Air Canada rouge

My husband and I planned a nice trip to Cuba with Air Canada Vacations - Toronto to Varadero and back in March. Everything was great - except for the flights on AC Rouge. We are both tall and were hideously cramped in the tiny Rouge seats. The food was expensive and terrible if I'd known how bad it was I would have taken my own. Both flights were crammed and on the way back we were not seated together and were seated in the middle of a huge group of high-school students. Fortunately the kids were pretty well-behaved. I am now going to Las Vegas and my flights have been Rouged even though we thought we were going with the real Air Canada. I am a frequent flyer and will stick with AC because I like the lounge and use the points - but they are going to hear from me about Rouge. As others have said it's a bait-and-switch. The late NationAir was better than Rouge - and they were awful!

Air Canada Rouge from Toronto to Barbados on May 12th. The worst flight of my life! I am only 5'2" and I have to say it was tight for me. The seats recline about 4 inches in total. When the person in front of my seat reclined the back of the seat was in my face! I felt sorry for the fellow in the window seat who was over 6' tall. I really don't know how he managed for the 5hr plus flight. His legs were stretched out the entire time so that he could fit into the seat. 2 guys behind me were hacking and coughing for the entire flight (not the fault of Rouge - but they should have worn masks or not be allowed on the plane). The staff was great and were cheerful throughout the entire flight. The overhead luggage bins are smaller than those on other planes. Then I discovered one of the reasons the bin space was further limited was that the crew had at least 3 of their bags in the bins so the paying customers had even less space for their items. I hope that reviews like this will be taken into consideration and that Rouge is not used on flights to Barbados. Also the seats were hard and uncomfortable. For 2 days since the flight my back and neck have been in a terrible state. I will not fly Air Canada again between Barbados and Toronto until more comfortable planes are in use.

They are now the only AC option from Calgary to Vegas which I fly 6 to 8 times a year. Awful experience with Rouge on my last and hopefully only flight with them (Westjet here I come). I am only 5' 7" and my knees were just about touching the back of the seat in front of me. I did bring my fully charged ipad to view the entertainment. Unlike regular AC flight which offer the latest movies the selection consisted of old movies most of which I had already seen. The image was often grainy reflecting the poor streaming quality of the WIFI. Staff extremely young and inexperienced and no i do not need their false cheeriness!

My wife and I were on AC 590 from Phoenix to Toronto May 5 when we were told at check in that there were aircraft problems. Much later it came out that the plane was inoperable but instead of another AC plane they had to find a Rouge plane-which they did in San Diego so it went to Toronto then Phoenix so a 10 hour delay for us. The ground crew said they have fielded nothing but complaints since Rouge started. This was just the latest. I am a million mile for life AC client and my wife is super elite for the last 3 years. The Rouge experience is bad - no leg room limited overhead baggage room (more people same space) no entertainment system and every flight we have been on leaves late. It is the overhead baggage that creates the problems. At one point Rouge did not allow the same aeroplan point saving until clients complained and it was changed. Whoever came up with this concept did not consider their current clients. The price of tickets is the same and now Westjet will fly from Toronto to Phoenix beginning in the fall and they will take AC customers for sure. Rouge started with the short hauls and leg room can be tolerated for 2 hours but now they are on long hauls. Dressing the crew in designer clothing will not overcome these issues and in fact this situation is not fare to these staff and ground personal that are handling these complaints.

Last week I flew Air Canada Rouge for the first time not realizing the difference from Air Canada when I made the booking. The leg room is absolutely ridiculous. I took a picture while seated. My hand reached from my seat to the one in front of me and I don't have big hands. Service was lackadaisical. I asked for coffee but was told it couldn't be served as the seat belt sign was on which is understandable. On "real" Air Canada flights this has happened to me and the flight attendant has brought coffee once the light goes off but not on Rouge. Rouge is not recommended unless the price is really great.

LAS-YYC. I never brought my iPad and it would not have mattered due to the fact that the system didn't function. I was travelling on my own on this trip but had I had my children it would have been even worse. We travel quite frequently but only have 1 iPad so I guess we will have to rent them now for the rest of the family. I also see we can't use them for the first 20 mins or the last 20 mins either. Why bother to watch a movie on a 2-3 hr flight as you would never get to see it all. No more place to charge devices either. Air Canada had a pretty good thing going and now it has taken a turn for the worse again. Whom ever thought up Rouge was obviously not the sharpest knife in the drawer. These types of major changes should have been piloted properly and reviews taken seriously. Very disappointed!

Awful customer service. The flight attendants care more about talking to each other than taking care of customers. Don't expect much water service -- expect to be dehydrated. There is a war at the gate over luggage due to the cramped seating - expect a lot of airline staff to be yelling at you. Seating is cramped awful uncomfortable. Avoid this airline.

Reserved and paid for regular Air Canada round trip Toronto to Puerto Vallarta last year for travel this April. Wound up on Rouge with a person with a dog in a carrier under the seat next to me. This left no space for the passenger's legs so he took part of my space which was tight enough already. When I politely asked for another seat I was told there were none. I walked the length of the plane and there were seats at the back. No entertainment tablets for $10 that did not work mushy sandwich and knees in my back. Thanks but no thanks - no more Air Canada for me. Rouge me once but not twice.

My flight was changed to Rouge. I didn't have enough leg room seats were horrible and when I put my tray down it was so tight it touched my stomach. I have been a supporter of Air Canada but I have had enough. Flying another airline now. Will never touch an air Canada flight again. If you want to feel what a sardine feels like in a can fly Air Canada Rouge.

Rouge is a great disappointment. Air Canada has labelled it as a "leisure" airline which is code for poor service cramped seating space and price gouging. The number of "Air Canada" flight routes are rapidly dwindling with the carrier moving routes to Rouge service. Last week I flew Toronto return to Tampa. The seating pitch is cramped. The passenger next to me continually had their head in my lap while trying to access their under seat storage. When the passenger in front fully reclined their seat I briefly thought about offering them money to return their seat back so that I could have a few more inches of space. The entertainment system is not well thought out. Passengers on both my flights were not using headphones to watch their devices. Volume levels were on high to compete with the jet noise and their hearing aids. With the in-flight entertainment system headphones are required to access the entertainment sound. None of the flight attendants addressed the lack of headphone use issue but instead preferred to ignore it. The entertainment selection on the Rouge app is not appealing. Very sad is that the cost to fly Rouge in May was more than 40% higher than to fly Air Canada less than a year ago with the same advance booking time. I will not fly Rouge again.