Air Canada

I am a frequent AC flyer. Short-haul between YVR and Edmonton or Calgary. From not happy with them - over the last few years they have improved markedly. On-time is very good and so is customer service. I think they deserve the 4 stars. Last flight was Calgary-YVR. Airport is good shape and new massive addition almost ready Gates staffed with well dressed and smiling (YES smiling) staff. Travelled on a business class upgrade. Flight on-time attendant greeted me by name with great courtesy food service just ok (same two light entrees seem to repeat a lot) wine offerings excellent and served promptly carefully and with a little style. Hot towels very hot seats ok took my coat hung it up and returned before landing.

YYZ-LAX-YYZ AC792. Consistently late departure on this route either with excuses of maintenance luggage having to be removed or loaded passengers tied up in customs weather etc.. This time all of the above except weather. 763 with no space pod seating that is really showing it's age and lack of cleaning. Inedible breakfast mash of soggy pancakes and rubber sausage. Crew pleasant enough but given very low grade product to work with. On return the crew were efficient but perfunctory and the food just as awful. When I asked how well the beef was done the attendant replied that they didn't know as all they were told by the company was to put it in the galley oven and cook for twenty minutes same for all the meals. Very poor product for the money.

EZE-SCL-YYZ. Feared the worst after reading other reviews however must admit I was very satisfied with this flight. Good friendly service regular drinks distribution during the night decent inflight entertainment and acceptable snacks and meals including complementary alcohol which isn't always the case on NA carriers. On time departure and early arrival at YYZ. Glad the older two-class 777-300ERs are used on this route rather than the newer high density aircraft.

YYZ-NRT in Y class. I take this flight several times per year. It is a convenient direct flight from Toronto to Tokyo. This flight left on time (actually departing the gate a few minutes before the scheduled noon departure time) and we were in the air at 12:09 with no lengthy runaway or taxiing delays. Arrived a few minutes early in Tokyo. To me this flight is a notch above the standard AC product. They seem to be a little more attentive on their transpacific flights and the flights generally have a good on time performance. Service consists of full meal shortly after takeoff snack about 6 hours later (noodle cup/sandwiches) and breakfast prior to arrival. Drinks (including alcohol) are complimentary. In summary a good flight with a reasonable price and good service.

Zurich to Toronto (Flight 879 on Feb. 13) on a rather ageing tired Boeing 767 - however it was not a full flight so we could easily change our assigned bulkhead seats to two by the window in an exit row - which afforded us great legroom. FAs were wonderful - a senior crew - very welcoming helpful and chatty. Likewise the pilot was great fully informing and updating passengers of a slight delay due to a technical glitch and later alerting us to a great view of the southern tip of Greenland when we flew over it. After an equally long flight from Mumbai in the rather cramped seating on a Swiss A330 this flight was a spacious delight. Food was OK AVOD was good with a wide selection of movies music and TV shows. The FA selling duty free items undertook the extra effort to locate what I wanted to buy when he could not find it on the cart. Not a commonly expressed sentiment but the crew on this Air Canada flight went above and beyond the call in providing a level of service seldom encountered in the economy cabin!

IAH to YYZ to PEK to IAH. Flew economy in January check-in at IAH was fine and smooth so was the boarding process. Only one major delay on the last leg of the flight. But during the first flight from IAH to YYZ the FA was incredibly rude to my family when we asked about the drink offerings. While chewing gum she blatantly told us that all we got is soda juice and water. The flight from YYZ to PEK wasn't all that great either. Flight attendants yelled at one of my family members when we tried to put our bags into the overhead bins. The bags weren't even that large! They fit in the bag size check at the gate we checked twice! The only positive experience on Air Canada was on my last leg of the flight from YYZ to IAH. The plane had been delayed for nearly two hours due to weather which was understandable and downgraded to a smaller jet. One of the women on-board turned belligerent when told by a flight attendant that there wasn't any food available to purchase. The flight attendant offered to give the upset woman her dinner but she refused and remained inconsolable. What to take out of my experience: Don't fly Air Canada unless you absolutely have to and use this airline as a last resort. Avoid this airline at all costs.

Just flew with Air Canada Rouge for the first time. I've been a dedicated Air Canada flyer for many years with Status alternating between Elite and Super Elite. Rouge is a big step down for their regular flight service: reduced legroom uncomfortable chairs inexperienced flight attendants. The lady next to me was not able to be served in French so I had to act as the translator for the attendants this was unacceptable! The Entertainment system changed to an App or browser-based system. I'm not opposed to this but it would be much better if they provided a system on which I can mount my tablet rather than staring down at the table-top the whole flight. Moreover if you have an Ipad you will need to download the app ahead of the flight (or have the Google Chrome browser installed) otherwise you won't be able to view movies onboard. TV viewing will still work through the regular browser (not sure why TV and Movie streaming would be all that different but anyhow). They should offer the capability of downloading the require app (or Chrome) from the plane's entertainment system directly. Overall generally disappointed and wouldn't recommend this flight division of AC.

Saint John NB to Cancun Feb 7th and will not fly with Air Canada Rouge again. 4 hour delay in Toronto not due to weather and no explanation to passengers for the reasons for delay. 4.5 hour flight with no hot meal available - experienced the same on the way back on Feb 15. Seats were exactly a coke can and a half between edge of my seat and back of next. I am 5'8" and my husband is 6'0" and we were very uncomfortable. No TV and music unless you want to download app and watch on your cell phone. You can rent an ipad for $10 but my experience on the way down and the way back was that everyone around me had problems with them. I'll pay more next time and be able to move my legs.

Whilst most elements of the flights we took with Air Canada were acceptable rather than outstanding there were two elements that were really poor. Firstly the entertainment system was not working on one 7hr flight and the first stewardess just said she'd look into it but didn't. The second steward admitted they knew it was broken. The real issue though is that the only recompense offered was 5% off our next Air Canada flight. The second issue was the rude check in staff at Vancouver airport - not conducive to generating repeat business. The sooner the Middle and far Eastern airlines get a firm foothold into North America the better.

Boeing 777 W (HD) Toronto-Vancouver February 6 in economy. The 10 abreast layout is awful cramped hard and uncomfortable seats I will not travel in this layout again. Leather does not breath. Other passengers in my area voiced opinions that this is not an experience to be repeated. I am a loyal million mile member of AC but this layout and AC Rouge which I have used once and will not repeat for the same reason - too crowded is just too uncomfortable and I will shop other airlines for better seating or just stay home.