Opinion Of Air Canada

[wee-haggis]

Well....it appears that I was wrong.
I did not vote myself in this poll, but it seems that my belief that AC is "not all is cracked up to be"....may be a thing of the past.
Maybe they have improved significantly over the past few years.
If this is indeed the case,I'll be the first one to admit that I was wrong.
Now...I might even look at booking Tango for my next trip !

 

[crashbb]

I fly within Canada about 15-20 times a year & always fly WJ. Flights on time, good in-flight entertainment, generally friendly customer service (where a bad experience is exception not the rule).

It was not the exception for me. Of the dozen or so WJ flights I took in 2007/2008, maybe 4 were on time (and I consider anything within about 10 minutes to be "on time"). In only 2 or 3 of the delayed flights, did I feel I was given adequate information about expected departure times.

I was stranded in Calgary with no hotel after an unscheduled landing (luckily my travel insurance provides hotel, so I didn't have to stand in the huge line to get to speak to the 1 agent on duty).

My luggage was lost - as in never, ever found - on a flight from Ottawa to Toronto.

I had the opposite experience that you had when flying WJ for a funeral (having had good experiences with Air Canada in the same situation).

I was verbally berated by a flight attendant for switching seats (after we were at cruising altitude, on an empty flight). I was moved because I had a migraine and the child behind me was screeching (not WJ's fault at all, but I shouldn't have been yelled at for moving).

I too, did not want to hate WJ. I'd love more options (and I'm hoping for good things from Porter). And, clearly I have been seriously unlucky in my dealings with WJ (and, perhaps, lucky in my dealings with AC), but I wanted to provide some alternative experiences.

 

[carolina_yankee]

Gotta go with "great airline - would recommend." Route structure, alliances, OTP, and the extras make all the difference.

Dirk

 

[DearDaisyinDurham]

Interesting thread - and as for the quote below, right on.
I think this could be true of most travel experiences. ONE good or bad experience can turn you for or against airlines, hotels, etc.

In reading the resort boards, for example, one bad experience is enough for some posters to start a thread declaring that resort to be the worst ever.

IMO you get the good and the bad, if you try to stay positive usually you get better experiences. However if you've had a bad experience and you post it, you might get flamed for the way you frame your comments.
I try to read posts w/ a grain of salt to get the info I need w/out reading in too much on what poster's personal preferences seem to be. I don't even know if that makes sense or I'm just rambling on a bit too much coffee?

After flying NW, CO, AA, SW, Delta, Frontier, United for so many years in the states, each airline has their good and not so good points. AC to me has always treated us well and we hope it stays that way. I certainly respect those who've had different experiences though.

Thank you very much for your post! I do think that AC gets a bad rap sometimes; because of one or two negative experiences, people blacklist it for life. AC is an enormous airline with hundreds of routes; of course luggage is going to go missing, flights are going to be delayed, and connections will be missed. Anyone who has ever traveled extensively will attest to this. I think it's all about how you deal with it; be prepared before you go with important phone numbers, printouts, schedules and documentation. It's the uninformed (and those who resort to screaming and yelling at the AC staff) who make out the worst in the end, from my experience.

 

[pooksma]

I have enjoyed reading through this thread for many reasons.

My experiences with AC have not been negative in the Customer service end but I do find their rates to be quite high. Our only 'regular' flight each year has been to Disney and I can fly for much cheaper by going from Maine. (I am talking 500-1000 cheaper on a given day)

Next sumer in addition to Disney, I may be flying to Memphis for a conference. Due to the high cost for last year's group, this year's crew will be flying from Portland or Bangor.

Again I don't dislike AC for their service, just their rates.

 

[crashbb]

I have enjoyed reading through this thread for many reasons.

My experiences with AC have not been negative in the Customer service end but I do find their rates to be quite high. Our only 'regular' flight each year has been to Disney and I can fly for much cheaper by going from Maine. (I am talking 500-1000 cheaper on a given day)

Next sumer in addition to Disney, I may be flying to Memphis for a conference. Due to the high cost for last year's group, this year's crew will be flying from Portland or Bangor.

Again I don't dislike AC for their service, just their rates.

To be fair though, that isn't AC's fault - it is the goverment that causes the high rates out of Canada. It would be a comment on AC is you were comparing AC fares to WJ fares (or any other airline) flying to Disney out of the same CANADIAN city that AC is flying from.

