I was so happy to finally be able to give Air Canada 777-300 business class a try. Everyone kept telling me how good it was, and you know what? It turns out they were right.
The seats are fantastic, the food was a step above what I was expecting, and service from the cabin crew just blew me away. It wasn’t the US-style (watered down) international business class service that I was expecting.
The only problem was the route I got to try it on. Did you know that it only takes 5 and half hours to fly from Montreal to Paris? That’s the automotive equivalent of renting a really fast car on the tiny island of Oahu and not being able to go over 45 miles an hour because of all the traffic.
Air Canada 777-300/ER side view illustration by NorebboStock.com. Yeah, I got to fly on one of the last 77Ws in the old Toothpaste livery (which I didn’t even know existed anymore). Pretty cool!Our route from Montreal to Paris tonight as AC870.
My full review of Air Canada 777-300 business class from Montreal to Paris
Right off the bat, let’s answer the most important question first. Is Air Canada international business class better than WestJet international business class? Honestly, even though the seats are nearly the same, I’d give the nod to Air Canada for a better overall experience (food, in-flight entertainment, and a stellar cabin crew). Sorry WestJet.
What lounge can Air Canada international business class passengers use at the Montreal Airport?
There’s an Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge located near gate 52 in the international terminal. That was my first stop immediately after arriving on my Air Canada A220-300 business class flight from San Diego, and yes – it was definitely worth making the beeline for. The food was quite excellent!
A closer look inside the International Terminal at the Montreal Airport
I couldn’t deal with the crowds in the lounge, so I ventured back out into the main terminal after scarfing down a hot plate of food. FYI, it’s a fantastic terminal for stretching your legs and people watching – as well as getting a hearty bite to eat if you don’t have the privilege of having access to the lounge.
Yes, I voluntarily chose to be out here instead of hanging out in the noisy/crowded lounge. Welcome to the YUL International Terminal!< whispering > See? It was worth it! < /whispering >Actually, the seats are kinda hard out here so I had to keep getting up and going for a walk every 5 minutes to restore blood flow (and feeling) to my lower extremities.During one of my walks, I went to check and see what was happening a the gate. I think this guy was pleading for a seat as far away as possible from that SANspotter weirdo.
The boarding process for flight number 870 to Paris / Charles de Gaulle
It’s been a while since I’ve stood in line to board a long haul international flight. A queue had started to form about 20 minutes before they started the boarding process, and with nothing else to do, I figured I might as well stand in line too.
My apologies to anyone who thought that I was going to show you a ridiculously opulent business class boarding process (complete with being driven to the plane in a Lambo).I even double checked my boarding pass to see if there was any mention of the Lambo. There wasn’t, so…here I am.
By the way, the gate that they used for this particular flight (51) was very small. It was much too small for a fully loaded Boeing 777-300/ER IMHO.
There we go. It was nice to finally get a glimpse of our plane during the boarding process (it couldn’t be seen from the terminal). What a unit!Only the hardest of the hardcore AvGeeks will have noticed that not only is the nose number of the plane “747,” but it’s still wearing the old Toothpaste livery (which is the best Air Canada livery, btw).The rest of you are no doubt wishing I’d just get to the food pics already. Hold your horses!
My first impressions of the Air Canada 777-300 business class seat
Those of you who don’t fly business class often may not realize it, but many airlines share the same seat for their business class products. The particular business class seat that Air Canada chose for their 777-300/ER is one that you’ve seen many times before here on SANspotter.com – most recently in my WestJet 787-9 business class review.
Thankfully is is a good seat, and I knew right away that I was going to be spoiled rotten all the way to Paris tonight.
Welcome to the massive Air Canada 777-300/ER business class cabin. RIP to anyone seated in the last row I guess – it’s gonna be a while before you eat (and drink).Seat 5A is mine tonight. Yup, I think I made a good choice (something that doesn’t happen often).Because it would be rude of me not to capture it from all angles, wouldn’t it?I’ll spare you the 30 other pics I took of this seat before sitting down, but all you need to know is that the window seats are pretty much perfect for solo travelers (or couples who hate each other’s guts). It’s only going to be a 5 and a half hour flight to Paris tonight, but I already know that I’m going to enjoy the **** out of this full size blanket, pillow, and mattress.Don’t worry. Unless you’re Ronald McDonald (or you simply enjoy wearing big clown shoes everywhere you go), the footwell is going to be just fine.Speaking of clown shoes, this massive storage bin looks like it’d be an excellent place to put them. This thing is huge!The seat control interface is located directly underneath the storage compartment. Remember when in-seat video screens used to be this size? I do, and that makes me feel old.The booty (Air Canada style).The amenity kit for tonight’s flight was created in partnership with Aqqua Di Parma. I think that’s good?I had to Google them just now, and it turns out this is some high quality ****. This uncultured midwestern farm boy just learned something new!Speaking of uncultured midwestern farm boys, he chose orange juice instead of champagne for the pre-departure drink. Menus were distributed while still on the ground, which was a good thing considering how short this flight was going to be. The pressure is on to make the right choice!I mean, I know for a fact that I’m going with the chicken, but dang…everything else looks so good! And don’t worry – I’ll show you the full contents of the menu later in the review…That feeling of worry when you look at all the people ahead of you here in business class who might choose the chicken before you. I really hope there is some left by the time they reach my row…Nose pickers rejoice! Even though I can clearly see the settings that the guy across the aisle from me has set for his seat, the privacy here in business class is still pretty good.I can’t say that I’m a fan of the airbag-equipped seatbelt though. I’m not sure, but crashing into a Tim Horton’s at 300mph would be traumatic enough without an airbag exploding in your face right before you burn to death from the ensuing firestorm.
