An Air Canada 777-300ER being prepared for a transcontinental flight from Vancouver to Toronto
Earlier this summer, we had the opportunity to try out Air Canada’s new Signature Class cabin and lounge experiences.
Launched in June, the service is aimed squarely at the business/first class traveler, and competes quite readily with existing offerings by its North American mainline-carrier rivals.
Domestic Signature service is offered on flights between Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Vancouver to Toronto; daily flights between Montreal and New York-Newark to Vancouver; between Calgary, Edmonton, and Toronto; and between Toronto and Honolulu. Internationally, it’s offered on all Air Canada flights serviced using Boeing 767, 777, and 787, as well as Airbus A330 aircraft.
The routing for my flights were SEA-YVR-YYZ-SEA. The hop from Seattle to Vancouver was in standard coach class on a venerable Bombardier Q400.
One mean looking aircraft: the first E190-E2 sits at FLL
I have to admit that it is not always easy keeping up with all aspects of the airline business. I knew Embraer was in process of upgrading their E-Jet family (called E2, as it’s the second generation), but I wasn’t sure what that really meant (I am sure LED lighting might have been involved). So, when I received an invite to fly on down to Florida to meet some executives, learn about the program, and take a flight on their E190-E2, how could I refuse? (spoiler: I didn’t!)
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Leaving smokey Seattle (forest fires) on a 737
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Flying over Florida’s swamp land
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Sweet hotel beach view, but never went on the beach
It was a quick trip (what I like to call a ’œturn and burn’). I would hop on a plane (737) on Tuesday morning, head from one corner of the U.S. to the other (I like to call that a ’œdiagcon’), get some sleep (I got about four hours), get up the next day to fly on the E-Jet, and then get on another diagcon to be home by 11pm on Wednesday. Hey, I have done worse, and this trip was more than worth it!
Presumably pre-nine group process, an American Airlines 757-200 boards in Miami – Photo: Jake Grant | AirlineReporter
One of the most viewed stories here at AirlineReporter year in and year out is the primer on how different airlines board their flights. Of course, this is something that every passenger, from the lucky few who board Etihad’s Residence to the basic economy flyers on American, United, and Delta have to do in order to take their flight, so it will forever be a question that travelers are asking. However, even that last sentence belies the reason for this update.
In the midwest, boarding from the ramp is rare, even for smaller regional jets – Photo: Jake Grant | AirlineReporter
The original post was written five years ago, almost an eternity in the aviation business. In fact, neither the aforementioned luxurious Residence nor basic economy at the other end of the spectrum had been implemented yet. Therefore, we felt it was time to dust off an old favorite.
An Airbus A330 with off-colored nose – Photo: Ken Donohue
For the past few years, our family has spent spring break in Maui, but with the increasing number of Asian carriers landing at North American airports, especially those from mainland China, airfares to Asia have been too good to pass up. That’s why we decided to fly from Vancouver (YVR) to Bangkok (BKK), and spend two weeks in Thailand, instead.
Vancouver has long been Canada’s gateway to Asia. In fact, from many U.S. cities, it’s often quicker to route through Vancouver when traveling to eastern Asia. Fifteen Asian carriers currently serve Vancouver; seven of those are from mainland China, including Hainan Airlines which joined the list in May, with a twice-weekly service connecting the western Canadian city with Shenzhen and Tianjin.
We booked with China Eastern, as they had a great deal of $730 CDN ($570USD) all-in to Bangkok. The airline first started service to Vancouver in 2004, and now has 14 flights a week to YVR. I had never flown the Shanghai-based carrier before, and looking at the online reviews, their service is decidedly mixed.
Some of the reviews went like this: ’œwhat a nightmare experience’, ’œnever recommend this airline’, ’œservice is awful and messy’, ’œworst airline’. To be fair, there were an equal number of positive comments, but I even noticed that social media comments on the airline made the overly anxious reach for the refund policy when they read negative comments.
A day before our trip, I caught my wife looking up reviews of the airline. ’œWhat kind of airline is this,’ she asked? ’œJust go with no expectations, then you might be surprised,’ I told her. ’œWell, I do have an expectation now, and it doesn’t seem good,’ she replied.
Watching an A330 land at #Dorkfest 2017
What is Dorkfest? An awesome, laid back event that our friend Brett Snyder (aka CrankyFlier) hosts each year. As he describes the event, it’s “where you come to the In-N-Out burger right across the street from the northern runways at LAX (9149 S Sepulveda Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045), grab a burger, and then watch airplanes from the park across the street while talking shop with other dorks. This isn’t an organized event in any way. There is no program. Just show up, eat burgers, and watch the variety of heavy metal coming into LAX.”
It is a great group of folks that show up each year. Even if you are one that normally doesn’t do events like this, or might be a little bit shy, know that this is a great group of people and it is easy to start up a nerdy conversation. I will be heading south again for the day from Seattle to join in on the fun. Hope you make it out and if you do, for sure say hello! (I look a lot like the guy on my Twitter profile).
Learn some more about Dorkfest:
– Read more on CrankyFlier
– Check out what happened last year (and see sweet pics)
