First time Business Class to Canada
Oct 11, 2013, 12:10 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: CGN
Programs: A* Gold, OW Sapphire, Thalys Platinum, Accor Gold, member of BahnBonus
Posts: 210
First time Business Class to Canada
Hello everyone!
I am a (mostly) silent reader in this forum and I always kind of envy those, who are travelling in an "upper class" style. I am working full time in the IT department of an insurance company, so no business travel - except for a few train rides in Germany and some inner-european flights. But not many miles available for upgrades ...
My holiday travels brought me around Europe and as far as Canada, New Zealand, Japan and China - but always in Economy class. Well, NZ was in Premium Eco because I feared that I might arrive in New Zealand with a desperately needed chiropractic treatment after 26 hours of flight. Letīs just say, that, since I am 6 ft 1 (1,86m) and around 220lb (100 kg) and my girlfriend is not much shorter (much less weight though), this flights werenīt always fun ...
This year, we did something completly different: We were flying Business Class! The first time in our lifes! Ta-da! Cue up the fanfares ...
So, I would like to tell the story of a C newbie, flying the first time in (more) style.
A quick warning: I am not a native speaker. My english teacher at school told me (15 years ago, but still mostly true), that my english skills were just good enough to ask where the toilet is and to order a beer. Which, at that time in my life, was also good enough for me as well ...
I hope, that my language skills are adequate for you. At least, you should be able to understand my train of thought. And my pictures are some sort of "common language", I hope.
I am going to focus on the flights and add some bits about the trip itself. Fore more pictures and the long commentary, I would like to refer to my (german) blog: Travellingdevil.de (direct link to the canada parts).
The report is divided into 5 parts:
- Introduction
- Flying BRU - LHR with SN
- Flying LHR - YVR with AC
- The Trip in Canada Part 1 - From Edmonton to Lake Louise
- The Trip in Canada Part 2 - From Lake Louise to Ainsworth Hot Springs
- The Trip in Canada Part 3 - From Ainsworth Hot Springs to Calgary
- The Trip in Canada Part 4 - From Calgary to Edmonton
- The Trip in Canada Part 5 - From Edmonton with the Canadian to Vancouver
- The Trip in Canada Part 6 - Vancouver Part 1
- Sidetrip from Vancouver to Whistler (Flight YWS - CXH with Whistler Air Floatplane) - Part 1 and Part 2 (the flight)
- Sidetrip from Vancouver to Victoria (Flight CXH - YWH with Harbour Air Floatplane) - Part 1 (the flight) and Part 2
- The Trip in Canada Part 6 - Vancouver Part 2
- Flying YVR - YUL - BRU with AC
I am trying to complete the trip report as fast as possible, but cannot gurantee to be as quick (and as good) as one of the trip report gods here. I will link the posts here in this post, if I finish a part.
Comments are appreciated. Misspellings are only included to amuse the reader.
Last edited by Askartus; Apr 13, 2014 at 1:01 pm Reason: Adding the next part
Oct 11, 2013, 12:31 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: CGN
Programs: A* Gold, OW Sapphire, Thalys Platinum, Accor Gold, member of BahnBonus
Posts: 210
A little background: I have been in Canada in 2006 with my Ex-Girlfriend and I instantly fell in love with the country. Back then we first flew to Toronto with LH, arriving in Feburary 2006.
We stayed there for a couple of days and went for example to Niagara Falls (which was beautiful in the winter with the frozen surroundings).
From Toronto, we went on to Vancouver by train, a very nice trip, although a bit long.
After some days in Vancouver (which, since then, is one of my favourite cities in the world) ...
... we flew to Whitehorse to end our "Canada adventure" with a week of dog sledding.
I was hooked!
Even the -30 °C in the Yukon territory were not able to keep me from wanting to get back some day.
Fast forward to 2013: With my current girlfriend (the one, I am quite sure, will be my last girlfriend) I went to Japan in 2010, to New Zealand and HongKong in 2012. But I always planned to travel to Canada again, because it has everything, what we want from a holiday destination: Nature, some citys, decent food, mostly nice people and a good infrastructure. Plus, my fond memories from 2006 kept me being quite enthusiastic about this country.
So, after deciding to go to Canada in 2013 we looked for some flights.
We mostly travel from CGN or DUS and, due to our frequent flyer membership, with Star Alliance. In Germany, and perticular in CGN, this mostly means LH via FRA or MUC or LX via ZRH.
But the offers were not that good, especially because we wanted to travel in C. If possible. One reason for this is, that we might collect the required bonus miles to get us to Asia next year on miles.
Another reason: Pure curiosity, what the fuzz is all about.
Or "aboot", because we finally found a nice offer with a Z class ticket from Air Canada. But not from Cologne, Düsseldorf or Frankfurt but from Brussels.
One of the big advantages of Cologne is, that we are a 2-3 hour drive or train ride from Brussels and Amsterdam away, so the number of available connections is higher.
So, Brussels it was and Air Canada was the carrier of our choice.
The next step was to find out what to do during 4 weeks in Canada. Our first idea was to fly to Vancouver, go to Vancouver Island, stay there for some bear watching in a nice lodge and continue by ferry to Prince Rupert. Then to Jasper by train and from there a nice, big loop back to Vancouver with a rental car.
Two things didnīt work with this itenary just the moment, we were ready to book: The lodge which we wanted to visit burned down and the train ride from Prince Rupert to Jasper was impossible because there was no luggage allowed.
