Aug 2

Aug 2 Air Canada Business Class - One Year On (787-9 Business Class Review)

How many times can this blog write about the same product? More than the number of Canadian major airlines! Seriously, there’s only Air Canada and WestJet, and we can’t really leave the country just yet. My adopted home of Toronto has just recently lifted its lockdown, and so I thought it would be good to finally go back and explore the city. Airlines around the world have been returning to Pre-COVID service levels, and given it has been a year since my last official Air Canada Business Class review, I thought it would be time to give it another spin.

No more Disclaimer! Thank you, Scientists, Doctors, Nurses for making this moot! Please take your approved vaccine, and still be careful

Flight: AC 122

Departing: Vancouver (YVR)

Arriving: Toronto (YYZ)

Operated by: 787-9 Dreamliner

Cabin: Business Class (Air Canada Signature Suite)

Booking

Given depressed how International Travel is, Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners are still gracing Canada’s skies, allowing travelers to sample Air Canada’s Signature class. Clicking on the plane mentioned in your ticket redirects to you the Air Canada website for that particular plane, giving interior, technical and other information.

Given that Pricings for business class seats are skyrocketing these days, a savvy traveler might chose to book a Premium Economy or Economy class fare, and apply e-upgrades to fly Business Class. See this article for more about this maneuver; note that e-upgrades are only available for Air Canada 25K or higher members and that there may not be available for any particular flight.

*Premium Economy: Very high prices given Canada’s great vaccination rates!*

*Despite that fact “Work from Home” is still encouraged, it seems theres no shortage of people willing to pay up!*

The Airport

I am please to report YVR has basically reopened all of it’s terminals! The domestic terminal was actually quite busy, particularly in the economy section; however, the Priority section was significantly overstaffed, with 3 check in agents waiting for 0 Super Elites to come.

The international terminal, while open, was still eerily empty save for one check in counter that was open. However, the flight board was beginning to show signs of life, with flights to Europe and Asia

Vancouver, as of July 1st, no longer has a mask mandate, although basically everyone in the airport was still respectfully wearing one on. However, given that airlines are regulated by the Federal Government, regulations still mandate masks be worn on planes were still in place and strictly enforced by the Flight Attendants.

Traffic at security had picked up since my flight to Vancouver; it took just over 10 minutes to clear security, as there were almost 20 people for 2 lines. There were still temperature checks taken before security, although I have never seen anyone “fail such a test” (hopefully because Canadians are nice and responsible, and not because temperature checks can be easily fooled or mistaken).

After security, I am delighted to report that almost all the restaurants, shops and lounges are open! I unfortunately was not able to step inside the Maple Leaf Lounge, but see below for a picture of the Priority Pass one along with a link to an earlier review (not much has changed based on conversations with friends).

Interestingly while the CIBC stands selling credit cards were closed, there was a new pop up stand offering duty-free perfumes/toiletries. For anyone interested in stuff like this, I would recommend looking into the Shoppers Drug Mart PC Optimum Program, as there are lots of tricks to get up to 30% back for those items.

*Not sure duty free applies within Canada*

As for food options, Starbucks, Convenience Stores, the Bar and Grill were all open and accepting customers, although roughly half of all general airport entertainment remained close.

In the latest of small signs that things were beginning to get back to normal, water fountains were working again!

At this point, I was anxiously waiting for my Eupgrades to clear, given that I mistakenly changed my flight the day before. But thankfully, I had some gorgeous pieces of engineering to marvel at

*Using the pole for scale, look at the size of this beauty!*

In the air

While there were many people on this flight, everyone was quite good about keeping to their zones. However, takeoff was delayed by over 20 minutes due to some issues with the airport, again a sign that air travel was coming back (and / or staffing issues).

The Seat

In my past reviews I have mentioned that I love the hard product on Air Canada, and this time was no different. The seat / bed is extremely comfortable, and as an added bonus the blankets and pillows are now back! For a more fulsome review, please check out this article. I will focus more on the soft product changes given it’s unreasonable to expect an airline to upgrade their seats within a year.

At the seat, I found a set of headphones, bottle of water, and the new and improved Clean Care Plus kit. This second iteration made a bit more sense than the first, as it kept only the essentials of a face mask, hand sanitizer and wet wipes. Nevertheless, the rational behind including a face mask is lost to me, as everyone needs to have a face covering to even fly.

For people who are still cautious about travel, note that the 30 person cabin was full (although everyone was still distanced). Airlines like to promote the fact that they have HEPA filters on board to clean the air, although to be safe everyone should be wearing masks.

*Everyone seems happy pillows are back!*

The Food

Once airborne, the crew began meal service about an hour in: the menu below was the only choice given, but the crew was quite accommodating if anyone had any dietary preferences (E.g. Kosher food).

The meal was…quite good! Air Canada has since improved it’s offerings from the cold meal boxes of last year, and has also begun serving a greater variety of drinks. Indeed, one of my most favorite affordable Prosecco is back in the menu.

Funnily enough, I thought that while the Chicken wasn’t the best looking, it was quite tender and had a wonderful accompanying sauce. The salad was the opposite: while looking good, it was a tad bland even with the dressing. Finally, I was happy to see the cheese plate and Nanaimo bar replace the watery desert I had on my last flight, though I did not think the Nanaimo bar was anything special.

I popped over to the premium economy section to see their offerings: alas, it was just a chicken snack wrap (which I had on my last flight) mixed with a few snacks. 0/10 do not recommend the wrap, although it’s better than the water people in economy get.

*The light blue item is just a water bottle, not any special sauce for the wraps*

About halfway through the flight, the flight attendants distributed snack bags, which consisted of some chips and chocolate. Drinks were back on this flight: a collection of sodas, waters, beers and wines were served.

This flight also showed how a few small touches from an experienced crew can make all the difference in a service. Although to be fair to the prior generation of Flight Attendants, everyone was a bit calmer given how far Canada progressed in it’s vaccine rollout.

My first flight attendant saw I was working (#consultinglife), was very kind in proactively offering to keep my meal warm. Afterwards, an older gentlemen came around with seconds with the wine. He was extremely friendly, cracking jokes and complements – it helped that he was quite generous with the pours!

It seems like most crew are also happy to be flying back as well, for I heard snippets of crewmates catching up on whether any of them had any unfortunate bouts of unemployment, and how they managed to overcome that. Despite my occasional grumbling about the consulting lifestyle, I have been very fortunate to have a strong, understanding firm that lets people work from home.

The rest of the flight passed uneventfully, so I'll just show you pictures of the darkening skyline.

*Perfectly balanced, as all things should be*

The Point

At this point, the hallmarks of business class are back: quality bed and bedding, significantly better food and more attentive crews. For cross country flights, I would say Business Class once stands head and shoulders above the other classes, although for shorter journeys in older airplanes there still is not that much of a difference. That being said, book fast as prices are rising, with fares that were going for under $1,000 a couple months ago now returning to pre-pandemic levels of more than twice that. Finally, while people are still cautious, a sense of adventure is beginning to return to travel. Nick and I hope to write more articles about Canada and beyond in the coming months, so please all get vaccinated!