Air Canada

April 26th CPH-YYZ. I fly to Europe or Asia every month. Status is Super Elite. I was excited to take my first Dreamliner flight. Get to the airport at 10am for a noon flight. While in the check-in line somebody mentions the flight is delayed - by 12 hours! No call no warning no SMS ahead of time. Terrible customer service. Only one SAS guy capable of handling re-bookings. It was painfully slow. The 4 out of 5 "Staff Service" is for the lone AC employee I saw who did her best to calm people in the line down. Even my Trip-It Pro app didn't get any update feeds from AC about this flight. Shameful! I was eventually re-booked through FRA arriving at YYZ six hours late.

I flew out of Hong Kong to Toronto. I tried to book my seat online as offered by the Air Canada website 24 hours before my flight but the system would not allow me to do so. I was sick with the flu and requested to get an aisle seat 5 hours before my flight at Hong Kong airport. I was then told that the airplane was overbooked and that no aisle seats were available. I was told to go to the Air Canada counter to request one. To my great surprise their is no Air Canada counter in Hong Kong airport. I was then told to go to my gate and ask the personnel there which I did and they offered an end of the plane seat without a working TV. This was unacceptable for a 14 hour flight. I was then told to keep my mouth shut and keep the seat that was originally assigned to me. I travel for a living and this kind of service I have never seen before not even from discount airlines like AirAsia or Cebu Pacific. Next time I will know better and save some money by booking with a discount airline from which I can get the same service or better.

After reading lots of negative reviews I was a bit nervous about flying with Air Canada! We have just returned from a 5 week holiday flying with Air Canada all the way through from Sydney-Vancouver-San Francisco-New York- Toronto-Tel Aviv and back again. We got quite a reasonable airfare and when I consider each of the flights we took over the duration of our stay I have to say that overall I have no real complaints. We had no delays to any of our flights no flight schedule changes no issues whatsoever. All of the staff including ground staff and flight attendants were pleasant and helpful and we had no negative interactions. Staff were lenient on a couple of occasions without baggage allowance and we never waited long at the check in counters. Long haul flights no matter which airline are generally arduous and uncomfortable but Air Canada was certainly not the worst airline we have ever flown. The food was a little hit and miss but then it is extraordinarily difficult to cater meals for everyone also we tended to always eat a proper sit down meal at the airport before boarding a long flight so we often just skipped the first meal anyhow. If Air Canada offers a similarly well priced fare for our next holiday we would definitely consider using them again.

YUL-FRA April 2015. A330 was in good shape. I like the arrangement of Air Canada's business class I am tall and find their lay-flat bed system to have plenty of room unlike some airlines. Staff were friendly and attentive. Food service was good.

LHR-YUL April 2015. A330 was in good shape. Very comfortable seat/lie-flat bed. Not a super long flight and they offer 2 meal services I couldn't do the second as I wasn't hungry. Staff were friendly and attentive. Flight arrived 45 minutes early nice bonus. Lounge in LHR is nice connected from Copenhagen and had to change terminals I thought I was walking to Canada pretty long hike.

Flew YDF-YYZ-PVG in Economy. Although I usually check-in online I did so at the airport since it is a small airport and I had luggage to check through to Shanghai. Staff were friendly and efficient. The first flight was an A319 from Deer Lake NL to Toronto which was comfortable and had a great selection on the AVOD. There was food for purchase and complimentary drinks. For the Toronto-Shanghai flight boarding was relatively efficient despite being a full flight. Take off was on time and the same AVOD was available. Seats although small were comfortable. Beverage service began 45 minutes after take off accompanied by a small bag of pretzels. Supper was served approximately 1.5 hours after take off which consisted of either a pork or chicken option. I had the chicken in cream sauce with roasted potato carrot and green bean. Also each tray had a corn and iceberg lettuce salad a white bun and brownie for dessert. It was quite decent for airline food and certainly not the worst I've had travelling. The wine selection was decent too. At the halfway point a Nissin cup of noodles were served with a chicken finger sandwich on white bread with a pack of biscuits. Finally there for breakfast there was a choice between congee or eggs and sausage. I elected for the mushroom and chicken congee which was quite good. It was accompanied by melon and a white bun with jam and butter. Overall it was a good experience and the flight arrived smoothly and promptly in China

AC881 CDG to YYZ. Clean and well maintained 777. On-time pushback from gate takeoff slightly delayed. Pleasant cabin crew led by attentive Cabin Service Director who was working my section of the J cabin. Food choices good meal service well timed. Wide variety of entertainment choices. Landed within 5 minutes of scheduled time and baggage delivered to carousel in record time for YYZ. Great flight.

My wife and I just arrived this morning on AC flight AC99 from Rio de Janeiro Brazil to Toronto. The seats were very small and cramped but being in economy class we couldn't say much. The big Surprise came when the attendant brought our Kosher meal for both dinner and breakfast for us to open the seal. We were shocked with the portions. They were so small and only 4 tiny items for dinner and less for breakfast this morning. Even when Passover was over 3 weeks ago now we still got Passover meals for our dinner and breakfast. I called customer service today because our daughter is flying tomorrow with the same AC flight to see if something could be done in order to avoid old food for her and the answer was that whatever it is designed for her to eat it is already there for tomorrow night's dinner and they couldn't do anything. I'll definitely think twice in a different alternative next flight.

I flew from Victoria BC via Vancouver (AC 854) to London on 17th April 2015 at 18.40 hrs. The plane from Vancouver a Boeing 777-300 appeared new. The seating in economy was 10 abreast in the configuration 3-4-3. It was the worst flight I have experienced and I am a seasoned traveller. They have clearly added extra seats on these planes. I suspect the new Premium Economy cabin this plane has was added at the expense of space in Economy. It is unforgivable to subject economy class passengers to these new cramped conditions. Whilst people are getting bigger Air Canada sees fit to make the space provided smaller. On top of that the crew on my flight did and others have made the comment the bare minimum required and all without a smile! To treat passengers as if they are an inconvenience to their day is astonishing? The way the food is disgusting! A dollop of salad stale brownie and a dish of sludge which was masquerading as vegetarian Shepherds Pie! I also fly often to Toronto in planes with 2-5-2 configuration and that is more comfortable sadly the FAs and the good are still rubbish. If they change the configuration of those planes I will never fly Air Canada again.

YUL-YVR-YUL both legs on a tired looking A330-300. I checked in online and had carry-on luggage only so did not have any interaction with the check-in staff. Used the Maple Leaf Lounge on the domestic side in Montreal which is in dire need of a facelift and expansion as it tends to get very crowded at peak hours. Boarding was smooth and both flights left the gate and arrived on time. The pods are showing their age with worn-out and scuffed sections. Cabin lighting was dim and did not facilitate an airy environment. On-board service was typical AC style with FA's doing the absolute minimum required of them. Food and beverage choices were OK but it is time for an upgraded menu as they have had the same choices on transcontinental flights in Business Class for the past 4 years. IFE had a reasonable selection of movies but the sound quality was not the best even with my own noise- cancelling headphones. Washrooms like the aircraft itself looked old and run-down leaving the passengers with the impression that they were dirty. Air Canada prides itself in being voted the best North American Airline for several years in a row which I believe is giving them a totally false sense of accomplishment by comparing them to US carriers which are widely acknowledged as being inferior to Middle Eastern and Asian carriers. Although AC has made some progress in recent years uplifting its image and improving its service its progress has now stalled which if left unattended will push them back into the same mediocrity as the US carriers. It is time for them to start setting the bar higher and striving for a higher standard of service by looking to full-service Asian and Middle Eastern carriers as examples to follow.