A Montreal Wedding
 

Why drive when you can fly?

Hunnybear used her Canadian points to buy us two of the last 30,000-point business-class round trip awards. I’ve heard great things about CP’s business-class transcon service, so we’ve carefully booked this trip to take advantage and, of course to avoid American MD-80s.

We leave Belltown at 7:25 for the 8:30 flight. One advantage of living downtown is that there is a secret freeway that never has any traffic leading directly from our apartment to the airport. Travel time is usually 15 minutes. We arrive at MasterPark at 7:40. The valet runs to our car, gives us a ticket, takes the key and says hop in the shuttle, he’ll bring the bags out of the trunk, which he does. I love this place. Five minutes from rolling into their lot we are at the airport.

Thanks to new partnerships, our first leg to Vancouver is on Alaska. Well, actually it’s on Horizon, kind of a double-nested codeshare. We go to check in at AS, and the agent gets halfway through asking us the security questions when she says, oops, we have only 35 minutes until flight time so we need to go next door to the Horizon counter to check in. I’ve never heard anything like that before, but we do as she says.

Horizon service is not nearly as good as Alaska. The indifferent agent lets us stand for a minute in the MVP line without looking up from her phone call. Then it’s a smileless “can I help you.” No question mark, just a period. I say, “Why yes…yes. I think that you can!” We check the bags through to Toronto, hit the Board Room for a cup of coffee, and head over to gate C2F. The flight boards in a few minutes, takes off on time without the need to return to the terminal to eject any lost passengers, and the scenic flight up to YVR is over in short order.

We breeze through immigration, but our bags do not show up at the customs baggage claim. The lost-baggage agent fills out a form in purple ink to show the guard and tells us not to worry, most likely the bags were inadvertently put right onto our connecting flight instead of being sent through customs. I tell her no problem.

We walk the several miles to Canadian connection checkin where we explain we have bags, but we don’t have bags, and then head a few more miles up to the vaunted Empress Lounge. This place is beautiful, with a castle façade reminiscent of part of the Canadian Shield and a nice view of the airplanes. We get a table by the window with a data jack and plug in. There are not as many phones in here as in most Red Carpet Clubs, but they have the ubiquitous cheese and crackers, waitress service, and an open bar. The hour and a half goes quickly.

The transcon leg is on a 767 with footrests, lots of space between rows, and the nice amount of seat recline in Business Class. It’s pretty much the same as a UA 777, but the seats are older and not as comfortable, without the bells and whistles such as massage, personal videos, and noise-reducing headsets. Upon boarding, there is service aplenty. They pass out a choice of both Vancouver and Toronto local papers! We have a couple plastic glasses of French champagne, but it is a bit sweet for our taste. After takeoff we get nuts, and they have seconds, which UA never has, although the UA serving is bigger to begin with. The menu card shows an appetizer of artichoke heart stuffed with ratatouille and melted cheese and a choice of halibut, beef tenderloin, or chicken.

The appetizer is cold, and I mean really cold. I think it would have been better warm. Congealed melted cheese is not appetizing except on pizza. Hunnybear gets the fish, which is announced as sea bass when it arrives and is a bit overdone. My beef is served well done as usual on airplanes, UA included. It’s edible but too cooked for my taste. Dessert is a very nice choice of chocolate gelato or mango sorbet. No cookies or chocolates.

The movie is once again The Thomas Crown Affair, which I just saw yesterday on UA, but it was still good. I slept through quite a bit of the flight, but woke up in time to chat with the crew who were all very anxious about their futures. Apparently Monday is the big day for Air Canada’s shareholders to decide about the various merger/takeover offers on the table with Canadian. I told them things would work out and not to worry. I don’t know if they’ll really work out, but I do know that worrying isn’t going to get them anywhere.

Due to tail winds, the flight was a very short one. We arrived in Toronto after only 3.5 hours, which we will probably make up for on the way back. The plane looked like it was pulling right up to the front door of our hotel, the Sheraton Gateway. We simply crossed the access road and checked into our huge Platinum-upgrade room. The clerk offered us a corner room on the top floor, but I asked if he had anything with an airplane view so he gave us an even larger Honeymoon deluxe king on the 6th floor (out of 8). I told him that fit in very well with our policy, which is “all honeymoon all the time.” He even hustled personally up to our old room and retrieved the amenity, presenting it to us at the door of our new room. We had two large closets, a sitting area, and a whirlpool bath. All for CAD$99! To top it off, this phone system actually displayed my name when we called Hunnybear’s friend Jonathan. “How come it says ‘Lion’? He asked, puzzled. Where are you?” Very cool, except for the threshold-billing phone system.

