Review of Air Canada flight Vancouver Toronto in Business

Airline Air Canada
Flight AC186
Class Business
Seat 7A
Aircraft Boeing 777-200LR
Flight time 04:25
Take-off 31 Aug 19, 14:00
Arrival at 31 Aug 19, 21:25
AC   #20 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 377 reviews
VFMlife
By 2624
Published on 20th September 2019

Routing

  • AC186: Vancouver (YVR) → Toronto (YYZ) B77L You are here
  • AC103: Toronto (CAN) → Vancouver (YVR) B788 Not available

This review will feature Air Canada's lay flat signature class. If you are redeem rewards make sure you pick a 777 or 787, otherwise you will be paying the same for a bigger economy seat with food.


Check-IN


Arrived 3 hours prior to a packed domestic terminal (happens to me every time I fly out of YVR). Perhaps it is because end of the month plus September back to school. The check in area for business passengers were small and there was a line. I believe the AC signature class passengers can use concierge lounge for cases like this but I did not try myself.

Security at YVR has two separate entrances for gate C. One of the entrances say all passengers, and the other entrance is for nexus/visa signature holders. I went to the all passenger entrance but was redirected to the nexus line due to my boarding pass having a priority sticker. The sign for nexus entrance should have just said priority as well.


PLAZA PREMIUM LOUNGE (DOMESTIC)


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Not included in the ticket was the Plaza Premium lounge, which I entered with my priority pass.
As it was before 11AM. the lounge was not serving alcohol. Food was the standard breakfast fare of eggs, ham, etc. After 11, the bar near the entrance opened and hot food switched to lunch. I would say the food is above average for a domestic lounge. I got myself a gin and tonic and some wine. 



Maple Leaf Lounge (DOMESTIC)


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Strangely, the domestic maple leaf lounge did not have any food. It does have an extensive alcohol selection as well as beer on tap. There were soup and flat bread around.

The nice part about this lounge is the view. I watched my plane to Toronto load up as I sipped on draft Guinness.



BOARDING


Walk to gate from lounge took about two minutes. When I arrived 20 min before flight time most of the passengers have already boarded. There was an exclusive bridge for business passengers.


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CABIN & Seat


The 777 is used mostly for international and long haul domestic routes between Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. There are two separate cabins divided by a galley. My seat 7A is the last row of the main cabin. If I had a choice I'd probably pick a seat in the smaller cabin behind me for a more private feel. However as the wall of the galley is directly beside me, and the seat is facing towards the wall, I still had pretty good privacy.


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Air Canada Signature class provided pillow, blanket, mattress pad, and noise cancelling headphones. The seats in the upright position felt particularly floaty, due to the fact it is made of airbags so you can adjust firmness. However when reclined it felt a lot more supportive and you can definitely relax in it for a long flight. The seat will go fully flat for sleeping. I had the seat in a reclined position for most of the flight so my head can rest against it.


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The IFE screen was decent sized, though I wish it had high resolution for something so big


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Before take off, flight attendant came around with a tray of drinks. I took water and sparkling wine. As the plane started to taxi. FA switched the glass to plastic cups.


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Seat controls on a dedicated touch screen. The massage function wasn't particularly strong. The controls can also lag.



Noise cancelling headphones. Works as advertised.


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MEAL



Through out the meal service. FA kept the drinks topped up and served the next meal when you are finished with the previous course. The whole service did take at least 1 hour however. Another thing to note is I felt the meals were equivalent in quality to economy meals on some of the 5 star airlines, but more in quantity and on nice plates. The beef tenderloin was more like a hamburger steak unfortunately.


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Verdict

Air Canada

7.2/10
Cabin7.5
Cabin crew7.5
Entertainment/wifi6.5
Meal/catering7.5

Plaza Premium Lounge - 3

8.0/10
Comfort9.0
Meal/catering9.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Services7.0

Vancouver - YVR

7.1/10
Efficiency7.0
Access8.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness6.5

Toronto - YYZ

7.8/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

Business class on wide body aircrafts are definitely an upgrade over single aisle planes. Aside from a busy check in, the rest of the experience was smooth and the flight was over before I knew it.

Information on the route Vancouver (YVR) Toronto (YYZ)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 14 avis concernant 2 compagnies sur la ligne Vancouver (YVR) → Toronto (YYZ).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Air Canada avec 7.5/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 4 heures et 15 minutes.

  More information

1 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 523260 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this FR.
    Your comment on the food is interesting, maybe on SQ you'd get the same type of meals, but that's the only airline I can think of. Even TG's catering is more basic.
    Nice looking cabin though.

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