Aug 21, 2021, 5:45 pm
Last edit by: Adam Smith
This thread originally contained any and all information relating to flying with AC in the times of COVID. As travel has picked up, much of the discussion has been moved to dedicated threads to make topics easier to follow. Threads that may be of particular interest to those travelling during COVID:
Meal threads:
Schedule changes/refunds - temporary COVID-related policies:
The above threads are in the process of winding down as AC moves away from temporary COVID-related policies. Most questions on schedule changes/refunds should be directed to the thread on AC's new permanent schedule change policies
Other AC-related threads:
Pre-travel e-mails:
Information on immigration rules and procedures, and other government requirements, from the Canada forum:
Airport-related threads containing information that may be relevant to AC passengers, but that are not specific to AC (there are many others in the Canada forum; these are a few that have come up frequently):
(Other threads with immigration/government-related questions not specific to AC can be found on the Canada forum, and experiences and questions on those topics should be posted there)
Meal threads:
- Air Canada Meals (Jul 2021 - ???) - Business Class - North America
- Air Canada Meals (Jul 2021 - ???) - Premium Economy - North America
- Air Canada Meals (Jul 2021 - ???) - Economy - North America
- Air Canada Meals (Jul 2021 - ???) - Business Class - International
Schedule changes/refunds - temporary COVID-related policies:
- Master thread COVID-19/Coronavirus; travel waivers, route changes, AC impacts
- Master thread Air Canada Refunds vs credits; Class action lawsuit filed
The above threads are in the process of winding down as AC moves away from temporary COVID-related policies. Most questions on schedule changes/refunds should be directed to the thread on AC's new permanent schedule change policies
Other AC-related threads:
- Air Canada Clean Care+ program
- MLLs in the time of COVID - re-openings, food, distancing, etc
- Upload your COVID documents online (trial)
Pre-travel e-mails:
Information on immigration rules and procedures, and other government requirements, from the Canada forum:
- Canada entry rules changing; fully vaccinated air travelers allowed
- Canada Will Require Negative COVID-19 Test 72 Hours Before Arrival
- Federal government to require vaccinations for all air and train passengers
Airport-related threads containing information that may be relevant to AC passengers, but that are not specific to AC (there are many others in the Canada forum; these are a few that have come up frequently):
- Flying through YYC 2021 Q3/Q4 (security, connections, construction impact, etc)
- YYZ International Arrivals
- Recent/Current YYZ-USA Preclearance Weekday morning times
(Other threads with immigration/government-related questions not specific to AC can be found on the Canada forum, and experiences and questions on those topics should be posted there)
Is anyone actually flying AC domestic or international in these Covid-filled days?
Jul 29, 2022, 5:15 am
#1696
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 221
Jul 29, 2022, 6:57 am
#1697
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: AC SE
Posts: 1,505
Yeah, just a couple of weeks ago. To be fair, I had a sense something like that would happen: she was wearing goggles, gloves, two masks, plastic "bib," etc. I suppose she could either be particularly vulnerable to COVID or just especially concerned about it. But either way, I don't think she really had to wake me from a dead sleep for that...
Jul 29, 2022, 8:15 am
#1699
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,399
Jul 29, 2022, 1:02 pm
#1700
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: YLW
Programs: AC- SE100 1MM, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Platinum, National Executive, Nexus/GE
Posts: 4,309
Jul 29, 2022, 2:01 pm
#1701
Join Date: Feb 2022
Programs: Air Canada
Posts: 1
Damn. Got off the elevator at YYZ domestic at 7:15 this morning to be greeted by a lineup for the at-capacity MLL. Dude at the desk was directing people to the cafe as an alternate, so I gave it a go. Not bad!
Jul 29, 2022, 2:32 pm
#1702
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: YOW
Programs: AC SE, FOTSG Platinum
Posts: 5,727
Turns out everyone who wasn't at YOW this morning, is definitely now at YUL Intl with ten friends each.