Next: On to Montreal


[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 11-07-1999).]

QL, thanks for the terrific trip report...can't wait for the next installment.

Hmm...secret freeway sounds intriguing. What do you have to do to find/go on it?

Are you an AA elite BTW?

richard, the secret freeway is the 509. If you live close to highway 99, just hop on and it turns into 509.

I am not and have never been an AA elite. Generally I only fly United and Alaska. I flew AA first class SEA-DFW a few months ago and thought the MD-80 service was atrocious. Four hours with no video and very little meal service. The main leg up United has is widebody service out of Seattle.

A little Fokker

For the evening, we reserved a Hertz subcompact for the AAA rate of CAD$30.69. When we got to the Gold counter, we saw a shining new black VW Beetle staring at us. We had never driven one, so we asked about upgrading. The agent told us CAD$15 more. Well, what the heck. We went for it. I rented the car on my Diners, getting me 1000 bonus miles for November. The Beetle has a small interior but fairly comfortable front seats and a stunning radioactive cobalt-blue display that pierces through the dark like cats eyes. We had a great time driving around, caught the opening of the movie The Bachelor, and returned the car the same night. It was about a 15-meter walk from the car return to the hotel. The movie, starring Chris O’Donnell and a host of beautiful girls, was a well-edited remake of a 1920’s Buster Keaton movie of the same name. We enjoyed it.

Hotel checkout was as excellent as checkin. The clerk called me by name, asked all the right questions, and even found a luggage cart for Hunnybear for us to make the short journey across the skybridge to the Canadian checkin. This is certainly the most convenient airport hotel I’ve stayed at and they bend over backwards for Platinums.

We checked in in time to visit the Empress Lounge, a two-story space with great windows upstairs overlooking the planes. Jonathan met us at about 8:30 and 10 minutes later we headed to the gate. The short flight to Montreal was on a Fokker F28, one of my favorite small planes. For the first time, I flew in one configured with two classes of service! The service on this flight should be a model for short-haul airlines. We got newspapers, coffee, and a delicious brunch plate consisting of smoked turkey and ham, fruit, and cheese. The single steward in business class was extremely pleasant and service-oriented. If Canadian flew this type of aircraft from SEA to PDX and YVR, I’d never take anything else. It certainly blows away Horizon and United Express.

Upon arrival in Montreal, we decided to rent a car. Avis gave us a Chrysler Cirrus for CAD$30/day, and we drove it downtown to the Four Points Sheraton with no trouble. Upon arrival, Jonathan and I were both upgraded to suites, being both Platinum. This hotel is far superior to the Four Points San Antonio, where I had a disappointing stay in August, but not up to the level of a regular Sheraton or Westin in terms of amenities or public areas. There is a small lobby, small elevators, and really not many frills. They do have quite a few suites, though, and our room was nice although not even as big as the deluxe room we had the night before at the Sheraton Gateway Toronto. The bathroom is the biggest disappointment, being rather small. I would probably try the nearby Sheraton Centre-Ville next time.

After settling in, we headed right out to have lunch at the famous Schwartz Restaurant. We waited in a New York-style line and then were seated family style with three other guest at a table for six. All three of us ordered the smoked meat sandwich. Hunnybear asked for it lean, but the waiter said if it’s your first time you should try medium. We all ordered medium, but I think next time we’ll try lean. The meat was great, but the bread was rather soft for rye. You can’t beat the price though—CAD$3.75 for a sandwich that would probably cost over $10 in New York. Everything was á la carte, so we each had a pickle for CAD$1.10. We split a plate of excellent cole slaw and a side of fries, each under CAD$2. The entire time we were there, a huge line of locals and visitors alike were queued up to eat at this Montreal landmark. We were glad we did.

Plans to explore the Old City evaporated when we returned wearily to our room after the long walk in the cold air to and from Schwartz’s. Instead, we watched Notting Hill on the On Command Video. I really enjoyed this movie despite fairly wooden acting by Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. Even though I don’t really consider either of them master thespians, I usually find that they’ve picked good movies to appear in. It was engaging and original.

After dialing up to check FlyerTalk and the latest news from the PiP (CAD$.95/local call, no threshold), it was time to go to the wedding. The groom was one of Hunnybear’s old friends, and the whole thing was done to perfection. Highlights were about a dozen different appetizers being offered on trays before the ceremony and the sweet table at the end, presented on a stage at one end of the ballroom. They even had rambutans and mangosteens, Asian fruits that I’ve enjoyed in Thailand but never before seen in America. We ate, drank, and talked until well after midnight and had a great time. Mazel tov, John and Marcie.

