About me:26th July 2008, I'm still around....just back from Vancouver
Member since:12.12.2001
Reviews:47
Members who trust:21
Review rated by 32 Ciao members on average: very helpful
This review received a counterstatement by a party concernedRead Comment
I thought it was time I visited family in Toronto, those of you who have read my previous 'op' will know that I purchased my ticket quite cheaply with expedia. This went well and my itinery was supposed to be as follows: Mon 5th March BD585 MAN - LHR arrive 10.15am AC865 LHR - YUL arrive 15.50pm (local time) AC149 YUL - YYZ arrive 18.17pm (local time)
Yes I know 3 changes of aircraft but what did I expect for a cheapie flight of £250 but as both airlines are members of Star Alliance which basically means that I can check-in straight through to final destinantion...mmmmm
Anyway on with the show.....
MAN-LHR THE CHECK-IN
Those of you who know me, know that I use bmi quite often, on checking-in I was assigned seats for all my flights and that there would be no need to check-in again and that I would only need to retrive
my luggage at Montreal to clear customs . After which I could leave it at Montreal Customs in the connecting baggage section, meaning I would not need to re-check it as it was still 'airside' so to speak.
MAN-LHR THE FLIGHT
bmi rank in the Top 6 of the Seat-Pitch League Table(source Sunday Times), for those who don't know:Seat-Pitch is the distance from one point on a seat to the same point on the seat in front. bmi have a seat pitch of 32in which is just above BA. The aircraft was a new Airbus A321 which was decked out in it's new livery inside and out so it looked fresh and bright inside the cabin. Breakfast was served even on this short flight of 35mins this consisted of scrambled egg, bacon, tomato, roll, butter and marelade washed down with OJ and tea/coffee. The cabin crew worked well and efficently to serve a full plane but it did seem a bit rushed but given time constraints a good job well done.
On arrival at LHR T1 I had to transfer to T3 which I wasn't looking forward to but was very painless as it's as simple as going down some stairs, short bus ride to T3 and back up some more stairs and Hey Presto T3!! It took about 15mins in total to transfer terminals and the added bonus of my baggage transferred for me.
LHR-YUL THE FLIGHT
Air Canada has a seat pitch of 33in again more genourous than other 'worlds favourite airlines'. The plane I travelled on was an Airbus A330-300 which was fine apart from AC's colour scheme of 'mucky green' covers on the seats seemed to make it look old and dated. The cabin crew were quite friendly but they seemed to be quite tired looking and a bit more mature looking than other airlines! One major drawback with Air Canada is that because French is Canada's second language everything spoken over the tannoy is said 1st in english and repeated in french. Once airbourne dinner was served, the usual Chicken or Salmon followed by cake etc.. A complimentary bar was then served, followed by the normal in-flight movie however the movie screens that came down from the over head lockers were a bit awkward to see if seated in an odd row. In-flight was pretty attentive though mind you it's not as if they had anywhere better to go! The fun started on arrival in Montreal, due to late departure from LHR because of baggage being loaded late and a flight attendant running late we arrived in Montreal 1 hour late which meant I only had 45 mins to make my connecting flight. However this should not be a problem as I was already checked in for my connecting flight and my baggage would be taken care of...or so I thought!
After clearing customs I handed my baggage into the connecting flight centre and was informed that my baggage was NOT checked through to Toronto and that I had to go and check it in again, I informed the AC rep that this was not the case and pointed out that the airline tag had Toronto's airport code in big black letters as it's final destination. No he said "there is no sequence number on it I can't let you put it through" (what's a sequence number?) apparently it's a series of numbers underneath the airport code. After repeated exchanges between us I proceeded to the AC check-in desks where I stood in line for about 15mins at which it was getting nearer to my connecting flight departing..once at the desk I explained the situation to which the AC clerk replied "your case as been checked through and they other guy should have taken it",needless to stay my temperature was reaching boiling point the check-in clerk then said it was too late to carry on to my connecting flight and that she was booking me onto a later flight, fine not a lot I can do about that then, I asked to use a phone to call Toronto to make alternative arrangements the other end and was told(pointing her finger towards the other end of the terminal)"payphones are over there". I got no assistance when I asked just sorry it's not my fault. It cost $22 on the phone making calls to Toronto sorting out other arrangements and no help from AC at all, It's not the money just the principal of the fact.
EPILOGUE I eventually made it to Toronto at 20.45 that evening, tired, peed off and stressed out thanks to Air Canada. I've learnt my lesson the hardway in that it pays to spend a little more and FLY DIRECT!!! Those of you who are still reading this and have'nt fallen asleep by now, my return journey was a totally different ball game as Air Canada played by the rules and it all went like plain sailing!! even though it was a reverse of my outbound flights. More seems alot more easier to get back to the UK! or perhaps they just wanted shot of me.
Glad I'm not the only one who has trouble on AC. Direct is the best way to go - I tried Air Transat once, and they were cheap and cheerful, and also direct. Better luck next time!
Emirates Airlines - UAE (+) fantastic staff, great food and movie choices were amazing (-) can be ignored for a while when busy, intense safety check - but this is also a good thing 68 reviews Buy Now
11.01.2005 22:50
Glad I'm not the only one who has trouble on AC. Direct is the best way to go - I tried Air Transat once, and they were cheap and cheerful, and also direct. Better luck next time!
08.04.2002 22:50
Appalling service, great review!
31.03.2002 22:54
Another good review - thorough and informative! :O)