They've just announced "anyone who leaves the lounge now, may have to wait up to an hour to be re-admitted, so we advise you not to leave until you're ready to go to your gate".
They've just announced "anyone who leaves the lounge now, may have to wait up to an hour to be re-admitted, so we advise you not to leave until you're ready to go to your gate".
Jul 29, 2022, 2:37 pm
#1703
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: AC SE
Posts: 1,505
Jul 29, 2022, 2:37 pm
#1704
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 302
This isn't all that different than being woken up because your seatbelt is not buckled. The flight attendant, however annoying this is, was just following Transport Canada rules.
Jul 30, 2022, 5:30 am
#1705
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: AC SE
Posts: 1,505
Agreed. She was within her rights. But I wouldn't have minded a bit of leniency (as, indeed, the crew showed on the way home when the same thing happened).
Jul 30, 2022, 5:49 am
#1706
Join Date: Dec 2019
Programs: Air Canada - Super Elite, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 609
However, as soon as meal service is done it reverts back. The masking between sips thing seemed crazy to me, but I got called on it with an after-service cognac. That was in March though. They seem to have softened quite a bit in the summer on my flights, although only to a point. LH, who also have a government imposed mask mandate seem to have basically given up enforcing it now, at least on service to Central Asia, where upon landing no one is wearing masks anymore. I have a return NQZ-FRA-YYZ on Monday, we’ll see how it goes.
Jul 30, 2022, 7:06 am
#1707
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2015
Location: BOS, YVR, ZRH
Programs: *G
Posts: 17,399
So far this year I have found crew to be relatively lax on TATL service during meals, but less so at any other point in the flight. Most people took off their masks for meal service and didn’t put them back on when interacting with crew for drinks, etc… This is even in the case on flights with FA’s wearing full gear.
However, as soon as meal service is done it reverts back. The masking between sips thing seemed crazy to me, but I got called on it with an after-service cognac. That was in March though. They seem to have softened quite a bit in the summer on my flights, although only to a point. LH, who also have a government imposed mask mandate seem to have basically given up enforcing it now, at least on service to Central Asia, where upon landing no one is wearing masks anymore. I have a return NQZ-FRA-YYZ on Monday, we’ll see how it goes.
However, as soon as meal service is done it reverts back. The masking between sips thing seemed crazy to me, but I got called on it with an after-service cognac. That was in March though. They seem to have softened quite a bit in the summer on my flights, although only to a point. LH, who also have a government imposed mask mandate seem to have basically given up enforcing it now, at least on service to Central Asia, where upon landing no one is wearing masks anymore. I have a return NQZ-FRA-YYZ on Monday, we’ll see how it goes.
Jul 30, 2022, 7:14 am
#1708
Join Date: Dec 2019
Programs: Air Canada - Super Elite, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 609
I saw another passenger get called out for the in-between sips masking, because in the FA's (very true) words, "otherwise people would just keep an open can of soda in front of them all flight and pretend to be constantly drinking and would never mask, and that'd defeat the purpose". Wise words, because I've seen that exact behaviour "suggested" here on FT by people who want to circumvent the mask mandates. I was happy to see the FA's were onto that!
Jul 30, 2022, 7:20 am
#1709
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 302
While I appreciate the circumstances are outside of AC’s control being a TC mandate, the “defeating the purpose” pretty much flies out the window when the entire plane doffs their masks for 45 minutes during meal service. You can put them back on as much as you want afterwards, but any potential damage has been done by that point.
Jul 30, 2022, 7:23 am
#1710
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 221
It really depends on the crew, I had flights where a guy next to me had a glass of wine for 5h in J in front of him with no mask.
Then some if its under you're nose go crazy.
But lately its been less restrictive.
Will see tomorrow on my YUL-BCN how it goes
Then some if its under you're nose go crazy.
But lately its been less restrictive.
Will see tomorrow on my YUL-BCN how it goes