air Canada flight I was on less than a year ago. The younger flight attendants are friendly, although the older ones seem for the most part unhappy to be there. The food was mediocre. Alcoholic beverages were free, which prompted many passengers to take advantage of this and drink too much. Cabin crew didn't monitor alcohol intake, which resulted in one passenger throwing up over himself, his seat, his tray table and the floor. Overall, for the high ticket price, there is little service or comfort.

AIR CANADA review : 29 July 2008 : by D Balinowski

Customer Rating : 3/5

HNL-YVR-YYC in Executive Class. AC uses the JAL Sakura lounge. It's not great, but staff pleasant and it's a nice retreat. 767-200 used on the HNL-YVR leg needs to be retired. Seats are not very comfortable and don't recline much. Crew pleasant enough and meal actually tasty. Movies shown on old-style screen. It would have been nice to get at least a coffee before the early morning landing. The transit desks were undergoing a refit, so had to go to the domestic counters to drop off bags. Agent very pleasant. Domestic lounge facilities well stocked with nice breakfast items. Excellent view of airport activity with the North Shore mountains in the background. Flight to Calgary was nice. The Executive Class seats on the ERJ-190 are MUCH more comfortable than on those ancient 767-200's. Touch screen IFE available. Nice lunch served. If the RJ had the range, I would have rather flown it from HNL to VYR.

AIR CANADA review : 26 July 2008 : by C Unger

Customer Rating : 4/5

Newark to Calgary roundtrip. Nice to be able to fly direct to Calgary from the New York City area. First time flying Air Canada and no complaints. The flight was about 4.5 hours. Flight was 2/3 full going to Calgary. A319 with inflight entertainment screen at your seat. Not a new aircraft but clean and comfortable enough. The staff was friendly. he first round of alcoholic beverages were complimentary for everyone due to the late departure. Passengers do have to pay for most everything on board but seems to be the norm no matter the airline. One can use USD or CAD for on plane purchases. My return flight was nearly full but a pleasant experience. Same plane etc. We arrived an hour late but the fault of Newark airport congestion and not the airline. I had a reasonable cheap "Tango" fare. I did pay to reserve a window seat for both my flights. Not sure it was necessary since the planes were not full. But for the 4 hour plus length of the trip I wanted to be sure I had the window. Would fly Air Canada again for this route's convenience.

AIR CANADA review : 22 July 2008 : by C Restrepo

Customer Rating : 3/5

YYZ-CCS-YYZ economy class. First leg with a stop in Port of Spain. Both legs in an updated A319, crew was polite and at least one of them spoke Spanish on both legs. IFE was good. The food could be better and portions larger. AC offered a good, free wine. Seats on both planes were very uncomfortable. Overall is a good option just to avoid the US customs and Homeland security.

AIR CANADA review : 12 July 2008 : by D Lecat

Customer Rating : 2/5

Montreal to Vancouver: Could not check-in at desk. Were told to use self-service pods. Vancouver to Montreal July 2008: This was our return flight in economy on an aging 767. Outdated entertainment system (drop down mini screens even in business class). Montreal to Vancouver leg was on a more recent Airbus with better amenities. Forget the fast-food offerings - not worth wasting your money. A real disgrace if you're travelling business class and have paid top dollar for 2nd rate equipment and get little better than economy comfort on another airline. Most Air Canada personnel desperately need an attitude adjustment.

AIR CANADA review : 12 July 2008 : by Carol Young

Customer Rating : 2/5

YVR to HKG business, and I agree with the previous comments about the poor equipment. Ageing A330, torn seat cushion, not lie flat and poor IFE. I am surprised AC continue to offer this inferior product on a route with competition such as CX. Having said that on this flight the crew were great, not always the case though. Time for AC to roll out their new 777 or upgraded 763s on more routes if they want to compete with the Asian airlines on these routes.

AIR CANADA review : 12 July 2008 : by N Beggs

Customer Rating : 4/5

LHR-YUL-LHR on A330. The aircraft had a load factor of about 40-50% so lots of room to move about. Seat pitch 34 inches, seats actually very comfortable but no PTV's. Service was quick, crew not overly friendly but were giving doubles and extra drinks as the load was so low which was nice. Flight back the load on this one was 98% but managed to get an empty seat beside me. Service again nothing special and crew ok. I would fly with them again as a bmi diamond club member and can earn points on AC.