After some replanning, we changed the route and started in Calgary, wanted to drive through the rockies and back to Calgary to enjoy the Rocky Mountaineer on a nice two day train journey to Vancouver. But the train ride was not a cheap one plus the departure dates were quite inconvenient for us.
Then we changed for the last time, now starting in Edmonton, driving from Edmonton via Jasper, Lake Louise towards Okanagan Valley (Kelowna). From there we went via Cranbrook to Calgary and then back to Edmonton. This was also to avoid the "one way fare" taken by most car rentals. Then, we are leaving Edmonton by train for a one day journey to Vancouver, ending our holiday with a week in one of my favourite cities in the world.
After everything was planned, we booked our tickets
- Flying SN from BRU to LHR
- Flying AC from LHR to YEG
- Train "The Canadian" from Edmonton to Vancouver
- Flying AC from YVR via YUL to BRU
And we booked most of our hotels and the car in Edmonton. And some tours, including a wine tasting tour in Okanagan Valley, a train and floatplane trip to Whistler and a trip to Victoria, also by floatplane and bus/ferry.
And after that, we just had to wait until it all began ... which was very hard ...
We stayed there for a couple of days and went for example to Niagara Falls (which was beautiful in the winter with the frozen surroundings).
From Toronto, we went on to Vancouver by train, a very nice trip, although a bit long.
After some days in Vancouver (which, since then, is one of my favourite cities in the world) ...
... we flew to Whitehorse to end our "Canada adventure" with a week of dog sledding.
I was hooked!
Even the -30 °C in the Yukon territory were not able to keep me from wanting to get back some day.
Fast forward to 2013: With my current girlfriend (the one, I am quite sure, will be my last girlfriend) I went to Japan in 2010, to New Zealand and HongKong in 2012. But I always planned to travel to Canada again, because it has everything, what we want from a holiday destination: Nature, some citys, decent food, mostly nice people and a good infrastructure. Plus, my fond memories from 2006 kept me being quite enthusiastic about this country.
So, after deciding to go to Canada in 2013 we looked for some flights.
We mostly travel from CGN or DUS and, due to our frequent flyer membership, with Star Alliance. In Germany, and perticular in CGN, this mostly means LH via FRA or MUC or LX via ZRH.
But the offers were not that good, especially because we wanted to travel in C. If possible. One reason for this is, that we might collect the required bonus miles to get us to Asia next year on miles.
Another reason: Pure curiosity, what the fuzz is all about.
Or "aboot", because we finally found a nice offer with a Z class ticket from Air Canada. But not from Cologne, Düsseldorf or Frankfurt but from Brussels.
One of the big advantages of Cologne is, that we are a 2-3 hour drive or train ride from Brussels and Amsterdam away, so the number of available connections is higher.
So, Brussels it was and Air Canada was the carrier of our choice.
The next step was to find out what to do during 4 weeks in Canada. Our first idea was to fly to Vancouver, go to Vancouver Island, stay there for some bear watching in a nice lodge and continue by ferry to Prince Rupert. Then to Jasper by train and from there a nice, big loop back to Vancouver with a rental car.
Two things didnīt work with this itenary just the moment, we were ready to book: The lodge which we wanted to visit burned down and the train ride from Prince Rupert to Jasper was impossible because there was no luggage allowed.
After some replanning, we changed the route and started in Calgary, wanted to drive through the rockies and back to Calgary to enjoy the Rocky Mountaineer on a nice two day train journey to Vancouver. But the train ride was not a cheap one plus the departure dates were quite inconvenient for us.
Then we changed for the last time, now starting in Edmonton, driving from Edmonton via Jasper, Lake Louise towards Okanagan Valley (Kelowna). From there we went via Cranbrook to Calgary and then back to Edmonton. This was also to avoid the "one way fare" taken by most car rentals. Then, we are leaving Edmonton by train for a one day journey to Vancouver, ending our holiday with a week in one of my favourite cities in the world.
After everything was planned, we booked our tickets
- Flying SN from BRU to LHR
- Flying AC from LHR to YEG
- Train "The Canadian" from Edmonton to Vancouver
- Flying AC from YVR via YUL to BRU
And we booked most of our hotels and the car in Edmonton. And some tours, including a wine tasting tour in Okanagan Valley, a train and floatplane trip to Whistler and a trip to Victoria, also by floatplane and bus/ferry.
And after that, we just had to wait until it all began ... which was very hard ...
Last edited by Askartus; Oct 11, 2013 at 2:07 pm
Oct 11, 2013, 3:08 pm
#4
Join Date: May 2009
Location: LON
Programs: BAEC GGL; KLM Gold; AC 50K
Posts: 147
This sounds like an amazing trip! I spent a big part of my life in Vancouver, but also lived in Montreal for a few years, before moving on to London (UK). As amazing as Western Canada will be, I hope you will get to see a bit of Montreal for a very different cultural experience from the North America norm.
Oct 13, 2013, 3:37 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: CGN
Programs: A* Gold, OW Sapphire, Thalys Platinum, Accor Gold, member of BahnBonus
Posts: 210
On the day of our departure, we sadly had to work. Well, to be fair, in anticipation of our journey the motivation was ... dropping.
We left, after a quite unproductive and short day, by car from our workplace in Cologne, made a short stop at our flat to collect our luggage and off we were on the Autobahn to Belgium.
