Opinions on trans-atlantic Air Canada Rouge

[sayhello]

Hi, I'm looking to fly to Edinburgh next August for the Scotland ABD. I've been checking out airfare, and Orbitz had a (relatively) decent airfare on Air Canada. I live in Central Ohio, so to get anywhere in Europe, I'll need to fly to a hub somewhere else to get to Europe. But I prefer to fly non-stop from that hub if possible. So far, the only 2 airlines to fly non-stop to Edinburgh from a North American hub are Air Canada and United. So I went to AC's website to check out the flights, and they had a pretty good itinerary out of Toronto, for a little more than the US airlines were charging. I got a ways into the reservation, when I notice a mention of the flights being run by something called AC rouge. I'd never heard of it before, so I did some googling, and the reviews aren't great. But it seems most of the comments at this point refer to old re-purposed planes, as the new planes haven't joined the fleet yet.

So anyways, a long pre-amble to ask what people's experiences with/opinions of AC rouge are. Is it worth paying a little bit more for? Am I going to regret going with a "Leisure airline" for an international flight? Any and all input is appreciated!

Sayhello

 

[TheRustyScupper]

. . . . opinions of AC rouge are . . .a "Leisure airline" for an international flight?

WARNING . . . WARNING . . . DANGER WILL ROBINSON . . . WARNING . . . WARNING
1) AC Rouge is the budget-charter-branch of Air Canada, thus "leisure travel".
2) Good for price and stewardess have great attitudes.
3) Bad for
. . . mediocre-to-poor food quality on those long flights where food is important
. . . seat pitch is 30", which means less leg room than a commuter jet
. . . seat wide is 17" on a 767, which means narrower than movie seats
4) Lots of people are squashed into the space
5) I cannot see 6-7 hours pressed like a sardine !!!
. . . your suit isn't all that will get wrinkled
. . . a forty-year-old man can come out looking eighty

NOTE: You might want to yell "MOO" for the cattle-car approach, but with such
narrow seats, you can't take a full breath.

 

[sayhello]

WARNING . . . WARNING . . . DANGER WILL ROBINSON . . . WARNING . . . WARNING
1) AC Rouge is the budget-charter-branch of Air Canada, thus "leisure travel".
2) Good for price and stewardess have great attitudes.
3) Bad for
. . . mediocre-to-poor food quality on those long flights where food is important
. . . seat pitch is 30", which means less leg room than a commuter jet
. . . seat wide is 17" on a 767, which means narrower than movie seats
4) Lots of people are squashed into the space
5) I cannot see 6-7 hours pressed like a sardine !!!
. . . your suit isn't all that will get wrinkled
. . . a forty-year-old man can come out looking eighty

NOTE: You might want to yell "MOO" for the cattle-car approach, but with such
narrow seats, you can't take a full breath.

Ouch! That doesn't sound good.

Thanks,
Sayhello

 

[ontariomonkey]

I just flew back from Venice with them but I was upgraded to business class so not too sure that I can help you. Here are my observations:

The cabin crew were young and very friendly and attentive.

The food was dismal. Drink service/ water was frequent.

There are no TVs in the back of the seats, they have ones that you share in the ceiling but you can pay $5 to get thier wifi to access individual entertainment on your phone or tablet. You can rent one of thier ipads with wifi for $10. Bring your own headphones. They played good movies on the shared system.

We got 2 bags included on the return flight which is nice if you want to buy souvenirs.

They are about equivalent I would say to air transat who I normally fly to the UK with. Make sure to check them out, they usually have the cheapest fares from Toronto.