rankourabu

Same, while I havent even been around anywhere close to for as long as the poster has been flying, in the last 15 years, I have enjoyed great J/F meals on planes as well, even with Delta for a North American carrier. All I ask for economy is to be edible. Sadly AC fails even that.

canadiancow

I've had one SPML on the outbound and a different one on the return on AC. So it's definitely possible.

Stranger

Assuming that's the case (which I doubt), someone should have been able to explain...

OTOH "worst airline experience" should quite a bit excessive. Happens every day that some special meal does not get loaded.

Plus, airline meals being what they how much of a loss is this?

MarkP24

I have enjoyed some great meals as well, and definitely some excellent beverages!

LondonElite

Ha ha...I remember travelling with my parents back in the 'old days' of the 1970s as a very young pup, having stewards carving roast beef in premium class.

vanillabean

CZAMFlyer

Perhaps you glossed over the detailed portions of the post in which the OP stated all the interventions that had to occur in order to achieve the bare minimum of bags and meals being assigned to the correct traveler. The outcome was successful not because of AC's efforts, but in spite of them.
It's not "just the way they are" in any of those places. If one finds themselves being treated rudely, hassled or bullied all across the globe, the common denominator is likely the source of the strife.
Yes sure, but this isn't off the beaten path travel we're discussing. Flying between major cities on global airlines has become such a routine, mundane experience that one would be forgiven to expect that in 2018, issues of abysmal customer service and failing IT would be an exceedingly rare phenomenon at best.
This experience wasn't viewed from your eyes.
The OP may well have had handed their worst airline experience so far by Air Canada (I'm assuming you read the opening sentence of the original post), and if that's the case, the title is accurate. It doesn't compare to anybody's prior experiences except the poster's herself.

Stranger

Ah, semantics... Technically the title could be interpreted that way, but (1) somehow I don't think that's what the OP meant and (2) that's not what most people will read into it.

Ayway, just our of hospital after three days makes airline food look good.

Transpacificflyer

The root cause of this is the OP's claim that the check in agent in YYZ did not respond to the demand for a specific meal on the return flight and this is followed by an allegation of poor customer service. Perhaps it is best if someone were to explain to the OP that the airline states that If you have already completed your online booking: Contact Air Canada Reservations to request your special meal
I don't know where the OP made the contact, but common sense holds that if an individual CSR is incapable of handling a request, you end the call, and wait a bit and then try again and keep trying until you get someone who knows. This holds for any customer service situation where one would consider the response inadequate.

An airline ex-India to Canada has no obligation to provide a specific type of meal to a passenger. None. Nada. Zippo. Even when there is an offer to try and accommodate the dietary needs of passengers on an ex-India to Canada flight, there is no obligation of the airline to do so. Yes, Air Canada offers a complimentary special menu option, but this should not be interpreted as an obligation.

In respect to the purchase of fruit for consumption at the airport or ENROUTE to YYZ, there is nothing wrong with the purchase. If one believes that elderly people are incapable of understanding that no fruit should be brought into Canada, then one should also insist that they should not be flying since this would mean making a false declaration at YYZ. Passengers are required to complete the declaration which specifically asks if fruit is being brought in.

Your claim of superior service from Indian airlines is your opinion and it seems it is yours alone. You reference an article from 7 years ago which really doesn't support your position. What's next, an ode to the bankrupt Kingfisher? There are significant ongoing service and operational issues in the Indian civil airline sector and they are not a secret. You offer the near bankrupt 9W as a reference of quality. Instead of 2011, let's deal with the reality of 2018 and the fact that Air Canada uses both Air India and Jet on its connections within India. You want to offer citations. Fine. Start with these gems;
http://aviationweek.com/commercial-a...ine-challenges
Jet Airways has become a prime example of the problems confronting India’s airline industry.........
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/30/econo...ble/index.html

And what's this nonsense about Indigo? How can you compare a bare bones LCC with Air Canada or even the full service US carriers? Indigo is the equivalent of Spirit or Ryan Air. Visatara is a small regional operation of 21 aircraft. Would you compare Porter to AC on routes to India? If not, why then would you toss out a smaller domestic airline? Neither of these operations partners with Air Canada.

Transpacificflyer

Cute. It's not about me. PEK transfer desk is no secret. They treat everyone rudely, including federal MPs. IST is well known for its hassles, , and don't tell me that the LAX's reputation for rude customs and TSA personnel is not earned, as the negative comments are posted. My experience(s) are common to thousands of others who have suffered far worse in any given month.

WaytoomuchEurope

You're speaking to me as though I have no concept of travel outside Canada or on other carriers. It's amusing.

By the way, my father used to travel into Leningrad regularly in the early to late 80s. He flew a lot of Aeroflot. I like to believe people are inherently honest, so I absolutely believe you heard stories about Aeroflot like I did. The part that's tripping me up is comparing those to AC now or at any time in history. I wouldn't compare them to Canada3000.

Let me be clear: AC makes me crazy sometimes and I'm no apologist. It's the logical choice for me and I accept the occasional nuisance that comes with it.

I stand my original point that the OP was being sensationalist and as I see it, so are you. In both cases it's entirely your prerogative. Let's agree to disagree.

Symmetre

The reality is that every airline has its good days and awful days. For the OP, take a wander through the other airline forums on here and you'll see this first-hand. Every carrier - without exception - screws up now and then, and every carrier - without exception - periodically leaves some traveler feeling like they just got robbed and sodomized all at the same time.

Having said that, some airlines manage this more frequently than others. Most of the Asian and European airlines tend to have more good days than awful ones. Some of the US airlines have a lot of bad days while others have become quite good. Air Canada, I'm sorry to say, has been having more problems and having them more frequently for several years now. Many of those poor experiences could have been entirely avoided had the company invested in upgrading its Windows 95-era IT system instead of repeatedly sucking all the profits out of the company in the form of massive executive bonuses year after year.

Air Canada's functional problems stem from horrible IT, which leaves passengers no choice but to interact with staff directly and be subjected to "inconsistent" (I'm being kind here) customer service. But make no mistake - the responsibility for these continuing problems flows directly the corner office.

MarkP24

Very well said!

jasdou

What bothers me about this whole story is that AC is well aware of the specific dietary requirements of a good chunk of passengers on its India routes. In all classes of service, including Y, Indian vegetarian meals are catered in sufficient quantity as part of the normal service. They would likely have been better off with the standard meal rather than trying to get a SPML loaded.

skybluesea

delete