Normaly a 2 hour drive, but because of some roadworks at Leuven, we were a bit delayed. But we didnīt care, because the plan for this day was just had to check in into the Sheraton Brussels Airport.
The Sheraton is quite convenient, because it is just 30 meters away from the airport entrance and offers a "sleep and park"-package, which allows us to park our car in a secure carpark and collect it 31 days later after arrival.
The hotel itself was not what we expected. The room had a window facing the big hall, where breakfast was prepared and serverd.
The restaurant was very expensive. Fortunally, the airport had some options to satisfy our need for food. After that, we grabbed some beers and went to bed.
The next morning, we simpley stepped out of the hotel and into the airport.
Nice location, overpriced hotel - the next time, we will definitvely be staying in the city.
CheckIn with SN was nice. As we are *A Silver Status (LH Frequent Flyer), we are allowed to use the Business Class CheckIn, but this felt different. Well ... a little bit ...
The whole process, including security, took about 15 minutes. After that we entered the lounge. Which was disappointing, because it was full, loud and the coffee was more like darkened water. But we had a nice view and some time to read a newspaper.
10 minutes before boarding we walked a short way to the gate for our first leg.
Brussels Airlines 2093
Airbus A319
Brüssel Zaventem (EBBR / BRU)
London Heathrow (EGLL / LHR)
Planned Departure 09:05 CEST
Actual Departure 09:33 CEST
Planned Arrival 08:50 BST
Actual Arrival 09:21 BST
Concerning the whole flight to Edmonton: The day of our departure was 25th May 2013. Which was, if you are a football fan (or soccer, if you prefer) from Germany, an important day: Champions League final in London between Bayern München (Munich) and Borussia Dortmund.
And I am a Bayern fan.
A pretty fanatic one.
Who will be, if you calculate the flight time, in the air during the final.
With no chance of watching the game (I honestly believe, that Bayern plays better, when I am watching).
No information at all, to be precise.
I planned everything, but missed that. Ahhrgh!
The flight vom BRU to LHR is normally not very crowded. Nothing normal today: To make things worse, this flight was fully booked. With Dortmund fans. Who sang about winning against Bayern. Who sang about things, Bayern fans do with animals. Who sang about, where my mother is supposed to work (I asked - the Dortmund fans were wrong).
Letīs just say, the flight was ... not amusing for me.
Lucky for me, the flight also was quite short.
We had the standard european Business Class, which meant, that we had a free seat in the middle. Legroom was ok.
And we got nice food for such a short hop.
Not that we were very hungry, but the belgian chocolate was nice. And the coffee was better than the one in the lounge. Along our breakfast, we enjoyed our last view over the european continent for the next 4 weeks.
Funny thing: The SN classes are named with some sort of Corporate Identity: b.economy flex, b.business, ... The sickbags are named as well, to remind you to "be tidy" ...
I was wondering, if I should go to the b.toilet from your b.seat (to do your b.business - hey, it works!). But no need for that, because we arrived with our b.plane in Heathrow.
After arrival, we walked to the terminal and transfered with a bus from T1 to T3 and entered the Maple Leaf Lounge.
Before that we talked with a few Bayern fans who happen to be on the plane (they left Munich at midnight so they were able to catch the plane in Brussel). They promised me that, if Munich wins 4:0, they will run onto the pitch nacked.
This lounge experience was quite nice. We found a nice place to sit and relax. And after I got a adapter for my laptop recharger, I was able to read some mails, blog a little bit and to watch some videos.
And I found some nice beers to relax, for example one of my favourite japanese beers, which I was very fond of during our Japan trip in 2010.
It also helped to forget, that I will BE IN THE AIR DURING THE CL FINAL!
A few minutes before boarding we proceeded to the gate, because we wanted to experience priority boarding and to make the most of our trip.
We left, after a quite unproductive and short day, by car from our workplace in Cologne, made a short stop at our flat to collect our luggage and off we were on the Autobahn to Belgium.
Normaly a 2 hour drive, but because of some roadworks at Leuven, we were a bit delayed. But we didnīt care, because the plan for this day was just had to check in into the Sheraton Brussels Airport.
The Sheraton is quite convenient, because it is just 30 meters away from the airport entrance and offers a "sleep and park"-package, which allows us to park our car in a secure carpark and collect it 31 days later after arrival.
The hotel itself was not what we expected. The room had a window facing the big hall, where breakfast was prepared and serverd.
The restaurant was very expensive. Fortunally, the airport had some options to satisfy our need for food. After that, we grabbed some beers and went to bed.
The next morning, we simpley stepped out of the hotel and into the airport.
Nice location, overpriced hotel - the next time, we will definitvely be staying in the city.
CheckIn with SN was nice. As we are *A Silver Status (LH Frequent Flyer), we are allowed to use the Business Class CheckIn, but this felt different. Well ... a little bit ...
The whole process, including security, took about 15 minutes. After that we entered the lounge. Which was disappointing, because it was full, loud and the coffee was more like darkened water. But we had a nice view and some time to read a newspaper.
10 minutes before boarding we walked a short way to the gate for our first leg.
Brussels Airlines 2093
Airbus A319
Brüssel Zaventem (EBBR / BRU)
London Heathrow (EGLL / LHR)
Planned Departure 09:05 CEST
Actual Departure 09:33 CEST
Planned Arrival 08:50 BST
Actual Arrival 09:21 BST
Concerning the whole flight to Edmonton: The day of our departure was 25th May 2013. Which was, if you are a football fan (or soccer, if you prefer) from Germany, an important day: Champions League final in London between Bayern München (Munich) and Borussia Dortmund.