The departure out of Montreal
It was well past 9 PM by the time we finally pushed off the gate, and there was nothing but near complete darkness once we rolled away from the terminal.
That guy driving the jet bridge has a look on his face like he’s just as surprised as I am that there are still Air Canada 777-300s flying around in the old Toothpaste livery.
There wasn’t much to see out the windows this evening unfortunately, but when you’re sitting in a seat as nice as this one is, it doesn’t matter. Plus, the glorious sound from those massive GE engines make up nicely for the lack of visuals.
The safety video alternating between French and English was the perfect thing to distract me from the fact that there wasn’t much to see as we taxied out for departure. Attachez votre ceinture de sécurité! Fasten your seatbelt!So long Montreal…
In-flight entertainment
I think if there’s one thing about this Air Canada 777-300 business class experience that disappointed me, it would be the entertainment system.
Yes, it was stocked full of the kinds of TV shows and movies I wanted to see, but the user interface (and the screen itself) was getting on in age. To put that in better context, the video screens in Air Canada 737 MAX 8 economy are far superior.
If anything, the dated entertainment system user interface will prevent me from being overly positive in this review (to the point where you’d have suspicions about me having been bribed with Tim Horton’s gift cards to say nice things).Honestly, not only did the UI look old, the screen wasn’t very responsive. I know I sound petty, but every second counts on a 5 and a half hour flight!The interactive menu is neat, but something a little more descriptive than “Red Wine” is going to be needed to get me to choose this over my usual water and orange juice I think.At least the noise canceling headphones impressed me. These look (and feel) legit.No need to worry – the confused look on my face is my reaction to everything turning pink all of a sudden (and not an assessment of the excellent sound quality of the headphones).Holy mood lighting Batman! This was supposed to be a demonstration of the entertainment system remote control, but this is totally giving me flashbacks to that trippy mood lighting you saw in my Air China 777-300 business class review.2 minutes later, and I’m awash in skin-staining mood lighting so pink that it resembles what you saw in my Virgin Atlantic A350-1000 economy review. This is wild!
The dinner service
I’ve been flying Air Canada a lot recently, and in every review, you’ve heard me say really nice things about the food. It’s one of the things that Air Canada is consistently good at, so my expectations were high as the cabin crew began the dinner service.
As promised, here’s a closer look at the menu for tonight’s flight (it’s a high-res image, so just click – or tap – on it to see all the details). The chicken looks good, doesn’t it?The wine list. It was fun to feel fancy for a brief moment as I pretended to mull over the choices, but you can clearly see my drink(s) of choice in the background.What is this, 2019? It’s nice to see hot towels on airplanes again!Kicking of the meal service tonight was a ramekin of warm nuts and a drink.And for those of you who are curious, the mood lighting has morphed into a gentle light purple glow. It’s like the northern lights all up in here!The appetizer: Marinated octopus, Romesco sauce, roasted red pepper and almond (served with a fresh seasonal green salad and warm bread). Translated into SANspotter-speak: freakin’ hell yeah!How good does this look??Fingers crossed this pairs nicely with the Thai curry I ate in the lounge a few hours ago. If not…it’s going to be a wild ride to Paris tonight.The main course: Chicken breast, salsa verde, roasted potato, carrot, cauliflower, zucchini, and oyster mushrooms. It was basically everything I hoped it would be.“My blog sure would be a lot more interesting if I ate something other than chicken all the time…”The mood lighting switched to “psychedelic blue” for the presentation of the dessert cart. What were they trying to hide?The amount of processing I had to do to make this chocolate hazelnut cake look brown should earn me an award of some kind. Yeah, the mood lighting was cool and all, but it was interfering with my efforts to review the food. (This cake was delicious, btw).
And that concludes the dinner service. It’s kinda hard to tell if the mood lighting is still on, or if everything is permanently stained blue from the intensity of it. No matter though – because it sure looks cool.
