disappointing experience (Y)
 

recently experienced three legs with AC, all in Y:

DEN - YYZ: indifferent staff, no food on offer other than a few cold sandwiches and snacks for a 3 hour flight, but flight on time

YYZ - FRA: indifferent staff, mediocre food and to top it off breakfast came in the form of one slice of banana bread! On a 7.5 hour flight that's a first for me. At least were on schedule.

YYZ - DEN: indifferent staff, 75 minute delay sitting on tarmac for no-shows and offloading of their bags and subsequent congestion behind the aircraft, followed by 1.5h of no service (not even water) and finally being offered chips or chocolate for purchase as all other food offerings were either not stocked or already sold to passengers in front! Unbelievable.

This for the most expensive ticket to Europe I have ever paid for! I have flown AC previously, but this was certainly a low. On the return, I used Austrian and was very pleased with their offering. DEN really needs a lot more competition for international flights! A major advanatage of going through Canada remains being able to clear customs early while in transit and arriving as if on a domestic flight.

You were on schedule to FRA? This trip sounds a little bit better than average. You won't get sympathy from the apologists for the DEN delay or the lack of smiles.

Sounds pretty standard for AC longhaul Y.

I dont know why you would expect it to be anything like OS.

That banana bread is disgusting, we received it on YYZ-CDG and I threw mine out, its full of saturated fat.

That breakfast offering is unfortunately the new normal. Having recently flown ET and SN, they do the same for breakfast into Europe - a miserable muffin, which virtually no one eats. I also read similar complaints on the QF thread for flights into Australia from Asia.

Didn't realize people expected J amenities and service while sittin in Y nowadays. Your experience doesn't at all sound like anything not normal to Y.

How did you get to YYZ from FRA? I guess that service was better, so not worth mentioning?

Ron.

Didn't realize that people's experiences were so limited to AC that they don't know what other airlines offer in Y. This experience is much closer to the bottom than 'normal'.
(Hint: AC's long haul Y product no longer compares favourably to US carriers, let alone Asian ones)

To OP, I brought up the banana bread with the local AC rep quite a few months ago. Suggested they serve something a little more nutritious (forget UA breakfast offerings, even a granola bar would mark an improvement). They're aware - and evidently don't plan on addressing it.

Noted the BoB situation with some interest. There was an interesting exchange here some time ago about AC having a policy of not providing things from the BoB cart to J pax to ensure availability for Y pax. Guess that isn't going to plan.

try re-reading the OP:

It's a 3 hour flight, they should have some minimal snacks for sale, that's about it. Not sure what you're looking for exactly here.

This one surprised me, I guess I've never flown AC intl red-eye, so I have no comparison point on the breakfast, I would've hoped it was the omelette. That said, most people complain about that.


Not sure why the 1.5 hours of no service, but don't you dare even mention the 75 minute delay. That is in no way AC's fault. As a former baggage handler, I can tell you, I don't care who your frustration is at, but it's shameful if you place any blame on them. This is 100% passenger fault. Not yours, not the guy next to you, but the ....... who flakes out and disappears in the terminal. It happens far too often and as the baggage handler we get tasked with (often) totally offloading the plane to find a "black roller, tag ending 2222". Next time you want this done faster, feel free to come down on to the ramp and tell me how to do it.

The price of the ticket has nothing to do with it. You could've just as easily been on a cheap ticket and got the same service/product. Or you could've paid more and had the same results.

DEN doesn't have the market for those flights or they'd exist. You got the 787 to NRT which is nice, PTY is also newish, that's great for connections southward. But the reality is, you've got a great network of UA flights, 1 stop you can get just about anywhere, east, west or south.

The banana bread is an insult to humanity.
I rate AC lower than the other major North American carriers nowadays when it comes to international flight Y cabin experience.

This one surprised me, I guess I've never flown AC intl red-eye, so I have no comparison point on the breakfast, I would've hoped it was the omelette. That said, most people complain about that.

You do know that DEN has FRA service on LH on a 747, BA serves LHR, also on a 747 (in winter they use a 787), as well as Icelandair, right? There are lots of better ways to get places in Europe than AC or UA.

There is no defense for poor service, which is really the main place that AC falls down: sometimes service is great, other times fully indifferent, and yet other times, dismal. It's a shame that there is so much inconsistency.

The OP is entitled to their disappointment. Perhaps future posters should clear their daring observations through you first?

Getting the same Banana Bread in PY is a bigger insult :P

Surely AC can manage expectations better: just tell pax that if they want anything resembling real food to bring their own.

PY is disappointing because the regular meal service is pretty decent as far as airplane food goes.

So perhaps the answer is to make the regular meal service worse? Be careful what you wish for ;) :p