Hello all! For my spring break trip this year, I headed up to Calgary, Alberta but in Air Canada's legacy Business Class product on one of their Airbus A320-211's.
I will start this one off in the Maple Leaf Lounge in the Domestic area of YVR, where I had a lovely lunch/dinner before my flight to Calgary.
That soup and salad was probably one of the best meals I've had! There was also a large container full of fresh cookies which I happily indulged in!
Air Canada 787-9 pushing back for Toronto.
My aircraft for tonight's flight! Just so happened to be one of 2 A320's in the Star Alliance Livery! Originally I was booked on the 737 MAX but after the groundings had occurred I had to be rebooked on this A320.
Classic J class cabin.
Business Class was 100% full tonight with the majority of passengers travelling for business.
Excellent amount of legroom for someone who is 6'5"!
View from seat 4A
Flight attendants did come around to hand out bottles of water and earbuds for Business Class passengers. The aircraft was very humid so this was much appricated. Our jackets were also taken and hung up in the closet at the front of the cabin.
Right on schedule we pushed back and taxied out to Runway 08R for departure!
The god awful IFE system became available once we were in the air. Air Canada really needs to upgrade the interiors of these A320's as the system is useless by today's standards. It took me alomost 5 minutes just to get from this welcome screen to the map. Completely Unacceptable.
Service began almost immediately. No menus were handed out, but we were given this delicious cold meat and cheese plate!
Followed by a drink service!
The head flight attendant provided some of THE BEST service I have had. Addressing us all by last name, and giving service with a smile. Everything was to perfection, and the fact that she came by 3 times with drinks on this 1 hour flight is impressive. 4 wines to choose from (2 red and 2 white), the usual selection of soft drinks, juices and hot drinks, she was kept busy but could handle it! Props to her!
Flying over the Rockies always provides some stunning views! Especially at this time of the year!
Soon enough we began our descent into Calgary, which surprisingly was lacking snow!
Credit to a good friend of mine for this photo of my aircraft approaching Calgary!
Soon enough we made a smooth landing on Runway 17R
Our A320 parked at the gate.
Overall the Air Canada Domestic Business Class product is excellent. I would defiantly fly it again. Although most one-way tickets on this route go for around $430 CDN, I picked this one up for only 7500 Aeroplan Points and $57 in taxes and fees.
AC definitely has the best short-haul business class service in North America. A charcuterie plate on a 1h flight is much better than anything you'd get in the US for a similar length flight.
The cabin is aging and the IFE system is old, but I find you a bit harsh on the IFE grading, especially since the aircraft had wifi and most other carriers in North America don't even have PTVs to begin with on short-haul fleets.
Thanks for sharing!