Air Canada

Outbound Sydney to Vancouver (Sat March 14th) due to turbulence no tea of coffee - except that the flight was very smooth for the hours in which no tea / coffee could be served. Wed March 18th Vancouver to Sydney announced on take off that hot water machines not working so no tea/coffee for the 14 hour flight. I don't believe it! Service very poor. I almost wonder if staff are working to rule due to some kind of dispute. Went to the galley three times in the flight to serve myself some water. No one was offering.

Took my first 787 flight on Feb 27 from Beijing to Vancouver. Thoroughly enjoyable with great service. I prefer the new pods to the old type. Will be doing the same flight soon in Premium Economy which looks very inviting and I did try out the PE seats. I also checked the economy cabin and I am not about to experience it. On their downward spiral on customer comfort this is a high density cabin to be avoided. I am supportive of open skies as until there is some real competition in Canada on product and prices both AC and Westjet (which I no longer fly) will keep squeezing the passenger on everything.

Surprisingly decent flights from YWG-YYC-OGG. Flights on time from YWG delayed slightly from YYC-OGG. Air Canada 767-300er (non rouge) is a solid air craft. Surprised however that the crew did not offer a free meal on a 7 hour international flight. Passengers we're restless about that. Decent pitch for a guy who is 6"4 such as myself. The better of the two AVOD systems in Canada for sure. Only gripe was an extended period of "turbulence" where there was no communication many passengers stood up to use the facilities as did I. About 3-4 hours into the flight. The senior flight attendant rudely remarked "you know the seatbelt sign is on!" Not exactly highly service oriented. But still worth the trip from Calgary. This route for sure will be a rouge flight soon in which case avoid like the plague. But for standard AC mainline about as expected nothing wrong but a few things missing. Far superior to United service to Maui for example through Denver.

On Friday Feb 13 2015 my wife and I were to leave Boston for Toronto enroute to Tokyo to see family. Our plane was 45 minutes late arriving in Boston but were we reassured that making our connecting flights would not be an issue. After we boarded in Boston we sat for another 35 minutes before the plane left the gate. Needless to say we missed our connecting flight to Tokyo by 5 minutes. When we got to Toronto Pearson airport-which is the most unfriendly and confusing airport we have ever had the misfortune to be in-we got to our gate the plane was still there with the bridge still at the plane but we were told the gate was closed. After I informed them that if they could sit our plane for 35 minutes at the gate in Boston without moving then that would give us time to board our flight. We were rudely informed that that was not possible and were directed to go to customer service. Air Canada told us that they could not get us to Tokyo that day and that we would need to spend the night in Toronto. They paid for the room and some of our meals but the customer service was horrible. No attempts were made to book us with another airline as we have had happen in a similar situation in the past. Two years United screwed up and caused us to miss a flight to Hawaii but they bent over backwards and got us there only one hour later than our original time. Air Canada could take a few pointers from the competition. I will never fly Air Canada again and I will never fly into Toronto Pearson again. They both have much to learn about customer service.

Worst business class experience and not worth the money. The flight attendant was tired and made it quite clear to all of us in fact she actually expressed the fact. Passed the drink cart twice offered nuts and a bag of chips I asked for clamator and vodka got the clamato minus the vodka. Then she proceeded to sit where I could clearly see her reading a magazine and eating - very professional. When we were about an hour from destination the attendant got up and finally started breakfast prep then placed the cart in the middle of the cabin and started serving fruit plates 15 min later she served the hot breakfast not long after the descent started. Trays collected finally and still descending the coffee cups and juice glasses are still not picked up. This flight was not a business class experience and it will be some time before I take Air Canada business again.

