Okay, considering the amount of bad press AC has had recently, I thought I'd post something (mostly) positive.

I am in a YYC MLL, en route to Yellowknife for a vacation. On the way, I stopped in Winnipeg briefly to drop off my dog. This meant I was routed MIA-YYZ-YWG-YYC-YEG-YZF. I am flying on an Aeroplan award ticket; unfortunately, since I am only an Elite and I wanted to be on specific flights, I couldn't get J. But I did get bulkhead seats or, if on a 737, 10 A/F.

Apart from a minor glitch in MIA this morning, where an over-zealous baggage handler whisked away the dog kennel before the dog was actually inside (they are employed by the airport, so you can't blame AC for that), the trip so far has been great. The planes have been more or less on time, and the staff friendly and helpful.

The service on the 7am flight from MIA (AC 3243) was outstanding, even in Y. The breakfast was good and the FA's attentive. They decided to show a full length movie instead of the usual shorts padded with lots of ads, so people actually watched the TV screens. This flight reminded me of good CP flights 3 or 4 years ago.

The flight from YYZ-YWG was okay. I collected the dog in YWG, passed her to someone who was waiting for me at the airport, and then walked to the gate for the YYC flight(AC3687). I waited until pre-boarding was announced, and showed the gate agent my Elite card when I gave her the boarding pass. I was surprised to hear her say, "Just a moment, sir. I'm going to change your seat." Sure enough, 30 seconds later, I was in possession of a boarding pass for 2F on the 737. No explanation was given; just a "Thank you for flying Air Canada." There were a few empty seats on the plane, including my seat in the Y cabin, so they weren't oversold. And this was an award ticket. Maybe this is what happens when you post that you have never received a comp upgrade from AC.

I wrote "(mostly) positive" at the start; I do have one minor complaint with the trip so far. I left YYZ for YWG on AC171 at 11:50am. Apparently, AC no longer serves meals on flights that depart before noon; we were offered a snack consisting of a small cold salad. And, to my astonishment, there was absolutely no food service at all on the mid-afternoon 2 hour YWG-YYC flight, even in J. We were offered as many packages of nuts or cookies as we could eat, the usual drinks, but nothing else. There were several passengers in the J cabin who were grumbling about how AC already has a discount airline. I wish I had known in YWG there would be no meal service -- then I could have picked up a hamburger or something at the airport. But it was a comp upgrade, so I can't really complain.

But otherwise, a remarkably good trip so far. And the trip only cost a few dollars in fees and taxes, where a revenue ticket would have been more than $1500.

[This message has been edited by StuMcIlwain (edited 07-28-2001).]