Segment 1
Flight: AC738
Route: SFO-YYZ
Date: 8/25/16
Equipment: Boeing 767-300ER
Registration: C-GSCA
Cabin: J

Living at the southern end of Potrero Hill means a quick (and cheap) Uber ride to SFO. With boarding originally scheduled for 10:55am, I left my home at 9:55am. 15 minutes and $13 later, I was through security (thank you, Nexus/Pre✓!) and heading to the domestic United Club in Terminal 3E. Opened in late 2015, this lounge is much nicer (and generally less crowded) than the larger UC in the International Terminal. On the topic of UA vs. AC domestic lounge food, UA is now the hands-down winner (thanks to AC's recent cut-backs). Although I was just stopping by for a quick Americano, the staff was bringing out lunch options when I arrived, and I saw multiple salads, soups, and other light snacks that all looked quite appetizing.

A late inbound aircraft meant that boarding was delayed by an hour. The flight itself was uneventful and quite pleasant, thanks to a great cabin crew.

That being said, I have to point out that the B763s in AC's fleet, still equipped with the prior generation J product (titled "Project XM") introduced a decade ago, are really showing their age. Today's bird had no running water (meaning no water for handwashing, no flushing toilet, and no coffee, tea or any other hot beverage) and several passengers in J had to be reseated due to issues with their seats. Mine had to be reset halfway through the flight. Also, the power outlet did not work (though the USB port did). AC recently rolled out a new IFE system throughout its fleet, and the new software seems to run extremely slowly on the old hardware. Not sure if this was a one-time bug, but while watching Steve Jobs — a great film, btw! — I exited the movie to sneak a peek at the route map, and upon returning to the movie, I wasn't given the option to resume where I left off.

The meal options on this flight were:

Veal stew, tomato and vegetable sauce, cauliflower au gratin, fine French green beans;
Green curry chicken, rice pilaf, carrots, edamame beans;
Flame-seared loin of cod, red pepper, tomato, almond sauce, orzo and vegetable medley; or
Cheese tortellini, Italian-style tomato sauce, mozzarella

I had the cod, and it was in line with my (low) expectations.

As alluded to earlier, what saved this flight was the great work of Sharon and Gabrielle serving the J cabin. Their friendly attitude and attentive service made overlooking all the other issues quite easy. Kudos to them!

We made up some time along the way and arrived at the gate at 7:50pm, 25 minutes behind schedule.

One final question / observation: What is AC's official policy with respect to Y passengers using J bathrooms? If there is a policy against it, I rarely hear it announced like many other airlines do, and enforcement seems inconsistent from flight to flight.

Mileage Tally: 2,259/49,313