Carfield
Nov 18, 03, 1:39 pm
Dear fellow talkers,
Here is my latest trip report on an award ticket on Air Canada’s “renovated” executive class service between New York JFK and Vancouver International. The verdict was very mixed. I had an excellent flight from JFK to Vancouver and the F/As were kind, but on the return, I was basically ignored by the F/As and the F/As hurried through the service and hid in the galley. This inconsistent service is definitely what Air Canada needs to pay attention as it is trying to get out of this bankruptcy. I guess it is not a surprise when I read that AC’s traffic is down 10% last month. Based on the service I got, I am not going to take the SEA-YVR-HKG this Christmas – it is better to stick with other Asian carriers. So the meal service is interesting but my opinion is rather mixed, but the cookie and ice cream service is great though. Here it goes!
November 13, 2003
AC 321 JFK-YVR Lv0750 Arr1050
Airbus A319-100 C-FZUG (reg#263)
Check in was a bit different from previous experience! There used to be a separate Air Canada area next to UA business class counters, but I found out that Air Canada check-in is completely merged with United, so head directly the usual UA area for check-in. I went to the UA business class counter and got a rather pleasant greeting from the agent. She issued my boarding pass and I got an AC ticket jacket. Gate was the usual 12 and Gate 11 & 12 got its own private security line. There was no wait and was at gate 12 within minutes. Load was very light this morning. Boarding began at 7:18am and the flight attendant welcomed us aboard, and coats were immediately hung, and a choice of orange juice and water was offered, followed by yesterday’s Canadian papers (Vancouver Sun & Globe & Mail). The Executive class cabin was rather empty and I moved from 1A (the best row definitely with lots of legroom on 1A and C) to 3A. AC used to have 16 seats in J with a concrete cabin divider, but it has reduced to 14 seats and a curtain divider, which will possibly increase Y seats. I don’t know if I am right in my observation but the AC experts can correct me. Well curtains are not closed during the flight between J and Y, but the galley curtains were used. Door was closed at 7:45am and we pushed back on time. JFK was relatively quiet at these early hours and we headed towards Runway 31L for our takeoff. We lifted off at 8:08am and flying time was five hours and thirty-one minutes. We first climbed to 35,000ft as we crossed Toronto, Thunder Bay, and Winnipeg, before climbing further to 39,000ft as we passed Regina, Brandon, and Kewlona.
The climbing was a bit choppy as there were high winds throughout the New York area this morning. After seat belt light went off at 8:14am and F/As immediately passed out headsets as they prepared breakfast. The standard CBC News, Sports, and financial news in English and French were shown shortly after. Headsets are complimentary in both J and Y. Movie this morning was Le Divorce and short subjects, such as Naked Chef, was shown throughout the flight. Hot towels were passed out soon at 8:39am and the beverage trolley was rolled out. The fruit appetizer, breads and beverage were first served. The fruit plate consisted of 4 slices of orange segments, 2 half strawberries, pineapple and cantaloupe, which was fresh and ripe. The breadbasket was later served with one choice – a multigrain bread roll, and a MAMMASAT’s chocolate chip flavored biscotti was on the tray as well. I really think that a more proper breakfast pastry should be served instead of a lunch or dinner rolls. I don’t think it is that much expensive to serve a bagel or a croissant or a scone. Well, entrée order was taken next – there was a choice of French toasts or Steak & eggs. They are all served in a round white pasta bowl – very nice presentation, and our F/A even went as far as warming up the plates and mugs before plating the entrée. That is really good service. The steak & egg entrée is a bit different that the conventional steak and fried egg. It is served in layers – from top to bottom – parsley, poached egg beaters (or scrambled in airline catering vocabulary), sautéed spinach with garlic, slices of pot roasts, and thinly sliced potatoes. The presentation was fine, but the dish can use a bit of more seasoning and salt. After breakfast, the beverage trolley returned with a beverage refill and then I went to sleep till the second service. About two hours prior to arrival, the trolley returned with the new cookie and ice-cream service – a choice of Chocolate Chip or Oatmeal raisin cookies and a 4 oz cup of Haagen-Dazs Vanilla ice-cream. It was great snack and then the beverage trolley returned. Our beverage was topped off for the rest of the flight. Descent soon began at 1:17pm and there was another round of hot towels. The head flight attendant pointed out various Vancouver land spots as we were heading to YVR. It was a beautiful day at Vancouver, despite that it is only zero degrees Celsius.
