Air Canada

Flew to Calgary on Oct 11 with a connecting flight through Vancouver with no major glaring problems. Flights were on time even a bit early. I usually fly with WestJet so I'm used to friendly flight attendants. Boarding this flight was quite a shock. The flight attendant at the front of the plane had a scowl on her face and didn't reply when I greeted her. Later during the in-flight service the same flight attendant asked me if I wanted pretzels. I said "no no pretzels thank you" and she didn't offer me a drink at all. I had to her co-worker for a drink and she looked annoyed that I asked. Cleanliness of the cabin was so-so. The floors were clear and there was no garbage in my seat pocket but the window I was sitting next to was coated in what I assume to be facial grease. Delicious. I'm currently preparing for my flights tomorrow and they have both been cancelled and delayed and now I have a layover in Vancouver for several hours. Even though Air Canada is offering other flights to my destination at an earlier time with several available seats they refused to change my flights. I booked my flights a day early to avoid missing mandatory engagements at my final destination due to many of my friends flying with Air Canada and sharing their horror stories about the service and cancellations/delays. I think its sad that a supposedly professional business can operate in such a manner. Air Canada needs to take lessons from WestJet or CMA on how to manage their passengers and timing schedule if they want my business again.

YYT-LHR 11 Oct 2013 and LHR-YYT 21 Oct 2013. Both segments were on-time and overall great experiences. My only complaint with AC is the lack of legroom in economy (I'm 6'2) but I've come to expect this. The IFE is top-notch staff service was great and overall a very professional service. It was fun to cross the Atlantic in an A319.

Toronto to Varadero. If you are tall 5 ft 10 and over and a little fluffy you will not fit in the seats. I am short 5 ft 4 and not fluffy and I was cramped the seat in front of me felt like it was only 12 inches away from my face. I can not even think of booking Air Canada rouge for my family to fly anywhere as my hubby and son are over 6 feet tall. If you want food entertainment Wifi or a beer all cost and payable with Credit card. My return flight was an hour and half late with no explanation I had a customs form that needed to be filled out and since we left at 11.45 at night it would of been nice to get that form at the start of the flight not at the end of flight when I was woken up and not had my brain intact. The darn seats are cramped for me to purchase again on Air Canada Rouge it would have to be a flight of last resort. Never again.

YVR-LAX mid-day on an Embraer 190. Everything about this flight was smooth and efficient. The plane itself is worthy of comment: smooth powerful yet quiet. The newish light-construction seats were very night and afforded me a lot more foot room. Air Canada's inflight entertainment is the best I have encountered. The service staff were young and correct. The only part of this AC experience that was poor as it has been on other trips is the check-in procedure. It was chaotic with most passengers not certain which queue to join (Check-in Bag Drop Ticketing Self-Check-in) even after they checked themselves in. AC needs to fix this. The fix is easy: have one person out front directing passengers.

Travelled from Vancouver to Asia and back. Transited through Tokyo. In Vancouver the boarding announcements were made in Japanese first followed by Canada's 2 official languages. When I asked at the check in counter they said that the official languages should come first but maybe today was different. Sat in one of the premium seats an exit row seat for more leg room. At 6'3" and 220 lbs I need it. Headphones did not work so pushed button for attendant. Waited a long time and pushed again. The steward showed up and said "You need something" not in a pleasant way but kind of annoyed. Mentioned the problem. He got me another set of headphones they did not work either. His response was to move to another seat and started to walk away as I reminded him that you pay extra for premium seats - he did not care. Service was not good. On the way back the service was better.

Air Canada Rouge if this is the future for Air Canada someone else better step up to be Canada's national carrier. The only thing about it that is interesting is the paint job. It was the maiden trip to Cancun and I was actually excited to see what all the promotion was. That died off when I tried to sit in my seat. I figure a man at 5' 11" should be fairly average and thus should be able to fit comfortably. WRONG. The seats are crammed in there there are no electronics in the seats whatsoever so bring a book or be ready to dish out money for old movies or sitcoms. The staff are friendly and polite but some of the 'hip' ways of communicating just don't fit the world of flying. I'm in a plane in the air far above the ocean I want to feel just a touch more professionalism. Air Canada only changed what they had to look at any part of the plane with a touch of detail and you'll see that it's just a gutted plane with very basic changes. The worst part is that by the looks of it Rouge is set to take over more and destinations come 2014. Guess I'll have to drive to Pearson airport so I can fly with anyone else vs using a connector with Air Canada. Sorry but not impressed.

AC9076 Sep 28 2013. I had a business class ticket from Amsterdam to Toronto hub through Frankfurt. This leg of the flight is operated by Air Canada's Star Alliance Partner Lufthansa. Apparently for flights within the EU there is no differentiation between business class versus economy because when boarding time came this was an absolute 'zoo'. No pre-boarding announcement for business class ticket holders and no priority boarding. So my conclusion is that if you're flying within the EU at least on Star Alliance flights they'll take your money for business class but treat you just like 'cattle class'. Shame on me for expecting something different.

Flew Halifax to Goose Bay on 11 October flight was slightly delayed but time made up. Flight cabin staff good and service good. Return to Halifax via St. John's on 13 October both flights very good and cabin staff on both flights very personable and pleasant - a nice change. Tight connection in St. John's but no problems.

October 14 2013 took flight 847 on 777-300 from Munich to Toronto and then flight 787 from Toronto to Los Angeles later that day. Flight 847 was on a new "High density" 777-300 with 10 abreast seats resulting in narrow seats and reduced pitch to 31". I am 5'10" tall and 170 lbs and the height that aircraft seats were originally made for. It was impossible to reach down and get things from the floor without getting up and bending over. The price of this flight was not cheaper than others and Air Canada did a bait and switch changing the configuration after I purchased the ticket. The cabin crew did their best . The galley for the 400 seats in economy was very small. The food was almost non-existent. Air Canada has the worst food for an international flight I have had. The second meal was a heated wrap essentially a "hot pocket". Inflight entertainment was new system on this plane and was quite good but the second flight had a slow outdated system. Overall service good and AVOD good everything else terrible. Flight 787 was an Airbus A320. Bad AVOD only two bathrooms for economy. Turbulent flight so when not turbulent long lines for lavs. Service Satisfactory everything else not. Hopefully Air Canada will get new 737 MAX equipment with 3 lavs in the rear for these medium haul flights. The Pearson Airport transition with US customs is terrible. Would be better just to have customs in final destination. Canada is not the USA so what benefit is it for the consumer to spend 2 hours of their layover in customs rather than eating and relaxing after Air Canada's horrifying service.

Air Canada Rouge - Great cabin crew terrible seating space. I flew from Toronto Canada to Varadero Cuba and back. In both directions the cabin crew were excellent and that is where all good about Rouge stops because no matter what these great people do they can not solve issue with lack of space between the seats. Airplane type was A319 and they had 31 raw of seats which basically means no leg room at all. Anyone close or above to 6 feet or 180cm should avoid Rouge flights. Seating pitch on this plane is 29 and this is for flights to Caribbean. After 3.5 hours of flight you will not be able to get out from your seat because of pain in your back and legs. It is so tight between the seats that in my view this is security issue since in case of the emergency people will have extreme difficulties to quickly leave the seat. When it comes to entertainment system there is something called wifi and that has to be paid 10 $ but it did not work so I can say is it worth or not other than this there is no other option. When it comes to food and drinks non alcoholic beverages including coffee and tea are free how ever quantity is limited to one or if you are lucky two drinks at the best. Food and liqueurs can be purchased but for that you will need credit card as cash is not accepted.