Hi everyone. This is our first first class experience on a plane. We are celebrating our 40th anniversary and decided to do something special. What do we expect to get or have. We are flying Air Canada.

Go to seatguru.com and it'll show you.

Sit back and enjoy! You'll enjoy...

(1) lounge access in your departing airport
(2) boarding ahead of the rest of the passengers
(3) no charge for checked baggage
(4) seats with plenty of elbow room
(5) seats with plenty of leg room
(6) seats that lie flat so you can actually sleep on the flight
(7) flight attendants may actually welcome you by name
(8) much better food, served in courses (vs. all at once on a tray)
(9) free alcohol
(10) first off the plane, so you're at the front of the immigration line
(10) arrive rested, relaxed, and ready to go

Go to youtube.com and enter Air Canada First Class to Rome. I did this with both United and Norwegian Air just to get an idea of what to expect.

Just a quick note on nomenclature, Air Canada doesn't have first class any more; their top cabin is business class. This is increasingly common around the world, for what it's worth.

Depending on your route, you'll be in either a Boeing 777 or 787 aircraft, which will probably have AC's new "executive pod" seats. These are laid out in "reverse herringbone" with one seat facing the window on each side, and two in the middle facing (more or less) each other, like this:



You'll have access to the Air Canada lounge before your flight, which will probably offer snacks or a full meal service, along with complementary drinks, etc.

You'll have an in-flight amenity kit and noise-canceling headphones for the in-seat entertainment. You'll get dinner on departure and breakfast before arrival, and snacks and drinks throughout. The seats all turn into flat beds, and you'll be given a duvet and pillows.

Air Canada's service is good, and you should have a great time!

First, get the terminology correct. For transatlantic segments on Air Canada, as far as I know, the highest level seating is Business Class, not First Class. There are handful of carriers that do have "First class" on top of "Business Class". Air France, Emirates, Lufthansa, British Airways, etc. have "First Class" with stratospheric prices.
Another thing is that not all the Business Class seats are the same. Study www.seatguru.com carefully. You do not want "toilet" seats, the seats where your head is adjacent to the flushing sound of toilet. You also do not want a seat next to the crew storage where the crew would open and close the latched door all through the night. These seats are clearly marked in www.seatguru.com. Do not let other choose your seats. Choose your own seats.

You get these large seats only on flights directly to your destination in Italy. If you have to change to a codeshare carrier in Europe to your final destination, what you get at the highest level are economy type of seats at the front with more leg room where they assign two people in three seats clusters whether they keep the middle seat empty.

Also, study the seat arrangements carefully by looking at www.seatguru.com and images, for example, google search "Air Canada 787 business class seat images."
Many carriers, including Air Canada, are configuring the business class seats for single business travelers. On Air Canada, if you fly A330 or B767 planes, you will be sitting separately. You are sitting more "together" on B777 and B787.

There will be a divider between any of these seats on AC which was my experience; they are not in any way "together" in the usual sense; sometimes that divider makes it almost impossible to communicate unless it is one that raises and lowers and these probably do not. Enjoy the experience.