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"Going Rogue" from -15C to +30C: Air Canada Rouge in Y+ (YUL-CUN) with photos/videos
During the cold winter January all I wanted was to escape to a warm destination.
So, I decided to head down to the "blue collar" destination of Cancun, Mexico. Air Canada leisure airlines "Rouge" is offering a widebody service between Montreal and Cancun on a Boeing 767-300ER. Although, some may call that bird ancient, our bird was delivered to Air Canada by Boeing only in June 2001. These birds are also deployed on some leisure destination in Europe. Rouge does not offer individual TV screens. They have been removed. Nonetheless, Rouge is running an Inflight Entertainment System via Wifi, which is activated in flight, once the plane reaches around 15.000 feet. I couldn't take (or simply forgot) to take a photo, but the IFE UI is showcased in my video. It's free, however, it is plagued with loads of commercials. I have paid some money to upgrade to Economy Plus, which is called Rouge Plus. The offering is similar to United. You get a better seat pitch - that's it. Nonetheless, it helps to exit the plane right away after landing in Mexico and join the entry immigration queue quickly. That is a plus. Entry immigration checkpoints in Latin America could be a frustrating experience, sometimes. I esp. look down at Brazil on that matter. Moreover, a seat in Rouge Plus allows some good views on one of the General Electric CF6-80C2 engines. Cancun is - without a doubt - a holiday destination. Hence, Y and Y+ were almost fully booked. Premium Rouge had lots of empty seats. Weather in Montreal was freezing, but sunny. Unfortunately, most of the United States, the Gulf of Mexico and Cancun itself was covered in clouds. Weather was hot and muggy on the day of my arrival. We didn't hit any significant delays. De-icing took around 20 minutes. I believe Air Canada has built this into their schedule. Moreover, we were facing pretty stiff headwinds, esp. during the second part of our flight. This is quite normal, because due to the Hadley Cell the upper air masses run from the Southwest to the Northeast. This winds eventually converge into the Polar Jetstream. The Trade Wings at sea lever run in the opposite direction. The video: Here are some stats about the flight: Flight: Air Canada Rouge AC 1820 Departure from: Montréal - Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, YUL, Quebec, Canada Take Off from Runway 24L; length 2,926 m / 9,600 ft Arrival To: Cancún International Airport, CUN, Quintana Roo, Mexico Landing on: Runway 12L, length 2,800 m / 9,186 ft Distance: 1,842 miles / 2,965 km Duration: 4 hours and 22 minutes Passenger load in Y and Y+: approx. 98% Travel Class: Rouge Plus (Economy Plus) Seat pitch: 35 inches Lounge visited at Montreal: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, International, near gate 50 Plane: Boeing 767-300ER Registration: C-GHLQ Delivered to Air Canada: June 2001 Engines: 2 x General Electric CF6-80C2 Thrust Rating: 60,800 lb each Trudeau International Airport on a cold winter morning in January: https://picload.org/image/rgpodocw/a...treal-canc.jpg Our bird today; an Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER C-GHLQ: https://picload.org/image/rgpodoir/a...treal-canc.jpg Our bird, seen from the Lounge: https://picload.org/image/rgpodlol/a...treal-canc.jpg Completely empty Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (international). The domestic Maple Leaf Lounge was completely crowded, stuffy and small. The lounge dragons there recommended me to go to the international lounge. In Canada, you do not have to pass any border checkpoint to switch between the international (non-US) and domestic airside departure area. https://picload.org/image/rgpodoia/a...treal-canc.jpg From the gate: https://picload.org/image/rgpodoai/a...treal-canc.jpg Aft economy section; Economy has a relaxed 2-3-2 seating configuration: https://picload.org/image/rgpodoor/a...treal-canc.jpg Over the wing shot: https://picload.org/image/rgpodoaw/a...treal-canc.jpg Punctual pushback: https://picload.org/image/rgpodooa/a...treal-canc.jpg De-icing (it is -15C): https://picload.org/image/rgpodooi/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodoow/a...treal-canc.jpg Taxiing towards runway 24L: https://picload.org/image/rgpodool/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodolr/a...treal-canc.jpg Take off from Runway 24L: https://picload.org/image/rgpodola/a...treal-canc.jpg Frozen Saint Lawrence River: https://picload.org/image/rgpodoll/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodoli/a...treal-canc.jpg About to cross the border between Canada and the United States (New York State): https://picload.org/image/rgpodolw/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodloi/a...treal-canc.jpg BOB (sandwich costs around CAD 7; tee and water is free): https://picload.org/image/rgpodocr/a...treal-canc.jpg Over icy New York State: https://picload.org/image/rgpodoca/a...treal-canc.jpg Stuffed Economy cabin: https://picload.org/image/rgpodlow/a...treal-canc.jpg Over the Gulf