[SpongeG]

Survey names Air Canada best airline in North America, Singapore best in world

By The Canadian PressADVERTISEMENT



Readers of Global Traveler, a U.S.-based magazine aimed at business travellers, have named Air Canada the best airline in North America, followed by American Airlines in second place and Delta in third.


Almost 26,000 readers voted in the magazine's annual survey, which ranked Singapore Airlines the best airline in the world. British Airways was voted best for business class and Emirates the best for first class, while Lufthansa was rated the top transatlantic airline.

Seoul Incheon was named best airport in the world and Chicago O'Hare International No. 1 in North America. Denver International Airport was best for airport dining.


The magazine called 2009 a year of adversity for the travel industry, with significant losses and reduced business travel.

...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/091228/utravel/travel_global_traveler_1

[Distill3d]

Uh....Air Canada? How many people were surveyed again? 26,000? I'm guessing none of them have actually flown with Air Canada.

[Metro-One]

Air Canada is great if you are flying international (at least from my experiences flying to Japan and Europe)

My worst flight ever was with Air France (Paris to Dakar), horrible service, terrible seats and the worst in flight meal I have ever had.

[NetMapel]

What the heck ? Air Canada isn't even the best airline in Canada :haha: Smart Canadians roll with West Jet.

[vid]

Wow.. I knew the airline industry was in trouble but I didn't know it was this bad.

[jmt18325]

Honestly, I've never had anything but excellent service and experience with Air Canada...and they often cost almost the same or less than West Jet. Air Canada is really a good airline, and most of the people who say it isn't really haven't flown with them recently. I've heard stories about how they used to be, and they're nothing like that now.

[MolsonExport]

The only two airlines that were worse than AC on my recent flights would be Icelandair (post-pseudo-bankruptcy of the country), and Delta Airlines.

Westjet is quite good. But Internationally, those Japanese and Korean airlines really make you (the passenger) feel special...just like the old days (20 years ago) at AC.

[Yume-sama]

Having flown with all major North American airlines, I concur. Which is why they are all bankrupt. Really, though, AC has improved its service quite a bit. AC plugins, USB plugins (both of which WestJet does not offer), personal TV sets, they are all quite nice. If you are going trans-continental I would way rather take Air Canada from Vancouver - Toronto than WestJet, just so I COULD plug my laptop in, charge my cellphone, etc. And just think, wi-fi is on the way!

Their customer service really sucks, but is still better than most American airlines. Obviously if you have EVER flown with any Asian airline, your standards would be higher.

But if you are from North America and don't know any better, you'd probably think they're OK.

[Nathan]

Having flown with all major North American airlines, I concur. Which is why they are all bankrupt. Really, though, AC has improved its service quite a bit. AC plugins, USB plugins (both of which WestJet does not offer), personal TV sets, they are all quite nice. If you are going trans-continental I would way rather take Air Canada from Vancouver - Toronto than WestJet, just so I COULD plug my laptop in, charge my cellphone, etc. And just think, wi-fi is on the way!

Their customer service really sucks, but is still better than most American airlines. Obviously if you have EVER flown with any Asian airline, your standards would be higher.

But if you are from North America and don't know any better, you'd probably think they're OK.

I wouldn't really say their customer service sucks, at least not for me.

I flew for my first time this last summer (and had quite a few flights with a few different airlines: Air Canada, Lufthansa, and LOT), and Air Canada was just as good as Lufthansa for me.

Also, on my final flight Toronto to Regina, it turned out that my flight was changed, but my travel agency didn't inform me, so I had missed it as it had left 5 hours earlier than originally scheduled. I was told to go to the air-canada check in counter to see what to do, and I thought it would be horrible cause the ticket counter lady wasn't all that pleasant with the last customer (although the last customer was more than unpleasant as well).

So I tried being as polite as possible, and the woman was able to book me into another flight leaving later in the day after a bit of looking no problem (and she was also very pleasant to me at least).

After seeing the customer before, I can somewhat understand when these people are in crappy moods, but at least in my experience a little patience went a long way for me... and it gave a happy end to 3 months being away from home.

