Strictly Travel

I had the opportunity to try out Air Canada‘s business class onboard their Boeing 787-800. The plane featured a total of 20 lie flat business class seats in the standard reverse herringbone fashion that is currently the industry standard. Our flight to London was roughly 6 hours and change. Here is the full review!

Booking

This ticket was booked as part of a one ticket from Montreal(YUL) to Uganda with a one day stopover in London and a connection in Brussels where we would be flying with Brussels Airlines. I paid roughly 100,000 miles and $60 for the ticket but when factoring in an ongoing transfer bonus, I think I paid a bit under 90,000 miles for the ticket. I booked this award flight almost a year in advance knowing that I would be traveling to Uganda for a wedding.

Check In

Upon arriving Montreal via a red-eye flight from San Francisco, I had to recheck my bags and was promptly handed our boarding passes. Jen and I would spend half the day exploring Montreal before returning in the afternoon for our flight. Since we were transiting from the U.S. the transit desk has one agent and no line so Check-In was completed in world breaking speed.

Boarding

The boarding process was quick and easy. Business Class passengers boarded in a separate line and door that entered at the front of the plane. The process was quick and efficient. I think this was one of the most efficient boarding processes for an international flight originating out of the U.S. My experience at Heathrow for long haul flights tend to be a complete mess.

The Cabin

As mentioned, the Boeing 787-8 business class cabin is situated in a 1-2-1 configuration. The reverse herringbone setup has become an industry standard with a center divided in the middle seats to provide extra privacy. Each seat in business was lie-flat and was comfy. The footwell was felt a bit narrow on this plane for some reason and the IFE looked a tad dated, but the rest of the cabin was in good shape.

Food

Meal service is always an important part of any flight and this was no different. Although this was technically an overnight flight, dinner and a light breakfast were both served about 4 hours apart. Dinner service felt drawn out and lasted over an hour and half, while breakfast was quick and refreshing.

I had a pasta dish for dinner which was relatively unforgettable. The starters were alright, but nothing really stood out good or bad about the meal. Having a super long day, I was already extremely tired by the time meal service commenced. Unfortunately, dinner service was a bit drawn out and took about an hour and a half from start to finish. This was in no means, the fault of the staff as they did their best to be accommodating and get food out ASAP.

Thankfully, breakfast was served on one platter about 45 minutes prior to landing in London. This was actually a solid meal and I enjoyed the refreshing feel of having fruit.

Amenities and Service

Air Canada provided a seat cover that doubled as a mattress pad. I really enjoyed this touch as well as their modern looking amenity kit. This pouch had a premium feel and also had a dental kit that included mouthwash which was a great addition. I took full advantage of the mouthwash once we landed from the overnight flight!

Service was great and the staff was friendly. I didn’t think anything about the service stood out in any way which is a good thing for an overnight flight. I was able to get a quick espresso on demand and enjoy the bulk of the flight catching some sleep prior to exploring London.

Final Thoughts

As part of my journey to Uganda, I had the wonderful opportunity of flying with Air Canada Airlines. The journey was pleasant and it was a wonderful use of points to travel from Montreal all the way to Uganda(roughly 20 hours not including a one day stopover) in business class. The first block of this trip was with Air Canada and I had a great time. The IFE was a bit dated and the food service took a bit of time but overall the crew did a solid job and the extra touches of a mattress pad/premium amenity kit made a big difference. If you have the chance to pick between United, American, Delta, or Air Canada, I would definitely seriously consider Air Canada over the others if the same plane was available.