Air Canada Business Class
 

Would appreciate any comments on this airline and their business class service? Thanks.

I fly AC more often than any other airline and am a happy customer most of the time. As I only fly cattle class I cannot comment on biz class.

We fly AC all the time...and business class on a few lucky occassions..the service varies on the route. We flew AC to Takyo (narita) in biz class and it was awesome. Our flight from SFO to YYZ wasnt that great - no food since it was a red eye...on other occasions, the service has been pretty good.

DJE, I fly on Air Canada a great deal, in fact enough to qualify for elite status in AC's frequent flyer program. My impressions: a safe and reliable airline that has shown significant improvement in their customer service since emerging from bankruptcy protection in September. I consciously choose AC over any competitor on the routes I fly, and it isn't just because of my frequently flyer points.

Thanks to upgrade certificates, I fly business class fairly often. There is a significant difference between the business class product on AC's international flights and their domestic flights.

While AC is said to lag the high-end Asian carriers' business class offerings, expect generous pitch, amenity kits, a good selection of wines and spirits, a choice of good meals, and responsive service on AC's international segments. There are a variety of in-flight entertainment systems across the long-haul fleet, but I don't use IFE, so I can't really comment on this aspect. AC does offer "flat-bed" seats, but only on their two A340-500 aircraft, which usually fly Toronto-Hong Kong and occasionally Toronto-New Delhi.)

Domestic business class is essentially a watered-down version of the international service: expect less seat pitch, a choice of meals on the long-hauls, heated snacks on the short-hauls ... but still a good product, in my opinion.

I don't fly to the US, so I can't be certain of this, but I think AC's transborder business class service is like the domestic product.

If you're flying on AC's business class, you'll also find dedicated check-in counters, priority baggage tags (which usually work, but not always), comfortable Maple Leaf Lounges in their larger terminals, and priority boarding.

As others have implied, AC has long had a reputation for being consistently inconsistent. I have flown them a lot since last September and I do believe AC continues to improve. Certainly enough for me to continue to fly them--I'm booked on AC business class to Hong Kong in February and intend to fly them to Paris in May.

Anselm

Thank you all for your replies. I will be flying both domestic and international ( Europe ) in bus. class and it's good to hear that overall the airline offers reliable service especially as it's not very highly rated in general, at least from what I have read from various airline review sites. I was hoping to try the newer flat seat however this is not available on our international flights.

You'll get more information if you check out the discussion threads for Air Canada's Aeroplan on flyertalk.com (a discussion forum for frequent flyers).

I am looking at AC for an Australia to Vancouver business class flight in January, any recent experiences?

Marko, I have had lots of recent experience in AC's international business class, but not on the Sydney-Vancouver route.

A few general comments: AC business class service tends to be friendly and helpful, particularly on the really long flights such as Hong Kong-Toronto, which I just did last month. Food and drinks are acceptable as long as you remember you are dining on an airplane. AC continues to improve their product, with new planes on order, new uniforms on the staff, better inflight entertainment, and new business class seating. That's the good news.

However, AC generally flies B767s on the SYD-YVR route. These are some of the oldest planes in their fleet and are soon to be refurbished with new seating and entertainment systems. Unfortunately, from everything I read, this work will be spread out over a number of months, so you may not get a refurbished aircraft on your flight next January.

Here's a thread from FlyerTalk were a number of posters discuss the SYD-YVR flight. As you can see, they are pretty polarized in their opinions:

tinyurl.com/em5o5

You can find a lot more on the Aeroplan forum on FlyerTalk, including up-to-date comments on the refurbishment program and the orders for new aircraft. Use the advanced search feature so that you can restrict your search to the Aeroplan forum.

Anselm

I fly AC regularly. They have REALLY imporved over the past 18 months. I like their business class-especially the international business class.