Trip Reports - Karachi to Toronto Emirates and Air Canada (J)

Flight #1

Karachi to Dubai EK603 A330-200
Sch Dep / Arr 2230 2335
Act Dep / Arr 2240 2342

Departure

My favourite airport in the world has to be Karachi airport (!) Not only is it extremely organized, fast-paced and clean, you actually enjoy being there. You can check in 45 minutes before the flight and you will be on time. The only sad thing is the lack of any shops. I check in and was given my boarding passes all the way to Toronto and my bags were tagged

Cabin

I had booked flights so that I could experience the new A330-200 on Emirates with the increased legroom as well as the Air Canada A330. The cabin was clean, fresh and welcoming. Flowers were places in the bulkhead and my seat had a pillow, blanket and headseat. We were offered a choice of mango, apple or orange juice or champagne.

Seat

Emirates really lacks in its Business Class seating. For this 2 hour flight it was OK. What I noticed was that the seat pitch had been increased, but the recline of the seat (especially of the footrest) was DREADFUL. It barely came up at all and was not impressive.

Catering

Not bad. We were offered a choice of mutton or lamb biryani, and a kheer desert was also offered. The menu was indeed the same as in Economy Class.

IFE

An in seat video was offered but didnt operate for this flight. Some TV shows were played, which was adequate.

Cabin Staff

Average as Emirates are. I was not adressed by name, nor was I smiled at.

Arrival

On time (ish) and the transit in Dubai was (surprisingly) painless

Overall Verdict 8/10

The transit in Dubai was the best part of my experience. We arrived at 1130, 20 minutes or so before the peak peak rush in the Business Class lounge. We got there very fast and luckily it was empty.

Flight #2

Dubai to Heathrow EK7 A330-200
Sch Dep / Arr 0245 0635
Act Dep / Arr 0305 0710

Departure

The amount of people that were stuffed into the tiny departure lounge was amazing. The boarding process was just a free for all and everyone ran towards the gate.

Cabin

Once again nice, clean and fresh. I like Emirates's use of colours alot. Am amenity kit, pillow, blanket, movie selection sheet and headset were on my seat

Seats

I had the unfortunate luck to be in row 6, which should be avoided at ALL COSTS. The pitch isnt more than 38" or so, and is the only J row that didnt benifit from the seat pitch increase. The recline again was also very poor. Not impressive.

Catering

Overall below my expectations. This is the first time I had experienced breakfast on a long haul Emirates flight because I usually take the midday flight from Karachi. The breakfast was acceptable, but quite basic and included omlette or scrambled eggs, and cereal and juices.

IFE

Very Good. The Emirates A330 entertainment system is the next best thing to AVOD. Around 30-35 movies were available, and you watched them through a casette player located in your seat.

Cabin Staff Service

Quite good. The staff at least smiled, but I was not adressed by name.

Arrival

Arrived into London very late, and it took a very long time to get to the gate.

Overall Verdict 7/10 - the food and seats werent adequate for a Long Haul night flight.

The Transit in London was very enjoyable. The London lounge is fantastic for the morning. There are showers, massage chairs, a reading room, a smoking room, a library and many other great areas. The layout and design is also very appealing.


Flight #3

Heathrow to Toronto AC869 A330-300
Sch Dep / Arr 0855 1200
Act Dep / Arr 0916 1210

Departure

London is very well organized and boarding proceeded in an excellent manner.

Cabin

Very nice. AC have gone all out on their Executive First service and neglected their economy service. The cabin was fresh, with nice tones of Green. I was adressed by NAME :) and shown the my seat personally by a very nice attendant.

Seats

AMAZING. After Emirates's terrible seats, these were a welcome. I was luckily in seat 5A which is a pilot rest seat, and it became completely flat. It was padded well, with clear controls, and all the legroom I could ever want.

Catering

Air Canada normally does adequately in its J class catering, but unfortunately this was an exception. I made the mistake of choosing blueberry pankackes, which were basically inedible. However, later on the cookies and ice cream made up for the terrible breakfast - A very nice Canadian touch.

IFE

AVOD on this aircraft. My only peeve was that even though it explained all the games and said games on the IFE screen, no-one, not even the crew could find them. Apart from that the IFE was good

Cabin Staff Service

Amazing. Clearly Air Canada hires crew for their service, and on this flight it was nothing short of exceptional. I was treated like true royalty.

Arrival

Arrived into Toronton 10 minutes late. Toronto airport is a true nightmare. You have to get off the plane, go down stairs into a bus, off the bus up more stairs to immigration, then down stairs to baggage claim. It is without a doubt the worst airport I have ever been to, and with the "improvements" it has become WORSE. The staff keep telling me its not done yet, but they have made it worse meanwhile

Overall Verdict 9.5/10 - Overall an amazing flight. The only thing I didnt like was the breakfast, but this was an exception, as usually the catering is good. Air Canada is spot on with their Executive First Class service.

After arriving, my Emirates miles were credited whereas my AC miles were not. After emailing them they were credited - but without bonus. I explained to them that my ticket was in "J" class (25% bonus) but they argued it was in "c" (no bonus). I was told to mail my ticket and boarding pass to Vacnouver, which I did, and it has been 6 months without any follow up. I have phoned them and all they have said is wait - there is nothing else you can do

Excellent report. ^ Sounds like EK have a long way to go before they deserve all the awards they get. You gave it 8/10 but to me it sounds more like 6/10...

Good to hear that AC did so well. Will you be posting the return too?

Excellent report. ^ Sounds like EK have a long way to go before they deserve all the awards they get. You gave it 8/10 but to me it sounds more like 6/10...

Good to hear that AC did so well. Will you be posting the return too?
good report. I have always thought that air canada's service was underrated. For what it's worth , my parents flew Emirates (albeit in economy) and said it was absolutely dreadful- true cattle car experience, with surly FA's. This flight was from LHR to BOM. I have heard this from more than one source, so I am surprised that they get such accolades. To me, the mark of a good airline and service is not how they treat their business and first passengers, because you expect excellent service, but rather how the economy class passengers are treated.

Hey,

Ill try and post the return.

The thing with EK is, I am so used to flying with them and I know how excellent they can be - which means that I expect more from them. I was very harsh on them and therefore even though it sounds like they were of a 6/10 standard, they really were at an 8/10 standard. Things like the AMAZING ground services (lounges, limos, priority etc) and the frequent flyer program really put AC to shame. I had much lower standards for AC and therefore I was pleased when they did so well :D