Perhaps I was just lucky or their customer service is improving, I don't know... but overall I enjoyed flying with Air Canada... :shrug:

[SpongeG]

if they all had this stuff usb plug ins wifi etc - in light of terrorism and things like devices not allowed and maps being turned inflight etc... will they just be white elephants?

[Yume-sama]

Well, they would never go so far as to disallow electronics on board, like laptops, iPods, etc. That would be the death of the industry, and in the end would be just as useless as all of these other "security" things they are doing for a couple of days outside of the USA (but not in, because, well, how could a terrorist ever get IN America). And when it comes to wi-fi, we've all known the whole no "emitting signals" thing was a crock, they just meant... "no emitting signals that we haven't figured out how to charge you for, yet". But anyways, Air Canada's GPS map has been broken on every single Air Canada flight I have been on, except for one, so it's not much trouble for them to disable :P

And luckily, terrorists aren't smart enough to look out the window.

[SpongeG]

the news i saw yesterday said that they were banning any electronic device while on board - you take them onto the plane but not use them

[Yume-sama]

the news i saw yesterday said that they were banning any electronic device while on board - you take them onto the plane but not use them

Apparently it is at the pilots discretion, but few pilots are outright banning them. It's not an actual "rule" right now, thank goodness.

They really don't want to make going to the USA more of a chore than it already was, or, really, I just wouldn't bother.

[CorporateWhore]

I think the planes and on-board service has definitely improved the last few years. Compared to the junkers you fly in the states, their planes are very modern and nice.

The customer service on the other hand is still junk. A small example...my parents were flying to Europe a few months ago, and their plane had to be swapped out TWICE because of engine trouble, and their flight was delayed by 2 days because of airline issues....meaning they missed train connections, hotels, etc in Europe....over 2,000 dollars in non-refundable expenses because of Air Canada. Not only did the airline not offer anything in response, they didn't even return calls and emails to address the issue. My parents have been trying to reach somebody there for months now....apparently its totally ok to piss off your customers, cause, hey, who else are they going to use?

[Yume-sama]

Frankly, with the lack of competition, I'm really surprised they re-did the interior of every plane in their fleet. They could have stuck with the falling apart garbage and kept their monopoly.

Their planes aren't by any means "new", I recently flew on the oldest plane in their fleet, from 1990, but it was immaculate and new (which is reassuring) on the inside, as all of them are.

[brett.electrician]

Honestly, I've never had anything but excellent service and experience with Air Canada...and they often cost almost the same or less than West Jet. Air Canada is really a good airline, and most of the people who say it isn't really haven't flown with them recently. I've heard stories about how they used to be, and they're nothing like that now.

Same here I fly and have flow AC at least twice a year for the last 5 years, they are always the same price or cheaper then westjet, and usually have much shorter layovers. There customer service has been top notch for me. I have missed 3 flights for various reasons and each time they have given me a replacement no charge

[boden]

I always fly Air Canada when I can. They took good care of us many years ago when our hotel burned to the ground (along with everything we owned, including our passports) in Montreal. They were fantastic in fact. Ironically on the last three flights with Air Canada there have been mechanical problems with the A-319. All in all though, I'd give them a good rating.:tup:

[jmt18325]

Same here I fly and have flow AC at least twice a year for the last 5 years, they are always the same price or cheaper then westjet, and usually have much shorter layovers. There customer service has been top notch for me. I have missed 3 flights for various reasons and each time they have given me a replacement no charge

I was on one of the new Embraer jets from Toronto in the summer and it had a mechanical issue. They had to delay by two hours because of the fix and the paperwork (it was a Sunday, and a normal chief mechanic was away). They re-booked flights for all of the people that had connections and for those on other airlines, they made arrangements before we were even half way back to Winnipeg. I was very impressed. My family also had very good service on our trip to Sydney NS from Winnipeg. I don't have a bad word to say about AC.

One thing that I really like about AC over WJ is that they have far more flight options. I can fly when I want to.

[Nathan]

I think the planes and on-board service has definitely improved the last few years. Compared to the junkers you fly in the states, their planes are very modern and nice.

