Hi,
Welcome to the second flight of this new series covering my late winter getaway to Cuba with stopovers in Munich, Germany and Toronto, Canada. The whole trip consisted of the following 6 flights operated by Lufthansa, Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge:
28.02.2020 - LH1613 - WAW-MUC -
29.02.2020 - AC847 - MUC-YYZ - you are here!
29.02.2020 - AC1876 - YYZ-HAV
14.03.2020 - AC1877 - HAV-YYZ
14.03.2020 - LH471 - YYZ-FRA
15.03.2020 - LH1348 - FRA-WAW
but as the last flight has eventually been cancelled due to covid-19 pandemia and closing of Polish borders on the 15th of March, we've been offered a flight to Berlin instead:
15.03.2020 - LH178 - FRA-TXL
MUNICH AIRPORT
Getting to MUC from the city center is quite easy as you just need to take a train from one of the main S-Bahn stations but it takes quite a long time cause you need approximately 40-45 minutes to get there. There are no direct airport trains that could be very useful.
We went straight to the Terminal 2 to discover that Air Canada check-in desks are located on the ground floor, not on the first floor as it usually is. Despite being checked-in online, we needed to drop the bags that we didn't want to check-in in Warsaw for the whole trip and took with us to the city.
I must say the lady in our bag drop desk was lovely, she informed us about the slight 25 minutes delay, checked our Canadian transit visa and Cuban "tarjeta de turista" and wished us a pleasant trip.
I love this logo and these new AC colours: red and black, it looks so neat and elegant!
We went upstairs to the main hall and checked the FIDS before heading to security and passport control.
Our flight will depart from the gate L11 located in the satellite, so we need to take the train
This part of the terminal offers some decent spotting facilities:
Swiss A220
Aegean A320 neo in this new livery… I don't know what to think about it honestly. I saw many people being so enthousiastic about it but I find it quite cheap and LCC style. In my opoinion such a drastic change inluding everything but the airline's name is a mistake.
Here it is, our 777-300, still wearing the old colours unfortunately
We will board the aircraft by zones to avoid inside traffic jams. It hardly ever works but maybe this time it will, let's see.
A look from the jetbridge
My first impression from the cabin: it looks quite old fashioned
Our seats are located in the tail section when the usual 3-4-3 configuartion changes into 2-4-2. We've been offered these seats by a friendly check-in agent in Warsaw as they were unavailable in online.
The legroom is very good and we have also some extra space between my seat and the window where I can put my bag, all the pillows and blankets
The cabin
And our neighbour in its elegant new colours
There's a pillow and a very light blanket on every seat, to thin to keep you warm in my opinion
but good enough to cover your legs while eating so you won't get dirty in case of unexpected turbulence
Safety video
And our route. I'm so thrilled to be flying across the Atlantic for the first time in my life!
Menu is available only in the IFE, no printed version
Our superjumbo neighbour is being pushed back in the meantime
Some other heavies as we taxi to the runway
Bye bye MUC!
Observation place for spotters
And time to go up for more than 8 hours
After a while we are overflying this part of central Europe that unlike other places this winter is covered with some snow
Seat pocket with usual stuff
Safety card
Fleet facts
We are also given immigration cards that we won't need being transit passengers
Somewhere over north Germany and Denmark the main meal is served. I chose chicken that I discover to be a typical child's meal: chicken breast, potato pure nad come carrots. It's not bad just a little bit bland. There's not much on the tray anyway, it's definitely not QR and its level.
I took Canadian beer as a drink and it was ok, a very decent lager.
A quick visit to the lavatory and cabin view from the very back of the aircraft
Before tea/coffee service to accompany the cookie served with the meal. It's not bad I must say.
Until that moment we were flying all the time over a very thick layer of clouds so there was no hope we could see Iceland that passed somewhere under completely unnoticed
My dream was to see Greenland that everyone flying across the pond says it's a must. Luckily the clouds are slowly disappearing as we get close.
There it is and it looks splendid! Like a snowy desert!
This part with islands looks even better. I took some pictures from the door's window attracting other passengers that did the same. A fiendly FA (I must say this AC crew was realy nice!) laughed and said it must be cold down there. She said there was quite a lot of snow in Toronto too and that the next few days (that we will luckily spend in Cuba) would be very cold.
There's a snack and drink service straight after. A good beer to accompany the movie: first Judy and then Bombshell.
