Flight/Origin-Destination: SAN-YYZ
Date: Feb 10, 2012
Cabin: J (ML*1 - waitlisted T-7, upgraded at gate)
Status: SE

Pre departure
Was check in quick and efficient? Priority moved as quickly as standard, but only waited for one person. No complaints.
Did you use priority security (if eligible) and if so, was it quick and efficient? No. Security was empty though
Did you use the Maple Leaf lounge and if so, any feedback in regards to service, food and drinks? No lounge in SAN. Was told there will be a lounge once they finish the expansion there.
Was priority boarding offered (if applicable to your status) and efficient? Yes. Well managed by the gate agents (who also brought their share of good humour).
If there was a delay, did the gate agent provide timely updates? No... but I don't think they were provided with any updates. The arriving flight showed a 40 minute delay -- 12:35 to 1:15, but they didn't change the departing time from 1:35.

Onboard - J cabin:
Were the crew professional & well groomed? Well groomed, yes. Professional, that's debatable (more below). I was not addressed by my last name.
If there was a delay, were you provided with timely updates? Crew provided updates after departure letting people know all connections were intact.
Was the IFE activated on the ground? I didn't check the IFE until after departure so I can't say.
Was a pre-departure beverage offered on the ground? Yes, both OJ and water were offered.
Did crew offer to hang your jacket? I didn't have a jacket, but they did offer to hang my seatmate's jacket.
Were newspapers & menus distributed and meal orders taken (Please specify when meal orders were taken - on the ground or in the air)? Newspapers were distributed on the ground. They ran out of Globe and Mail. Meal orders were taken in the air. I was second last to have my meal order taken (seat 4D), the last taken was beside me (4E). We were given the choice of the beef.
Did crew offer a hot towel prior to the meal service? Yes.
Approximately how long after take off did it take for the first meal service to be completed? (From takeoff to all items collected) About 2 hours to completion of cookies and ice cream (which was served immediately after the meal).
How was the quality of all the meals? The beef was overcooked (not surprising) but reasonably tasty. Not the best J meal I've had, but certainly not the worst.
Did the cabin crew continiously top up the beverage of your choice throughout the flight? No. In fact, I was not offered any beverage save for a single glass of water at the 3.5 hour mark after the main course was served.


Post departure
If you have checked baggage, did it arrive within reasonable period of time? No checked bags. Nexus was quick, although a poor couple coming off another flight ended up in the Nexus line that didn't have Nexus. The signage in the Canadian customs hall at YYZ could still be better (this isn't completely an AC issue).

Overall experience/any other comments:
I would consider the crew on this flight the easily the worst crew I've had on AC in the past year (60+ segments). As mentioned above, meal orders did not appear to be taken by status (although perhaps this is due to the gate upgrade). As a result of catering on the flight, there were no corkscrews available, so they couldn't open any wine save for the screw-top Chardonnay (which not surprisingly ran out during the meal service). The crew knew there were no corkscrews on the flight as they announced at the gate asking if anyone happened to have one (I'm not sure why they couldn't solve this in SAN). At no point was coffee and tea offered, and in fact, after the meal service (2 hours into the flight) the FA in charge of the J cabin disappeared into the front and read her book for the remainder of the flight. The only service we had after this point was another FA coming through the cabin with glasses of water. The service in Y was better (as I was sitting in the last row of J I could hear them offering water throughout the flight).