And I am a Bayern fan.
A pretty fanatic one.
Who will be, if you calculate the flight time, in the air during the final.
With no chance of watching the game (I honestly believe, that Bayern plays better, when I am watching).
No information at all, to be precise.
I planned everything, but missed that. Ahhrgh!
The flight vom BRU to LHR is normally not very crowded. Nothing normal today: To make things worse, this flight was fully booked. With Dortmund fans. Who sang about winning against Bayern. Who sang about things, Bayern fans do with animals. Who sang about, where my mother is supposed to work (I asked - the Dortmund fans were wrong).
Letīs just say, the flight was ... not amusing for me.
Lucky for me, the flight also was quite short.
We had the standard european Business Class, which meant, that we had a free seat in the middle. Legroom was ok.
And we got nice food for such a short hop.
Not that we were very hungry, but the belgian chocolate was nice. And the coffee was better than the one in the lounge. Along our breakfast, we enjoyed our last view over the european continent for the next 4 weeks.
Funny thing: The SN classes are named with some sort of Corporate Identity: b.economy flex, b.business, ... The sickbags are named as well, to remind you to "be tidy" ...
I was wondering, if I should go to the b.toilet from your b.seat (to do your b.business - hey, it works!). But no need for that, because we arrived with our b.plane in Heathrow.
After arrival, we walked to the terminal and transfered with a bus from T1 to T3 and entered the Maple Leaf Lounge.
Before that we talked with a few Bayern fans who happen to be on the plane (they left Munich at midnight so they were able to catch the plane in Brussel). They promised me that, if Munich wins 4:0, they will run onto the pitch nacked.
This lounge experience was quite nice. We found a nice place to sit and relax. And after I got a adapter for my laptop recharger, I was able to read some mails, blog a little bit and to watch some videos.
And I found some nice beers to relax, for example one of my favourite japanese beers, which I was very fond of during our Japan trip in 2010.
It also helped to forget, that I will BE IN THE AIR DURING THE CL FINAL!
A few minutes before boarding we proceeded to the gate, because we wanted to experience priority boarding and to make the most of our trip.
Last edited by Askartus; Oct 13, 2013 at 1:24 pm
Oct 13, 2013, 3:41 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: CGN
Programs: A* Gold, OW Sapphire, Thalys Platinum, Accor Gold, member of BahnBonus
Posts: 210
London Heathrow to Edmonton
Air Canada 899
Boeing 767-300
London Heathrow (EGLL / LHR)
Edmonton Int'l (CYEG)
Planned Departure 16:15 BST
Actual Departure 16:39 BST
Planner Arrival 17:26 MDT
Actual Arrival 18:05 MDT
OK, here we are. In Executive First Class, expecting to recognize a difference between normal Eco. Or the Premium Economy, which we experienced during our flight to and from NZ.
At the door, we were greeted by the FA and he showed us the correct way to our seats (5F und 5K).
We knew the seat (at least, what it looks like) from the Business Class during our NZ flights, but it was nice to actually sit in it.
The first impression was quite good. Being someone who is used to sit on a wooden bench with straw on the ground back at the rear end of the plane, Business Class felt like heaven.
The whole plane was fully loaded, there were not many seats left empty. Business Class was full.
After making ourselfes comfortable, we, working in IT, started fiddling with all the knobs, buttons and gizmos.
Fair warning: Never throw your passport into the hole where the menu and the safety instructions are located. It is very hard to get it out again and you might need to remove the whole cover to retrieve your passport ...
The IFE was not very special but had all the things one need to have for a 9 hour flight with a scheduled sleep.
And we got some Champagne (Drappier Carte dīOr Brut)
I was happy ...
Boarding was completed a bit late and we pushed back and started our flight to Canada. After takeoff, we had some time to ourselfes and to enjoy the views over England. After looking through all our pictures, we saw, that we actually took a photo of a lion (look in the top right corner).
35 Minutes after leaving Heathrow, the menu started, which was one of the things we were looking forward to. Our choice was:
Herbed salmon gavlax with celerian and mustard remoulade and some mixed greens with sun-dried tomatoes and shaved Parmesan served with balsamic vinaigrette
Green Thai Chicken Curry complemented by Basmati Rice, Bok Choi, Carrot Florets and Shiitake Mushroom
Roasted Herb-crusted Rump of Lamb in Rosemary Jus accompanied by roasted Potatoes, grilles Peppers and Broccoli
Cheese with a nice Cheddar and some Brie and Emmenthal with some Dowīs Port.
Chocolate Praline Cake
My girlfriend and I both like good food and are constantly going around Germany to find decent food. So ... the airline food in AC was nice, but not very special. The wine selection was interesting but it didnīt blow us away. Our highlights were the Mas des Mas Saint-Chinian from Languedoc and the Port.
Now it was time to lay down and enjoy the "bed".
Which was very comfortable for me and I managed to sleep almost 5 hours. This, being a new record for me, makes this seat the most comfortable thing I have ever been in a plane.
After waking up, we saw our first impression of Canada.
Which brings me to the thing, which bothers us most with this flight: The crew. Our last long-distance flight was with NZ and 3 very good crews and one phenominal one. And we were expecting the crews in Business class to be as good as the crews back then. Sadly, this crew had a very bad day: Communication between the crew members was inexisting and no smiles, when you ask a question or order something. I misspelled something on my immigration card and had to ask 4 times for another one before getting it myself.