The customer service on the other hand is still junk. A small example...my parents were flying to Europe a few months ago, and their plane had to be swapped out TWICE because of engine trouble, and their flight was delayed by 2 days because of airline issues....meaning they missed train connections, hotels, etc in Europe....over 2,000 dollars in non-refundable expenses because of Air Canada. Not only did the airline not offer anything in response, they didn't even return calls and emails to address the issue. My parents have been trying to reach somebody there for months now....apparently its totally ok to piss off your customers, cause, hey, who else are they going to use?

Isn't that generally what trip cancellation/interruption insurance is for? As far as I know usually airlines will try to reorganize flights, but train and hotel stuff is sort of out of their control. I can't really blame Air Canada for not picking up your parents tab for non-flight related expenses. That's why - at least here - there are always tons of commercials/advertisements promoting travel insurance.

[Kinguni]

Funny: My cousin lives in Singapore and came back to Winnipeg for a short Christmas visit and flew Air Canada for the first time in a long, long time, and probably the last time. Her bags never made it down the chute in Winnipeg because the baggage handlers' shifts ended and they went home. It took her 2 days to find and get her bags.

She had other problems dealing with Air Canada too, especially their web site and ticket information.

[christopherj]

Isn't that generally what trip cancellation/interruption insurance is for? As far as I know usually airlines will try to reorganize flights, but train and hotel stuff is sort of out of their control. I can't really blame Air Canada for not picking up your parents tab for non-flight related expenses. That's why - at least here - there are always tons of commercials/advertisements promoting travel insurance.

That's exactly what it is for.

No airline in the world would dare guarantee you that you're going to get to your destination on time (and if they did, I don't think I'd want to be on those planes... :)).

I've had nothing but great experiences with Air Canada myself, but find myself regularly frustrated with Westjet staff. And I will avoid any US airlines at all costs!

[Nicko999]

Obviously if you have EVER flown with any Asian airline, your standards would be higher.


Quoted for truth.

[Yume-sama]

Quoted for truth.

Should clarify that this blanket statement does not apply to the cattle cart known as China Eastern Airlines, or other "budget" Chinese airlines (is there a scarier term?). :haha:

They will make you long for the days of Air Canada.

[JBinCalgary]

you cant even say air canada is bad if you havent flown with any american carrier

[giallo]

I've been flying internationally with AC for a couple of years now and have never had a bad experience. The tickets are cheap (six month open return ticket from Shanghai to Vancouver for $750), you have great entertainment on your personal TV (HBO!) and the service is fine (I had to reschedule a flight back to Shanghai and it was as easy as a five minute phone call).

[Jay in Cowtown]

you cant even say air canada is bad if you havent flown with any american carrier

I flew in a US Airways plane from Vegas to Phoenix this year that still had ashtrays! Jet Blue is an OK airline in the states (when their landing gear works)

AC and Westjet are good airlines... but having any sort of personal TV on a plane gets my vote anyway, which they both have!

[Bigtime]

I have never had a bad experience with AC, but the cool thing to do out west is hate them. This is especially true here in YYC since Westjet is based here we are all supposed to drink the teal kool-aid and love them madly. Each airline is a completely different beast, and until such time that Westjet is flying internationally with a big mixed fleet I don't think you can claim they are superior to AC in every facet.

I can forgive things like the in-flight map not working on the new AVOD system (the manufacturers problem and not AC's, they've been pressing them hard for fixes to software glitches in the system since day one).

[alps]

I've never had a bad experience with Air Canada, not sure why they get so much flak. Porter is nice too. Westjet was fine but a bit loud and cutesy compared to AC, I guess.

[Jimby]

Say what you want about Air Canada's customer service, but they have one of the best safety records in the industry which is ultimately the most important criterion for picking an airline to fly on.

[Bigtime]

Say what you want about Air Canada's customer service, but they have one of the best safety records in the industry which is ultimately the most important criterion for picking an airline to fly on.

Which is why I never stepped foot on a Jetsgo aircraft. Scary shit.

[jmt18325]

Air Canada has a great safety record. I don't really know if I like the fact that they're trying to get Transport Canada to change the rules on major overhauls though. They want to have them 7 months further apart. I assume it's still safe, but it can't be as safe.

