Air Canada

Winnipeg to Nashville via Toronto. Was scheduled to fly Sunday morning. Plane was delayed due to mechanical problems things like this happen. The problem was we were not informed that our flight was delayed while standing in the line. The board showed our flight to be on time. Needless to say we stood for over 2 hours in line and were late to board our plane. Then told our plane was delayed. No help was offered while we were in the line only told we would have to wait our turn. Ended up flying into Toronto later that day but missed our connecting flight to Nashville. Thankfully Air Canada paid for our hotel and part of our supper in Toronto. On our return we were on schedule coming into Toronto according to our tickets. But when we had gone through customs and were ready recheck our bags to get the connecting flight to Winnipeg we were told we were too late as the baggage had to be checked in 1 hour in advance of the next flight. No effort to get us on the original flight. Thankfully I had enough time after landing in Winnipeg that I could still drive home. The service we got at the airports was just appalling. Flight attendants were okay. Luckily I was flying for holidays and not for work where time missed could be very costly.

We flew from Frankfurt to Calgary and 3 weeks later again from Vancouver to London. Our first trip was a bit hectic because we had very little time to catch our connecting flight. We had to run to our gate and once arrived there was a big queue. We were assigned 2 seats apart from each other (15 rows in between) so despite the big queue we went to the Air Canada desk at the gate to ask if it was possible to change our seats. The lady was friendly and she did manage to change our seats on this very short notice so that was positive. During the flight the food was good you could choose from different soft drinks (cans not just a glass) and the flight attendants came by with water quite often. The inflight entertainment was good as well (touchscreen). On the returning flight we had a newer airplane but the experience was not as good. The seat configuration was different as they added an extra row of seats which made 3-4-3. Because of this the seats were very small and less comfortable. Also the food was quite bad and the flight attendants were not as friendly and less skilled. The inflight entertainment system however was even better (latest version) so no complaints about that at all. Overall impression of flying with Air Canada was good. Would we choose for Air Canada again? Probably yes.

YYZ-LHR-YYZ. Outbound flight on new 787. Return on 777-300. The new planes are a very welcome addition and a solid improvement over the dated 767. AC has reconfigured the business class pods for the 787 so they point towards the window instead of away. TV screens are much larger table trays are better located and there are actually places to put your belongings (not so for the 777). Very tough to find any fault. They just need more of them sooner. Service was better than usual (AC can be very inconsistent). Food quality was poor for business class. IFE is getting better but still needs investment. AC's switch from T3 to T2 is a good move as the terminal is much nicer and easier to get through security although the walk to the Heathrow Express is a long one.

I had booked a trip from Ottawa to San Diego with United Airlines. The flight I had to Chicago from Ottawa got cancelled due to weather conditions and I accepted an alternate route through Air Canada which I regret doing. The airplane sat on the YOW tarmac for over an hour and the flight attendants could only say that it was because there was lightening storms in Toronto. Only good thing I can say is that they turned off the engine and allowed us to get out of our seats while we waited. On my way off the plane in TOR no one was able to provide assistance on how to ensure I could make my connecting flight to San Diego which was showing "on time" on the flight board. After passing customs baggage check etc. the flight was no longer showing on the flight board. The AC flight attendants I found roaming around had no clue where to direct me. I happen to find the service desk and was told to get in line even though I said my flight was leaving in 10 minutes and I simply needed the gate number. As there were 4 people in line my flight had left by the time I received "service". So booking another flight to get to San Diego I opted for a layover in Los Angeles that night instead of waiting another 24 hours in Toronto. I was not offered any compensation for either spending the night in Toronto nor Los Angeles even though Air Canada caused me to miss my flight. Staff member told me he could not give me the boarding pass for the next days flight but omitted to say he did not complete the booking and that I was expected to go to the AC ticket counter at LAX to get one. I only got the customer service contact information when I returned to the desk to confirm my flight to San Diego was in fact the next morning at 9.55. After a short night in a close by hotel I returned to the LAX airport the next morning. I went to US airlines who had no trace of my info who redirected me to American Airlines I found out that there was no ticket for me as the booking the TO agent did not complete the booking. The agent in Toronto said he could do nothing for me because the notes on file said I had accepted LAX as my final destination. Told I needed to speak with a ticket agent at LAX to see what they could do for me. I walked from American Eagle terminal 4 to Air Canada terminal 2 and back. I barely made the 11.30 flight. I hate to think what would have happened to my baggage had I any with me on this trip. I received no apologies from anyone at Air Canada throughout this whole ordeal.