Testing the lie-flat seat
There was a little over 3 hours of flying time remaining after the dinner service, so lying down to get some sleep was pretty much pointless. It takes me a while to fall asleep on airplanes, and by the time I did, it wouldn’t be long until they turned the lights on again for the pre-landing meal.
That said, I aim to do a thorough international business class review, so an honest attempt to test the lie-flat seat was a must.
Fun fact: pretend sleep isn’t anywhere near as satisfying as actual sleep. At least the seat was comfortable as I posed for this pic.Assuming that I had been able to sleep, this lie flat seat would have been a very comfortable place to do it. The guy behind me snoring like a buzzsaw was totally ticking me off though (because I was jealous of ability to sleep so deeply).I guess if I can’t sleep, I can surely check out the lavatory. It’s party size!
The second meal service
The cabin crew turned on the lights for the second meal service not long after I finally drifted off to sleep (as expected). Yes, I could’ve slept through the second meal (especially since I wasn’t all that hungry), but I am an airline reviewer after all, so I raised my seat and took one for the team.
I’ve flown all over the world (multiple times over), and it’s still an incredibly awkward feeling to be presented with a full tray of food mere minutes after waking up from a deep sleep.It was an odd (yet delicious) breakfast to say the least. This bowl of fruit seemed appropriate, but……I can’t say that I’ve ever craved entire blocks of cheese for breakfast. You know my feelings about cheese though, so down the hatch they went.And what the hell is “French Emmental?” It looks canned like tuna fish, but has a bitter / sweet grain taste to it that I’m not sure that I entirely enjoyed.Another moment where the uncultured farm boy learned something new. This has proven to be a very educational experience so far!
The descent and arrival into the Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport
Overnight flights from North America to Europe are weird. Even though I only got less than an hour of sleep on this flight, arriving in Paris in the mid morning hours felt like a completely new day.
Never mind the fact that it was 9 PM in Montreal less than 5 hours ago – it felt like an eternity. That said, it was really nice to see the sun coming up over France again. For those of you keeping score, the last time I flew into Paris from North America was via Air Tahiti Nui A340-300 economy. I don’t think I have to tell you which experience was better.
The start of the descent into CDG. I still feel 100% normal, so it seems as if the Thai curry gamble from last night paid off!My first look at France in over three years. I was expecting this moment to be filled with excitement and nostalgia, but the truth is that I was still trying to figure out what that “emmental” stuff was.“What a beautiful morning. I wonder if it’s some kind of oat and grain mixture?”I really had no idea, so…welcome to Paris!Bad news: this flight was way too short to fully enjoy. Good news: it actually felt significantly longer than it was due to the time zone differences (which essentially made this the Jet Lag Express). “GTFO with that Toothpaste livery ****!”Sorry bro. We’re gonna take this spot right here at the remote stand.I’m very likely the only person on this plane excited about being parked on a remote stand this morning. Fingers crossed that this means a close up look at this 777 from the outside!Oh boy oh boy oh boy…Knocking myself unconscious by tripping and falling down these stairs would be extremely unfortunate considering what I’m about to see…Boom! Thanks for the ride across the Atlantic last night C-FNNW…it was was a pleasure indeed.
Pros and cons of Air Canada 777-300 business class
This was an amazing experience. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel all that amazing since I already knew that I was going to be great before I even stepped foot on the plane. There are worse experiences to have I guess. Anyway, here are what I consider to be the pros and cons of this really great business class product:
Pros
The seat is excellent for long-haul international flights. Not only is it highly-adjustable, it’s a really comfortable bed in the lie-flat position.
Seat privacy is excellent. I like shutting myself out from the world on long international flights, and the high walls and partitions of these seats allow you to do that.
The food was excellent. Much better than what you would expect on a US airline.
The cabin crew was top-notch as well. They addressed passengers by name, and everything they did (from presenting the meal choices to serving the food) felt like they had practiced it a thousand times.
Cons
Even though the seat is really nice, it’s nearly the same business class seat you’ll find on a lot of other airlines. It’s not unique to Air Canada.
The in-flight entertainment system (which includes both the video screens and the user interface) is becoming outdated.
The business class cabin on the 777-300 is quite large. This means you might have to wait a while to be served food and drink you’re in one of the last rows. Choose your seat wisely!
Wow, this looked like a fantastic flight, which is a bit weird considering North American carriers aren’t usually considered to be that good.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this review, especially the humor in it (I think humor is the selling point of your content).
It’s also weird to think that this Transatlantic flight is only 5.5 hours long, which is about as long as many West Coast-Hawaii flights. I think part of the “weirdness” is the fact that in the back of my mind, I still think of TATL flights as long and exotic.