AIR CANADA review : 9 July 2008 : by A Gray

Customer Rating : 1/5

London Heathrow to Toronto with a 4 hour delay (and no real explanation or voucher). Onboard was served by a very rude FA - I asked for a couple of minor things, soft drink and an extra pastry and was told to wait - she got irritated when I reminded her of my request. Plane was an aging A330. The main meal was so bad I couldn't eat it, and I am not a picky eater. I could not recline my seat, as it wouldn't go back (and at 6'3 it would have given me a bit more comfort), I could not even listen to the extremely outdated video selection or music due to my headseat sounding like it was taking place in a very large echo area. To say I and most everyone else on the flight was disappointed, is an understatement.

AIR CANADA review : 9 July 2008 : by J Javitt

Customer Rating : 3/5

HKG to Vancouver Business Class. Old, traditional business class seats. 2 of 3 seats I tried were malfunctioning (no recline on one, no IFE on the other). Mediocre food service. Definitely not the best seat in the sky. The new suites are still a rumor on most routes but may save this tired carrier.

AIR CANADA review : 7 July 2008 : by D Cowan

Customer Rating : 2/5

Kansai-Vancouver, Vancouver-Narita. First leg on a refurbished B767 with nice ambient lighting, good inflight entertainment and attentive staff. Return leg on an old A330 which had not been upgraded, there was no personal inflight entertainment and very poor service onboard. I chose to have a couple of drinks to while away the monotonous 10hr flight, at my fourth request, (8 hrs into the flight) I was advised rather loudly, that I would not be served and that I should pace myself. I can only recommend Air Canada to people who like boredom, rudeness and poor service. I can't believe Air Canada would let themselves be so vulnerable on such a competitive route. Try flying with Asian carriers for modern aircraft and a good grasp of customer service. I regularly fly on low cost airlines who can offer a far better product.

AIR CANADA review : 24 June 2008 : by Margaret Gemmell

Customer Rating : 2/5

Edmonton to London. At first it seemed that the quick check in was great until got on the plane and found I was allotted a seat that would not go back and I could hardly get the try down, luckily the person in front didn't put their seat back. I had booked very early and asked for a seat at the back of the place and although I was listed on the boarding pass as WCHS not one seemed to notice at all. To top it all off The video was not working so that let the movie out. I was given a little card with a claim number as an apology and although at least an admission that things did not go great it didn't help much at that stage.

AIR CANADA review : 18 June 2008 : by Steven Curfs

Customer Rating : 5/5

FRA-YYZ in J class, B777-300ER. The lie-flat seats are magnificent, convert into a full lie-flat bed and I managed to sleep 4 hours. General service was nice and food was actually very good and nice selection of wines. The seat/cabin gives you the impression that you have your own little suite on the plane, with plenty of room to store stuff. Nice announcements from the flight deck. Only downside was that we had to wait 1 hour for our baggage to come as there was lightning going on outside so no one could work on the tarmac - guess there is nothing that could be done against that and when the bags finally arrived mine was the 3rd one on the belt.

AIR CANADA review : 17 June 2008 : by Judy Chan

Customer Rating : 3/5

YYC-YYZ. Flown AC many many times, I can't say it's terrible, and I can't say it's great. My airline of choice (within Canada) was always Canadian Airlines, so I was fuming when AC took over. Tried Westjet once (since I'm in Calgary) just to see what the fuss was about - never again am I flying WestJet. Obviously, the flight experience is highly dependent on flight crew you get. I've always gotten the impression that Air Canada flight crews incredibly arrogant compared to other airlines. While I do not hate AC, I am not impressed when comparing them to their Star Alliance partners.

AIR CANADA review : 17 June 2008 : by Patricia Prevey

Customer Rating : 5/5

I wish to express my thanks for the excellent service I received on a recent round-trip flight from Calgary, Alberta to Washington, D.C. I especially wish to acknowledge the wonderful service given by a counter attendant at the Tornonto Airport. While making a connection from D.C. to Calgary she went out of her way to be helpful, kind and very pleasant. She virtually undertook to complete my signing in with no help from me. And because she suggested I take a seat a few feet away from the desk, I was not there to accept.

