I've been dragging my feet on this one, so I'm just going to man up and do it! We secured award tickets to Buenos Aires (first week in October 2009) on Air Canada at the 330-day window (and for only 80K miles each, before the rate went up - a real bargain). The whole trip had a mythic quality being booked so far out, but the day finally arrived and it was time to leave.
Our route was DEN-YYZ-SCL (2-hour stop) SCL-EZE, then EZE-SCL (2-day stop) SCL-YYZ-DEN. I really enjoyed the Executive First product in almost every respect. The food was a bit weak on the long-haul flights, but the seat and service were great.
Check-in was a bit underwhelming; we were told "no" to using the CO President's Club on the A concourse in Denver, but the very friendly attendant saw our J tickets and UA *Gold cards and said "come on in!" I really love the staff at this lounge (LH uses it, too).
I enjoyed some red wine and some tasty cheese and crackers with an apple for good measure.
The view from the CO club isn't great, but it's still a very nice spot to kill some time.
We headed down to the gate and were among the first to board. I really like the AC color scheme on the A-319; it was a beautiful fall day in Denver.
Flight/Route: AC1040/DEN-YYZ
Aircraft/Seat: A-319 (no tail number - sorry!)/3A
Departure Time/Duration: 3:45 p.m./3:03
Meal: Dinner
The load was light in Y and J. I think there were seven or eight seats occupied. The cabin looked fresh and tidy.
After takeoff, our two Québécois flight attendants (both young and quite attractive) started service with warm towels, nuts (not warm) and drinks. I had a nice, red wine. No menus were provided. I like the new china and glassware; it's wonderfully modern. I watched a couple of episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" on the AVOD system, which worked great.
For some reason our UA numbers weren't listed on our boarding passes (and presumably the manifest); we were asked last for our meal choice. Chicken with cherry sauce, a vegetarian lasagna and a single order of beef were available. I chose the beef; my friend had the lasagna. First up was a salad, served with a nice, balsamic vinegar. I don't like to see the dessert served with the first course!
The beef had a vaguely Middle-Eastern flavor (cinnamon, perhaps?), but was nice and tender and went well with the red wine. The mashed potatoes were garlicky and delicious, as were the vegetables. No bread was forthcoming (catering error maybe?).
The lasagna got worse marks, being a bit bland and not very hot in temperature.
After dinner I enjoyed a Courvoisier with my cheesecake, which was OK but lacked an actual "cheescake texture," being too light and fluffy.
Service was good; drinks were topped up while I enjoyed the pretty sunset.
Before long we were descending into rainy Toronto. A nice start to our trip!