Johnnywassabii

I am flying form YVR to NRT in less than a month on a Friday Departure on AC 03. I am flying in Executive First on a 343, this will be my first international flight in J, and was wondering what to expect in terms of food, the seat, and entertainment. Could folks who have done this flight before give me your impressions and any hints or suggestions to make the most of my J experience. I have had my SE status added to the ticket.

Also AC 03 is scheduled to land in NRT at 15:20. How long does it usually take folks to clear through customs on a two week visitor status? Does AC 03 usually have a good on time record? I have a bus to catch at NRT scheduled for 17:30 departure, do you think this is a reasonable connection time?

Any stories or enlightenment on the YVR - NRT on AC 03 would be most appreciated.

JW

why fly

The plane will be old and have duct tape.....

Wait a few months and fly the 777 ^

Compare to who? Its great compared to West Jet....

You are SE so you know AC planes are rather shabby you will get a great meal. Your seat will suck compared to Asia carriers...

shore9

This is your first INTL J flight and you are SE?

Spounce

Immigration clearance at NRT can take up to an hour, but is usually faster. It all depends on how many flights arrive at once, where in the line you are and on how many of the arriving passengers are Japanese and how many are foreigners. You'll get to deplane first if you're sitting in J. Make your way to passport control as quickly as you can and I'm sure you'll be in plenty of time for your 5:30 bus. Baggage delivery at NRT is usually very quick.

Johnnywassabii

I've earned my SE the hard way, 126 domestic segments mostly on Dash-8, with a mercy CRJ flight now and then.

shore9

Wow, talk to a certain individual from YSB, he also enjoys doing segments on the Dash-8's

mudd_stuffin

I have taken this flight once before, followed by a 1830 connection on NW to HK. The NW flight was actually in a different terminal. That time, I would be in the other terminal by 1530 to 1600.

I may be wrong about this, but the aircraft they use for this flight arrives at around 1030am in YVR (AC2). Barring unforseen delays, there should be plenty of time between that and the scheduled departure of around 1300 YVR time.

The Japanese folks at customs don't ask a whole lot of questions - the only question they may ask is how long you are there for.

HereNow...

You are a sad case, indeed, when flying the CRJ is considered "mercy". That will be a first on this Board

3Cforme

Learn to love FlightStats for on-time performance history.

For AC3: Historical Performance
Ontime: 65% Rating Details
Ave Delay: 33 minutes
Rating: 0.9 of 5


http://www.flightstats.com/go/Home/home.do

Sanosuke

I've started taking AC 3/4 to NRT since last year. Last year, I remember being diverted to Anchorage, AK. Wasn't too pleasant as they had to offload a passenger with high blood pressure. Arrived in NRT 5 hours later then original landing time. But I enjoyed the short break in the journey to NRT. That time, I didn't take more than 20 minutes to clear both immigration and customs.

Sanosuke!

Johnnywassabii

Thank you very much for taking the time to post a response, that is a cool site

why fly

Wow this flight sucks for ontime performance... and its not a 345
Just kidding no flame war.

Andrew Yiu

Nope. For March (after the DST change) - AC004 NRT-YVR arrives at 1155 and YVR-NRT AC003 leaves at 1300. It will usually turn from AC008 which arrives at 1055 and then AC004 will go to AC007 to HKG at 1345.

Spot planes

I traveled NRT to YVR on AC4 on Dec 9, 2006. Here is my report posted on http://www.tripreports.co.nr/

9 December 2006

Air Canada AC004. NRT-YVR. A340-300. C-FYKX. J Class.

Finally, my trip home !

I arrived at NRT from DLC on NH904. It was a long walk from NH arrival and through a long tunnel to the NRT satellite for the AC connection. The airport can do better to decorate the tunnel as it was "sterile" and "cold". This tunnel can be used as the set for some scary movies.

Upon arrival at NRT, I learnt that my AC flight would be delayed for 4 hours due to late arrival. The A340s have given AC lots of trouble because of various mechanical problems. The NH agent told me AC flights had been delayed twice this week at NRT. After returning home, I found out my friend's AC flight YVR-HKG on an A340 was delayed for 10 hours. Good news is that AC is getting rid of all their A340s (-300 and -500) as soon as they got their B777s. (Boeing slogan: It ain't Boeing, I am not going!)

