Air Canada

Air Canada is by far the worst airline I have ever had the misfortune to fly with. I was forced to sit through a 8 hour flight from London to Toronto with no TV entertainment because their screen was faulty while other passengers around me had their TVs working. The staff on board thought offering me newspapers was a good alternative to not having TV entertainment which we all pay for as part of ticket costs! Its like asking me to eat carrots for 8 hours rather than giving me the solid meal I was told I would receive as part of the service. Unbelievable.

Planned to travel with Air Canada (Toronto to Ixtapa) on January 31st for a one week vacation in Mexico (given the short duration time was of the essence). Arrived at Pearson in good time and was advised the flight would be delayed 15 minutes (acceptable but just!). On arrival at departure gate loading of plane was initiated then minutes later an announcement that the loaded passengers would have to be deplaned as there as a maintenance issue (not a weather or staffing concern!). First observation: why does Air Canada insist on placing faulty equipment in the loading gate? Don't think it is too much to ask to have a functional plane ready and available to load at prescribed time! Worse the 'delay' (over the next six hours) lead to a flight cancellation at about 7pm. Many families with small children are then expected to deal with the development one that was obviously known hours earlier but not shared. Air Canada's behaviour in this regard is consistent - it would be only a common courtesy to advise on such matters - honestly and in a timely fashion - so passengers can make other arrangements. But no the airline drags the waiting times out until no other options are available. As a result a plane-load of angry passengers are at the 'customer service' desk to make alternate (hotel and air travel) arrangements only to learn that the staff there have not been advised of the situation. As a result more time is lost (almost an hour) as harried staff scramble to address the issue making other arrangements etc. without being prepared in advance for the onslaught with answers ready and alternate course of action determined! Again incredibly poor planning from this passengers perspective. Finally we were advised that we were scheduled on a flight the next morning and this one actually took off as scheduled and on time. Remarkably as for this passenger it was the first Air Canada flight (out of the most recent five flights flown with the airline) that was neither 'cancelled' or 'delayed' on departure (I reference flights between March 2014 and January 2015 in this regard: Denver SFO Nashville Miami and Ixtapa (1)). As a result my 'trust' in Air Canada is at an all-time low as they simply cannot be relied upon to reliably meet their contractual obligations. Worse no one seems to care about the stress and inconvenience caused by their unreliability. Wherever possible I would strongly suggest finding other airlines to utilize if and when possible.

Flew YYZ-YVR-NRT return. Very disappointing business class service really third rate compared to other international airlines such as Cathay Pacific or Singapore. Boarding the flight from Vancouver to Toronto was disorganized and there was no clear line for business class passengers had to speak up to get on the plane. Deboarding was just as bad and no priority deboarding for the business class passengers. The only reason I'd fly with Air Canada is my belief that they have well-trained pilots and well-maintained fleet. Again that could just be a perception and other Canadian carriers may have the same standards.

Business class from Vancouver to Seoul. Food quality was very good and flight attendants provided excellent service. Air Canada is obviously in tough competition on the Pacific routes from Asian airline competition and has improved the quality of its offering. Selection of movies could be improved though.

Flew on AC33 and AC34 both flights were fantastic. Sat in seat 19c on both legs of the trip and the extra legroom was worth the money Got to Sydney and back home safely and customer service was excellent. Will definitely fly with Air Canada again.

I fly Air Canada quite frequently for work between YVR (Vancouver) and YYC (Calgary). I switched over from WestJet after I had a bad experience of multiple late and delayed flights and I could not be happier! Flying with Air Canada in Canada is much better then flying with WestJet (from my own personal experience). I enjoy flying on the smaller ERJ 190s compared to a 737 on this route; less cramped and not as many people on board. I find that domestic check in with Air Canada moves quite smoothly with no real issues or problems. I have also noticed that Air Canada's prices are sometimes cheaper then WestJet (surprising I know). From my own personal experience I have to say the overall customer experience with Air Canada has improved quite a lot in the last number of years. Definitely recommend Air Canada on this route!

AC835 YUL to GVA January 21st 2015 Airbus A330 seat 38D. Not a very full flight so I was able to sleep on four empty seats. I skipped dinner but had breakfast (coffee orange juice slice of banana bread). Arrived in Geneva ahead of schedule. Cleared customs and collected my checked bags in record time.

Recently I booked a flight through Airmiles from Phoenix to Vancouver BC and are supposed to return on Tuesday January 27th. My husband who flies hardly at all was appalled at the way everyone was crammed into the plane and he has refused to take the return flight back to Phoenix. We have booked another flight on WestJet at a cost of $740. I doubt if my husband will ever fly Air Canada again. We were not the only people complaining about the lack of leg room. I am sure if it weren't for AirMiles there wouldn't be anyone on these planes.

Flew AC015 from Toronto to Hong Kong. Prior to travel had to wait 25-35 minutes on long distance call to add special request. On board: They failed to provide the special meal. They were trying to blame it on me since I paid $120 for preferred seat. The flight attendant said she'll see what can be brought from Business class leftovers. They even failed at that so they brought me the side items of the meal (without the entree) which was awful. This was way too inferior to another European airline which I flew with last month. If that wasn't enough they ran out of water half way and at least one toilet got clogged. You couldn't wash your hands in the other ones! The Captain came on the speakers apologizing and explaining that the alternative would have been to land in USSR six hours ago but that they decided to carry on for many reasons. None was mentioned. Horrible experience overall. I'd avoid Air Canada on my future travels whenever I can.

Weather delayed Montreal to Toronto flight on 01/04/15. Air Canada did nothing to rebook missed connections for people. My husband spent 2 hours on hold finally got to speak with an agent and walked her through the booking process because he had already found a flight with an open seat she was amazed there was even a seat on the plane. He started the 3 hour drive to Minneapolis where the Toronto connection was bound. 2 hours later Air Canada cancelled the flight from Toronto to Minneapolis with no explanation - and it wasn't weather. Worse yet they made one or two garbled announcements and that was it. My wife and the elderly lady she tried to assist were finally told they could only leave the secured gate area with an escort through locked doors gee guess Air Canada gate agents should have mentioned this when they cancelled the flight and told everyone waiting they would have to leave the gate area. Rude gate agents no directions on what to do to rebook just left their stranded passengers to figure it out for themselves.