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Title: Survey names Air Canada best airline in North America, Singapore best in world
Category: Business
Posted By: bootlegga
Date: 2009-12-28 11:15:50
Canadian

   

I wonder if any of those surveyed actually have had to travel air canada versus west jet?

   

If that is serious, it is very sad. AC is one of the worst airliners, especially in continental flights. Expensive, old material, bad service, grouchy (and too little) cabin crew.

   

Agreed. Mind, it`s heads and tails over the US carriers I`ve flown on.

   

Well I travel a lot and out of the Canadian airlines, although not good Air Canada is the better of them.. The best air lines I have been on are British Airways, Air France and Finn Air.. the absolute worst were Aeroflot and Canair which were equal in lack of customer service and refurbished junk planes.

   

Is Aeroflot still alive? We are talking current, not ancient experience. The best I ever flew was Martinair, continental to Portugal, and the worst was Thai air, to Phuket.
I hear Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific are the best when in comes to flights to Australia. (information from my uncle, who lives in OZ, and only flies those 2 that distance).
BMI is fine for short distances, Air Transat is a drama when you fly intercontinental. Air Canada is worse though.

   

Alaska Airlines is pretty good and Delta is quite outstanding. Try one of these two the next time you need a US airline.

   

I just said it was the worst... I haven't been to Russia in 5 yrs. But I will remember the last flight I took from Helsinki to St.Petersburg, I was sure it would go down. Apparently they still are in use..

   

They are??? Geesh! I am seriously shocked...

I know, I was out of line. Sorry

   

Both are right. I've lost track of how many times I've flow in NA and to other continents and AC does not deserve number one for sure. However who is the best is really a toss up as none compare to Airlines like JAL, Singapore, Lufthansa and in some cases BA.

I can say the worst in NA is United. I've never seen anyone, not to mention a flight attendant yell at a passenger saying, "You people are so annoying, why don't you just go back to China already. Bloody Chinese. I know you understand me, don't pretend you don't!"

On one AC flight my seat was missing an armrest. I mentioned to the gut next to me that it is part in parcel of flying AC. Turns out the three people in front of me were AC employees (flying free?) who felt they had to defend their employers quality maintenance and fleet upkeep when they heard me. As we landed a molding strip from the overhead baggage compartment fell off right onto them. I lost it in laughter, it was such karma. Boy where they pissed!

From my experience Singapore is a great call for best in the world.
Never been on Emirates First Class lol
JAL is near if not tops IMO for Biz class, from what I have seen and heard of it, BA is not bad but IMO BA has better customer relations than Lufthansa.
Flew Lufthansa a lot, I could see them as best Transatlantic.

   

I've flown with both WestJet and Air Canada and of the two, I prefer Air Canada. The corniness that is WestJet is unappealing to me. I want a comfortable plane and decent service. As my dad would say, I've flown WestJet twice (my first and last time) and it was awful; delayed flight, no food, corny jokes from the pilot and all because I wanted to save a measly $25!

On the other hand, every time I've flown Air Canada (domestically and internationally), the flight was more comfortable, the service was fine, and I was served something resembling food (at no additional cost).

There was a time when WJ had much better prices than Air Canada (likely until Canadian was bought by Air Canada), but all they've really done is Wal-Martize airline flying in Canada.

   

Have flown both and didn't find anything of note (took Alaska Airlines this past summer to Alaska and found the planes dirty and the staff less than helpful).

Westjet had them both beat hands down.

   

Two years ago, my wife and I had AC tickets to Provo, Turks & Caicos, for 'reading week' in February. I was teaching that semester, so I couldn't change my travel dates. The flight that was scheduled for the Saturday of that week was moved ahead to the Tuesday, which was useless to me. Air Canada's solution was to fly me to Nassau, Bahamas on the Saturday, then puddle-jump me to Turks on Monday, at an extra cost of $500 or so each, which, of course, I told them they could jam in their asses. When I told them the tickets were then useless to me and I wanted a refund, they told me that it would cost $200 each to cancel my tickets, which, of course, I had no choice but to accept or I'd lose the whole $900 each per ticket I'd already spent. Fortunately, the guy that I'd rented a townhouse from on Caicos was kind enough to refund my deposit for my accommodations.

Did I learn my lesson? No. Last year the wife and I went to San Francisco. I decided to try and use some Aeroplan miles for my tickets, because you can't bank them like you used to be able to. If you don't use them up in a certain time period, they expire now (I think it's 5 years? Maybe 7.) Anyway, that PARTICULAR flight, apparently was not eligible for full Aeroplan coverage and it ended up costing me about $500/ticket PLUS enough Aeroplan miles that should have gotten me 5 return-trip tickets to Singapore or Sydney! So we board the plane, which we almost missed because of the new Nazi searches that they put you through on US-bound flights post-9/11, hungry as bears. Do you get a meal/snack on Air Canada flights anymore? Of course not, but they will shake you down for a $12 tuna sandwich that was pasted together a week or two prior to the flight-date.

Over many years, I've had pretty good experiences with Air Canada, but my last two were not happy. KLM has been, consitently, the best airline I've used (not to mention having the best looking stewardesses and FREE Heineken), but I generally fly within North America and the Caribbean, so the Dutch aren't much help to me.

   

Ha! Dutchies are THE BEST!

   

Did KLM this summer from Toronto to Amsterdam to Barcelona and other than being stuck on a plane for several hours longer than I like the service was excellent. Friendly stews and pretty good food.

My experiences with AC have improved tremendously over the years. They haven't lost my luggage on the last 3 flights and they even upgraded me to business class on the last flight free of charge! All of that aside, the stews were indifferent at best rude at worst, and the food would be turned down by a starving dog.

   

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