What to Expect on Air Canada Flight AC34

Air Canada Boeing 777-200LR
Air Canada uses a Boeing 777-200LR for its flights to Sydney, Australia. Photo: Air Canada.

AC34 is Air Canada’s daily flight from Sydney, Australia to Toronto, Canada, with a stop in Vancouver.

Operated by a Boeing 777-200LR, this flight takes 14 hours and 35 minutes to cover the 12,484km from Sydney to Vancouver. After a stop of just over two hours in Vancouver, it then takes another 4 hours and 26 minutes for AC34 to reach its final destination across the other side of Canada. Passengers can book a seat for one or both legs of the journey.

Air Canada also flies daily from Brisbane to Vancouver with the flight number AC36. This is similar to the Sydney-Vancouver flight, except it’s operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

When flying from Australia to North America, Air Canada offers convenient connections via Vancouver. Like many major airports in Canada, Vancouver International Airport also has US immigration pre-clearance facilities.

Air Canada is a member of Star Alliance. It’s also a partner of Virgin Australia, meaning you can earn and redeem Velocity Frequent Flyer points.

Travelling soon with Air Canada from Australia to Canada? This guide explains what you can expect on your journey across the Pacific Ocean!

Air Canada’s Sydney-Vancouver-Toronto schedule

AC34 is a daily flight departing Sydney every morning. After flying through the night (and crossing the International Date Line), it then lands in Vancouver early in the morning on the same calendar day.

Landing in Vancouver, Canada
Landing in Vancouver, Canada. Photo: Matt Graham.

Here’s the current full schedule for Air Canada flight AC34:

  • Sydney (SYD) 09:20 – Vancouver (YVR) 06:55
  • Vancouver (YVR) 09:05 – Toronto (YYZ) 16:31
Aerial night view of Toronto, Canada
Landing in Toronto, Canada. Photo: Matt Graham.

The return flight AC33, from Toronto to Sydney, runs to the following schedule:

  • Toronto (YYZ) 18:45 – Vancouver (YVR) 20:40
  • Vancouver (YVR) 22:40 – Sydney (SYD) 07:20 +2 days

This schedule is subject to change, e.g. during the Australian summer when daylight saving time is in effect.

Note that AC34 is not to be confused with Air Canada flight AC1175 from Sydney, Canada to Toronto! 😉

Air Canada’s Boeing 777-200LR aircraft

The Boeing 777-200LR that Air Canada uses on its Sydney-Vancouver-Toronto route has 40 Signature (Business) Class, 24 Premium Economy and 236 Economy seats. Although this is a slightly older aircraft, Wi-Fi is available. Every seat has a personal in-flight entertainment screen and power outlet.

Economy

Economy Class is laid out in a 3-4-3 configuration. The legroom is fairly standard with 31 inches of seat pitch.

Air Canada Boeing 777-200LR Economy seats
Air Canada Boeing 777-200LR Economy seats. Photo: Matt Graham.

If you’d like a bit more space, you may wish to reserve an exit row seat in rows 18 or 31. If travelling as a couple, you can select a pair of seats by the windows at the back of the plane in rows 41-44.

Premium Economy

There are just three rows of Premium Economy seats in a 2-4-2 layout, making this a rather intimate cabin. These seats are wider, offer great recline and have more legroom than Economy, with 37 inches of pitch.

The photo below is from the Boeing 787 which flies the Brisbane-Vancouver route, but the seats are the same on both aircraft types.

Air Canada Premium Economy on the 787
Air Canada Premium Economy seats. Photo: Air Canada.

Signature (Business) Class

Air Canada Business Class, which it calls Signature Class, is a very comfortable way to fly across the Pacific. These reverse herringbone seats are in a 1-2-1 configuration, so every passenger enjoys direct aisle access.

Air Canada Boeing 777-200LR Business Class cabin
Air Canada Boeing 777-200LR Business Class cabin. Photo: Matt Graham.

The seats recline to become fully flat beds, and Air Canada provides bedding including a mattress, pillow and blanket.

Air Canada Boeing 777-200LR Business Class seat
Air Canada Boeing 777-200LR Business Class seat. Photo: Matt Graham.

We’ve previously reviewed Air Canada’s Boeing 777-200LR Signature Class seat.

In-flight meals

All passengers receive complimentary meals, snacks and drinks (including wine) on Air Canada’s long-haul flights.

Between Sydney and Vancouver, Air Canada serves a full hot meal after take-off and breakfast before landing.

Here’s an example of a Business Class main meal:

AC35 business class meal
Air Canada Business Class dinner on a Vancouver-Brisbane flight. Photo: Matt Graham.

The crew also serve a snack during the middle of the flight, which could be something like a sandwich and a cookie in Economy and Premium Economy, or a hot meat pie in Business Class.

