Boarding group 1 was called shortly after our arrival though I dont think the entire boarding process took more than 10 minutes.

The purser for the flight remarked to us onboard that it was nice to get a flight that wasnt packed as recently all of their travels had been on very busy aircraft.

Flight: Air Canada 987
Route: CUN - YYC
Scheduled Departure Time: 1840
Actual Departure Time: 1838
Scheduled Arrival Time: 2245
Actual Arrival Time: 2250
Aircraft: Boeing 737 Max 8

A nice twilight shot of our ride back to Canada

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...fac40275ab.jpg

Just like the A220 this aircraft is beautiful. Nice comfy seats, big IFE screen and loads of personal room.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...abbfe313a9.jpg

A quick shot out the window as we were about to push back.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c80ea11d4b.jpg

Menus were handed out on the ground and orders were taken shortly after take off. We both picked different meals which means you get to see pictures of both this time.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2fa16877b6.jpg

I decided to forego the orange juice tonight and just go directly to the good stuff.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...0aa619be41.jpg

This is what I chose, the chicken option. It was really good although way to many peppers for my liking. I ended up soaking up all the leftover sauce with the (you guessed it) cold bread. The cheesecake was really good but I am a sucker for cheesecake.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...ed65f37278.jpg

My wife went with the pasta option. Hers was the best meal. The sauce was outstanding and I ended up finishing off what she couldnt eat.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e30936f1cd.jpg

We passed the 6 hour flight up to Calgary having a few more drinks and watching a few movies. The final thing I watched was a show on Post War Japan and how there economy skyrocketed. It was really good and I plan on trying to find it to watch it again.

We arrived pretty much ontime and had a 5 minute wait while the ground crew got set up on a very very cold winters evening in Calgary. It was tough to go from +30 to -30 in six hours but thats life in Canada for you. Thankfully there was not much wind so it didnt feel that cold.

We used the NEXUS lane and were through customs in less than 2 minutes. Friends of ours travelling through Toronto on the way back from Jamaica that night said they ended up waiting about 3 hours. We are still very thankful that we changed flight.

So about two weeks ago the government announced that 100% of all travellers would be tested at the border and that you are required to quarantine until you received the results of this test. I can tell you that this most certainly was not the case for the flights coming into Calgary (or any other airport from what I understand from friends). Maybe 1 out of 10 was selected for a test that we could see. Also, remember that to fly on a Canadian Airline you must be fully vaccinated. Those who are not vaccinated cannot travel by air, bus or train in Canada. So once again it seems like a lot of great press releases from the government but their ground game (much like that of AC) is a bit weak.

Our bags came out in the middle of the pack and we called the hotel for our shuttle. We didnt wait more than 15 minutes and we were on our way to the Hampton Inn by Hilton Calgary Airport for the night.

the Hampton inn was a great place to spend the night. Though all we really did was sleep.

However, in order to avoid losing the points for our partially completed trip that we did not take to Toronto I had to phone Aeroplan yet again.

This was my view for the two hours I was on hold while waiting in the lobby so as not to disturb my wife who generally sleeps a lot more than I do.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...2a434af13a.jpg

The room was great, it was only $90 for the night, free shuttle and a nice little breakfast. I would definitely stay at this hotel again.

We had pre booked a shuttle for 10 am to take us back to Calgary airport. The ride was quick albeit a bit cold.

Once again there was a line up for the Priority desk of at least 10 people, however the regular line was empty and the excellent agent had us checked in quickly. No line for security meant we were in the lounge in just a few minutes from arriving at the airport.

The chocolate powder on top of my cappucino started out in the Air Canada logo but I took too long to take a picture.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4fb13423dd.jpg

Its hard to make out but the mountains in the back make the view out of this lounge outstanding.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...6207630886.jpg

Our ride back up to Edmonton which had arrived 10 minutes early from its last flight.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...10aedb1ac7.jpg

The legroom isn't great but the aircraft are looking very very tired. The inside is just beat up and it looks like its a high mileage aircraft despite

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...379df3c0eb.jpg

Not much of a view for todays flight.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...222bfccabf.jpg

The flight was about 50% full and we had a short taxi to the runway. Advertised gate to gate was 54 minutes however we managed to do it in 40.


A small snack and drink on a short flight. I was wondering if we would even get anything with the short flight time.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e6c7ea89ab.jpg


Our bags were the third and fourth out with priority tags. One out of 4 aint bad. We had to wait about 15 minutes for our ride but before long we were back home.

All in all an outstanding trip. Had Air Canadas ground game and Aeroplans customer service been a bit better we would have saved a lot of time. However in the end we got where we wanted to go comfortably with a few good meals, some movies and lots of drinks. My wife wants to go back in February so maybe a repeat unless the world has ended by that point.

Thanks for reading and I would love to hear your thoughts or questions. Merry Christmas.

In view of all the stress involved along the way (it stressed me, reading it), I wonder whether this much-needed break was actually worth it.

Completely. It was our first vacation in almost two years. Despite the few bumps in the road we came back recharged.

Thanks for the nice report. I may actually consider Cancun for a future trip now.

Merry Christmas

You should. It is an absolutely great place to visit.

Merry Christmas to you as well.