Next: Take the long way home

I'm with you QuietLion, Canadian does fly excellent planes on their shorthauls. We experienced the same excellent service flying YYZ-YOW earlier this year. A big bonus on Canadian....Second Cup coffee! As great as Seattle's Best coffee!!!!
When I lived in Canada I thought nothing of the full breakfast both Air Canada and Canadian served on their 45-60 minute shuttles....until I moved to the US and saw that on 90 minute flights we weren't even given peanuts on morning FC flights!!!
Ah those were the days......

Thanks QL. Great report as always. Interesting choice of hotels here with the Four Points and so I wondered was the (once fine and celebrity oriented) Sheraton not avilable? This was where I'd guess you'd have stayed. Or was it just a location thing or sonething going on here?

doc, we just stayed at the Four Points because it was the "recommended hotel" for the wedding. Otherwise I would have picked the Sheraton for CAD$30 more if I remember right.

Canadian served Starbucks light on all our flights. It is much, much better than regular Starbucks.

I love Seattle's Best Coffee. Alaska serves it on all their flights. The regular Starbuck's Roast is too strong. I'm glad their coming up with an alternative.

Three legs in morning

I used the video checkout to expedite the morning process, but when I got down to the lobby and asked for a copy of the statement, the clerk insisted that I had never checked out. I argued a bit but quickly saw the futility of my machinations and yielded to her wish to check me out again the old-fashioned way. The previous day the entire Winnipeg Blue Bombers football team (CFL) had checked into the hotel and shared an elevator with me. I was hoping either to avoid that same experience this morning or at least get some marketable autographs. They were all big.

We had a post-wedding breakfast across the street at the Delta Hotel, said our goodbyes to the wedding party, then did a quick driving tour of Old Montreal, which looked old. We decided to head to the airport and see if we could get on an earlier flight.

Jonathan returned the car while Hunnybear and I walked up to the Classe d’Affaires desk and explained the situation. There were four business-class seats available on the 1:00 flight, so she put us on the standby list and checked us through to Seattle. She offered to get us on the earlier flight from Toronto to Vancouver as well, but I quickly ascertained that the earlier flight was on an A320, so we declined. After taking an incredible 20 minutes to check in, we headed off to the Empress Lounge to wait. We had to pay a CDN$10/person tax to leave YUL. Why is this not included in the ticket? Beats me.

The agent in the Empress Lounge took our boarding passes and promised to clear us on the flight at the appropriate time, which she did. The small lounge in Montreal was very nice and even had a huge jug of mixed nuts. Once again there were windows onto the airplanes. When it was time, we headed down to our little Fokker.

Service on this short flight was even better than the day before. We were greeted with preflight drink service, something United screws up half the time even on transcon flights, then hot towels, an enormous cold snack of cracked peppercorn steak and shrimp, and a coffee and liqueur service—all on a 45-minute flight! I used to think Alaska has the best short-haul FC service, but Canadian puts them to shame. Unfortunately I only fly between Toronto and Montreal every 10 or 20 years.

With a three-hour layover in YYZ, we decided to take Jonathan’s car and do some shopping. We went to the Yorkdale Shopping Mall, a beautiful array of stores anchored by a bankrupt and empty Eatons Department Store. I picked up a nice belt at Harry Rosen for CDN$58, then we checked out the Rainforest Café. This place was amazing. I understand the food isn’t great, but what a show! A hippo roared at us as we walked in through the gift shop, then we peered in through tropical rain at diners eating under a canopy of leaves. It was worth seeing.

We stopped in at Indigo Books, which is owned by the wife of Gerald Schwartz, the head of Onex who recently backed out of his bid to buy Canadian and Air Canada. There’s a book that has a chapter about me that comes out this week, so I thought I’d check and see if they had it, but apparently it takes a few extra weeks for books to get to Canada. If you’re interested, it’s called Microsoft First Generation by Cheryl Tsang.

We said our goodbyes to Jonathan and returned in his BMW to Pearson Airport in plenty of time to check email at the Empress Lounge, which didn’t have any mixed nuts this time. I started to forget which city I was in and where we were going, but I could see our DC-10 out the window. When it was time to board, we found that they were already boarding all rows so we got into the queue. In short order we here at the end of the jetway and…turned left! We scored seats 1E and 1F, my favorite seats on UA DC-10s because of the great view of the projection screen. On this flight, through, they had personal video monitors and didn’t bother to show the movie on the big screen in Classe d’Affaires.