I agree - it is generally considerably cheaper to fly out of a US border town airport.

 

[damo]

We sat 2 hrs on the tarmack this July for our flight to California due to a mechanical problem. When we finally got going it was lunch time and not only was nothing offered for the inconvenience but they ran out of the food that was available for purchase so only 1/2 of the plane got to eat. I don't expect meals on planes but don't advertise if you can't provide. My Dh flew West Jet last winter and sat for 2 hrs on the tarmack due to weather (completely out of their control) and 2 weeks later we received a $150 gift voucher in the mail that is good for a year...that's customer service!

Wow!!! We sat on the tarmac in Orlando for about that long with West Jet and got absolutely nothing.

 

[damo]

To be fair though, that isn't AC's fault - it is the goverment that causes the high rates out of Canada. It would be a comment on AC is you were comparing AC fares to WJ fares (or any other airline) flying to Disney out of the same CANADIAN city that AC is flying from.

I agree - it is generally considerably cheaper to fly out of a US border town airport.

If you look at the extras added on to the flight cost, about half of it is stuff originating with the US, there is a big airport improvement charge and then the rest is taxes.

example:

Canada Airport Improvement Fee SQ 20.00
U.S.A Transportation Tax US 33.30
U.S Agriculture Fee XA 5.41
Air Travellers Security Charge (ATSC) CA 7.94
U.S Passenger Facility Charge XF 4.87
Canada Goods and Services Tax (GST/HST #10009-2287) XG 19.65
September 11 Security Fee AY 2.70
U.S.A Immigration User Fee XY 7.57

 

[jmann]

My wife is flying to LA for business in a couple of weeks. They are flying her from Toronto then LA for a total of $875 on Air Canada. We live about 2.5hrs to the Detroit Airport(about 2hrs to Toronto), just out of curiosity I price her a flight from Det to LA for $275 return. It's robbery, plain and simple.

 

[minnie56]

My wife is flying to LA for business in a couple of weeks. They are flying her from Toronto then LA for a total of $875 on Air Canada. We live about 2.5hrs to the Detroit Airport(about 2hrs to Toronto), just out of curiosity I price her a flight from Det to LA for $275 return. It's robbery, plain and simple.

It's not AC that is doing the robbing! Rather our Government and their BIG bite!!!

 

[bavaria]

It's robbery, plain and simple.

Again, that is not AC's fault. The airfare in the US has been seriously underpriced for years, hence the US carriers are bleeding billions and at least a few more will go under shortly, in addition to the several who have already done so year to date.

The airfare within Canada includes taxes and fees; crashbb has stated this several times.

Here is YYZ-MCO on peak holiday travel dates and I consider it a bargain. The fare for Air Transat YYZ-MCO return for the same dates is $646.31 of which base fare is $403.76. So in this example, total fare on Air Canada is $214.53 less than on Air Transat.

Fare Summary
Passenger Type Adult
Departing Flight - Tango Plus 159.00
Returning Flight - Tango Plus 159.00
Surcharges NAV 15.00
Taxes, Fees and Charges
Canada Airport Improvement Fee SQ 20.00
U.S.A Transportation Tax US 33.30
U.S Agriculture Fee XA 5.41
Air Travellers Security Charge (ATSC) CA 7.94
U.S Passenger Facility Charge XF 4.87
Canada Goods and Services Tax (GST/HST #10009-2287) XG 18.05
September 11 Security Fee AY 2.70
U.S.A Immigration User Fee XY 7.57
Total airfare and taxes before options (per passenger) 432.84

Number Of Passengers 1
Grand Total - Canadian dollars $432.84

 

[damo]

And most of those extra fees are not the fault of the Canadian Gov't. Looks like the American gov't is doing their share in trying to keep Canadians flying with American carriers.

 

[bavaria]

While this article is a few months old, it is interesting reading and may help to understand what carriers face.

http://www.canada.com/topics/travel/story.html?id=5e460920-e895-4bc5-af88-9c82316e877a

It includes several comparisons of flying to MCO from various cities and factors in the travel time and cost to the US if flying from an American gateway

While air travel was never cheap in Canada because of high taxes and fees on tickets, carriers are now struggling to keep passengers while raising prices to cover costs. The airline industry is fighting back by promoting self-service initiatives, like online check-ins, as a way to save time for passengers and money for struggling carriers.

