zkzkz

I was impressed with the value when I flew Transat "club class" once which was like $150 more than economy ... but that was about 10 years ago. I've checked since and found it *much* more expensive than what I paid then. I think both airlines are pricing their premium class based on what the market will bear, not on what they think the value thy can offer represents. And the reality seems to be that the market will bear a pretty substantial premium for premium economy.

From the airline's point of view I think the way they do their accounting the dominant factor in calculating the cost is the sheer square footage of the seat. It doesn't seem like much difference when you're sitting in it but they only fit about 2/3 as many PY seats in the same space as economy seats so it's going to be 50% more "expensive" from their point of view. There are all kinds of assumptions built into that model about what seats they could have sold at what price if they had more seats but I don't think they think that deeply about it to be honest.

It would be nice if they looked at the fare and said hm, we're giving 50% more space and the market is paying us 50% more money (or more on AC IME!) let's see if we can offer a service commensurate with what they're paying.

yulred

You’re not being unreasonable. Its normal
to assume that PY (or Y) products should roughly be the same.

The reality is that they aren’t. They have similar seats, but the overall quality tends to vary a lot. You have your premium carriers in the PY space (like VS or NZ), you have your middling carriers (like CX, WS, BA and so on) and you have your budget carriers (like AC, LH, US3). The former treats it as a different class of service and pay lots of attention, the middle as a different class, albeit as an afterthought, and the latter treat it is an extension of Y (even closing the curtain between the cabins is one step too far).

AC has always been a budget carrier in Y/PY. Cabin cleanliness and upkeep has been a problem for years (LH is an outlier on that front among the budget carriers).

It’s not that they can’t make the service a little better; they just don’t want to. In that sense, AC has adopted LH’s general contempt for anything that suggests “Economy”.

What you’re describing is pre-pandemic normal PY on AC - right down to poor ukpeep, low cleanliness, and actual chunks missing out of the seats.

canadiancow

"In preparation for landing .... we will be collecting the noise cancelling headsets in first class."

Bohemian1

That won't take long.

canadiancow

I should clarify that my post is on topic. I am flying AC.

canadiancow

I flew out of SFO T2 on AC yesterday.

Without Clear, I either would have had to run to T3 and back, or I would have missed my flight. The Precheck line was snaking around the check-in area.

I guess I might need to rethink my airport arrival strategy for AC flights. Getting there after boarding has begun is starting to get risky.

commaspace

Did YYZ-YVR lie flat last weekend and it was a rather enjoyable experience. The flight attendant servicing me was super cute and friendly, probably got lucky because the other ones seems lukewarm. Meal service was course by course, spaced out nicely and pretty attentive. Entree nothing to write home about, tiramisu dessert was quite enjoyable.

Watkin

"Super cute". Really? That added to your experience?

MillennialMiles

Elevated feelings in the air

commaspace

Pleasant interactions with a nice human being who actually loves their jobs isn't "adding to your experience"? How miserable.

vernonc

Pushback YYZ to SFO late this morning due to late arriving pax. Bags are on so had to wait. Likely due to the long lines at TB security and US CBP. Took 40 mins with Nexus

ChrisA330

Super cute could be interpreted as an assessment if their physical appearance.

RCyyz

It's hard to believe I started this thread a little over 2 years ago and we're still here posting!

When I started this thread, it was hard to see a way forward and a return to the times when many of us would mileage run just for the sake of a few extra points or other perceived perks. When I first created this thread, we were at a point where simply being in close proximity to others might be a lethal thing.

How times have changed! Personally I'm glad they have and I suspect we all are ...

I wouldn't go so far as to say the pandemic is over, but with the vaccines, getting on a plane to go somewhere is no longer the challenge it was two years or a year ago.

I recently flew YYZ-YVR-YYJ-YVR-PDX and back again all on AC metal. Masks were on for most flights and then suddenly after Oct 1, they weren't. I still wore my mask more often than not and I think for the foreseeable future, some of us will elect to mask up more often than Before Covid. But that's no biggie; it's just a personal choice just like do I wear these shoes today or those ones?

The title of this thread is "Is anyone actually flying AC domestic or international in these Covid-filled days". Judging by the loads on the flights I recently took and by the crowds and line ups at the airports, I'd say the answer today is a resounding yes.

It's nice to be up in the air again.


Mods - please feel free to close this thread as we all move on.

RatherBeInYOW

A few COVID-related observations from my LHR-YYZ-YOW this past weekend.

1) It was almost like a pre-COVID TATL, besides the parts of the J service that have not quite recovered. No masks on any crew or pax that I saw in J.

2) I miss AC 888/889. Maybe next summer.

3) When I got to YYZ I cleared customs in 30s (fairly quiet anyway, and thanks Nexus) and had plenty of time to catch an earlier flight to YOW. In the beforetimes I would frequently go to the gate to get this done but these days it seems like the GA shows up about 5 mins before the flight boards at YYZ so I went to the service desk at YYZ domestic. I was booked in Y upgraded to J on both legs but all I wanted was the earlier YYZ-YOW and I didn't care whether my upgrade carried over or not for a 45 min flight, and I didn't care whether they gave me a confirmed seat or standby (I've got a 100% clear rate on standby YYZ/YOW as an SE). The obviously very new agent could not figure how to do this and had to get another agent to help out and and all in all it took them about 15 minutes to figure it all out and print me a new boarding pass for the earlier flight, which in the beforetimes would have taken an agent about 1-2 mins. I didn't care because I had lots of time, but it seems like they are still training new staff and when IRROPs happen it is still going to be a big challenge.

canadiancow

You probably could have done it yourself by accessing OLCI again, in less time than the "1-2 mins" from the "beforetimes".