[jmt18325]

Porter is nice too.

I'd really like to try them once they start flying here in next year, but I'm planning to go to Ottawa this year and it would be a very round about trip.

[Bigtime]

I wonder if Porter could have found a niche in Alberta if Edmonton had kept the Muni operating fully?

[vid]

Porter is doing very well up here, which is good because it frees up the Westjet and Jazz flights by getting GTA tourists off of them.

[Tarsus]

I agree that the service is much better than it used to be on Air Canada Flights. As far as cost goes though I disagree. I fly alot, and almost always there is a cheaper flight with Westjet. Sometimes AC will be cheaper, but those flights are always oddball schedule ones.


Honestly, I've never had anything but excellent service and experience with Air Canada...and they often cost almost the same or less than West Jet. Air Canada is really a good airline, and most of the people who say it isn't really haven't flown with them recently. I've heard stories about how they used to be, and they're nothing like that now.

[Yume-sama]

It depends when. WestJet is kind of like The Brick, or Leons, who always have these outrageous *ONE TIME ONLY* sales, 40% off!!!! Then, next week, they have the same sale. And the week after that. And after that. Air Canada generally price matches, and occasionally they'll have their own sale which WestJet matches. Rarely is there a *significant* difference in price. I make my decisions based off of scheduled times, what airport I'm going to, and who has a nicer terminal there.

[Tarsus]

I've been flying internationally with AC for a couple of years now and have never had a bad experience. The tickets are cheap (six month open return ticket from Shanghai to Vancouver for $750), you have great entertainment on your personal TV (HBO!) and the service is fine (I had to reschedule a flight back to Shanghai and it was as easy as a five minute phone call).

Is that price of $750.00 a normal price? I looked into flying from Van to Shanghai and the prices were all around $1,300 and upward. That wasn't an open ticket though, does that make the difference?

[jmt18325]

Sometimes AC will be cheaper, but those flights are always oddball schedule ones.

I've really never found a WJ flight that was more than a few dollars cheaper and usually the flights are exactly the same price. Sometimes, Air Canada us less. I will probably rarely if ever fly WestJet, because the flight options just aren't there.

[Surrealplaces]

Is that price of $750.00 a normal price? I looked into flying from Van to Shanghai and the prices were all around $1,300 and upward. That wasn't an open ticket though, does that make the difference?

There are a fair amount of return flights Vancouver-Shanghai that are under $1,000. It depends on the days you fly. Airline prices are all over the board, (from $700.00 -> $3,000) so you have to keep looking at different dates.



I've really never found a WJ flight that was more than a few dollars cheaper and usually the flights are exactly the same price. Sometimes, Air Canada us less. I will probably rarely if ever fly WestJet, because the flight options just aren't there.

It might be different in Winnipeg. From Calgary Westjet is usually cheaper, but not always. It's definitely cheaper if you're going direct from Calgary to say... NYC or Phoenix. Those flights can be as much as 60% cheaper than AC.

[Policy Wonk]

I wonder if Porter could have found a niche in Alberta if Edmonton had kept the Muni operating fully?

Before Edmonton Airports fucked over Quikair et-al such service already existed. I just can't be bothered to go to Edmonton if I have to drive of fly to Leduc.

Unfortunately Edmonton Airports is even more irrationally paranoid about the Muni than DFW is paranoid about Love Field. Unfortunately unlike Love Field since the Muni is under their jurisdiction so they can more proactively sabotage it. Hopefully the litigation against Edmonton Airports by tenants of YXD is successful.

But hey, Edmonton will get a polluted open field covered in weeds for decades and maybe a new Wal-Mart so everything is good.

[Surrealplaces]

I've really never found a WJ flight that was more than a few dollars cheaper and usually the flights are exactly the same price. Sometimes, Air Canada us less. I will probably rarely if ever fly WestJet, because the flight options just aren't there.

Curiosity got the best of me.

How are you booking your flights? I usually use our company travel agent, but I went on Expedia, and looked at round trip flights from Winnipeg to Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Montreal, and tried several different dates of departures and returns and every time Westjest was cheaper by at least 20% or more.

