As a sneak peak for one of my aviation buddies, he questioned why this was only worth 90 percent while I told him it was one of the most enjoyable experiences ever, and that I was once again impressed by Air Canada. The only reason why it did not surpass my Singapore Airline experience (see previous review on SQ861 and 856) was because I had a similar experience on those flights, but I was only in Economy Class. Mind you, of course, the cabin and seats on SQ's economy was obviously not as comfortable, but it was the people and the smile. Furthermore, SQ still retains a full hot meal service on ceramic plates, glassware and silverware utensils, plus a full amenity kit with a blanket and pillow, all on a short 4 hours flight that was cheaper than flying a domestic 5 hours flight within Canada. However, don't get me wrong, this was still an extremely pleasurable experience and I would still highly recommend Air Canada. As mentioned in the review, this flight felt just like an enjoyable experience in an elegant lounge up in the air.
Funny enough too, that this 777-300ER is tail numbered as 744.
(P.S. Special thank you to my great buddy, nicked name by me, TheMetropolis.)
NGOReview Flights and Airports
|
|||||||||
Flight
|
AC1175
|
Airline
|
Air Canada
|
Date
|
21 June 2015
|
Status
|
On Time
|
||
Origin
|
YYZ
|
Destination
|
YVR
|
Aircraft
|
B777-300ER
|
Seat
|
6G
|
||
Dept.
|
0900L
|
Arr.
|
1054L
|
Duration
|
4H 54M
|
Class
|
Business
|
||
Services
|
Comments
|
Score (Out
of 5)
|
|||||||
Quality & Friendliness |
Airport
|
At Check-in
·
N/A
– did not use traditional check-in service.
Used mobile boarding pass, no checked baggage
Hold-room Boarding
·
Friendly
& Professional – greeted by my last name and provided direction to the
business class section (double bridge boarding)
|
5
|
||||||
Inflight
|
·
FA
at the boarding door greeted with a warm smile and provided direction to my
seat
·
Cabin
crews within the business cabin section lack smile at first, but most of them
offered friendly and professional services as a conversation is being engaged
·
Cabin
crews could present more smile while walking down the aisles; should avoid
busy or stressed out looking expressions
·
An
FA assisted me with a voucher issue; he handled the situation professionally
and went above and beyond
|
4
|
|||||||
Crew
Announcement
|
·
PAs
were overall of standard professional quality, moderate tempo and mostly
clear.
·
A
medical situation occurred and assistance from a doctor was requested through
the PA. Twice the PAs were a bit
rushed with a panic tone. However, the
phrases were short and concise, making it easy to understand.
|
4
|
|||||||
Terminal
Service
|
Maple Leaf Lounge (YYZ Domestic)
·
Friendly
& professional front desk staff
·
Mainly
self-service in the lounge, staff within the lounge are mostly catering and
cleaning the buffet section
·
A
wide variety of complimentary magazines
·
Breakfast
buffet was available. The coffee
machine made exceptional quality coffee (rarely do I enjoy self-serve coffee
machines).
·
Seats
were comfortable, but could have more tables that could be used for eating
(instead of just side coffee tables), especially when buffet is available
·
Windows
were above head level while seated, so plane spotting was barely possible
|
4.5
|
|||||||
Safety
|
·
Safety
demo video was clear and well paced, but nothing fancy or of humour. It was a very standard and professional
video.
·
Cabin
crews monitored PAX while the demo video was playing, and stopped one of the
PAX from trying to reach the overhead bin.
·
An
FA noticed a baby seat being used in the business seats and offered to check
the validity of the seat and use of it.
I wasn’t too sure what the situation was but the FA advised the PAX
that she would check the operations manual to confirm. The FA was very professional when speaking
to the PAX.
|
5
|
|||||||
Cabin
Style
|
·
The
new business class forward facing seats are very comfortable, though the feet
rest could be extended a little longer for further comfort.
·
Compared
to CX’s business cabin on it’s 777-300ER, I find this AC journey to be much
more comfortable and relaxing, possibly because of CX’s old style side facing
seat configuration. I’ve always been a
fan of forward facing seats; it just feels more like flying on a plane,
especially during take-off and landings.
Movement on the ground, take-off and landing were extremely quiet, and
I barely felt any movement. It could
possibly be the new seating design, or better sound proof in the new business
cabin, or a combination of both. The
whole journey simply felt like relaxing hours in an elegant lounge, yet,
still felt like I’m having a good old plane ride!
·
The
massage function, though of minimal rolling pressure, made it even more
enjoyable and relaxing!
·
The
cabin walls could make use of more design and patterns instead of pure
white.
·
The
blankets, or I should say, premium quality duvet was extremely
comfortable. Other amenities were
quite standard such as the higher quality business class headsets and pillows.
·
The
lavatory was kept clean and fresh throughout the flight. I have to praise the Fruits and Passion
liquid soap and hand lotion!
|
5
|
|||||||
Inflight
Food & Drinks
|
·
Meals
were professionally served with a tablecloth and in course orders, though
there was a minor brown stain on my cloth.
·
As
usual, ceramic, silver and glass wares were used in Business class
·
The
fruit platter appetizer was surprisingly good, considering I’m not a big
fruits fan.
·
The
entrée, pancakes, was a bit disappointing.
The presentation was a mess (see photo below). The sauce was splattered all over the edge
of the plate, and the texture of the pancake went a bit soggy. The sauce could have been served on the
side in a little custard cup. The
overall taste was fair; the sauce was a little too sour.
·
There
is a saying that the best is yet to come.
Well, the most surprising moment was the final hour when nuts and
drinks were served. It was one of
those “oh my god” plus a big warm smile being pushed out from my heart
moments. Despite the fact that my
friend already told me about the warmed up nuts, I totally forgot about such
minor matter. I guess these little
things do make a big matter after-all.
My first bite into the cashew felt like heaven because it was so
unexpectedly warm; never underestimate these little gestures! WOW!
|
4 + 0.5 Bonus
= 4.5 |
|||||||
Crew
Uniform
|
·
Standard
style uniform, overall neat and tidy
|
4
|
|||||||
Inflight
Entertainment
|
·
The
usual enlarged business seat screens were nice and clear with no blurs. However, it does not allow angle adjustment
to prevent light reflection and adjusted seat level/angle. The touch screen was insensitive; there
were often lags and requires an extra few seconds hold on the finger to the
screen. Selections were sufficient to
keep the journey entertained. (Well, at least the episodes of The Big Bang
Theory kept me well entertained throughout the whole journey). Movies and music being offered range from
up-to-date releases to classics.
·
The
Enroute magazine is good enough could keep you entertained as well.
|
4.5
|
|||||||
Total Out
Of 45
|
40.5
|
||||||||
Percentage
of Satisfaction
|
90%
|
||||||||
 |
| Menu |
 |
| Menu Cover |
 |
| Appetizer - Fruit Platter |
 |
| Entree - Pancakes w/ Sausage (Sauce splattered on plate, soggy pancakes) |
 |
| Passion Fruit Soap and Lotion |
 |
| Premium Duvet - Extremely Comfy |
 |
| Warmed Nuts and Wine |
 | |||
| A 777-300ER numbered as 744 Tail |
Note: Review(s) completed and copyrighted by registered user of spotting-aeroplane.blogspot.ca.
Reviews based on personal experience and does not represent other individuals' views.
When a "WOW" comment is given, likely chance there will be bonus scores added.