What is interesting to me is that the article opens with a Lufthansa FCT experience; I have had this many times and even started a thread on the Transportation Board this summer asking how much passengers would be willing to pay for service (and I listed the service on a 1 hour economy class flight on Lufthansa) The majority of respondants said that they would rather have a lower fare and no service (the fare was about $450 for a one hour flight, which is fairly typical of airfare in Germany)

 

[PhotobearSam]

I prefer Westjet...Had some problems with AC...The worst is trying to use your aeroplan points...So hard to do sometimes.

 

[minnie56]

I agree for the most part..however-I just booked my DD and her BF to NYC next month..figured no way can I get minimum mileage-and who knew-but I DID! Just luck i suppose. I am sure were it someplace a bit more exotic there'd be no chance!

 

[pxlbarrel]

We sat 2 hrs on the tarmack this July for our flight to California due to a mechanical problem. When we finally got going it was lunch time and not only was nothing offered for the inconvenience but they ran out of the food that was available for purchase so only 1/2 of the plane got to eat. I don't expect meals on planes but don't advertise if you can't provide. My Dh flew West Jet last winter and sat for 2 hrs on the tarmack due to weather (completely out of their control) and 2 weeks later we received a $150 gift voucher in the mail that is good for a year...that's customer service!

Funny....that happened to us on a trip to Orlando...by the time we left, it was lunch time instead of us arriving at lunch time. And the plane ran out of lunches to buy. The only difference to that story was that it was West Jet that we were flying at the time... We received no compensation from them...not that we were looking for any. Just adding to this thread to say things happen on every airline.

 

[pxlbarrel]

I just flew to and from Charlotte, NC on business. I flew down by Air Canada and flew back by US Airways (it was 1.5 hours earlier than the AC flight so I picked it). I was shocked to be told by fellow passengers, in the hotel shuttle on the way back to the airport, that I would be charged $4 or $5 for a pop on US Airways. I have NEVER paid for a non-alcoholic beverage when I've flown...but I hadn't ever flow US Airways before.

On my way down by AC, there were some problems...we were delayed because of mechanical problems but I'd rather they fix the plane than not...y'know. The flight down was uneventful and I got an entire can of tomato juice...for FREE.

In the hotel shuttle, the guy said that at the airport he flew out of, the US Airways gate agent was making jokes (at the company's expense) about what they had to pay for. He was warning them to buy stuff before they flew. He said, "This is what's free. That button above your seat that you push for light, that's free. The washroom is free...for now."

I've had bad experiences with United and vowed NEVER to use them again...well, I used them again...but admittingly, only when I found out it was a code share and it was being operated as an AC flight.

Probably, and I write this with only my opinion to base it on, is that most people who complain about AC have flown a lot of flights on AC and a few flights on other airlines. So...exaggering a bit, if you've flown 100 times on AC and 20 times on WJ, chances are you will be having more incidents on AC than WJ because of the number of times you've flown with them. The majority of my flights have been with AC. I've flown West Jet on two trips. One of my WJ trips was delayed at Pearson. A few of my AC trips have been delayed.

I like AC. I like WJ. I'm so so about US Airways although it was only their beverage policy I hated and I've only flown them once so... who knows.

I'm considering Porter Airlines right now for a business trip to NYC instead of AC or AA... and it's a hard choice because I do like AC but Porter's got a deal on right now that's about $50 cheaper than AC. I think we're incredibly lucky to have reliable airlines that are not going belly up.

 

[minnie56]

Same thing happened to my DH on Westjet...and I can't recall where he went now but it was a 4+ hr flt, Vegas?? They had a 2 hr delay and enough meals for the first 5 rows to purchase. Now-when there's a delay factored in-one might think they would presume that the people might be hungry and want to buy a meal as they could not get off to do so and board some additional?!?!?

My DH will NEVER fly WJ again! Ever.

 

[CarolynU]

First international return flights I took I foolishly didn't register for Frequent Flyer before taking flights. On immediate return I registered and asked if miles could be added retrospectively. Now I know that I should have been more on the ball, but AC said no can do. Would it have really hurt them to have given me those miles? Maybe yes maybe no.
Having said that the last flights I took with them were fantastic. Great seats/good movies/food fine and that's what counts.

 

[minnie56]

If you have the boarding passes you can add the miles retrospectively online.