Air Canada. Anyone have opinions on them?

quietsarcasm on 05/01/2017 - 09:03

Morning all.

I'm looking at a flight from Vancouver to Sydney next year and the two options I'm considering are Qantas and Air Canada. Ordinarily, Qantas would be an easy decision, but the Air Canada flight is more than 30% less (and for a flight like this it is a significant difference)

So obviously my question is, are they any good? Or would it be worth it to pay the extra go with Qantas.

2 things to note;

  1. For this flight I would not go with Jetstar or an airline of comparable quality/service, so is AC better than JS?
  2. Before anyone says "Just google it", I have, and saw mostly negative reviews, however, I find that generally only people with a negative opinion of a product/brand post reviews and people who had a good experience don't, so I am just looking for some more opinions.

Thanks in advance.

QS

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Comments

  • CLoSeR on 05/01/2017 - 09:31

    I've flown with Air Canada back in 2005 and found they were fine, I'd have no concerns flying with them again.

    Air Canada is a full service airline, like Qantas or Air New Zealand.

  • blehgg on 05/01/2017 - 09:32
    +1

    I thought Air Canada was great! :)

    Unlimited Canadian Dry!

    • quietsarcasm on 05/01/2017 - 09:34

      Quite a compelling reason ahahaha

      • blehgg on 05/01/2017 - 09:36

        We never had any issues traveling with them. We found them comparable to most other international airlines, but then again we might not be very picky.

  • dogboy on 05/01/2017 - 09:49

    Air Canada is pretty good. I flew with them from Brisbane to Vancouver last year and they were fine. Only issue is they overbooked my flight on my return so had to go via Sydney. They compensated $800 for the trouble though which was ok. Flying with them again this year.

  • Katie2014 on 05/01/2017 - 10:20

    I've flown with them Sydney-Vancouver return and everything was fine (no delays, service was good). I'd happily fly with them again.

    (I'd better add that this was about 5 years ago though, so I guess things could've changed since then!)

  • quietsarcasm on 05/01/2017 - 10:29

    Thank everyone for the comments.

    It seems like it was only people who had bad experiences that wrote the reviews online.

    • shanakatak on 05/01/2017 - 11:05

      Its a problem with reviews, how often does someone go online to write about how smooth and easy thier flight was, compared to if they want to rant about delays or problems.

      • quietsarcasm on 05/01/2017 - 11:09

        Yeah, and unfortunately it can make decent brands/companies seem very average.

        I will say this though, in regards to smooth and easy flights, had a flight to America on Qantas a couple years ago and most of the flights were going to LAX for connecting flights around the US. The flight I was on went to Dallas Fort Worth and it was a much better experience, as well as a less crowded plane. So if anyone is looking at going to the US, I'd recommend flying in through Dallas over LA.

  • Skramit on 05/01/2017 - 10:38

    I flew with them last year and it was fine. Their aircraft are modern 777-200LR for that route.

  • Hellfire on 05/01/2017 - 11:00

    For 30% less I'd go Air Canada. They aren't as good as Qantas but not too far behind for international flights. Domestically they are much more like Jetstar.

    • quietsarcasm on 05/01/2017 - 11:05

      I've actually found a different Qantas flight that brings the difference down to 20%.

      Also, I had a look through the flight details and I would end up flying AC to Hawaii, then after the stopover I'd be flying Jetstar back to Sydney. I can't say I'm too keen on that compared to Qantas for both legs.

      • Islund on 05/01/2017 - 11:09

        I thought Air Canada did direct flights from Sydney?

        • quietsarcasm on 05/01/2017 - 11:10

          I assume they would, but the particular flight I'm looking at is from Vancouver back to Sydney and I guess the 20-30% saving compared to Qantas is achieved through changing to a Jetstar flight in Hawaii

        • Hellfire on 05/01/2017 - 11:44

          @quietsarcasm:

          I'd skip AC if it's not a direct flight. That's the main reason to fly AC is that they are the only airline to fly direct year round (Qantas do it seasonally).

  • Diji1 on 05/01/2017 - 11:40
    -1

    Anyone have opinions on them?

    They seem boring due to coming from Canada.

    • quietsarcasm on 05/01/2017 - 11:46

      Thank you so much, this is exactly the sort of reply I was after ;)

  • doctordv8 on 05/01/2017 - 12:10

    This question was easy.
    They are exactly the same a Qantas, only different.

