What to Expect on Air Canada Flight AC34

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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:

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.

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?

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.

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”:

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.

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.

Matt Graham

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.