Preflight drinks did not include champagne for some reason, but none of that mattered because we had the good seats. I have to say, my priorities for choosing a flight are (1) seats, (2) food, (3) video. It’s no wonder I avoid 737s like the plague. We pushed back on time but waited 15 minutes to be cleared to taxi. Once in the air it was a smooth flight. The food was almost identical to westbound, with a choice of chicken, fish, or steak. Once again I had the overdone steak and Hunnybear had the less overdone fish. We agreed that UA had better appetizers, but split on the entrees. She thought hers were generally better than UA and I thought mine was slightly worse, mostly because of the accompaniments. Canadian did have Bombay Sapphire gin, however, and a nice Canadian gamay to drink with the steak. The hot towels were thick and steamy.

The movie was Catman’s favorite, The Runaway Bride. I thought it was OK, but not memorable. There were technical problems with channel 1 throughout the flight resulting in video glitches and audio cutting out for a couple seconds every now and then. I told the steward, but he was unable to fix the problem and I suspect he thought I was making it up since I was the only one who complained. In my experience, it’s just that I’m the only one who complains.

We arrived at YVR 90 minutes before our scheduled final leg. There was another flight to SEA an hour earlier, but there was no way to make it because we had to wait a half-hour for our bags to appear on the customs carousel. YVR is a beautiful airport, but it’s several miles to walk from any one gate to any other gate. We pre-cleared customs and headed to the Empress Lounge in E concourse. It’s a tiny one, but they had a place to plug in my laptop, and that’s the most important thing. Rather than a view of the airplanes, this lounge had a view of a nice waterfall flanked by two escalators. When no one was using them, instead of turning completely off they went to a very slow speed. I told Hunnybear I thought it was beautiful, seeing the slow-moving escalators beside the trickling water, sort of an artistic statement about the inherent beauty in the technology of man. She thought it was a statement about the Glenmorangie I had been sipping in the lounge.

The Horizon flight back to SEA was short and turbulent. I slept through the whole thing except for the constant announcements of the stewardess, who loved to hear herself talk. She would not get off that PA system. She was even selling some kind of commemorative Horizon Air raincoat. See her for details.

We arrived in SEA on time, quickly picked up our luggage, and headed over to MasterPark, which has consistently got the best service of any flying-related company I do business with. A quick drive down the secret freeway and the long journey is over. I get a couple days to recuperate before entertaining several old friends who are flying in for my 40th Birthday this week.

The end.


[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 11-08-1999).]

I remember a AS flight I took where the FA came on and pitched us for about 60 seconds on some sort of AS FF credit card. I found it incredibly offensive.

Perhaps we should start a thread somewhere on FT about this, pitching products to a captive audience aboard!

A lot of people seems to be avoiding the A320 J seats because they are simply a joke compared to 767 and DC10. Glad to hear you had a good experience on CP. Nice report!

Regards,
Empress

Boy, you better believe it. They have those F/As on AS/QX trying to sell stuff all the time...they even sometimes advertise vacation packages, with cards that come with the meals. Frankly, I find it more amusing, than anything. I mean its only marketing. If you don't want to listen...don't listen. It is an easy way to let passengers know about stuff. Plus, they're never pushy or anything...its usually just more of an FYI.


[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 11-08-1999).]

QuietLion:

Very interesting report. You forgot to mention that you earn AS mles too for using MasterPark (50 miles per day)!

WestCoastFlyer - I was surprised by your experiences on AS/HZ because in flying over 40 segments on them this year I have heard only one pitch and that was for their VISA card. I did resent this, as I was truly captive and could not turn it off, but as I said I have not had the experience repeated.

Oh yes, 50 AS miles per day for MasterPark. And they show up on line as a flight from MIAMI to nowhere... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Frankly, I don't see the problem with advertising something on-board.

I agree with you Quiet Lion, about the service in Canada...the standard of service, especially on short flights between major cities is quite good. But along the West Coast, of course, there are competitors like United Shuttle and Southwest, and so there is only so much service you can provide and offer the same fare. So, you really can't be comparing the two routes.

Out of curiosity, about how much (Canadian dollars is OK) would the ticket be from Toronto to Montreal?

[This message has been edited by West Coast Flyer (edited 11-08-1999).]

WCF:

I have a friend in Canada that flies YUL-YYZ weekly. According to him the going fare on AC is about C$600 RT, even with advanced booking. He feels this is highway (or should I say skyway) robbery, but doesn't have many options.



------------------
Robert Johnson
danville 1K