Review of Air Canada flight Santiago → Toronto in Business

This report will cover my return flight from our three weeks long November vacation in Chile and is part of a longer journey. You can view previous reports here:
Paris (CDG) – Toronto (YYZ) – AC 881
Toronto (YYZ) – Santiago (SCL) – AC 92

Santiago Airport Experience

Well, this really surprised me. We had several domestic flights during our journey from SCL and nearly every time the experience was not great (although also not a disaster at CDG as described in the first report). The security was slow and dirty, the terminal was a little crowded with no options to eat somewhere if you do not want to get stuck in Mc Donalds. But this was different…
We arrived from City Express Santiago Aeropuerto Hotel (nice shuttle and fitness but basic rooms with no possibility of opening the windows) to the airport and headed directly to the Air Canada check-in area. As business class passengers we were immediately checked in by friendly staff. Unfortunately, our trip contained the overnight layover in Toronto so they could not check our bags directly to the final destination for security reasons. Pity.
We proceeded to the immigration which again took no time and at the top of all also the security lines were completely empty as most international flights overseas take off in the evening (I cannot imagine those queues…).

Avianca SCL Lounge

We had a hard time to find it as there are no signs at the airport but staff and computers showing the map of the terminal will help you.
When arriving at the lounge we were warned there is no alcohol inside. I do not consider this to be a problem at 9:30 AM.
So what can you expect from the lounge? Well, it is really tiny with just a few small windows under the roof but with a comfortable seating area and a surprising nice buffet. Of course, there are no hot meals but there were a few types of sandwiches, desserts, ham, cheese, smoked salmon and others. Sorry but no showers which I find weird…

AC93 - Santiago - Toronto

Boarding started exactly on time and we were welcomed once again to that spacious and airy interior of Air Canada Signature Business Class which I really like.

I have to say that I really like the idea of your personal mattress which does not make the bead comfier but your seat is absolutely clean. I hate sitting on those seats which were used for years and never cleaned properly. The blanket is just enough but if you want to know, LATAM has real sheets so we can not compete at here much…

The menu for today:

Their amenity kit is just allright. Might be a better design but contains everything you need. For transborder flights to the US, they use a little smaller one.

Usually process like welcoming by the purser, welcome drink and we were ready for push-back right on time. We had a beautiful start with the view of mountains surrounding Santiago.

I was surprised by the load factor on this flight. When I saw the J seat map a day before there were nearly 10 seats left but during the flight, all of them were occupied. It seems that AC is efficient with upgrades.
But the economy was quite empty. The first economy cabin was like 80% full but the back side of the plane was nearly empty, I would say around 40% occupied seats. There were a few whole empty rows which you could use for poor man business class!

Once in the air, we were given a very hot towel and the first service with warm nuts started. It was again really attentive and I ordered their Signature drink.

The appetizer was very nice but what I loved the most is the garlic bread which was the best I ever had.

The main course – chicken – came with a delicious risotto which I would love to eat once again.


My colleagues' steak


The cheese was offered again from the trolley which looks so impressive. A Port wine to accompany it…


And ice cream for dessert along with fresh fruit. They give you just one of those desserts but when they serve the whole cabin they are happy to give you those desserts left.
I do not know why the Americans are so obsessed about ice-cream. This one was not so good and if I imagine those Icecream Sunday from United I would jump out of the plane. It is disgusting and it ruins the meal. Having a proper dessert on the plane is always a problem…


During this long flight, you could opt for anything. I had many cups of tea and another espresso. The coffee is really good in comparison what they call coffee in Chile or US.
In the middle of the flight, they went through the cabin with a huge trolley with fruits, warm sandwiches, Caprese salads etc.
Somewhere over Cuba


And here we are with the pre-arrival meal. This one was a little chaotic. The crew started the service 1 hour 20 minutes before landing and we were served the drinks and a tray. From hot meals, there was an option between pasta or fish. The problem was that this was served not directly by the crew working in the aisles but rather by that one who prepared those meal and heated them up in the galley. She was the only one Air Canada personnel we met who was not nice, was slowly and she even forgot to serve a few passengers along with my colleague!
I went for pasta, he went for fish. Pasta was nothing to talk about, just another boring airplane meal. The fish (when it finally came a few minutes before descending) was also nothing spectacular.


Upon landing, we waited for 15 mins at the tarmac as we were early and our gate was still occupied. We came to the gate along with TK 777-300 which made Customs a little longer but the Priority baggage delivery was working perfectly and when we arrived our bags were already here.

Verdict

As I said before, I really love Air Canada Signature Business Class. It is not that kind of product you would love but they deliver service at a high standard for European and American carriers, their cabins are newly furbished, clean with great amenities and the food is on a great level.
All in all, if I had another chance to hop on their Dreamliner, I would not wait and do so!