LHR to YUL on Boeing 777. Following a somewhat chaotic boarding process driven by the awkward queuing arrangement at the new Terminal #2 boarded the plane only to sit on board for nearly 50 minutes awaiting ATC clearance for takeoff. Once in the air the service was prompt with very attentive FA's. Meal and drink selections were good but the main course I chose lacked flavour. Good inflight AVOD with decent selection of movies and entertainment. Pre-arrival snack was mediocre at best. Despite a late departure the crew was able to make up most of the lost time achieving an almost on schedule arrival. Overall it was a pleasant experience but I must say the new staggered seat configuration in business class is a significant downgrade from the pods. Seat controls are in the arm rest resulting in frequent accidental activation. In lie-flat position one's feet have to fit into a very small space which is very uncomfortable. Swiss utilizes the same seats but provides more leg/foot room. The table is difficult to operate and even the FA's struggle with it. I have been a top-tier loyal customer of AC but if they choose to convert all of their long-haul business class to this seating configuration I will look for alternatives in a hurry.

Vancouver to Victoria on 16 June 2014 a 20-minute flight aboard a Dash8-300 connecting from Lufthansa. As I was leaving the Vancouver immigration and customs hall personnel of the Canadian Border Services Agency directed me to the wrong exit. Hence instead of going through a dedicated security line for passengers connecting to domestic flights I found myself in the main airport arrivals area bringing all my checked baggage with me even though it was tagged to Victoria my final destination. I asked an AC staff member driving an electric cart whether there was somewhere to drop my checked baggage or whether I should head for the domestic check-in queues. The airport wasn't busy she confirmed that my baggage was already tagged to my final destination and she had no passengers in her cart; so she took me directly to a separate counter (with its own conveyor belt) used for wheelchair passengers accepted my already-checked bag and issued my boarding card. Excellent treatment by Air Canada staff. (As it was a 20-minute flight it had no food or entertainment.)

I've been a status flyer with AC for decades and look forward to the day when other airlines are allowed to compete in Canada for AC routes. Recent changes to Air Canada's 'reward' system mean it is much more difficult and expensive to achieve and retain status. I often fly YYC-NRT on AC010. Formerly Tango Plus fares were full status points at a reasonable price and upgradable. This has now changed the 'low cost' Tango fare usually gives you a ticket at a higher price with only 25% of the status points of the former fare and is not upgradable. Customers seeking an upgradable fare must instead book Flex which is a substantially higher price (35-45% higher). Additionally Air Canada will now bill you an extra $750 per leg to book the upgrade. My experience on June 8th was this. Pay extra for a Flex fare in order to upgrade. Upgrade not available so I've paid extra $350 for the Flex fare to sit in a lower priced economy seat available at a cheaper price. An out and out rip-off. If I had received the upgrade the extra costs for this leg would be $350 for the Flex fare class plus $750 for the upgrade itself = $1100. Add to this a flight crew that were disengaged and robotic.

Flew a short flight YYZ to YOW on 29 June in ERJ190. More room both width and legroom than on the BA 787 that I flew on from LHR. Attentive crew. Minimal snacks but then it was less than an hour. Would fly again on the 190.

Very poor quality service for Canada's "National" carrier. My wife and I travelled economy class Heathrow-Toronto on 9/6/2014 Vancouver-Anchorage on 16/6/2014 (admittedly this route is now down-graded to their low-cistern carrier Air Canada Rouge) and finally Vancouver-Heathrow on 25/6/2014. No problem with aircraft but cabin crew appeared insufficiently trained in a number of aspects incl. seat and window-blind positions for landing. Quality of food was appalling especially the vegetarian option my wife had pre booked and which was served 20-30 minutes before main service -she had finished what little she could eat before mine had arrived! The crowning glory was the offer called "breakfast" served after 8 hours a 9-hour flight and consisted of a small rectangle of dry cake with tea or coffee. How have Candians allowed their nation carrier to drop standards to this degree?

Cabin crew were ok. Ground crew were overwhelmed and just didn't care what happened. Connections agent did not use any information system to inform us that our flight in 20 minutes had already departed. In fact our connection had been delayed 45 mins giving us adequate time to get to the gate. The connections agent directed us to stand on line for flight rebooking and for hotel accommodation. After 1 hour of waiting all the Air Canada agents went home and told us to rebook ourselves. Its a long story but almost every interaction with an Air Canada representative was poor.