    • quietsarcasm on 05/01/2017 - 12:16

      Thank you, I never would have figured that one out on my own

      • doctordv8 on 05/01/2017 - 12:20
        -1

        LOL, but surely, who has the cutest hotties….er I mean hosties should be the answer, in hindsight.

  • 973728 on 06/01/2017 - 10:25

    Assume you are talking economy, in which case I would say they are very similar and that you might just get better service with Air Canada than Qantas.

    If flying business, Qantas have more room and a wider seat than Air Canada, but it feels like there is more privacy and I quite enjoyed the Air Canada business class (if a little dated). Marginally better food on Air Canada.

    Out of interest, are you buying a one way? I always find that a return ticket is a marginal amount more than a single, so always buy return for international flights unless using points, but I get that return may be pointless.

    • quietsarcasm on 06/01/2017 - 10:29

      Ok, that is interesting to note about the differences in economy and business. Thanks.

      Yes, it will just be a one way ticket from Vancouver to Sydney so technically, it is the return flight of the trip.

  • HilMcK46 on 06/01/2017 - 12:34

    Flew with them twice in December between US and Canada Very good service. No problems at all. Always had problems with service with Qantas

    • quietsarcasm on 06/01/2017 - 12:53

      Really? What sort of problems?

      I've never had any problems when flying with Qantas

  • senorclean on 06/01/2017 - 17:38

    I've done a few AC flights - only long haul was Sydney to Toronto via Vancouver in 2015 - but have also done San Francisco to Toronto, a few NYC<->Toronto legs and Toronto to Havana (all economy).

    Generally AC is fine - I'd rate it below Qantas for long haul in terms of service but not too far off. My wife has sworn to never fly with them again but she is Coeliac and was given rice cakes for every meal long haul - so we had mad rush to find a stir fry in Vancouver airport…

    I'm 6'6 and by no means small and don't remember being too badly deprived of space - I've certainly had worse.

    I'd agree with the comments above that they are pretty bare bones for 'domestic' - closer to Jetstar service but I get the feeling this is fairly standard in US/Canada.

    If it were me - I'd go with Qantas if the cost was close and they were the same routes - but if there was a significant cost or time saving it wouldn't take much to sway me.

    • quietsarcasm on 07/01/2017 - 00:27

      Thanks for the reply. I'm actually 6'4-6'5 myself so that is a good thing to know.

      The thing I have found is that AC is a cost saving, but Qantas is a time saving (Approx 10 hrs due to stop over) so I am leaning towards Qantas at this point in time.

      It is the long haul flights that concern me. As i mentioned above, I have done a long haul flight with Qantas (Syd-Dallas) and it was a good flight. I'm just wondering how well AC would stack up against it

  • Kironium on 06/01/2017 - 17:52

    You are flying next year and already planning now, Good on you
    I flew in 2013 Syd - Tor. I can only remember it was an average quality airlines. Only 1 meal provided in 14 hours journey, I was so hungry.

    • quietsarcasm on 07/01/2017 - 00:29

      Ahaha well, it's better to plan now than have to worry later, but it's only about 4 months in advance, so pretty normal for planning I'd say.

      Well…I just realised that I was still in 2016 mode when I made the post, so no, it is not next year, it is this year. How the time flies (no pun intended)

  • pogichinoy on 09/01/2017 - 10:42

    Not the same leg, but I flew with them from SF to Van city and it was a pleasant trip.

    • quietsarcasm on 09/01/2017 - 11:06

      Thanks for the reply.

      How would you say they compare to Qantas?

      • pogichinoy on 11/01/2017 - 09:56

        Slightly better than Qantas, but mind you I haven't flown Qantas internationally since 2014, so maybe Qantas has stepped up their game recently.

        • quietsarcasm on 11/01/2017 - 10:05

          Interesting.

          2014 was the last time I flew intl. with Qantas as well and I have a very good flight with them.

        • pogichinoy on 11/01/2017 - 13:36

          @quietsarcasm:

          Perhaps it depends on the leg. The Sydney to Shanghai leg is poor. Sydney to London via Dubai wasn't too bad.

  • meggowaffle on 09/01/2017 - 18:39

    Canadian airlines don't rank highly in world rankings. I've used Air Canada for a couple of international flights and wouldn't recommend them. In my experience budget/economy airfare from non-Canadian countries is leaps and bounds above what you'll get from Canada. Haven't used Quantas or JS for comparison though, so maybe Australian airlines are just as bad as Canadian ones?

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