We landed on Runway 8L at 10:39am and passed by a wide range of Asian aircrafts on a relatively busy Thursday – JAL’s Boeing 747-300 in the new livery (JA8166), SQ’s Boeing 777-200ER (9V-SVF) just landed after us from Seoul Incheon and Singapore, and CX 747-400 (B-HOU) heading for JFK. We passed by an Aloha’s Boeing 737-700 (N749AL) with new blended winglet, and parked at gate E86 next to another Air Canada’s A319 with the Horizon Enfrance’s sticker (C-FYTD).
November 16, 2003
AC 320 YVR-JFK Lv1450 Arr2250
Airbus A319-100 C-FYIY (Fleet number: 252)
It was a normal check in and the INS was not that mean. Since I arrived early at the airport, there was not too much line this morning. I went to the brand new transborder MLL, which was very nice. The lounge was large with the normal Xerox business center, conference rooms, and a snack and beverage stations. Snack is limited to cheese and crackers, fruit, and cookies, but beverage was abundant – self-served. I went to the computer a bit and it only had the normal dial up service. I saw a couple interesting aircraft – CX 74J (B-HUG) to JFK & CX 343 (B-HXG) to HKG, and another AQ’s Boeing 737-700 (N746AL) with winglet – the flight was delayed till 2:11pm this afternoon.
Boarding began at 2:28pm at gate E85. The loading was light in Y but full in J. At check-in, I asked the agent if the flight was full – she said, “no,” and so I asked her to move me a row with no one occupying the seat next to me. Of course, when I boarded, J was full with lots of upgrades and non-rev. I was caught in surprise and yelled at myself for not keeping 1A. What can I do? Boarding was chaotic, as the 14 J passengers scrambling for overhead space. Because of the leg rest, you can’t really put anything at the seat in front of you, except a handbag or a thin laptop case. The F/A told me that there was no space in the closet; he scrambled my jacket in the overhead space. Pre-takeoff beverage was limited to a glass of water and newspapers (only Canadian) were passed out next. Door was closed at 2:56pm and there was no reason for a late pushback. Well we were off to Runway 8R immediately. It was a long taxiing and we soon lifted off from a rainy Vancouver at 3:09pm. Flying time was four hours and thirty-six minutes with a cruising attitude of 37,000ft.
Seat belt sign was off at 3:16pm and the F/As began taking entrée orders. The head flight attendant talked to my neighbor, as she was a frequent flyer on this route. She apparently saw her last week and next week as well. She took her entrée order and did not even look at me. Then she took the order from the front to the back, and I guess she was run out of entrée order by the time she was done with row two… she did not even bother to inform me my entrée order and did not do the normal greeting. As a Star Gold passenger, I would expect a polite greeting and at least, told me what I was having for dinner. I feel like the F/As ignored me because I was basically an Asian out of the fourteen J passengers. I don’t want to bring the “race” issue but this is not a color-blind society. It is obviously one of the possible reasons for the F/A at their rather impolite gestures throughout the flight and I flew much in the United States, and yet to feel so ignored till this particular flight. Sometimes, there is no wonder why this airline is falling apart. Sad!
Well the meal service began with a beverage service with a pack of cashews – very salty! Then dinner was served in two courses – first an appetizer with a wheat bread roll. The appetizer was a tuna salad (canned tuna, not fresh tuna) topped with chopped egg and green beans, on top of a German potato salad garnished by a slice of lemon. It was not impressive and a bit cheap. On the tray, a small piece of chocolate covered strawberry (really small) was placed on the right hand corner as a dessert. Why bother! Then it comes the entrée – I am not sure what other choice is – it is a meat entrée. I had the seafood paella, which was much better than the appetizer – a piece of pan-fried Salmon, some shrimps and sliced chorizo sausages were placed on top of rice with vegetables, and a spicy marinara sauce. There were complaints about the quantity of the meals, but I think the portion was fine. Then the beverage trolley returned. After the meal, the F/A passed out glasses of water and disappeared till about an hour and forty five minutes prior to landing with the cookie and ice cream service – choice of chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies, with a 4 oz cup of Vancouver’s Mario’s Gelati (mango-flavored). There was no additional beverage service and the F/As went back to the galley after collecting trashes, and continued the chat. Need I say more! For entertainment, the movie, Hulk, was shown with a weekend edition of the news program and some short subjects afterward. Descent began at 7:18pm PST, and we landed on Runway 13L at 10:45pmEST and headed towards gate 12. I was fortunate enough to catch the last bus (11pm) for Manhattan, and in conclusion, I was rather disappointed, but the new meal service is fine, with a few details need to be fixed.
I hope you will enjoy the trip report and Hawaii is next week’s agenda!
