AFF Review: Air Canada Boeing 787 Economy Class (YVR-YYC)

[AFF Editor]

Air Canada Boeing 787 Economy Class Review is an article written by AFF editorial staff:

Air Canada Boeing 787 Economy Class Review

For this review, I tested out Air Canada's Boeing 787-9 Economy Class on a domestic flight from Vancouver to Calgary.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[Revenge]

Thanks for the review. I've had the misfortune a few times of flying AC long-haul on its 777's in economy. The cabin is densely packed, with a 3-4-3 layout and some lavatories removed to make more space for seats. Narrow and uncomfortable seats with buttons in the arm rests that you always accidentally press when you rest your elbow on the arm rest.

The premium economy product on the other hand on AC is very good.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

AC's crews really seem to have some morale issues at the minute. On the four flights I took with them last month, I encountered exactly two crew members (even in J) who seemed to have any motivation at all to offer a pleasant service. Most were either indifferently going through the motions or, in several cases, outright unpleasant.

It's a tough business at the moment, but that's not an excuse. By comparison, QF is also a mess right now but I am consistently impressed by how well most QF crew continue to perform.

 

[Revenge]

AC's crews really seem to have some morale issues at the minute.

A few months ago I witness an AC flight attendant literally yelling at a passenger! Yes the passenger was being a bit of a dick (had attitude) but the response from the flight attendant was quite shocking, was expecting him to take the high ground, not give attitude back to the passenger and yell at him.

 

[RooFlyer]

Ah, memories. I flew AC a hellavalot domestically and internationally between 2012 & 2017 and your whY experience mirrored mine, many times. Just couldn't give a damn. Surprised at the B787 though - AC used to run much smaller craft on many routes.

Such as LAX-YYC: E190s. The J service was much, much better than in whY. I even struck the same crew doing J LAX-YYC (excellent) then doing Y YYC - YWG (couldn't give a damn).

 

[Jim Walsh]

As they say "Air Canada,

'We're not happy, unless you're unhappy'​

 

[Revenge]

Velocity Gold or Platinum status does not accord you any extra benefits like priority check-in, extra baggage or lounge access when travelling with Air Canada. (Frankly, that’s a rather poor deal for Velocity members!)

I think someone at AC read Matt’s review because it looks like something has changed. According the Virgin website, Gold and Platinum now get access to Maple Leaf lounges! See International lounge access | Virgin Australia

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

I think someone at AC read Matt’s review because it looks like something has changed. According the Virgin website, Gold and Platinum now get access to Maple Leaf lounges! See International lounge access | Virgin Australia

Wow - that’s impressive (and will be even more so if AC cites the same benefits, as opposed to say, United).

This definitely wasn’t in place just last week, either on the website or in practice.

 

[jakeseven7]

AC is also high on my avoid at all cost list, before QF restarted flying to Canada we were pretty much stuck using them and are just pretty ho-him.

 

[Revenge]

AC is also high on my avoid at all cost list, before QF restarted flying to Canada we were pretty much stuck using them and are just pretty ho-him.

The problem is they are still far better than WestJet most of the time.

 

[Revenge]

Wow - that’s impressive (and will be even more so if AC cites the same benefits, as opposed to say, United).

This definitely wasn’t in place just last week, either on the website or in practice.

Agreed. On the AC website it doesn’t list VA members as having access yet (Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges). Would be good to have an AC source to rely on when trying to use this.

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

Agreed. On the AC website it doesn’t list VA members as having access yet (Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges). Would be good to have an AC source to rely on when trying to use this.

The onus is on AC or any other partner to update their public policies to reflect the agreements they've made, but this seems to be a recurring problem across many of VA's international partners and ultimately it's VA that should be doing a better job making sure their partners do this. Without it, VA members are at the whim of another carrier's employees, who understandably may have no idea this fairly niche partnership even exists and aren't likely to care what VA's website says.

Of the six partners listed on VA's lounge access page:

- AC's own website makes no mention (yet, but it's new, so let's see what happens)
- South African makes no reference to VA at all
- United refers to VA but then imposes far more restrictive access rules than VA claims the agreement provides for
- Etihad doesn't explicitly state that Platinum members have access to its First Lounges, though fortunately this doesn't appear to cause a problem in practice

Only SQ and VS seem to mirror what VA claims.

 

[RooFlyer]

On AC, I'm not sure how it's evolved with 'new' Aeroplan, but the old Aeroplan was an excellent FF program, once you learned how to use it and I ended up flying them slightly in preference to QF for that reason when I shuttling across the Pacific. In the air they were pretty much on-par (ie hit-or-miss). The perks of their top-tier '100K Super Elite' (they know how to name their top tier ) which I held for a couple of years, were remarkable# - better than P1, from what I've read. Their redemptions across *A were excellent, as were their upgrades for miles/passes for top-tiers. They'd re-book you during irrops when you were in the air and didn't even know there was an irrop! De-plane and "Here is you new onward BP, Mr RooFlyer". Call centre was utter carp, though and the MLLs weren't impressive, either.

# For example, there were 2 concierges at each major airport - could run errands within the airport (collect stuff left at security), make hotel/restaurant reservations. Chokkies from Oz greased the wheels, too

 

[FlyingKangaroo]

# For example, there were 2 concierges at each major airport - could run errands within the airport (collect stuff left at security), make hotel/restaurant reservations. Chokkies from Oz greased the wheels, too

Fun true fact: the character "Moses" on BBC's Come Fly With Me was based on a real AC Concierge fellow at AC. I didn't believe it until I was going through an interview process at AC and a senior exec confirmed it wasn't just a wives' tale.

As for status, I was a mere law student and junior associate in Canada during my years there so just getting to fly AC in Row 30 rather than take a Greyhound bus across the border to Plattsburgh or Burlington to get around the continent felt fancy... I wouldn't have known what status even was, let alone a J cabin. Now I've been sufficiently underwhelmed by both at AC. Funny how experience and perspective changes things, eh?