With hindsight, we are thinking that bad crews (or crews in a bad mood) are bad in Economy but they are much more displeasing when you bought a much more expensive ticket.
Anyway, about 1 hour before landing we got some sandwiches and scones (yeah!).
Behind the window we got our first impression of Alberta, where we were going to start our holiday.
About 30 minutes late, we landed in YEG and de-boarded and went on to immigration. Before leaving our plane, we got a last view of the seat.
And a last yiew of our plane ...
And now we were in Oilers country ...
From the airport we arranged a shuttle to the Best Western in Leduc, which was our choice of stay for the first night. A very friendly concierge checkd us into our suite and ...
... after zapping through tons of tv-channels showing hockey, diy-shows and news I found out that Bayern had won the Champions League.
YES!
Which we celebrated with a beer in our room.
Air Canada 899
Boeing 767-300
London Heathrow (EGLL / LHR)
Edmonton Int'l (CYEG)
Planned Departure 16:15 BST
Actual Departure 16:39 BST
Planner Arrival 17:26 MDT
Actual Arrival 18:05 MDT
OK, here we are. In Executive First Class, expecting to recognize a difference between normal Eco. Or the Premium Economy, which we experienced during our flight to and from NZ.
At the door, we were greeted by the FA and he showed us the correct way to our seats (5F und 5K).
We knew the seat (at least, what it looks like) from the Business Class during our NZ flights, but it was nice to actually sit in it.
The first impression was quite good. Being someone who is used to sit on a wooden bench with straw on the ground back at the rear end of the plane, Business Class felt like heaven.
The whole plane was fully loaded, there were not many seats left empty. Business Class was full.
After making ourselfes comfortable, we, working in IT, started fiddling with all the knobs, buttons and gizmos.
Fair warning: Never throw your passport into the hole where the menu and the safety instructions are located. It is very hard to get it out again and you might need to remove the whole cover to retrieve your passport ...
The IFE was not very special but had all the things one need to have for a 9 hour flight with a scheduled sleep.
And we got some Champagne (Drappier Carte dīOr Brut)
I was happy ...
Boarding was completed a bit late and we pushed back and started our flight to Canada. After takeoff, we had some time to ourselfes and to enjoy the views over England. After looking through all our pictures, we saw, that we actually took a photo of a lion (look in the top right corner).
35 Minutes after leaving Heathrow, the menu started, which was one of the things we were looking forward to. Our choice was:
Herbed salmon gavlax with celerian and mustard remoulade and some mixed greens with sun-dried tomatoes and shaved Parmesan served with balsamic vinaigrette
Green Thai Chicken Curry complemented by Basmati Rice, Bok Choi, Carrot Florets and Shiitake Mushroom
Roasted Herb-crusted Rump of Lamb in Rosemary Jus accompanied by roasted Potatoes, grilles Peppers and Broccoli
Cheese with a nice Cheddar and some Brie and Emmenthal with some Dowīs Port.
Chocolate Praline Cake
My girlfriend and I both like good food and are constantly going around Germany to find decent food. So ... the airline food in AC was nice, but not very special. The wine selection was interesting but it didnīt blow us away. Our highlights were the Mas des Mas Saint-Chinian from Languedoc and the Port.
Now it was time to lay down and enjoy the "bed".
Which was very comfortable for me and I managed to sleep almost 5 hours. This, being a new record for me, makes this seat the most comfortable thing I have ever been in a plane.
After waking up, we saw our first impression of Canada.
Which brings me to the thing, which bothers us most with this flight: The crew. Our last long-distance flight was with NZ and 3 very good crews and one phenominal one. And we were expecting the crews in Business class to be as good as the crews back then. Sadly, this crew had a very bad day: Communication between the crew members was inexisting and no smiles, when you ask a question or order something. I misspelled something on my immigration card and had to ask 4 times for another one before getting it myself.
With hindsight, we are thinking that bad crews (or crews in a bad mood) are bad in Economy but they are much more displeasing when you bought a much more expensive ticket.
Anyway, about 1 hour before landing we got some sandwiches and scones (yeah!).
Behind the window we got our first impression of Alberta, where we were going to start our holiday.
About 30 minutes late, we landed in YEG and de-boarded and went on to immigration. Before leaving our plane, we got a last view of the seat.
And a last yiew of our plane ...
And now we were in Oilers country ...
From the airport we arranged a shuttle to the Best Western in Leduc, which was our choice of stay for the first night. A very friendly concierge checkd us into our suite and ...
... after zapping through tons of tv-channels showing hockey, diy-shows and news I found out that Bayern had won the Champions League.
YES!
Which we celebrated with a beer in our room.
Oct 13, 2013, 3:44 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: CGN
Programs: A* Gold, OW Sapphire, Thalys Platinum, Accor Gold, member of BahnBonus
Posts: 210
Thank you all for your interest so far.
Sadly, we had no time in Montreal and were just there to connect to our flight to BRU. But a good friend of mine is currently getting his PhD in Montreal and we are going to visit him next year. I heard from him, that Montreal is really different because of its french infuence - another thing on our todo-list ... 
Oct 15, 2013, 2:16 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: CGN
Programs: A* Gold, OW Sapphire, Thalys Platinum, Accor Gold, member of BahnBonus
Posts: 210
After our first night in LeDuc, we used the free hotel shuttle back to the airport to get our rental for our tour. Like in NZ, we got a Toyota Camry, which was good, because we knew what to expect.