Carfield
[This message has been edited by Carfield (edited Nov 18, 2003).]
Here is my latest trip report on an award ticket on Air Canada’s “renovated” executive class service between New York JFK and Vancouver International. The verdict was very mixed. I had an excellent flight from JFK to Vancouver and the F/As were kind, but on the return, I was basically ignored by the F/As and the F/As hurried through the service and hid in the galley. This inconsistent service is definitely what Air Canada needs to pay attention as it is trying to get out of this bankruptcy. I guess it is not a surprise when I read that AC’s traffic is down 10% last month. Based on the service I got, I am not going to take the SEA-YVR-HKG this Christmas – it is better to stick with other Asian carriers. So the meal service is interesting but my opinion is rather mixed, but the cookie and ice cream service is great though. Here it goes!
November 13, 2003
AC 321 JFK-YVR Lv0750 Arr1050
Airbus A319-100 C-FZUG (reg#263)
Check in was a bit different from previous experience! There used to be a separate Air Canada area next to UA business class counters, but I found out that Air Canada check-in is completely merged with United, so head directly the usual UA area for check-in. I went to the UA business class counter and got a rather pleasant greeting from the agent. She issued my boarding pass and I got an AC ticket jacket. Gate was the usual 12 and Gate 11 & 12 got its own private security line. There was no wait and was at gate 12 within minutes. Load was very light this morning. Boarding began at 7:18am and the flight attendant welcomed us aboard, and coats were immediately hung, and a choice of orange juice and water was offered, followed by yesterday’s Canadian papers (Vancouver Sun & Globe & Mail). The Executive class cabin was rather empty and I moved from 1A (the best row definitely with lots of legroom on 1A and C) to 3A. AC used to have 16 seats in J with a concrete cabin divider, but it has reduced to 14 seats and a curtain divider, which will possibly increase Y seats. I don’t know if I am right in my observation but the AC experts can correct me. Well curtains are not closed during the flight between J and Y, but the galley curtains were used. Door was closed at 7:45am and we pushed back on time. JFK was relatively quiet at these early hours and we headed towards Runway 31L for our takeoff. We lifted off at 8:08am and flying time was five hours and thirty-one minutes. We first climbed to 35,000ft as we crossed Toronto, Thunder Bay, and Winnipeg, before climbing further to 39,000ft as we passed Regina, Brandon, and Kewlona.
The climbing was a bit choppy as there were high winds throughout the New York area this morning. After seat belt light went off at 8:14am and F/As immediately passed out headsets as they prepared breakfast. The standard CBC News, Sports, and financial news in English and French were shown shortly after. Headsets are complimentary in both J and Y. Movie this morning was Le Divorce and short subjects, such as Naked Chef, was shown throughout the flight. Hot towels were passed out soon at 8:39am and the beverage trolley was rolled out. The fruit appetizer, breads and beverage were first served. The fruit plate consisted of 4 slices of orange segments, 2 half strawberries, pineapple and cantaloupe, which was fresh and ripe. The breadbasket was later served with one choice – a multigrain bread roll, and a MAMMASAT’s chocolate chip flavored biscotti was on the tray as well. I really think that a more proper breakfast pastry should be served instead of a lunch or dinner rolls. I don’t think it is that much expensive to serve a bagel or a croissant or a scone. Well, entrée order was taken next – there was a choice of French toasts or Steak & eggs. They are all served in a round white pasta bowl – very nice presentation, and our F/A even went as far as warming up the plates and mugs before plating the entrée. That is really good service. The steak & egg entrée is a bit different that the conventional steak and fried egg. It is served in layers – from top to bottom – parsley, poached egg beaters (or scrambled in airline catering vocabulary), sautéed spinach with garlic, slices of pot roasts, and thinly sliced potatoes. The presentation was fine, but the dish can use a bit of more seasoning and salt. After breakfast, the beverage trolley returned with a beverage refill and then I went to sleep till the second service. About two hours prior to arrival, the trolley returned with the new cookie and ice-cream service – a choice of Chocolate Chip or Oatmeal raisin cookies and a 4 oz cup of Haagen-Dazs Vanilla ice-cream. It was great snack and then the beverage trolley returned. Our beverage was topped off for the rest of the flight. Descent soon began at 1:17pm and there was another round of hot towels. The head flight attendant pointed out various Vancouver land spots as we were heading to YVR. It was a beautiful day at Vancouver, despite that it is only zero degrees Celsius.
