Originally Posted by
contikipaul
Again. This unique Canadian comparison. Try to think beyond the USA. The world is a big place. If you are going to compare Air Canada to only American airlines and forget about the rest of the world thats fine.
Again, try to think about Cathay Pacific, try to think about Emirates, they hammer Air Canada hands down. This is the national airline. Lets compare against a little bit of a global standard here and quit making excuses for this joke of an airline
Ok, Iīll bite, as Iīm still hoping youīll eventually stop posting ridiculous AC bashing posts (I donīt mind the fact that you dislike AC, itīs just the way you present your hatred), but rather engage in a factual discussion.
When comparing airlines I think most FTers will agree that the following aspects are the most important ones:
1. onboard experience: hard product
2. onboard experience: service, soft product
3. loyalty program
4. ground experience: check-in, GAs etc.
5. customer service
Just a few thoughts on how AC compares internationally (not considering the US airlines, as you requested):
1. hard product in Y and C is very competitive or better than most European and Asian airlines: AVOD in Y even on all domestic flights, lie-flat pods in C on all intīl flights, consistent product (the only better C product I can think of is SQīs new C seat which only is available on some flights)
2. service: definitely competitive with most European airlines, service on some Asian airlines possibly is better, but not everyone likes the "service style" on Asian carriers. Also staff is much cheaper in most Asian countries, so making a comparison is somewhat difficult/unfair IMO. (e.g. EK has 4 staff members just to clean the shower room on the A380, and you can bet they donīt earn more than a few $/hour)
3. loyalty program: FTers will have very different opinions regarding this aspect, but most agree Elite status benefits are very good, lounges are pretty decent, and redemption rates for intīl C and F are quite good
(Btw, redemption rates for C/F on EK are quite bad, and SQ blocks C/F redemptions alltogether or charges ridiculous amounts of miles, e.g. 2 million miles for a flight in F)
4. again very similar to European airlines; some Asian airlines possible have better service, but friendly, always smiling staff is useless if theyīre incompetent
5. Unfortunately I canīt think of an airplane famous of great customer service (check out the various forums and youīll see plenty of complaints in the TG, SQ, EK forum). I personally havenīt had any issues with AC and have been quite happy so far, just an experience I had this week:
a) I bought a TATL ticket in booking class B on AC for Dec. and upgraded to Exec. Class using a cert. I received both an e-mail and a phone call this week that there had been a schedule and equipment change, confirming I was of course still confirmed in Exec. class and asked what seat I would like. Great proactive customer service! ^
b) I had a confirmed booking in First Class ZHR-NRT on LX in Dec. When I checked my flight in Amadeus, I noticed I had been rebooked on a flight a day earlier on LH in business class. Apparently my original flight had been cancelled. Guess what? LX didnīt even bother to inform me. Even worse, I spent 4 hours on the phone with several agents and supervisors until they admitted they had made the change and promised to rebook me in F. 4 days later Iīm still waiting.