It was also surprising (and pretty cool) to see that you got a 777 with the Toothpaste livery! Another surprising thing was seeing how dated the IFE system was. I thought AC’s 77W’s had a more modern entertainment system. Speaking of dated, the seats & interior look surprisingly dated and “tired”.
Lastly, it looks like the flight attendants had fun playing around with the mood lighting. Lol.
Haha, yeah, the most memorable thing about this flight (for me) ended up being the mood lighting. It was trippy – which is something I wasn’t expecting on a somewhat conservative airline such as Air Canada. It was cool though!
I checked the typical flight times for YUL-CDG after I returned home, and most of the time it’s 6.5 hours. I guess we got a really good push from the jet stream that night, because it was disappointingly short.
Glad you enjoyed the review! Next up is the Air France Lounge at CDG, and then KLM 737-800 business class (CDG-AMS). I’m looking forward to writing that one…
Agreed on the mood lighting. It was definitely surprising considering Air Canada’s brand.
It’s unfortunate that this flight was shorter than usual, but on the bright side, at least it wasn’t too awful for those in Economy lol.
I’m looking forward to those upcoming reviews, especially KLM 737-800 Business Class, to hear your thoughts on European Business Class, which is definitely a controversial matter.
Enjoyed the review. Need your advice please! I will be flying biz with spouse YUL-FRA red eye. Seating is wide open right now. Should we choose the large front section or smaller back section? Which row(s) are your favorite? Also, do they take the meal orders Front to Back or Back to Front? Thank you!
Hi Amy – glad you enjoyed it! The smaller section behind the galley is far more private (and quiet), but you will likely be last to eat. The flight attendants took meal orders from front to back on this flight, so the people near the front were done with their meals before the ones in the back even started.
That said, I have been on Air Canada flights where they took orders based on FF status. Since I’m just a basic Aeroplan member, I was one of the last to eat.
Personally, I’d choose a seat in the larger / forward section. The seats are extremely private anyway, and there will be a better chance of your preferred meal option still being available by the time they reach your row. Enjoy your trip!
Peter
Wow, this looked like a fantastic flight, which is a bit weird considering North American carriers aren’t usually considered to be that good.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this review, especially the humor in it (I think humor is the selling point of your content).
It’s also weird to think that this Transatlantic flight is only 5.5 hours long, which is about as long as many West Coast-Hawaii flights. I think part of the “weirdness” is the fact that in the back of my mind, I still think of TATL flights as long and exotic.
It was also surprising (and pretty cool) to see that you got a 777 with the Toothpaste livery! Another surprising thing was seeing how dated the IFE system was. I thought AC’s 77W’s had a more modern entertainment system. Speaking of dated, the seats & interior look surprisingly dated and “tired”.
Lastly, it looks like the flight attendants had fun playing around with the mood lighting. Lol.
Scott (SANspotter)
Haha, yeah, the most memorable thing about this flight (for me) ended up being the mood lighting. It was trippy – which is something I wasn’t expecting on a somewhat conservative airline such as Air Canada. It was cool though!
I checked the typical flight times for YUL-CDG after I returned home, and most of the time it’s 6.5 hours. I guess we got a really good push from the jet stream that night, because it was disappointingly short.
Glad you enjoyed the review! Next up is the Air France Lounge at CDG, and then KLM 737-800 business class (CDG-AMS). I’m looking forward to writing that one…
Peter
Agreed on the mood lighting. It was definitely surprising considering Air Canada’s brand.
It’s unfortunate that this flight was shorter than usual, but on the bright side, at least it wasn’t too awful for those in Economy lol.
I’m looking forward to those upcoming reviews, especially KLM 737-800 Business Class, to hear your thoughts on European Business Class, which is definitely a controversial matter.
Amy
Enjoyed the review. Need your advice please! I will be flying biz with spouse YUL-FRA red eye. Seating is wide open right now. Should we choose the large front section or smaller back section? Which row(s) are your favorite? Also, do they take the meal orders Front to Back or Back to Front? Thank you!
Scott (SANspotter)
Hi Amy – glad you enjoyed it! The smaller section behind the galley is far more private (and quiet), but you will likely be last to eat. The flight attendants took meal orders from front to back on this flight, so the people near the front were done with their meals before the ones in the back even started.
That said, I have been on Air Canada flights where they took orders based on FF status. Since I’m just a basic Aeroplan member, I was one of the last to eat.
Personally, I’d choose a seat in the larger / forward section. The seats are extremely private anyway, and there will be a better chance of your preferred meal option still being available by the time they reach your row. Enjoy your trip!
Vicky
The cereal you had was Muesli. Emmental is one of the cheeses.
Scott (SANspotter)
Ok, well, that just makes it obvious that I know absolutely nothing about food lol. Thanks for the clarification!