Travel Goals

1. Climb to Everest Base Camp.
2. Climb Mt Kilimanjaro.
3. Learn to Scuba Dive.
4. Visit every continent.
5. See the Galapagos Islands.
6. Sail down the Amazon River.
7. Climb Ayer's Rock.
8. Ride the Trans-Siberian.
9. Go into space.
10. Go wild at La Tomintina.
11. See the sunrise from Mt. Fuji.
12. Gaze at Borobudor.
13. Visit the Pyramids
14. Safari in East Africa.
15. Go to the World Cup!
16. See Machu Picchu.
17. Join the Century Club.
18. Visit Antarctica.
19. Do development work.
20. See Petra Jordan.
21. Backpack the Eastern Block.
22. See the Northern Lights.
23. Vegas Baby! Vegas!
24. Greek Island hop.
25. Cycle Tuscany.
26. Visit India.
27. Lounge in the Seychelles.
28. See Morocco.
29. Oktoberfest!
30. Caravan across the Sahara.
31. Visit Tibet.
32. Fly first class.
33. Go to Israel.
34. Carnival!!!!
35. Mardi Gras!
36. Cannes Film Festival.
37. Sundance Film Festival.
38. Eat a sushi meal at NOBU
39. Pacific Island hop.
40. Spend a night in the Ice Hotel.
41. See Glacier National Park.

Learn a Foreign Language

Are you planning to travel around Europe? Why not learn Italian or French before you go to maximize your experience.

Book Your Travel Here!!

On my recent experience flying the friendly skies, I was “lucky” enough to be on Air Canada. If you haven’t ever flown Air Canada, you aren’t really missing much. Prior to this experience, I’d flown Air Canada once to Vancouver but that was some years ago before the advent of personal video screens and deluxe economy.

Since Air Canada was also the cheapest way to get to London, I decided it was time to try the airline again. I can’t say they are the worst airline I’ve ever flown but certainly not the best. My trip didn’t get off to a good start by getting stuck on the runway for an extra hour out of Boston. Connecting via Montreal, I encountered some pretty rude Quebec officials at the airport. None of these things are really the fault of Air Canada but set the tone for the whole journey.

When I boarded the plane, I asked the woman what the food was and she screamed she didn’t know and she was busy so she’d have to tell me later. Whoah! I know that you are busy but you don’t have to scream. I figured it would be something she might know off he top of her head. Guess not. Later in the flight, she walked past me and gave me a scowl but still did not know the dinner meal.

Then I was struck with the most absolute horror one can experience on a long haul flight- no personal video monitor. That’s right! Air Canada is operating planes that don’t have personal video monitors and only play movies on a big screen that’s too far away for you to see anyways. I wanted to get off the plane right there! Luckily, it was a night flight, and I was going to sleep anyways. And as for that dinner- it was some chicken dish that didn’t really taste like chicken. I never expect airline food to be good but this was like a bad microwaveable meal.

The flight home was not any better. The airplane still had no personal video monitor, they only played 2 movies on an 8 hour flight (and they cut the last one 30 minutes short!), and the mystery chicken was back, except this time with mystery rice pilaf. The stewardesses, though, were slightly friendlier than the previous flight.

To me though, the deal breaker is the video monitor. If I can’t choose between movies and TV on my flight, I’d rather not fly, especially on those long haul flights, especially if they movies they are going to play are cut down. It’s now expected that long haul overseas flights have a personal video monitor. The lack of one is the big reason why I wouldn’t fly Air Canada again. A stewardess did say they were upgrading a lot of their planes and by mid-summer most airplanes would have the personal monitor.

I was pretty much ready to write of Air Canada, especially when we again had to spend 40 minutes holding in the sky before we could land, but then, like a ray light guiding me through the darkness, I saw it: the plane that would take me home. This little plane, the 50 seater that airlines use for short hauls, was a god sent. Inside was nothing special but there were personal video monitors and I got snacks and beverages. The stewardesses were super friendly and we ended up chatting for a while after the flight ended. I was amazed that on my 1:29 hour flight, I got so much. It was like flying JetBlue! After flying for 12 hours, I totally needed it.

It makes me wonder though about the rational of Air Canada execs. Why upgrade a short haul plane before a longer haul plane, where you make more money. Wouldn’t you want to appease those customers since they are your bread and butter? I don’t totally dislike Air Canada anymore but I won’t consider them when flying overseas anymore. There are too many other, better options out there. Next time, I’ll probably fly Virgin.

5 Responses to “Airline Review: Air Canada”

1. Joe on May 4th, 2008 11:44 pm

   awesome site!

2. James Grey on May 5th, 2008 12:24 pm

   That’s why I won’t fly any North American or European based airlines – rude stewardess, lousy ground customer service, poor in-flight service, lousy food and more or less bottom barrel everything

   I only fly with Middle Eastern and Asian based Airlines

3. Quickroute on May 5th, 2008 5:20 pm

   Asian Airlines tend to have much better service - Sinagapore , Thai etc! - American airlines in general suck! - Europe not much better!

4. Nick on May 5th, 2008 6:59 pm

   I got one of the new planes when I flew Air Canada back from Calgary last year and I have to say the personal entertainment seemed state of the art - high quality screen, choice of news, films, music etc. The service and the vegetarian food were good and there were no flight delays. The flight out on one of the old planes was fine too except for the old-style ents. Perhaps I was lucky!

5. Aer Lingus Review | Nomadic Matt's Travel Site on July 21st, 2008 3:33 pm

   [...] flight over was a lot better than my last flight to Europe. Sadly, this plane didn’t have any personal viewing screens, a necessity in my view [...]

Got something to say?

Name (required)

Email Address (required)

Website

Speak your mind