I like the Camry, although it is not the fastest car. But the boot/trunk has room for all our luggage and we knew how to pack our stuff in there.
From the airport in Edmonton we drove to Jasper - which was a nice route to get familiar with the car and the other people on the road. When driving in another country, we try to familiarize ourselfes by driving one or two easy routes - this was a very easy one.
And a good choice for us, because we had enough time to enjoy the scenery along the road.
In Jasper, we booked a nice apartment and stayed for a couple of days. The apartment was clean, well equipped and in a very good location next to the main street, although you might hear the trains rumbling though the train yard which was located across the street.
But we were there to do something, so we first went up Whistlerīs Mountain (not the same as the one next to Vancouver) and had a nice hike from the tramway up the top. And some nice views.
During our stay, we also went for some hikes around Jasper, where we saw some nice lakes and trails.
Jasper itself has some nice restaurants, with good food and good beers: This pictures are from our dinner at Downstream Bar & Grill. Before the Burger and the elk steak, we had some amazing "Miso Steak bites". I would kill for another one of those ... as I would for the steak.
Between all the walking, we relaxed a bit in Miette Hot Springs - a tradition, we started in Japan with all the Onsen and our stays in Ryokans.
A hot bath in this beautiful environment: Is there anything better?
Well ... maybe no close encounter with this gentlemen:
Since we obey the rule "A fed bear is a dead bear", we stayed in the car and just slowed down a bit. And tried not to create one of the "bear jams". It was amazing enough to see these animals next to the street and honestly, we ware glad to have some metal between the bear and ourselfes. Especially after we heard on the news that one night a bear killed a little elk baby just 200 meters from our apartment.
Other animals were just as picturesque as Mr. Bear (and not sooo dangerous):
We also went to Maligne Lake and did two nice, short hikes and a great boat trip to Sprit Island.
Interesting experience: In the boat we had 1 couple from Germany (us), 1 couple from Switzerland (who kind of followed us till Banff), 8 Japanese and about 50 Aussies! Which was hard for our tour guide as he had to switch his explenations from "sign language" via "simple english" to some sort of australian slang ...
But he did well. Up until the point where he tried to explain the "come back to the boat"-procedure which ended in him playing "Boat honks once: Go to boat! Boat honks twice: Run to boat! Boat honks thrice: Wave at boat!" in kind of Monty Python style for the Japanese.
After a few days, we left Jasper and went to Lake Louise with a nice drive along the Icefield Parkway. Which was not as good as it can be because the weather was not so good. But we got some nice views anyway.
In Lake Louise, we were a bit disappointed because there was not much to do and the weather started raining most of our stay. We stayed in a Motel and Lake Louise war pretty dead that time of the year.
So the question was: What to do, when itīs cold and rainy? A hot bath comes to mind ... and so we went to the Banff Hot Springs.
Also kind of weather-proof was a walk in a canyon (Johnston Canyon):
In the next post, we will have better weather in Lake Louise. And after that we went to the sunny Okanagan Valley.
And if I keep writing in this style, I will need more posts than calculated ...
I like the Camry, although it is not the fastest car. But the boot/trunk has room for all our luggage and we knew how to pack our stuff in there.
From the airport in Edmonton we drove to Jasper - which was a nice route to get familiar with the car and the other people on the road. When driving in another country, we try to familiarize ourselfes by driving one or two easy routes - this was a very easy one.
And a good choice for us, because we had enough time to enjoy the scenery along the road.
In Jasper, we booked a nice apartment and stayed for a couple of days. The apartment was clean, well equipped and in a very good location next to the main street, although you might hear the trains rumbling though the train yard which was located across the street.
But we were there to do something, so we first went up Whistlerīs Mountain (not the same as the one next to Vancouver) and had a nice hike from the tramway up the top. And some nice views.
During our stay, we also went for some hikes around Jasper, where we saw some nice lakes and trails.
Jasper itself has some nice restaurants, with good food and good beers: This pictures are from our dinner at Downstream Bar & Grill. Before the Burger and the elk steak, we had some amazing "Miso Steak bites". I would kill for another one of those ... as I would for the steak.
Between all the walking, we relaxed a bit in Miette Hot Springs - a tradition, we started in Japan with all the Onsen and our stays in Ryokans.
A hot bath in this beautiful environment: Is there anything better?
Well ... maybe no close encounter with this gentlemen:
Since we obey the rule "A fed bear is a dead bear", we stayed in the car and just slowed down a bit. And tried not to create one of the "bear jams". It was amazing enough to see these animals next to the street and honestly, we ware glad to have some metal between the bear and ourselfes. Especially after we heard on the news that one night a bear killed a little elk baby just 200 meters from our apartment.
Other animals were just as picturesque as Mr. Bear (and not sooo dangerous):
We also went to Maligne Lake and did two nice, short hikes and a great boat trip to Sprit Island.
Interesting experience: In the boat we had 1 couple from Germany (us), 1 couple from Switzerland (who kind of followed us till Banff), 8 Japanese and about 50 Aussies! Which was hard for our tour guide as he had to switch his explenations from "sign language" via "simple english" to some sort of australian slang ...