Premium Economy passengers receive a differentiated menu for the first service, but the snack and breakfast is the same menu as Economy Class.

If you’re flying within the next week, you can check the menu for your upcoming flight on the Air Canada website.

On the sector between Vancouver and Toronto, complimentary meals are only served in Premium Economy and Business. In Economy on Canadian domestic and short-haul flights, snacks are available for purchase from the Air Canada Bistro menu.

Lounges at Sydney Airport

If you’re booked in Signature Class, or hold Star Alliance Gold status (including Aeroplan 50K or above), you can access a choice of two lounges at Sydney Airport. There’s the Air New Zealand Lounge and the neighbouring Singapore Airlines SilverKris Business Lounge.

Air New Zealand lounge, Sydney
The Air New Zealand Lounge in Sydney. Photo: Matt Graham.

Both are very nice lounges with great food & drink options. The Air New Zealand Lounge is a bit bigger… but if you have time, why not try both?

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Although Virgin Australia partners with Air Canada, that partnership is currently a bit limited. Velocity Gold and Platinum members can access lounges operated by Air Canada, including in Vancouver and Toronto. But there is no lounge access for Velocity members departing Australia on Air Canada. Instead, you might want to use Priority Pass, purchase a Plaza Premium lounge pass from LoungePair or gain lounge access with your credit card.

Connecting in Vancouver

Vancouver is one of the nicer North American airports for connecting flights!

If you’re continuing from Vancouver on AC34 to Toronto, or connecting to any other Air Canada domestic flight, you’ll need to clear immigration in Vancouver. However, if you’re checked through to your onward destination in Canada on the same ticket, you won’t need to collect your luggage or re-clear security during your transit.

If your connecting flight is to the United States, you’ll need to pass through US immigration & customs pre-clearance in Vancouver. The benefit of US pre-clearance is that you’ll be treated as a domestic passenger when you land in the USA. That could save you a lot of time.

Passengers eligible for lounge access can use the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges in Vancouver. Air Canada has separate lounges in Vancouver for passengers departing on domestic flights (including AC34), trans-border USA flights and other international flights. As these are Air Canada-operated lounges, Velocity Gold and Platinum members also have access.

Air Canada's trans-border Maple Leaf Lounge in Vancouver
Air Canada’s trans-border Maple Leaf Lounge in Vancouver. Photo: Air Canada.

How to book a seat with frequent flyer points

You can redeem Air Canada Aeroplan points to book any available seat on any Air Canada flight, although the number of points required varies a lot.

If there is availability through Aeroplan at the lowest points level, you’ll also be able to book a seat using points or miles with another Star Alliance program. But perhaps the most useful option for Australians is to redeem Virgin Australia Velocity points for Air Canada flights.

You can book Velocity reward seats on Air Canada using the Virgin Australia website. By default, the Virgin website will show “VA” codeshare flights first, but make sure to look for flights with “AC” flight numbers that are marked with “Reward Seats available”:

AC34 economy reward seat available on the Virgin Australia website
Ignore the VA codeshare flights when searching for partner airline reward seats on the Virgin Australia website!

Air Canada Premium Economy reward seats aren’t available to book with Velocity points, but you can book Economy or Business Class. You’ll often find seats available from Sydney or Brisbane to Vancouver in Economy, and Business Class seats do appear from time to time. Air Canada often releases extra Business Class reward seats a few weeks or months before departure.

AC34 Velocity Business Reward availability
At the time of writing, Velocity has Business Reward availability on AC34 for travel just over a week away. Screenshot from Virgin Australia’s website.

It would cost 112,000 Velocity points + taxes for a round-trip Economy Reward Seat booking from Sydney to Vancouver. Round-trip Business Class to Vancouver would be 208,000 Velocity points + taxes.

Flying all the way from Sydney to Toronto, you’d need 150,000 Velocity points + taxes for a round-trip Economy booking or 278,000 Velocity points + taxes in Business Class.

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The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.
________________________

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It’s been a while since I flew AC Signature but when I did do it regularly, I learned a couple of things

* the last row of business has a little more elbow room as there’s no seat protruding from behind

* there was an annoying row of blue LED lights which was just about at eyelevel when you were in bed mode. I learned to take a strip of tape to cover them over.

Matt, do you recall if any of these are still the case?

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AC34 is Air Canada's daily Boeing 777-200LR service from Sydney to Toronto, via Vancouver.

Flying soon with Air Canada on this route? We've put together a guide on what to expect:

I the last 3 years I have been looking, I have never found a single business rewards seat available on the Velocity website. They are all cash seats quoted in points. I will be availing myself of the concierge service in a couple of months to try to get 2 business seats to Halifax NS.

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I the last 3 years I have been looking, I have never found a single business rewards seat available on the Velocity website. They are all cash seats quoted in points. I will be availing myself of the concierge service in a couple of months to try to get 2 business seats to Halifax NS.

