Air Canada

✅ Trip Verified | I brought some collapsible hiking poles in my carry-on luggage from Washington DC through Toronto to Calgary on my outbound trip, and then from Calgary to Toronto on my return trip, with no issues from security. But then during a separate pre-US arrival security screening from Toronto to Washington DC, I was told by security that I could not travel with them in my carry-on luggage and my only choices were to abandon them or try to speak to an Air Canada representative to put them in an additional checked bag. After deciding on the latter because of the value of the items, the Air Canada rep I spoke to, went out of his way to shepherd my sister and I all the way out through customs and back in again through security, getting us to the front of the line when he could and when it was appropriate, so that we could make our connecting flight on time. I have never experienced such good customer service with an airline like that before (despite the original issue with my carry-on item). Aside from that, all Air Canada staff we encountered were very friendly and we had no issues on our flights, despite a brief mechanical delay at one point, which is pretty typical nowadays. The economy seats on our flights, for all legs, also seemed a bit roomier than many US airlines.

✅ Trip Verified | When everything goes smoothly, Air Canada is a good airline to fly with. The major problem with them is experiencing how they handle unexpected issues along the way. We were bumped off our flight from Vancouver to Tokyo because we wouldn't make our connection there and at the time, Japan didn't allow stay-overs in the country bacause of strict Covid restrictions. The way the passengers affected were treated from the time we got off the aircraft to the time we were re-booked on another flight the following day was horrible. They have good customer-facing people who are doing their best to deal with such situations, but as a major organization, their leadership never gives them the tools or budget to deal with it appropriately. They need to make major improvements in dealing with crisis situations as they occur. Increased authority at a mid-level management would certainly be a good first step. The managers appear to be doing their best to accomodate the stressful transitioning of customers throughout the airport, but they clearly lack discretionary budgets to keep customers comfortable during the process. No food, drink or emergency staff increases to deal with any of it. Every customer is treated like cattle, running through the loops on their own, not knowing where to go in the terminal to address the next steps, etc. I am rating Air Canada on a corporate level, not on an individual customer-facing staff level.

✅ Trip Verified | They do not know to keep time. They delayed our flight for a reason that could be avoided. And on top of that they assumed the authority to cancel our connecting flight without communicating to us their decision, leaving us for hours, at the Heathrow airport. The decision to cancel our flight was the result that of wrong judgement. Because the flight from Toronto delayed for 15 minutes they took the decision to cancel our connection flight, but do not have the courtesy to inform us of their decision.

✅ Trip Verified | Flight was scheduled to leave at 7:50am and was delayed in departure by 3 hours because of poor organization and all out chaos. If there were other viable options I would never use this company to fly again.

Not Verified | Good food, great service and smooth flight. All 4 flights were on time and comfortable. Staff friendly and gave excellent service. Will gladly fly with them again.

Not Verified | I have traveled with AC for over 20 years, mainly due to them being the preferred airline of the company I work. They are an over priced under service airline at best. Their customer service is brutal. Recently I needed to speak to someone live in customer service. I have been on hold for over 5 hours. What company that values even the slightest customer satisfaction offers this poor a service? It is an absolute shame Canadian does not have another national airline. As sad as it is I will no longer fly AC and opt for a US carrier instead. Shame on AC senior management. A leadership overall is long overdue and I hope tax payers money is better spent then keeping this poor preforming company afloat.

✅ Trip Verified | I am a diabetic. On my flight from Toronto to Vienna, in Sept 2021 I was informed that my diabetic meal did not make it on board. I was not offered any alternative, just the comment: Sorry, we didn't load your meal. Flight 1 -hungry! On my flight back on Oct 12, I was offered a "diabetic meal", containing pasta (main course), bread etc. I need to inform AC that pasta is not recommended for diabetics, maybe consult a dietician for advise. Flight 2 -hungry! On top of that they lost one piece of luggage on our arrival in Toronto. We were told: "The luggage made it to Toronto (it was unloaded) but we cannot find it". It was delivered after 10 days at 5.30am with no advanced notice. Anyway, at least they found it! We filed two formal complaints for the meal and the luggage. $100 dollars off for the meal and 20% off the next booking for the luggage. Measly. When we booked out next trip we found out that the two discounts we re not recognized by the booking website.

✅ Trip Verified | I really enjoyed this flight. The flight attendants offered excellent service. There was a good selection of wines. The dinner was good but I would have appreciate a third option for the main course. I particularly enjoyed watching the films, documentaries and TV shows. When I am flying longer routes I always try to book on a plane with Signature Service. It's nice to see they've brought that back. I also enjoyed the AC lounge and have a bite to eat and a glass of wine and some water before my flight. The seats are really comfortable and with the seat facing the window, it feels nicely private. I also appreciated the health protocols followed by the AC staff. I look forward to flying with AC soon again.

✅ Trip Verified | My flight delayed in Edmonton and the agent rebooked my flight to go Fort Lauderdale in Florida via Toronto and then stay one night in Fort Lauderdale and flight to Orlando the next day! So I canceled my hotel in Orlando with penalty fee of US 98.10 because Air Canada said that they will provide hotel in Fort Lauderdale! When I arrived in Toronto, Air Canada rebooked again to the next flight to Montreal and Orlando.. everything was delayed and in a hurry and super stressful! Now I don't have place to stay in Orlando tonight because I canceled the hotel. Seems like no one take responsibility about this.

✅ Trip Verified | My review relates to the customer service in the booking of flights and changes to reservations. Air Canada has the worst customer service I have experienced. As I write this, I am on hold with Air Canada and have been on hold for 1 hour 27 minutes and counting, and this is my second call to confirm an upgrade which was accepted on line but without final confirmation. For reasons unknown, Air Canada does not make extensive (or any) use of chat bots or chat lines and it clearly is seriously understaffed. I may never fly Air Canada again.