But he did well. Up until the point where he tried to explain the "come back to the boat"-procedure which ended in him playing "Boat honks once: Go to boat! Boat honks twice: Run to boat! Boat honks thrice: Wave at boat!" in kind of Monty Python style for the Japanese.
After a few days, we left Jasper and went to Lake Louise with a nice drive along the Icefield Parkway. Which was not as good as it can be because the weather was not so good. But we got some nice views anyway.
In Lake Louise, we were a bit disappointed because there was not much to do and the weather started raining most of our stay. We stayed in a Motel and Lake Louise war pretty dead that time of the year.
So the question was: What to do, when itīs cold and rainy? A hot bath comes to mind ... and so we went to the Banff Hot Springs.
Also kind of weather-proof was a walk in a canyon (Johnston Canyon):
In the next post, we will have better weather in Lake Louise. And after that we went to the sunny Okanagan Valley.
And if I keep writing in this style, I will need more posts than calculated ...
Last edited by Askartus; Oct 15, 2013 at 11:37 pm
Oct 16, 2013, 3:00 pm
#11
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Left
Programs: FT
Posts: 7,285
Nice TR. Aside from the Drappier on AC, the wine list and selections have been very very marginal. I have surmised that they are going for the 8-10CAD$ range per bottle. that said, I have always praised AC on their selection of Drappier as their carrier champange.
not been to banff for about 10 years on a drive from YVR to Saskatoon but it certainly is very nice.
not been to banff for about 10 years on a drive from YVR to Saskatoon but it certainly is very nice.
Oct 17, 2013, 2:48 pm
#13
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: CGN
Programs: A* Gold, OW Sapphire, Thalys Platinum, Accor Gold, member of BahnBonus
Posts: 210
After our first day in a rainy Lake Louise we hoped for better weather the next day. Which did come to us, but not in Lake Louise.
When we woke up, we drove to the famous Chateau Lake Louise, which is nice to see. The Lake itself is beautiful, even with the clouds and the fog. We thought abour sleeping in the Chateau, but were glad, that we did not. A lot of repairs were going on and we were not sure, if itīs a nice stay there, since you pay a lot of money there. And there are a lot of tourists walking through the hotel. I would rather book a nice B&B or a lodge and just visit the chateau.
Lake Morraine was visited as well, but with the same clouds, more or less ...
We also went up with the Lake Louise Gondola, but had no luck with the view. But an interesting Wildlife Center with free coffee and a nice chat with the park rangers.
But the weather forecast did promise some sunny periods for Banff, so ... off we were to Banff (again). Along the streets in Banff, we saw some wildlife - in Germany, we do only see cats and dogs in our neighbourhood ...
With the Banff gondola we went to the top and enjoyed the nice view of Banff and the valleys around.
And for our way down, we choose the footpath (8 km), which was a good walk, but a little bit muddy.
After some walking around Banff (very touristy!) we drove back to Lake Louise for our last night in the Rocky Mountains for this trip. The next day we went to Kelowna - one of the longest drives in our holiday.
Along the way, there were many points, where I enjoyed one of my hobbies: Trains.
I was faszinated by the enormous length of the trains. And actually I had some nice chats with the drivers, if they were stopping anywhere to wait for another train to pass.
Now, why Kelowna? My girlfriend and I do like a nice wine and during our stay in NZ, we booked a wine tour which turned out great. So, when we planned our trip, we tried to include visiting a wine region. Due to our tour we ended up with visiting the Okanagan Valley.
After some internet searches, we booked a one day wine tour with okwinetours.com. The owner, Patti Ogden-Grady is married with a german (Ingo Grady), who is working at Mission Hill Estate. We exchanged some e-mails in advance and she recommended the Best Western Plus in West Kelowna - this turned out to be a good hotel choice.
After one day of driving, we just got something to eat and went to bed, because the next day, we had a full day of wine tasting ahead of us.
Patti picked us up at our hotel and drove us to our first stop, Mission Hill Estate, where Ingo surprised us and gave us a private tour. Turned out, that Ingo was born in the Eifel region, which is south-west of Cologne. He was kind of happy to speak some German again and he showed us very interesting views of the public (and some non-public) parts of Mission Hill Estate.
After that, Cara from Okanagan Wine Tours took us on a trip south to some nice wineries, where we got some "normal", some interesting and some very good vineyards and their products.
We went to Quinta Ferreira Estates, Le Vieux Pin, Burrowing Owl Estates, Desert Hills Estate Winery, Hester Creek and Inniskillin. It was a dirty job, but ... hey ... somebody has to do this, right? We bought some of the wines (Inniskillin Sangiovese, Pinot Blanc and Cab Franc from Hester Creek and some others) and were glad for the extra baggage allowance ...
After all this wines, we went back to Mission Hill, where we reserverd a table for dinner. It sure was a place with a view:
And what a dinner it was. OK, we had a lot of very good food during our trip, but this was one of the best. After the startes, we got:
Elk tartar
Aspargus with cheese and shrimps
Elk
Alberta Beef
And we had some other courses (cheese, tiramisu, some amuse-gueule, ...) as well. And some nice wines. What a great way to end a great day.
After such a day loaded with alcohol we tried to cure our hangover with some activity. After a morning round of golf we rented some bikes and drove on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. We say a documentary about the trail back in Germany and how it burned down a couple of years ago and it was impressing to see, how everything was restored. And how damaged the forest is.
In the evening, we went for something to eat and walked along the lake.
It was not the last time, we have been to Kelowna. Actually, due to our trip and our blog, one of our friends rescheduled his trip to get to Kelowna, too.
