Check-in and Security
With a 08:30 flight to YYZ originally booked, I left the house planning to arrive to SFO at 07:00.
Arriving at SFO T2 on a nice sunny morning.
AC's check-in area is just off to the side of the security check point. There were no lines and I was immediately helped. After printing my boarding passes for my SFO-YYZ-YUL flights, she paused and looked at a paper next to her before asking, "Is there any particular reason you wanted to fly through Toronto? I have one seat left on the direct flight if you want it." At the time of booking, the SFO-YUL flight was about 50% more expensive than a SFO-YYZ-YUL routing, so I accepted her offer and she quickly re-issued me a new boarding pass with instructions for security and the lounge. A very nice, proactive gesture from the AC ground staff at SFO.
Security was a breeze as usual at SFO and I was airside by 7:10.
With boarding due to start at 07:50, it will be a left turn towards the Maple Leaf Lounge at SFO, which is accessed by a set of elevators off the D/E connector.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
The lounge is at the end of a long walkway and accessed via automated turnstiles by scanning your boarding pass.
Despite the strong glare off the dirty windows, we can still see our Boeing 737 MAX 8 outside. We would get C-GEHQ today, a 6-year old aircraft in their standard C16 and Y153 configuration found across this aircraft type.
With lots of morning flights to YVR, YYZ, and YUL the lounge is quite full in the mornings and I had to settle for a seat near the outdoor terrace. A more substantial review of the lounge can be found in this report.
The buffet offers a decent spread of hot and cold offerings.
The bar does not serve alcohol until 11am, but there is barrista coffee available.
My offering.
Pre-Flight
I left the lounge at 07:40, with a good view of a UA A321neo outside.
Most of the AC flights leave from the back left corner of the terminal behind the food court, ours being D12 today.
FIDS this morning for Concourse D.
Thanks to the dots on the windows, this will be the best we will be able to do.
Boarding
Boarding was called on time and Business Class boards in Zone 1 on AC. Entering the plane, a welcome in French and English by the 2 FAs working the J cabin.
A view of AC's cabins in their grey/black color tones with red accents.
AC's Collins Aerospace MiQ seats offer a decent 21" pitch width and 38" pitch on the 737 MAX 8.
Seat Tour
In the bulkhead, the legroom is good and exiting from the window is a lot easier than in the rows behind.
Pre-placed on the center console are water bottles and ear buds (sold for ~4 CAD in Y).
Very basic seat controls.
The center console's storage compartment can comfortably fit a laptop and other smaller items.
Inside the storage area are headphone jack, USB-A port, and 110V universal outlet. These are much more convenient than those located under the monitor.
The 13" screens are mounted on the bulkhead and also feature headphone jack and USB-A port.
The literature compartment for the bulkhead has an extra pocket that can fit plenty of personal items to compensate for the lack of under seat storage.
Due to the shorter bulkhead on the A/C side of the plane, 1C should be avoided since everyone boarding will hit you with their bags and the monitor is also misaligned with the seat.
The PSU is not tailored to the 2-2 configuration, but do feature air vents.
Wi-Fi and Menus
AC provides complimentary Wi-Fi to Business Class passengers and it is active gate-to-gate, which is a nice feature. The connection was reliable throughout the flight and the speeds were very good. Paper menus are no longer offered on AC for environmental reasons, but they are available both online and the in-seat IFE. There are only 2 options for mains, which is significantly less than the number of options offered by US carriers, but the drinks menu is much more substantial than US carriers. Pre-ordering meals is also available online starting 10 days before departure, but since I had changed flights, my pre-order for the SFO-YYZ sector would obviously not be transferred over. The crew took meal orders while we waited for boarding to complete.
Push Back and Departure
Boarding wrapped up quickly and the front door closed at 08:21. The pilots came on and announced we were waiting for a couple late bags and then would be on our way out of SFO. As we started to push back, the safety video played paying homage to Canada's indigenous population.
We pushed back at 08:28 and had a slow taxi over to Runway 01R. My seat mate would film the take off and landing, but would shut the blinds for the rest of the flight.
We were off at 08:43 to start our ~4.5h trek up to YUL.
First Meal Service
After leveling off, the crew was quickly out to offer hot towels and take drink orders for the meal.
The aisle armrest houses the tray table in a standard bifold design.
Although I asked for a coffee, the jolly crew was quick to propose a mimosa first, which was difficult to decline.
The breakfast was then offered as a single tray. I opted for the pancake option having already eaten a frittata in the lounge.
As my coffee was provided, I was asked if I wanted another mimosa.
My main: Golden Brown Pancakes with Apple Compote and Canadian Maple Syrup. It was surprisingly not sweet.
A basic binary fruit offering and warm bread.
Condiments of syrup, butter, jam, and salt/pepper.
Decent cutlery.
As the trays were cleared, more drinks were offered.
Mid-Flight
AC's IFE is on par with the US3. I didn't watch anything and just left it on the moving map as I opted to just work during the flight given the fast/free Wi-Fi.
The lavatory was your typical tiny 737 MAX affair, but at least has nice finishes with AC's maple leaf wall and Edition Voyage hand soap.
Second Service
The crew had come through periodically mid-flight offering water and other drinks, but ~90 minutes to arrival they started the second snack service.
The snack basket was offered consisting of chips and chocolates. The crew then offered a full bar service along with ramekin of hot mixed nuts.
A cup of tea to close things out as we start our slow descent over Ontario.
Arrival into Montréal
We approached over the old Mirabel airport and then looped around Laval to approach YUL from the north east. A seats would have had nice views over the city during golden hour.
We landed at 16:10, almost 40 minutes early and had decent taxi over to our gate at the trans-border part of the terminal. The sun sets as we deplane.
Quickly out and on our way to arrivals.
Welcome to YUL.
Quite a few questions at immigration and then straight out through the baggage claim.
Uber operates a taxi-like stand just outside of the customs exit.
Transit strikes are in effect in Montréal almost all November so traffic is very bad to/from the airport.
It was a short wait for a car, and I was off to my hotel at 16:30 well ahead of our ETA so fluidity is good overall at YUL.
I'll leave off this series here as I start my stay in Québec, thanks for stopping by.