[jmt18325]

I use expedia or the company websites. Air Canada is usually the same or less.

http://www.expedia.ca/pub/agent.dll?qscr=fexp&flag=q&city1=winnipeg&citd1=ottawa&date1=7/2/2010&time1=362&date2=13/2/2010&time2=362&cAdu=1&cSen=&cChi=&cInf=&infs=2&tktt=&trpt=2&ecrc=&eccn=&qryt=8&load=1&airp1=&dair1=&rdct=1&rfrr=-55055

To Toronto, they are less. It varies from day today, but they are usually the same, or very similar, and I often find that AC is less.

[SpongeG]

i've been looking and both airlines were the same $99 one way to calgary - the fees were the same too

but i have noticed that sometimes there can be a delay - if west jet drops its prices air canada can be slower to match it

[jmt18325]

I've found it can also go the other way too. When we were going to Sydney (NS) last year, AC had cheaper fairs than WJ for about a week, and then they matched....of course, with WJ, we would have had to spend the night in Toronto to get there, so it was much easier to go with AC.

[SpongeG]

yes they definately keep up with each other - there is some time when they are different but it soon gets matched either way

[KrisYYC]

Funny: My cousin lives in Singapore and came back to Winnipeg for a short Christmas visit and flew Air Canada for the first time in a long, long time, and probably the last time. Her bags never made it down the chute in Winnipeg because the baggage handlers' shifts ended and they went home.

Either your cousin, or somebody at the aiport is feeding you BS.

The guys who brought the plane into the gate would be the same guys delivering the bags down the chute. They wouldn't just park the plane and walk away. In fact...they can't. Ground handlers have a mandatory overtime clause written into their employment contracts/collective bargaining agreements. This is due to the unpredictable nature of the industry.

Her bags probably missed a connection somewhere.

[Tarsus]

I just clicked on the link you provided, and the comparable Westjet flight is almost half the price!

I use expedia or the company websites. Air Canada is usually the same or less.

http://www.expedia.ca/pub/agent.dll?qscr=fexp&flag=q&city1=winnipeg&citd1=ottawa&date1=7/2/2010&time1=362&date2=13/2/2010&time2=362&cAdu=1&cSen=&cChi=&cInf=&infs=2&tktt=&trpt=2&ecrc=&eccn=&qryt=8&load=1&airp1=&dair1=&rdct=1&rfrr=-55055

To Toronto, they are less. It varies from day today, but they are usually the same, or very similar, and I often find that AC is less.

[Yume-sama]

I just clicked on the link you provided, and the comparable Westjet flight is almost half the price!

WestJet is currently having one of their "sales of the Century" that they will repeat next week, which Air Canada will probably match before the day ends.
http://www.westjet.com/guest/en/travelOffers/seatSale.shtml?s_cid=INT-TB_SeatSale_20091222

[Wooster]

I used to fly westjet almost exclusively because of the service, but have switched to air canada as of late only because of their entertainment system. I much prefer to the good selection of on demand movies to 20 live tv channels and non-on demand pay movies of westjet.

[jmt18325]

I just clicked on the link you provided, and the comparable Westjet flight is almost half the price!

Check again now...

[Yume-sama]

Check again now...

Haha! Don't you love the gamesmanship of that :P

[jmt18325]

Air Canada has a super deal on for my Canada Day week trip to Ottawa. The flight to Ottawa is only $75 on the June 28th and the return is 219 on the 4th. I can't decide if I should buy the one way ticket now and wait for the other one or buy the whole thing now.

[jmt18325]

Ok, so I did an impulse buy....I decided to go to Quebec City and Ottawa....oh well.

[giallo]

Is that price of $750.00 a normal price? I looked into flying from Van to Shanghai and the prices were all around $1,300 and upward. That wasn't an open ticket though, does that make the difference?

I had bought my ticket three months in advance directly from Air Canada's China headquarters (I conveniently live a few blocks away from their office), so there were a few factors at play making the ticket so cheap.
I always buy my ticket a few months in advance as most airlines sell the first 30 seats of each flight at a discount

[boden]

Air Canada's fares seem to be much more competitive as of late.

[jmt18325]

It's been neck and neck for at least a year.