Our trip continued from Kelowna down to Oliver and the border to the USoA. From there, we made a sharp left turn and went onto the Crowsnest Highway to Ainsworth Hot Springs. We wanted to stay in the hotel next to the Hot Spring. Which was a good idea, since we had a nice room there, enjoyed a nice meal and soaked in the Hot Spring in the evening and in the morning.
Next, we went to Cranbrook (railway museum, of course) and to Calgary. But more of that in the next post.
When we woke up, we drove to the famous Chateau Lake Louise, which is nice to see. The Lake itself is beautiful, even with the clouds and the fog. We thought abour sleeping in the Chateau, but were glad, that we did not. A lot of repairs were going on and we were not sure, if itīs a nice stay there, since you pay a lot of money there. And there are a lot of tourists walking through the hotel. I would rather book a nice B&B or a lodge and just visit the chateau.
Lake Morraine was visited as well, but with the same clouds, more or less ...
We also went up with the Lake Louise Gondola, but had no luck with the view. But an interesting Wildlife Center with free coffee and a nice chat with the park rangers.
But the weather forecast did promise some sunny periods for Banff, so ... off we were to Banff (again). Along the streets in Banff, we saw some wildlife - in Germany, we do only see cats and dogs in our neighbourhood ...
With the Banff gondola we went to the top and enjoyed the nice view of Banff and the valleys around.
And for our way down, we choose the footpath (8 km), which was a good walk, but a little bit muddy.
After some walking around Banff (very touristy!) we drove back to Lake Louise for our last night in the Rocky Mountains for this trip. The next day we went to Kelowna - one of the longest drives in our holiday.
Along the way, there were many points, where I enjoyed one of my hobbies: Trains.
I was faszinated by the enormous length of the trains. And actually I had some nice chats with the drivers, if they were stopping anywhere to wait for another train to pass.
Now, why Kelowna? My girlfriend and I do like a nice wine and during our stay in NZ, we booked a wine tour which turned out great. So, when we planned our trip, we tried to include visiting a wine region. Due to our tour we ended up with visiting the Okanagan Valley.
After some internet searches, we booked a one day wine tour with okwinetours.com. The owner, Patti Ogden-Grady is married with a german (Ingo Grady), who is working at Mission Hill Estate. We exchanged some e-mails in advance and she recommended the Best Western Plus in West Kelowna - this turned out to be a good hotel choice.
After one day of driving, we just got something to eat and went to bed, because the next day, we had a full day of wine tasting ahead of us.
Patti picked us up at our hotel and drove us to our first stop, Mission Hill Estate, where Ingo surprised us and gave us a private tour. Turned out, that Ingo was born in the Eifel region, which is south-west of Cologne. He was kind of happy to speak some German again and he showed us very interesting views of the public (and some non-public) parts of Mission Hill Estate.
After that, Cara from Okanagan Wine Tours took us on a trip south to some nice wineries, where we got some "normal", some interesting and some very good vineyards and their products.
We went to Quinta Ferreira Estates, Le Vieux Pin, Burrowing Owl Estates, Desert Hills Estate Winery, Hester Creek and Inniskillin. It was a dirty job, but ... hey ... somebody has to do this, right? We bought some of the wines (Inniskillin Sangiovese, Pinot Blanc and Cab Franc from Hester Creek and some others) and were glad for the extra baggage allowance ...
After all this wines, we went back to Mission Hill, where we reserverd a table for dinner. It sure was a place with a view:
And what a dinner it was. OK, we had a lot of very good food during our trip, but this was one of the best. After the startes, we got:
Elk tartar
Aspargus with cheese and shrimps
Elk
Alberta Beef
And we had some other courses (cheese, tiramisu, some amuse-gueule, ...) as well. And some nice wines. What a great way to end a great day.
After such a day loaded with alcohol we tried to cure our hangover with some activity. After a morning round of golf we rented some bikes and drove on the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. We say a documentary about the trail back in Germany and how it burned down a couple of years ago and it was impressing to see, how everything was restored. And how damaged the forest is.
In the evening, we went for something to eat and walked along the lake.
It was not the last time, we have been to Kelowna. Actually, due to our trip and our blog, one of our friends rescheduled his trip to get to Kelowna, too.
Our trip continued from Kelowna down to Oliver and the border to the USoA. From there, we made a sharp left turn and went onto the Crowsnest Highway to Ainsworth Hot Springs. We wanted to stay in the hotel next to the Hot Spring. Which was a good idea, since we had a nice room there, enjoyed a nice meal and soaked in the Hot Spring in the evening and in the morning.
Next, we went to Cranbrook (railway museum, of course) and to Calgary. But more of that in the next post.
Last edited by Askartus; Oct 17, 2013 at 3:03 pm
Oct 17, 2013, 2:54 pm
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: CGN
Programs: A* Gold, OW Sapphire, Thalys Platinum, Accor Gold, member of BahnBonus
Posts: 210
Nice TR. Aside from the Drappier on AC, the wine list and selections have been very very marginal. I have surmised that they are going for the 8-10CAD$ range per bottle. that said, I have always praised AC on their selection of Drappier as their carrier champange.
not been to banff for about 10 years on a drive from YVR to Saskatoon but it certainly is very nice.
not been to banff for about 10 years on a drive from YVR to Saskatoon but it certainly is very nice.
Thank you - we sure did!
