Having flown and written about Air Canada from Vancouver to Toronto too many times, I decided it was time to write about Toronto to Vancouver flight. How about that, its technically a different product! All jokes aside, given the changes back to “normal”, I wanted to experience, for the millionth time, Air Canada Signature Service on this route. And considering I am moving over to Chicago, this might be one of the last time I could do so in the near future. And I will miss this workhorse. After all, it is only offered on Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver and Toronto, Montreal / New York to Vancouver and Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto. Aka not Chicago, my new home.

Flight: AC 121

Departing: Toronto (YYZ)

Arriving: Vancouver (YVR)

Operated by: 787-9 Dreamliner

Cabin: Business Class (Air Canada Signature Suite)

Airport and Check In

The airport was surprisingly empty given the assertions in the media that Toronto Pearson was a shtshow. Probably due to the fact I was travelling on a Tuesday, and that I was travelling in business class.

Alas, I spoke too soon. I was going to miss my connection as the other flight was delayed, and so the Air Canada attendant kindly put me on a direct Toronto to Vancouver flight. Which funnily enough was going to arrive at an earlier time than my original flight. Also, remember if you booked a lie flat bed, make sure you get that! The attendant, out of no fault of her own, was suggesting an earlier flight on a 737 Max, and I countered with a slightly later flight.

Security again was relatively quick (5 minutes), probably because I had NEXUS and status. I descended into a near empty airport, and wondered where all the people were.

The answer was that they were all in the Maple Leaf Lounge. There was a kind, but overworked attendant, who made the rounds noting that there would be a 15 minute wait to enter. She also mentioned that the nearby Air Canada Cafe, which my co-author blogged about, would be quite empty.

The Lounge (and Cafe)

Given this lounge was packed to the brim, I did not find it appropriate to take pictures. Thankfully, we have already written about this lounge, and so I will only note the most important update: the food and drink.

Hot food is finally back, in the form of meatballs, rice and pasta.

This is also a selection of salads, chips, sandwiches and soups, which is much superior to the Premium Plaza lounge (presumably as this is Air Canada’s flagship lounge).

The self serve bar is back: the alcohol offerings are far superior that Plaza Premium, with the main reason being they serve Tanqueray and Black Label.

One really annoying thing that Air Canada hasn’t corrected is the fact that there are still many hundreds of small, single use waterbottles. Why not offer glasses of water, or even just larger water bottles that use less plastic?

To calm myself down, I had some wine and desserts, and looked at the tarmac. unfortunately, the view doesn’t really overlook anything.

I also did take a quick look at the Air Canada Cafe, but my co-author has already taken the liberty of covering it. I’ll just highlight that the trusty Thai chicken wrap is as good as ever, while the broccoli and cheddar salad has waayyy to much sauce, so the point it might as well be a soup.

Air Canada does encourage people to take food to go, so I did take a coke with me as well. They honestly don’t serve enough food on Air Canada, though to be fair I do eat a lot.

Boarding

I think the statistic was that more than half of Pearson’s departures were delayed in some matter; this was such a failure that the New York Times covered it.

Thankfully, my NEW flight was not delayed, but as you can see more than 80% of the flights were delayed or cancelled. Concurrently, the next flight to Vancouver was also cancelled, and so I am sure more than a few passengers got shifted onto my flight.

However, there was a massive lineup at the gate. As one passenger astutely remarked: they had to board 2 gates right next to each other at the same time??? This person could be a consultant. I’m sure any business school kid armed with excel could build a model to solve this.

Thankfully, business class passengers board in zone 1, so I just made my way up to the front. I have taken pictures of the full cabin in a previous review, so I will just leave the link there. The cabin was full, presumably as some passengers got rebooked from the flight that was supposed to be departing later.

The Seat

I settled into my seat 5G, and was, as always, impressed by how smooth Air Canada’s Executive Pods are. These things fit people more than 200CM tall, and at least for me are more than comfortable.

While the bottle of water and clean care+ kit are here, there is a new addition of an amenity kit!

As noted on the label, inside was a toothbrush, toothpaste, eyeshade, socks and earplugs. While obviously not up to Emirates standards, the items were functional and useful. Except for the eyemask, which was quite flimsy and didn’t wrap around my head well.

The overall bones of the seat have remained the same since my last review, but I have included some pictures below if you are curious.

The Food

Ahh, the best part of the flight, and why people pay over $2,000 for this ticket. Air Canada has FINALLY resumed proper food service. Please see below for the menu.

The wine menu wasn’t listed in PDF format, but the alcoholic drinks menu was quite similar to the below. I would like to take this time to point out Air Canada serves champagne that’s around $30 in business class, a far cry from literally any other airline. However, Air Canada does serve Laurent-Perrier on it’s true long haul flights, which is acceptable.

However, I will forget Air Canada as Dow’s Port isn’t too bad. The attendant came by pre-boarding to ask for everyone’s choices, and I chose my favorite: the beef.

There were actually quite a few drink services during the meal, of which I am grateful for (more on the service later).

Everyone’s starter was the Chef Park special, which was quite disappointing outside of the sauce that packed a punch. The tuna tasted like nothing, there were only 3 roasted cauliflowers, and while the bread was warm the butter was cold.

What saved the day was the beef - I find Air Canada does beef and veal quite well, as the meat is still moist and tender. Seriously, this was better than what I got on my Emirates First Class flight LOL.

Next up was Alex’s cheeky thai chicken wrap. This one of my favorites, and I need to eat it as Air Canada doesn’t give enough food IMHO. Or at least, needs to increase the amount of protein on its starter course.

The meal ended with a choice of fruit or tiramisu. I chose the tiramisu, and thought it was about the same as a store bought. At this point, I feel like either my mom or my local sushi joint would beat “Chef” Park in a cookoff - the tiramisu was unfortunately quite tasteless, and a tad cold.

The flight attendants then went around with a basket of snacks about half an hour after the meal service had ended.

The snack basket was then placed in the front of the cabin for people to enjoy. The rest of the flight passed by rather uneventfully, and we landed in YVR on schedule. Because in YVR, unlike in YYZ, there was no delay that forced the plane to be an hour behind.

The Service

I’ll preface this by saying that the airline industry has gone through changes, and that many of the crew are new to this job. That being said, while there was nothing technically wrong, this service was a bit too casual for my liking. When I asked for my dine on demand (which was specifically specified on the menu), the flight attendant got confused, and it took a while for him to figure it out. Concurrently, I wasn’t addressed by name (I know, first world problem), with the general vibe of this flight being more casual. This was quite unlike my previous Air Canada flight a year ago, whereby the crew were extremely professional. Don’t get me wrong, this is miles better than in economy, and I am grateful for the flight attendants who work hard with a full cabin. With a few small touches, it could have been better. :)

The Point

As I fly one of my last YYZ YVR flights, I am struck by how much I actually will miss this. Air Canada’s signature service is very similar on its transcontinental and long haul flights; thus, travelers get to see the “best” of Air Canada. And I will say it is quite good. It’s not the over-the-top nature of Emirates, or the feast that is Qatar, but it is a solid product. And there is nothing wrong with that. The seat is comfortable, most of the time the food is good, and the service is reasonablish. If I had the chance, I would definitely fly Air Canada over any of the other North American carriers (with the exception of Flagship First, but mainly for the lounge). As much as us Canadians like to complain about our flag carrier, I think it is a great way to fly transcontinental or long haul, especially for the price!