AIR CANADA review : 13 June 2008 : by R Neiman

Customer Rating : 3/5

HNL-YVR-YYC Executive First - first leg on a terrible, old B767-200. Squashed seats, hardly any room to stow luggage. They were using an old style projector which blocked a baggage bin, and during the entire night flight showed a movie which disturbed everyone. That said, crew delightful. Meal looked a bit strange, but tasted fine. This plane definitely shows its age. Second leg on A320 - legroom much better.

AIR CANADA review : 11 June 2008 : by L Cameron-Lewis

Customer Rating : 4/5

LHRYYZ Executive First. We were booked on a 777, but aircraft was changed to an A330. Because it was a daylight flight, the lack of flat seats on the substitute aircraft was less important, but I would have been furious had it been an overnight flight. Is there any other industry where you can downgrade your product without apology or refund? As it turned out, the crew were a delight; courteous and charming. We were served decent champagne before take-off. When I requested another glass after take-off, I was served a sparkling white which can only be described as swill. Flight was on time.

AIR CANADA review : 10 June 2008 : by J Young

Customer Rating : 2/5

LHR-YYZ in economy. Checked in online to find out once we arrived at the airport that the plane had been changed. At least this time it was the same type. Left two hours late due to mechanical difficulties with an AC plane from Munich to Toronto, so it landed at Heathrow and the flight crews were switched. The Captain who boarded our plane did now even come on to apologize for the late departure or the route we would take, which for some of us would have been of interest seeing as AC does not have a route map. Food inedible and crew perfunctory. Baby in adjoining row cried and screamed all the way from London to Toronto. Not AC's fault, but annoying none the less.

AIR CANADA review : 4 June 2008 : by Phil Carter

Customer Rating : 3/5

LHT to Vancouver on Airbus 330 - good space between seat rows, food hot and chicken dish was good. Large cookies for dessert filling but rather heavy. Pizza and ice cream for snack before landing. Plenty of water during flight and crew not as grumpy as they have been on previous flights - but saying that, none gave the impression they actually liked their job! The inflight entertainment was dreadful - Air Canada should be ashamed of the fact it is so outdated and poor. Sub-titles on a tiny drop down screen - I could read them being on two rows behind the screen but all our other travelling companions couldn't make them out at all. Flying back over night from Calgary was horrible. The seat configuration was much more cramped, although it was still an A330 again and there was very little gap between rows. The plane was airless, food mediocre at best and the crew unsmiling. We only flew Air Canada as it was part of a holiday package but I would never fly with them through choice.

AIR CANADA review : 3 June 2008 : by Angela Beal

Customer Rating : 2/5

Flew to Toronto, our first ever experience of Air Canada. Flight over was very good although we didn't have the seats we had prebooked. Flight home was a whole different experience. The seats we had booked were not available as it was a different aircraft to that which was originally expected - OK so far but we were then told we had been allocated seats in the middle of the plane without consultation and I need a window seat because I panic when there is turbulence and I find that looking out of the window calms me. Checkin clerk said she couldn't do anything about it as all the seats had be preassigned and I would need to see the staff at the gate when it opened to see if they could help. During the wait for the gate to open I decided not to make a fuss and try and cope. At least my husband would be sitting next to me to calm me down. We noticed lots of people speaking to the staff at the gate before they started boarding and said "Well it looks as if we aren't the only ones who have had their seats changed" Imagine my panic when we went to board the flight and the ground staff took my boarding pass and changed the seat number to one 8 rows behind my husband. After explaining my fear of turbulence and the need to have my husband next to me they managed to get us on 2 seats "next to each other" with an aisle between us. When I raised an issue with this all the Air Canada staff member said was "Do you not want to fly then madam?" More annoying was the fact that we were told that as the plane was a different seating layout than expected they had had to move people to keep families with children together. I can accept that but when we got on the plane the 2 people in our original seats were 2 young men with no children within about 5 rows of them and they never at any time during the journey communicated with any other people on the plane, so they obviously weren't with a family. So why they needed our seats more than us I still don't know. I couldn't believe that Air Canada felt they could change the seats allocated at checkin without the passengers permission. I am really trying to get over my phobia, but when something like this happens it puts me right back to square one again.