We landed on Runway 8L at 10:39am and passed by a wide range of Asian aircrafts on a relatively busy Thursday – JAL’s Boeing 747-300 in the new livery (JA8166), SQ’s Boeing 777-200ER (9V-SVF) just landed after us from Seoul Incheon and Singapore, and CX 747-400 (B-HOU) heading for JFK. We passed by an Aloha’s Boeing 737-700 (N749AL) with new blended winglet, and parked at gate E86 next to another Air Canada’s A319 with the Horizon Enfrance’s sticker (C-FYTD).
November 16, 2003
AC 320 YVR-JFK Lv1450 Arr2250
Airbus A319-100 C-FYIY (Fleet number: 252)
It was a normal check in and the INS was not that mean. Since I arrived early at the airport, there was not too much line this morning. I went to the brand new transborder MLL, which was very nice. The lounge was large with the normal Xerox business center, conference rooms, and a snack and beverage stations. Snack is limited to cheese and crackers, fruit, and cookies, but beverage was abundant – self-served. I went to the computer a bit and it only had the normal dial up service. I saw a couple interesting aircraft – CX 74J (B-HUG) to JFK & CX 343 (B-HXG) to HKG, and another AQ’s Boeing 737-700 (N746AL) with winglet – the flight was delayed till 2:11pm this afternoon.
Boarding began at 2:28pm at gate E85. The loading was light in Y but full in J. At check-in, I asked the agent if the flight was full – she said, “no,” and so I asked her to move me a row with no one occupying the seat next to me. Of course, when I boarded, J was full with lots of upgrades and non-rev. I was caught in surprise and yelled at myself for not keeping 1A. What can I do? Boarding was chaotic, as the 14 J passengers scrambling for overhead space. Because of the leg rest, you can’t really put anything at the seat in front of you, except a handbag or a thin laptop case. The F/A told me that there was no space in the closet; he scrambled my jacket in the overhead space. Pre-takeoff beverage was limited to a glass of water and newspapers (only Canadian) were passed out next. Door was closed at 2:56pm and there was no reason for a late pushback. Well we were off to Runway 8R immediately. It was a long taxiing and we soon lifted off from a rainy Vancouver at 3:09pm. Flying time was four hours and thirty-six minutes with a cruising attitude of 37,000ft.
Seat belt sign was off at 3:16pm and the F/As began taking entrée orders. The head flight attendant talked to my neighbor, as she was a frequent flyer on this route. She apparently saw her last week and next week as well. She took her entrée order and did not even look at me. Then she took the order from the front to the back, and I guess she was run out of entrée order by the time she was done with row two… she did not even bother to inform me my entrée order and did not do the normal greeting. As a Star Gold passenger, I would expect a polite greeting and at least, told me what I was having for dinner. I feel like the F/As ignored me because I was basically an Asian out of the fourteen J passengers. I don’t want to bring the “race” issue but this is not a color-blind society. It is obviously one of the possible reasons for the F/A at their rather impolite gestures throughout the flight and I flew much in the United States, and yet to feel so ignored till this particular flight. Sometimes, there is no wonder why this airline is falling apart. Sad!
Well the meal service began with a beverage service with a pack of cashews – very salty! Then dinner was served in two courses – first an appetizer with a wheat bread roll. The appetizer was a tuna salad (canned tuna, not fresh tuna) topped with chopped egg and green beans, on top of a German potato salad garnished by a slice of lemon. It was not impressive and a bit cheap. On the tray, a small piece of chocolate covered strawberry (really small) was placed on the right hand corner as a dessert. Why bother! Then it comes the entrée – I am not sure what other choice is – it is a meat entrée. I had the seafood paella, which was much better than the appetizer – a piece of pan-fried Salmon, some shrimps and sliced chorizo sausages were placed on top of rice with vegetables, and a spicy marinara sauce. There were complaints about the quantity of the meals, but I think the portion was fine. Then the beverage trolley returned. After the meal, the F/A passed out glasses of water and disappeared till about an hour and forty five minutes prior to landing with the cookie and ice cream service – choice of chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookies, with a 4 oz cup of Vancouver’s Mario’s Gelati (mango-flavored). There was no additional beverage service and the F/As went back to the galley after collecting trashes, and continued the chat. Need I say more! For entertainment, the movie, Hulk, was shown with a weekend edition of the news program and some short subjects afterward. Descent began at 7:18pm PST, and we landed on Runway 13L at 10:45pmEST and headed towards gate 12. I was fortunate enough to catch the last bus (11pm) for Manhattan, and in conclusion, I was rather disappointed, but the new meal service is fine, with a few details need to be fixed.
I hope you will enjoy the trip report and Hawaii is next week’s agenda!
Carfield
[This message has been edited by Carfield (edited Nov 18, 2003).]