As the article notes, you're only going to find availability very close to departure. Here's all the availability for YVR for the next 12 months. Note the dates. Also, only one of these dates has availability for 2x passengers.

View image at the forums

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A few coments from someone who has done this round trip in J twice a year for about 30 years. The bedding is actually mattress topper, pillow and duvet (not blanket). The meal as shown must have been the quick service, as dessert and cheese come around after the main meal has been served (starting with appetiser; the main course comes later) and the tray cleared. A trolley comes along with dessert and cheese, your choice (and liqueurs etc).
On the YVR-SYD and vice versa sector, there are always four choices of J meal: beef, chicken, fish and veg (which is usually but not always pasta).
I'm puzzled about the snack served in J in the middle of the flight; usually the FAs leave you alone to sleep but if they see you awake they usually come and ask if they can bring you anything, either food or beverage. You can also have your main meal anytime you want (J only, of course), which I consider essential when coming from the Canadian east coast; one departs YVR for Sydney around 3am where one has come from and who wants a full meal then? FAs are more than happy to take your order on boarding and bring it on request - takes about 20 mins to heat it, and then you get a tray looking much like the one shown in the article.
There are also trays of snacks in the middle galley and at the front, available throughout the flight after the meal service is finished - various fruits plus small LIndt bars, KitKats, etc.
Worth mentioning the Signature lounge at YVR for international pax on revenue J tickets (heading southbound on AC33). The Maple Leaf lounge is very nice but the Signtaure lounge (directly upstairs from the Maple Leaf lounge) is basically an upmarket restaurant with a la carte dining - perfect service, very quiet. If on AC33 all the way from Toronto, you have about an hour to enjoy it.
Finally, wifi is available on board but it it's far from free, even on a revenue J ticket - other airlines are leaving AC behind on this count.
Rooflyer - the back rows (two cabins for J on a 777) do indeed have more elbow room due to no seat behind. Can't recall any blue LEDs, though.

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@outthere1000 I couldn't argue with your experience on AC 🙂 ; this is what I was thinking of (from a Trip Report in 2014)

View image at the forums

Wasn't quite what I described above; from the TR:

AC have a bit of an obsession with blue lighting. At the seats, there is a row of blue lights at knee level along the divider unbderneath the stowed TV screen, and some more on the other side (see seat pics above). These can’t be turned off, except when you put the seat into bed mode and can be irritating.

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Hello RooFlyer, The photo seems to be of the earlier iteration of lie-flat beds in J, which one only rarely encounters these days (only on the odd 330) and definitely not on Australia flights. The current Signature Class (introduced around 2008 - if your photo is 2014, it looks like you got unlucky) is orders of magnitude better than that.

For sure there are no blue LEDs in your face now.

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As the article notes, you're only going to find availability very close to departure. Here's all the availability for YVR for the next 12 months. Note the dates. Also, only one of these dates has availability for 2x passengers.

View attachment 397508

levelnine, thanks for the info. That is unfortunate that they only release seats close to departure, as this was to be the first leg of a large 10/11 week trip (Canada/Ireland/Scotland/England/Germany/France/Singapore).

Might have to skip visiting my brother in Canada if I can't secure seats earlier.

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Be aware that AC tells you to self cater if you are allergic to shellfish and nuts - based on my brother-in law's flights on AC33/34 in June/July24.

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AC34 is Air Canada's daily Boeing 777-200LR service from Sydney to Toronto, via Vancouver.

Flying soon with Air Canada on this route? We've put together a guide on what to expect:

I have a question about AC34 from Sydney to New York. I booked this flight to New York through the Aeroplan app. The route is Sydney-Vancouver-Toronto-New York. I am wondering if I can get off at Toronto with my checked baggage, as I need to see my cousin in Toronto. In other words, I don't need to fly from Toronto to New York. Since my ticket is direct to New York, can I get a boarding pass from Sydney just for Toronto? I want to keep my return flight as it is, from New York to Sydney. I tried to call Air Canada without luck.

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I have a question about AC34 from Sydney to New York. I booked this flight to New York through the Aeroplan app. The route is Sydney-Vancouver-Toronto-New York. I am wondering if I can get off at Toronto with my checked baggage, as I need to see my cousin in Toronto. In other words, I don't need to fly from Toronto to New York. Since my ticket is direct to New York, can I get a boarding pass from Sydney just for Toronto? I want to keep my return flight as it is, from New York to Sydney. I tried to call Air Canada without luck.

Hi there and welcome to AFF.

You would need to contact air canada and ask them to change your ticket. You want to terminate the outbound flight in Toronto, and return to Sydney.

This will reprice your ticket at the current applicable fare.

Simply getting off in toronto will likely make you as a ‘no show’ for the flight to new york, which will then cancel the rest of your ticket, including the return.

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