Last Sunday travelling as a legit full fare paying J class pax from LAX-YYZ-YWG. AC792 arrives late from LAX into YYZ but still there is an hour to connect to AC271 YYZ-YWG. Canada Customs press a magic button which allow my 2 checked bags to go directly to my connecting flight when I announce I am returning from a vacation in Hawaii. I proceed to my domestic gate to board AC271 and while in line am redirected by the gate agent to see her colleague at the gate desk. I am told I have been taken off the flight as my 2 checked bags won't make the flight? I am offered a Y class seat on the last flight of the night with a suggestion by the gate agent that the stars may align and I may get to ride in the cabin I paid for. Sent unceremoniously to the Maple Leaf lounge to await my fate I am granted access to the exclusive club even though I have now been stripped of my upper class status. Within an hour I am presented with a J class boarding pass for the last flight of the night to YWG. Was I bamboozled by my favourite mother country flag carrier giving away my original highly prized seat 1A on a Jungle jet back to Winnipeg on AC271? My 2 checked bags went through YYZ without me even seeing them and they were secured for travel from LAX-YYZ-YWG on company aircraft yet I was denied boarding AC271 based on the fact that my bags would not make the flight? Was I being punished for flying Delta from HNL-LAX in order to avoid flying Rouge? Or was my seat given away prematurely to a company commuter? Even when you pay full fare J class you have to role with the punches.

Traveling Air Canada was the worst experience I have had. The agents were extremely rude and unhelpful in Toronto Pearson airport. Common courtesy seemed to have been an understatement. Flights were cancelled without proper notification leaving passengers stranded in the airport with no where to comfortably stay. Not sure if this is policy but agents were not required to assist with bag tagging leaving first time fliers lost and confused.

Booked to fly DCA to Quebec City via Ottawa Feb 13 leaving 7 am arriving 10.30 am. Instead after "crew rest" issues delayed the first flight ended up doing: DCA to Toronto where we missed our next connection due to delayed flight; and then the next flight was cancelled (no snow that day) and after much negotiation with bored reps (and a 1 hour hold with customer service) we ended up Toronto to Montreal where we were promised we could get to Quebec City but when we arrived they couldn't book us for 48 more hours to Quebec. Ended up renting a car in Montreal and driving to Quebec City where our bags were lost for another day. 3 hour process turned into 24 hours and we never arrived at our destination via Air Canada. Were promised flights that didn't exist no apologies. Never again.

ORD-YUL-CDG in economy on 25/26th Jan 15. Our first flight with Air Canada was a shuttle from Chicago to Montreal where our flight to Paris CDG was our next leg. In fact due to late arrival we missed our connection and had to stay 24 hours in Montreal. Everything was handled perfectly by AC staff who gave us vouchers for a 4* hotel nearby and for meals. We could get our checked luggage back and were immediately handed our boarding pass for the following day. All being very smooth in a quiet airport. The following day our 6 hours flight to Paris by itself was OK with various standards. Aircraft (777-300) with a clean cabin without decoration the blue colour of seats being the only colour. The seats were standard without footrests. A good VOD system with recent movies especially for French speaking passengers. This is for the good side but when you see the fancy earphones handed over you will regret not to have yours with you. The weak side starts with no newspapers or magazines available. Cabin crew obviously well trained and working efficiently. I am sorry that uniforms are so plain. No efforts from attendants to look like attendants and participate to the dream of flying like many other airlines. Meals were frankly just edible. A small salad where I am still looking for dressing chicken with bulgur (totally bland) and a so-called chocolate cake retaining from chocolate only the colour! A standard rate for the table wine offered graciously and for the rolls quite correct for an airline. A bad rate for the low quality plastic cutlery. It seems North American carriers do like plastic very much. Before landing we had a slice of cake (good) with hot drinks served in a tumbler. All in all we were expecting more from an Airline claiming to be for the 5th time the best airline in North America. It is true that US competitors are so bad but European airlines are much better and Emirates/Asian carriers are on another planet where passengers are taken care of.

YVR-YUL-YVR Flights on time FA's were all very nice and friendly. They offered us water maybe 4-5 times during the flight. Nothing bad to say about them.