We need one hour more to reach the north-east part of Canada that looks even more frozen than Greenland.
Approximately one hour before touchdown we are offered either vegetarian or beef hot wrap.
We are slowly getting closer to more ihabited parts of the country
Descending towards snowy Toronto
Welcome to Canada! Welcome to North America!
Air Transat 737-800
The main terminal building with mostly AC aircraft, some in the beutiful new livery
Avianca A320
We park next to a 787 in old livery
The cabin as we disembark
Premium Economy
and Business Class
Last view of the aircraft that brought us to Canada and time for a 4-hour break before the next flight
Thanks for reading and see you soon!
czesc
thanks for the report
AC product doesnt look bad , iam quite impressed
i didnt know it was your first transatlantic flight . You are lucky to fly over greenland during the day and with few clouds
what was the price to this trip to cuba ???
Hi, I paid around 500 euros for the ticket. You are right, AC wasn't bad, I'm just a little bit spoiled by Qatar Airways ;)
I flew MUC to YYZ in October 2018 on their 787. I must admit, the meal you got was very basic compared to that flight, even by AC's standard, though the prelanding snack wrap seems to be the standard option for TATL flights. I try to take non-Canadian airlines for long haul flights, though I never have anything bad to say about them, just that they really lack the frills others offer.
I'm excited to see what you have to say about Rouge on your flight to HAV and connecting at YYZ.
Hi, yesss, Rouge is a different story ;) I think AC offer differs on the same route depending on the aircraft as it's hard to compare an old 777 to a much newer 787. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Lukasz!
This was an amazing flight!
Am I drunk, or are there actually some elephants above the FIDS in this photo??? :O
If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have noticed the change!! ahahha Because I have never flown with them, of course. Do you miss the grey belly and the red line? I'd say the new livery is a bit more "balanced" perhaps? I mean, I like the branded winglets and the blue engines. Hm. I'm not sure which livery I like better, the old or the new. But your right. There seems to be a trend among airlines to paint the tail and leave the rest of the plane mainly white. Not very creative.
They look like the seats of an old bus!
There's a lot of space there! Two thumbs up for your travel agent for finding you those seats!
This meal looks so... LATAM!! :D
Absolutely beautiful! I'm as thrilled as you to see Greenland!! I love that on-screen map, too.
Welcome to the new world, Lukasz! I'm happy to know that your first trip across the Atlantic was a nice experience! :D
Thanks for sharing!
Hola Nelson! There was a Chinese restaurant up there I suppose - that's where the elephant was from :) Regarding Aegean, I can't forgive them that they abandonned they old logo that was associated with quality for so many years. Anyway, the whole aviation business is now flying into area of severe turbulence, so maybe in the new reality this change means nothing as it will be essential just to survive. Thanks for your visit!
Beautiful report as always Loukas!
Transit visa? I had no idea EU citizens needed a transit visa to go through Canada...is that a new thing? I've transited in Canada without anything before on my French passport, but that was a few years ago. I heard that Canada had a new ESTA type thing for EU, but didn't think it applied for transit.
Yup, the only section that is tolerable on a 3-4-3 777! Nice of the agent in WAW to release those seats for you guys!
Whoa...I hadn't seen an A380 in the new colours before! OK, I've changed my mind...I like the new livery after all ? lol
I'm disappointed with the catering, as it looks pretty meagre. I would have expected better from Air Canada as the best of the large North American carriers.
Thanks for sharing and looking forward to the next segments!
Hi Kevin, for most EU citizens an ETA is required even for transit. It costs 7 CAD, if I'm not mistaken, and you obtain it online within 5 minutes, so it's just a formality. Sitting in 2-4-2 section makes such a difference on 777! In my opinion a maximum configuration for this type should be 3-3-3 and not 3-4-3 that is ok only for 747 and A380. Thanks for your visit!
Thanks for sharing this report Loukas with those excellent pictures!
I also love the new AC logo and the new livery. It is elegant and substantial. The new LH livery looks better in real life rather than their design images.
Glad to know it works for you! Every time I flew on AC 77w with the new IFE system the menu is down lol
It is funny to see the immigration cards because I believe the border control kiosks will do the same purpose
I find that the pre-arrival snack is better on the westbound than the eastbound flight which is hot haha
Look forward to next report!
Hi, thanks for your comment! The immigration cards were completely useless as we had an ETA and needed just to scan our passports at a kiosk, it all took 10 seconds...