Air Canada: customer service, redefined (part 2)

This is a continuation from my last post titled “Air Canada: customer service, redefined.”

Once I got onto the plane (a Boeing 777-300ER) arranged in 3-3-3 configuration, it was outfitted with their new cabin which provided each seat with a touchscreen inflight entertainment system and AC power.

Unfortunately, the seats themselves are not the type you find on Cathay flights where reclining does not affect the person behind you. This is extremely important to me because it makes using a laptop in flight that much safer and it feels like you really have the space all to yourself.

In inflight entertainment system started off as a disappointment. Within 30 minutes into the flight, the captain announces that the entertainment system crashed and that it needs to be restarted, and that restarting the system would take 30 minutes. The startup process was slowing taking place as I witness the screen around me to life one by one. It took each seat about 30 seconds to start before the one beside it would start.

Nevertheless, once everything is up and running, the touchscreen based UI of their IFE was easy to use and straightforward. I believe the screen size is bigger than the configuration Cathay has on their 777. One downside is throughout the flight, the inflight data/map is unavailable. From what I’ve read online, it has been like this the moment the new cabin was introduced. This is a thumbs down for me as I always like observing the flight data/map to know where I am and which route we took.

The food and overall service was mediocre. Their flight attendants managed to hit my pet-peeve on inflight service: leaving finished food left on my tray for too long (over 30 minutes). When you are in a cramped space, having all that junk there with tray down makes it feel even more cramped.

In conclusion, the $300 in savings was well justified. However, I will most likely still fly Cathay in the future for their more flexible flight changes (free with minimal restrictions) and their Asia Miles program.

Air Canada: customer service, redefined

I usually fly CX whenever possible since they generally have better food and service than their competitors. This time I decided to give Air Canada a try for my flight to HKG. For over $400 CAD in savings, AC would’ve had to fuck it up pretty hard for me to regret going with them. Now that I am in Hong Kong, did I regret my decision in flying Air Canada? Before takeoff: kind of, after landing: no.

When I arrived at the YVR Air Canada counter at 12:10pm, I was greeted a rude lady with the words “Where to?.” I told her my destination and her words immediately were “You’re late, we’ll put you on the next flight.”

From a business standpoint, shouldn’t it be Air Canada’s best interest to put me on this flight instead of leaving the seat empty? It seems like to me, her best interest was to make sure I didn’t make it on this flight. Mind you, I was not late; according to documentation printed on the itinerary, the boarding gate cut-off times for international flights on AC is 30 minutes. Baggage cut-off time is 60 minutes but that aas irrelevant, I wasn’t going to check my baggage anyway. I also checked-in online prior to arriving at the airport.

The lady never attempted to ask me if I was checked-in or not, not did she ask me if I needed my baggage checked. All she did was try to get me on the next flight. In fact, she didn’t even have my name!

I told her I don’t have checked luggage and I am already checked-in. She finally asks me for my name and passport and gave me my boarding pass. Her way of saying good-bye to me was “You have to run.” At that point, my impression summed up as follows: Hey Air Canada, thanks for giving me the privilege to pay to fly with your airline and be treated like a piece of shit.

To be continued in part 2 where I will document what happened during the flight and my concluding remarks…