Originally Posted by FiveGuysNamedRay

I'm now enjoying all the luxuries of the Sandman hotel near YVR. AC flight 45 was supposed to take off at 7:40 am on the 11th from DEL and arrive in YVR in afternoon. It actually did take off at 4:45 pm that day-- I got a couple of text messages to that effect, which is better than my colleague, who showed up at the airport at 6 am only to wait around all day. The would not give me a connecting boarding pass to SEA (though they did give one to my colleague, more on this later)....They sent me to the SQ SilverKris lounge in Delhi which was (yes, I'm serious) padlocked with a big chain through the door handles. Finally somebody shows up and says go to Plaza Premium upstairs-- they want us to pay to enter. The actual sleep pod in J on the 787 is actually very nice, and a couple of the FAs were very apologetic (crew change? mysteries abound, AC would not explain). I did mention repeatedly that I had a connection to SEA when I landed and it was the last flight of the day, departing only 35 mins after this flight arrived. The third time an FA said "I'm sure it'll be fine," I started getting nervous. We land, and the only AC staff outside the plane have signs for Canada domestic connections. We ask what to do about Seattle, they say, "no problem, go to USA transit area." OK, we run down there, and it's......closed. No, I'm not kidding, a woman started gesturing to us to say "go through immigration and check in again." We run through immigration, go up to USA check in zone (zero staff there, empty), and I try to get a boarding pass. Cannot-- too late for flight. Since there are literally no staff, I walk/run to the AC domestic area, where a guy takes me over to the ticketing area, and I wait, and wait, of course. They hem and haw and say that (shockingly) this was AC's fault. So, after a half hour of this, they say I can sit (in eco) of course tomorrow morning-- but tonight AC will comp me the beautiful Sandman hotel-- which is a shuttle ride away (I learn later that my colleague ended up in the Fairmont, which is walkable). They tell me to go to arrivals and call AC baggage to get my bag, and told me it would take five minutes. 45 minutes later, after they collect my bag, I go to wait for the shuttle, which I wait another 25 minutes wait. At 10 pm, a mere 3 hours after arriving, and 23 hours after we were supposed to originally take off, I'm in the hotel room. They did comp me, as a biz passenger, a $15 food certificate for YVR-- yay, this totally makes up for it all. At least today is a new day.....If Air Canada really wants to compete on the India-North America routes, they will have to do better-- there are lots of options from Delhi (BA, LH, Qatar, Emirates, even United).....

Originally Posted by HMPS

You are correct. AM an expat and visit India every year. The Middle Class there is exploding numbers...people have money, have started spending it , great travel thirst. USA visas have been made very difficult so US is losing $$$$, more Indians go to Europe than USA.

Originally Posted by Jebby_ca

@FiveGuysNamedRay Since you were flying in business class, did you at anytime reach out to the concierge? Especially after realizing you may miss your connection in Vancouver?

Even if you made your original connection in YVR to SEA, you'd have flown in economy class, as YVR - SEA is flown by the lovely Q400.

What status does your colleague have with Air Canada? What status, if any, do you hold on AC Altitude? I've been told by the concierges @YVR that usually only SE100Ks get the Fairmont.

Originally Posted by vernonc

It is two way traffic to India so much as the "Indian" customer might be cheaper as per Transpacific flyer, its not all like that. Indians are used to cheaper LCC which IMHO are actually better than some NA mainline carriers - they are on time, cleaner and newer and seat configs might be better than Rouge.

Originally Posted by vernonc

Most local carriers put their lowest international product on the Gulf routes as they are short haul and price sensitive. For the Indian customer the gold standard and probably rightly so is the ME carriers and far east carriers (SQ, etc). I know people who pay more to fly EK in Y as an example. Not very long ago LH uses to fly their old 747 to India with the overhead TV screens. Now that they have newer planes and decent connections, FRA/MUC and even ZRH (LX) are good transit points.

Originally Posted by vernonc

Now that 9W is dead, perhaps AC can try the BOM route again perhaps once the PAK airspace issue also clears up. I am also assuming that airlines will have to make plans to currently not fly around Yemen, and soon perhaps avoid Iranian airspace and the vicinity with all the recent sabre rattling. So finding a safe route to BOM might involve avoiding PAK airspace, Iran/Iraq and Yemen. Flights to/from India have gotten more expensive with the demise of 9W.

Originally Posted by RatherBeInYOW

I wouldn't say they are better than Rouge. 9Ws domestic config was objectively worse than a Rouge narrowbody and my Indian colleagues told me the LCCs were worse. But Vistara is showing that there is a market for a higher end domestic flight experience in India. New planes, PY on domestic routes, good service; not every consumer in India is as price conscious. As others have pointed out status conscious on the other hand is another matter.



LH started flying 748s in to India almost as soon as they got them, and that has been quite a while now. In the meantime they've had no problem continuing flying the 744 in to YYZ, the A350 in to YYZ from MUC just showed up in the last few months.



My understanding is the removal of BOM is seasonal and AC will be back there in the fall. Certainly the impression I got last time I was in BOM.

Originally Posted by yulred

AC let's you pick the hotels they put you up at? I learn new things everyday

Originally Posted by ridefar

Unless the policy has changed since the last time I used it, the answer is yes, they do (within reason). If you have to do an unscheduled overnight in YYZ, they will prefer to put you at one of the local hotels (Sheraton, or Westin, for example) but they will put you in Mississauga or elsewhere if those or sold out or you insist. And they will cover limo to and from. At least for SE they will. I have no idea what the policy is for non-SE (because I haven't been on in a decade and a half) but ... as an SE, you get treated very fairly, IMO.

Originally Posted by Santander

I semi-regularly mis-connect when I fly YYZ-YOW-YHZ in the evening, and they always put me up in a mediocre airport hotel (Homewood, Residence Inn), from which I Uber into town to meet a friend for drinks at the Westin downtown. Maybe I will just try to get them to just book me in the Westin (or neighboring hotel) next time... I don't think it's unreasonable for someone flying on a Lat Pass.

Originally Posted by mellon

AC has two choices of planes to India 777-300 or the 787-9. The 777-200 are needed for HKG/SYD. Perhaps the HD 777 would work for India however that's a lot of seats to sell.

Originally Posted by mellon

AC has two choices of planes to India 777-300 or the 787-9. The 777-200 are needed for HKG/SYD. Perhaps the HD 777 would work for India however that's a lot of seats to sell.

Originally Posted by YEG USER

So it's ok to drop the ball on a paid J pax on a misconnect because the flight originated in India? IMHO most of the frustration in the post is about what took place in YVR. Pax should have been greeted upon arrival with hotel/meal voucher and onward boarding pass instead of getting sent from place to place due to lack of staffing. That likely would have minimized some of the frustration.

As far as what the competition offers, pricing comparisons, what to expect during a delay in India, etc. I think those are fair points, but once you are onboard AC's aircraft and flying through one of their hubs IMHO it shouldn't matter what country you're flying from/to. AFAIK Int'l Signature Service doesn't advertise different standards based on destination.

Originally Posted by RatherBeInYOW

I've flown in the 777-200 YYZ - BOM. I'm not sure how often they fly them on that route, but it does happen.