of Mexico: https://picload.org/image/rgpodocl/a...treal-canc.jpg Getting closer to Yucatan Peninsula: https://picload.org/image/rgpodoci/a...treal-canc.jpg Hitting the coast of Yucatan; unfortunately, it was overcast: https://picload.org/image/rgpodllr/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodwip/a...eal-cancun.jpg Getting ready to land on Runway 12L: https://picload.org/image/rgpodlll/a...treal-canc.jpg At the gate in Cancun International Airport: https://picload.org/image/rgpodlor/a...treal-canc.jpg Apparently American serves Cancun with an Airbus A330-300 (probably either from Philadelphia or Charlotte): https://img2.picload.org/image/rgpod...treal-canc.jpg Sunny Cancun Airport (this photo was actually taken on my return flight): https://picload.org/image/rgpodlai/a...treal-canc.jpg Cancun Beach (Zona Hotelera): https://picload.org/image/rgpodlaa/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodlcr/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodloa/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodlcl/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodlca/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodlci/a...treal-canc.jpg Emporio Hotel & Suites Cancun Beach, Quintana Roo, Mexico (a very average hotel resort): https://picload.org/image/rgpodllw/a...treal-canc.jpg The wind is blowing from the west in Cancun; that is unusual: https://picload.org/image/rgpodlar/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodlli/a...treal-canc.jpg https://picload.org/image/rgpodlal/a...treal-canc.jpg Here is the full video about the trip: All my trip reports on FT: Airbus: Iberia Airbus A340-600 London - Madrid in Y Air Caraibes Airbus A350-900 Guadeloupe - Paris in Y Empty Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - London Heathrow in Y+ and AY Lounge Sauna Finnair Airbus A350-900 Helsinki - Shanghai in Y+ Finnair Airbus A350-900 Hong Kong - Helsinki in Y+ Singapore Airlines Airbus A380-800 Singapore - New Delhi in Upper Deck Y British Airways Airbus A380-800 Singapore - London Heathrow in Y Boeing: Asiana Boeing 747-400 Combi Tokyo - Seoul in F Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Montreal - Cancun in Y+ Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767-300ER Cancun - Toronto in Y United Boeing 777-200ER Houston - Newark - Amsterdam in C United Boeing 777-200ER Amsterdam - Houston in Y+ United Boeing 777-200ER Singapore - Hongkong in C British Airways Boeing 777-300ER London - Shanghai in Y ANA Boeing 777-300ER Singapore - Tokyo in C Swiss Boeing 777-300ER Zurich - Hong Kong in Y Singapore Airlines Boeing 777-300ER Hong Kong - Singapore in Y TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Sint Maarten - Curacao in P TUI Airlines Nederland Boeing 787-8 Curacao - Amsterdam in P Air Canada Boeing 787-8 Toronto - London in Y ANA Boeing 787-8 Shanghai Pudong - Tokyo Narita in C United Boeing 787-9 Los Angeles - Houston in C Trains: CFR Calatori Bucharest - Istanbul Halkali in Sleeper Car EuroNight Jan Kiepura Cologne - Warsaw in Sleeper Cabin China High Speed Rail Shanghai - Xiamen in F Caledonian Sleeper Train Inverness - London Euston in Sleeper Cabin French TGV High Speed Train: Barcelona - Paris in F China High Speed Rail Guangzhou - Shanghai Hongqiao in Y Swiss Railways Lötschberg Mountain Line Bern - Brig in F Ukraine Railways Kiev - Budapest in Sleeper Cabin Virgin Trains West Coast London - Glasgow in F Lounges: Five Star Alliance Lounges: LHR Four OneWorld Lounges: HKG TBIT Star Alliance Lounge: LAX Enjoy! |
Nice. I think that is the only bearable rouge configuration. Thank god they did not try to stuff another seat in and make it 3:3:3
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How are the seats / spaciousness on the 767? Seems not too bad. I'm considering whether to try them for a transpacific from KIX.
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Thank god they did not try to stuff another seat in and make it 3:3:3 |
Nice contrast between sun and ice:)
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yes, there is no better way to get from icy Quebec to the warm Caribbean during the northern winter time.
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Whoa! I also stayed at the Emporio! Booked an oceanside room using AAdvantage miles. Great, laid-back hotel. Terrible food, but we actually liked that it wasn't all-inclusive. Kept the price low and it meant we could scrounge around Cancun for real food. The Mayan place and the seafood place across the street were both excellent. Would love to go back to Cancun some day, maybe spend a few days in Tulum and Puerto Morelos - we visited both but didn't do any overnights.
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Originally Posted by mkjr
(Post 26742582)
Nice. I think that is the only bearable rouge configuration. Thank god they did not try to stuff another seat in and make it 3:3:3
Originally Posted by warakorn
(Post 26756793)
Does any airline operates the 767 in a 3-3-3 configuration? I wouldn't think that would be physically possible.
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