TravelingPeanut

Do you have a love/hate relationship with Air Canada?

http://youtu.be/nuE0S3jvDZU

hotpopcorn

imo ac is still better than other north american carriers in terms of service

airbus320

Parodies are always somewhat founded in reality.

YYBGrinder

Although I agree, it's also a reality shared by only one side of the equation. The disgruntled passenger. Being SE I'm sure the quality of service I receive is much better than someone with no status. I'm not saying it's right but it is a fact of life, but in my experience the customer service I've received from AC has been better than any other North American airline I've flown.

tomvancouver

after a 6 segment trip on United recently I would say AC has some significant north American competition. the service was excellent, IT infrastructure great (right down to being able to view the upgrade list on line), making itinerary changes etc. a
As an SE I get good service on AC, but as a star gold on UA it was just as good. No IRROPS this trip but previously I got my itinerary ( not just schedule) changed by the lounge agent, who had the power to make things happen.

canadiancow

UA IT is great? You've never heard the comments exchanged by UA agents about SHARES when you ask them to change something.

I'm also not impressed with IRROPS. Plane has a maintenance issue, and an hour later is canceled "due to weather".

They want to split our PNR to put us on stand-by for another flight, which meant I (*G) would be at the top of the list, and my friend (no status) would be at the bottom. Luckily I had Trip Delay insurance, so we took a confirmed seat on a flight the next day.

I have never not been offered a hotel by AC (even as E35K) when I was forced to overnight for a situation that was not my fault (but they also weren't AC's fault).

garydpdx

@CanadianCow - Departing ORD, I was diverted to YQB a couple of weeks ago after YUL closed due to an ice storm. AC did put up passengers at L'Hotel Clarendon, I was surprised. But given the amount of time it took, I would have preferred a Maple Leaf Lounge pass for the next day and sleep at the airport but I can't be picky in this situation; I am grateful to AC in this case (Merci/thanks!). Had this been a US domestic UA flight, I would have been on my own.

One deficiency was that one cannot rebook at a kiosk. It may be that the kiosks in Canada are run by the airports not the airlines. It was old fashioned stand in line and/or wait on the phone (I did both), then another line for a taxi (with vouchers to and fro, thanks again, AC!).

Overall, AC is a better experience within North America if everything goes all right. But if you want to get on an earlier flight after arriving early and passing security, it costs. If you have any problem (n.b., I haven't seen the video parody), you are handed a card with a toll-free number to call.

For International, to China or Japan, United's newly refurbished 777's have jumped ahead of AC's. Better IFE, E+ seats, etc. AC's flights to YVR and YYZ are packed, UA's to IAD, EWR, ORD often aren't so in regular economy, it's 1 inch less legroom but higher likelihood of an empty middle seat. (Last year, I did trips as a mere mortal and then as MP Silver, getting interlined to AC.)

Admiral Ackbar

Pretty bang on about the way AC sees their customers. Like in my IT days where we said our jobs would be so much better without those pesky users...Seems to me they view customers as a compulsory annoyance. Reflected in their on board service as well.

EnvoyBoy

The parody is pretty entertaining...if you can even get through to be put in the phone queue. How many of this winter spent days being hung up on by AC and/or resorting to call Mexico, Hong Kong or the UK to get simple assistance? And then in the middle of spring with no weather, hold times to speak with agent can routinely exceed 20-30 mins. I split my time between AC and UA and in lots of way AC can be a better airline (especially within NA) but phone customer service is pathetic.

KenHamer

You are confusing your experience with the rest of the world.

Obviously he had no problems making a change, nor any problems with their IT.

KenHamer

There's an even better parody of rouge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G64B9nn0iCo

djjaguar64

SPOT ON

canadiancow

I like how you removed the "" from my post when you quoted it, which changed it from the light humour I intended, to a more serious tone that you responded to.

mtensioners

GET SERIOUS
AC better than the rest of NA Carriers, Not a hope in Hell
AC is in a league of its own for slapping PAX in the face leaving them stranded and then adding a few extra fees to fix their own mess at the customers expense.
You need to leave canada when you fly.
lol

Fragola

The love/hate aspect is spot on.

In one IRROPS situation I was rescheduled to the next connecting flight available (the next morning), given a hotel voucher, airport food voucher and free snack on flight without much argument.

OTOH my brother waited 4 hours on the phone once to reschedule/reroute flights originally booked online. The departure was within 24 hours so could not be done online. Change of flights necessitated due to family emergency and it was holiday high travel season but clearly inadequate staffing levels here.