A Dozen Reasons Why I Prefer Air Canada
Posted: February 11th, 2010 | Author: Shawn | Filed under: blah blah blah | 5 Comments »
There’s probably no shortage of swanky lists that rate and rank the various airlines of the world. I don’t check any ranking lists though when I book my flights. I just search up what I need on Kayak and go with what looks best. However, after so many years of flying in and around Canada, I have come to strongly prefer Air Canada. They’re not perfect, don’t get me wrong, but I think they’re better than most. I’ll even pay a little extra to fly on Air Canada, and I have a dozen reasons why. In no particular order, the dozen reasons why I prefer Air Canada are…
No Real Issues
I don’t know how many Air Canada flights I’ve taken over the years. Lets call it dozens. I’ve never had a flight arrive more than 15 minutes off of the scheduled time. I consider 15 minutes to be a pretty acceptable buffer.
Comfy & Clean
There have been times on other airlines where I’ve had visible food smudges on my seat, trash in the pocket, random stickiness, you name it. Air Canada planes always seem to be pretty clean. And to me, clean is half the battle of comfy. I can’t get comfortable in a dirty seat. The seats on Air Canada flights are probably about average for comfort I suppose. Plus I can cross my legs without any coxal bone contortions.
Video On Demand
I’m generally appalled these days when I’m on a plane with those little TVs hanging from the center of the ceiling. They always seem to have that one worn out VHS copy of Harry and the Hendersons where the audio cuts out right when he chases Harry back into the woods. Every Air Canada flight I’ve been on in the past few years has had the seat back LCD with a full catalog of movies, TV, music and games on demand. Not even crappy shows either!
USB & Power
Smack dab right beside said video on demand screen are a USB plug and a power plug. This is as good as it gets in geek land. When my flight is just the first part of my trip it’s so nice to be able to have my MP3 player charging while I listen to it. So the battery doesn’t die on me in the middle of a train ride the following day.
Snacky Snack Snack
Yea, Air Canada still gives you a snack with the beverage service. How nice is that? I love the snack! Usually it’s some kind of nuts, or chex mix or a chewy snack bar. So the one time I decide to take a phone pic of my snack for the purpose of this post it’s Bran Crunch. Which sounds pretty crappy, but it was surprisingly tasty.
Mobile Boarding Pass
When I check in online, from my phone, or even at the airport kiosk, I have the option to receive a paperless boarding pass sent to my phone. This is very cool. I just show the bar code image on my phone to security and at the gate and that’s it.
Canada
I’m a big sucker for patriotism, so just the fact that they’ve got Canada in their name makes me like it. If there was Canada brand gum, underpants, or chocolate bars I would buy the hell out of them. Are you reading this Canadian gum entrepreneurs?!
Star Alliance
Air Canada is a Star Alliance member, which means their flights have a strong partner list for connections and the such. Plus their mileage points will quite easily get you anywhere in the world. After reading Frequent Flyer Master I know just how important that really is.
Nice People
I like nice people. Generally, there’s no good reason to be rude to people. If someone working for a company is rude, I unintentionally take it as a negative aspect of the entire company. I’ve never had any rude interactions with an Air Canada employee, and they always seem to be quite nice.
Napkin?
Okay yea, this one at first sounds like filler to bump this list to an even dozen. Basically, one small change they’ve made that I noticed is that the napkins no longer have the dyed logo on them. They’re just white with the white logo stamped on them. There’s been a few little things they’ve done like that to be more environmental, and I appreciate those types of things. Especially when you consider the scale of each small step they take to be greener. Imagine how many napkins they use worldwide every day.
Haitian Relief Efforts
There have been some really touching stories in the news about Air Canada sending multiple flights full of relief supplies and people into Haiti, and bringing home orphans and refugees. I feel really good about supporting a company that is a generous global citizen.
The Beautiful People
No, I don’t mean the flight attendants are foxy. Oh, but I’m not saying that some aren’t either! I mean they are well groomed, healthy looking people. I’ve been on some airlines where the sickly and sloppy looking attendants turned me right off of my free orange juice.
Well anyways, those are my dozen reasons for preferring Air Canada. I suppose not all of those reasons appeal to everyone, but they are what they are. Do you have a preferred air carrier? Or is brand loyalty dead in favour of saving a dollar or two?
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// shawn
ps: This post is dedicated to Jeannie.
Okay you are crazy. I fly Toronto to Halifax a few times a year and I’m always late if I take Air Canada. If I can I fly with WestJet, which also has all the above mentioned amenities, plus it’s like the flight attendants are actually happy which is a plus.
However, internationally they are connected with Cathay Pacific which is pretty sweet.
But still, you are crazy.
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Oh man, I thought I was the only one in the WHOLE WORLD! I’ve never had a complaint about their service, but I’ve heard so many bad things. Wasn’t impressed by WestJet at all, especially by the fact you have to pay for their movies. Geeeez, wtf?
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Wrong, wrong, wrong…
1) My coworkers constantly rant about the numerous last minute flight cancellations that AC pulls, without explanation.
2) Of course, that time I needed to fly to my ex boyfriend’s dad’s funeral in Saskatchewan. The troll at AC offered me a flight to Winnipeg, plus I swear she was chewing gum at the same time. Are Canadian gum entrepreneurs reading this?
3) Most airlines have the TV thingy on the back of each seat, unless it’s Estonia Airlines.
4) Those sickly people you saw were probably just sick or anorexic.
5) Can’t speak on the Haitian efforts. Kudos to them. Did they send the volunteers to Winnipeg by accident?
Hey, I am happy to support something Canadian, but I’m not going to just because it is. Would you sleep with Stephen Harper, just cause he’s a Canuck?
I’m officially done my defense, your honour.
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Haha, this is why it’s the reasons “I” prefer AC :)
The video on demand LCDs are actually pretty rare in North American airlines. Out of the couple dozen NA airlines I’ve only had video on demand on Virgin and Air Canada. I was on Continental, United, Delta, Frontier, American, US Airways and Southwest in the past few months and still the best I got was the old ceiling hangers. Bleck.
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Okay I am really confused here, I fly WestJet all the time and it has video on demand and I’ve never paid for a movie.
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