Unlike those passengers traveling beyond Toronto and need connection flights there, the delay did not give me any trouble. (see my other report on NH904 DLC-NRT) After a long wait at the AC counter to get my VIP Lounge invitation and meal voucher, I headed to the lounge and spend my 4 hours there.

In the NH VIP lounge, flight departure was not announced. As my AC flight was the last flight out, everybody in the lounge was waiting for AC004. When the first group of passengers started to move out, it seem everybody followed suit. The lounge was located at level 3 while the departure gates were at level 4. The elevators here were enclosed in see through glass enclosure. I took the escalator instead.

Boarding started at 2150hr. AC has no first class, only Executive First Class which is the business class. As usual, J class passengers were boarded first. The J class seats were 2-2-2 in this A340. The seats were wide at about 20" and 60" pitch. However, these were not lay flat seats. In-flight entertainment included an in-arm rest 8.5" monitor with multipe channels of movies and other video. Pillow, blanket and noise cancelling headphone were already on the seat. FA were friendly and offered to take our coats to hang in the closet and placed the carry on in overhead bins while we were settling in. Another FA offered water and juices. In the seat pocket also placed an amenity kit including toothbrush, tooth paste, ear plugs, sockettes, eye shades, lip balm, facial moisturizing spray and 'do not disturb' sticker. Local and Canadian newspapers were offered.

Push back was at 2250hr. Not much traffic at this time of the night, so the plane taxied straight to the runway and immediate take off. After leveling off, the FA handed out the menu/order for the dinner and breakfast. You just have to check off your choice (different main course, desert, etc.) and also tick off the time you want the meal served. You can also change the selection or service any time with 30 minutes notice. That is a nice personal touch. Now you do not need to eat when you don't feel like eating. You can eat whenever you want. However, the second meal (breakfast) must be served no later than 2 hours before landing. I picked Japanese meal again for dinner just wanted to see how this one compared to the excellent one I had in my last flight NH904. As this flight will be about 8 hours long, I chose to have the dinner as soon as possible so that I can have a few hours of sleep.

Soon the FA came around for the beverages service. Drinks were served in glasses. Most passengers do not drink alcoholic beverages and opted for juices or water. Japanese tea was also served. The cabin lights were dimmed while some passenger went to sleep. All passengers were served with otsumami (Japanese side dish or tapas to accompany drinks). The meal service started about 2 hours after take off. The meal started with hot and cold canapés, the main course Japanese meal was Kaiseki style. The food and presentation was excellent and far better than the meal I had in my last ANA flight. The service was more relaxed and at a slower pace in this flight than the ANA flight. May be because this was a longer flight (more than 8 hours) so that the FAs did not have to rush. The meal was served in authentic Japanese china and utensils. This was definitely the best airline meal I ever have in recent years.

By the time the meal was finished and everything cleared away, it was about 0300hr Tokyo time. The cabin lights were turned off. I watched the Canadian news and dosed off. After we have passed the International Date Line, the sky started to turn bright. In the J class cabin, AC has a self serve cart stocked with fresh fruits, cookies, potato chips (crisp for UK readers), instant noodles and other snacks. FA came around with water and juices very frequently.

About 2 hours before landing, all the cabin lights were turned back on and FA came around with hot towels and fruit juices as “wake up’ service. There was a wide variety to choose for breakfast. Fresh fruit was served as appetiser and there were 3 hot breakfast choices, including cereals and yogurts. Heated breakfast croissants and pastries were served with the hot meal. Name brands such as Second Cup coffee, Higgins & Burke Orange Pekoe tea and herbal teas were offered. After the meal, the FAs come to clean up the cabin collecting newspapers, magazines, headphones, blankets and garbage. Soon we were landing at Vancouver. We were able to make up a little time and arrived at the gate at 1340hr the same day we left Tokyo (we were actually 9 hours before we left). Gate to gate was 8 hours 15 minutes.

Clipper801

Source: www.flightstats.com

AC015 Dec. 15, 2006 to Feb. 15, 2007
Ontime 32 51%
Late 12 19%
Very Late 5 8%
Excessive 11 17%
Cancelled 0 0%
Diverted 2 3%
Total Flights 62

AC016 Dec. 15, 2006 to Feb. 15, 2007
Ontime 49 77%
Late 5 7%
Very Late 4 6%
Excessive 5 7%
Cancelled 0 0%
Diverted 0 0%
Total Flights 63

Statistics do not lie. No flame war!