Air Canada London Heathrow to Ottawa and back in Intl Business Class

[Iluvcruising2]

This is my virgin experience with Air Canada. As they say, there is always the first time! Privileged to be flying in the International Business Class rather than coach.

 

I was on my way to Ottawa. The flight was AC 889, from LHR to YOW. This would be a 7 hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean. Earlier that morning, I had arrived in LHR from Singapore on Singapore Airlines. I had some time to kill at LHR Terminal 2 and I visited the lounges.

 

This is my flight review video of the Air Canada LHR-YOW -

[YOUTUBE]zEOkHx0SnqU[/YOUTUBE]

 

I also dropped by the Maple Leaf Lounge at LHR, where I had a Canadian Molson, which was pretty good.

[YOUTUBE]YVtxvTRU5e4[/YOUTUBE]

 

Some pictures from the flight.

 

I chose Seat 8A for this flight. It is a 1-1-1 formation.

 

Passengers were boarding the aircraft. There was only one door opened, so all passengers walked through the Business Class cabin.

 

Another look at the cabin from my seat, which was rather private.

 

Stretching out my legs.

 

As the plane was taxi-ing to the runway, we passed by this SQ Aircraft - 9V-SWG.

 

In the air, I used the blanket to cover my legs. The blanket was fairly warm, but not very soft.

Edited June 27, 2015 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

A picture down the aisle of the cabin.

 

The business class cabin was slightly under half full. I counted 11 pax (out of 24 seats). Service was quick. We started with warm nuts and a drink. I asked for gin and tonic.

 

The main meal commenced. The salad and appetizer were served together.

 

For my main course, I opted for the lamb, which turned out to be very good. I think lamb works well on a plane.

 

I had a cheese plate and ice-cream dessert thereafter. Even though this was a day flight out of LHR, I was feeling tired (having just flown SIN-LHR) and I decided to get some rest. It was easy to change the seat into a bed. Just press one button.

 

I woke up about 2 hours before landing and another light meal was served before landing.

 

Overall, it was a decent flight. The product is old but functional. I slept quite well. Service was attentive, maybe because there were so few pax in the cabin, the crew could shower more attention on the rest of us.

 

Thanks for reading.

[Iluvcruising2]

After a successful business trip and some quick sightseeing of the beautiful Canadian city of Ottawa, it was time to head home. I would be flying via Air Canada first from YOW to LHR, then via SQ from LHR to SIN. AC and SQ are Star Alliance partners and that helps. I would have a transit in Heathrow Terminal 2, the new Queen's Terminal.

 

Here are two videos.

 

First is a short clip on the Maple Leaf Lounge, Ottawa Airport -

[YOUTUBE]L8H-IUHnP8M[/YOUTUBE]

 

Second - Flight Review of AC 888 -

[YOUTUBE]6aJr9NxVj4s[/YOUTUBE]

 

Some pictures and descriptions below.

 

Our flight from YOW to LHR was AC888. It was a night departure from YOW (2240hrs) and scheduled to arrive in LHR the next day at around 1000hrs. Flight time was under 7 hours, across the Atlantic.

 

We took a taxi from downtown to Ottawa MacDonald-Cartier International Airport. The trip took under 30 minutes and cost about CAD40. Here are some pictures of the terminal .

 

I noticed that most of the check-in counters were not manned. Instead, you had to use the self-service check-in.

 

Here is another picture of the check-in area. Pretty empty at this time of the evening. I looked for the business class check in counter and checked in there. The counter staff remarked that I had a long flight home as I would literally be flying to the other side of the world - YOW-LHR-SIN. There were no lines and everything was done quickly.

 

Eateries were still opened, like Tim Hortons. However, I would be headed to the Maple Leaf Lounge.

 

Immediately after security (which was quite fast and efficient), I noticed this rather small sign pointing the way to the Maple Leaf lounge, between 2 large screens. Rather subtle? Anyway, I glad I saw it otherwise I may have walked the wrong way. (Hint - Air Canada - Make the sign bigger??) It was just past 8pm.

 

My flight on the board - AC 888 to London. Cute number - 888. The number 8 in Chinese culture is a lucky number. (though I don't believe in this, but still...) It stands for prosperity. So it is triple prosperity for this flight!

 

The entrance to the Lounge where I spent a couple of hours.

[Iluvcruising2]

In terms of food choices, there was nothing to shout about. Just two hot soups and some snacks. Anyway, I wasn't too hungry and I know I would get a good supper on the plane.

 

While walking to the gate, I saw this boat, presumably from centuries ago. During my short stay in Ottawa, I managed to visit the Canadian War Museum, which was awesome. Learnt a lot about the history of Canada (through the lens of war and conflict). Fascinating. Watch out for my museum review video which I should get down to doing some day soon (since I took so many pictures and videos of the museum).

 

AC Flight 888 from the gate. It was a Boeing 767.

 

We would be using Gate 14.

 

A good thing with this being a late flight was that everybody was at the gate early. All wanted to board and get going. So the plane would certainly not be delayed due to late passengers.

 

I chuckled at this sign - Executive First. Fortunately, AC has changed the name to a more defensible International Business class. The product definitely isn't a First class product. Also, if they termed it First, I probably had to fly in Economy as my company does not allow me to fly in First! My admin folks would not understand (nor accept) that 'Executive First' actually meant Business class.

[Iluvcruising2]

Boarding was done early and very smooth. The flight load was light. I think I heard a 100 plus pax in total only.

 

At my seat this evening, Seat 3A. I was in Seat 8A for the LHR to YOW leg.

 

I lay out the Amienty Kit on the tray table. Pretty neat. I liked the lip balm, which is very useful for me.

 

We were asked to place our orders for breakfast so that the meal service could be faster. A jolly good idea. Breakfast was continental, other than for the hot quiche.

 

Salad and appetizer served together. Ahi-Tuna with one fresh prawn. Good to eat!

 

For the main, I chose the AAA Grilled Alberta Beef, which was pretty decent too.

 

After dinner, it was time to sleep. Changed my seat into bed mode.

[Iluvcruising2]

As the flight was quite short, I didn't sleep for long, probably about 3 hours. If you watch my video, you will see that I managed to catch the cabin light change, when they switched from night lighting (a deep blue shade) to day lighting (red lighting, like the sun). When I awoke, others were still fast asleep.

 

In this photo, the cabin day lighting had already been turned on. We were slightly more than 1 hour to landing. This pax certainly looked comfortable. Yes, the eye-shades were very useful. Of course, the cabin crew had to go around the cabin, gently waking the sleeping pax.

 

Breakfast was served rather quickly as time was tight. Food was continental, except for the hot quiche. Do watch my video for more details. We were put in a hold position for about 10 minutes over London. See this picture. I think that is a runway. I can see some planes. Where is this? Anybody knows, do shout out.

 

Another beautiful view of the UK. I loved these window seats. It looked to be a wonderful sunny day.

 

We landed very smoothly with hardly a bump (see video) and we quickly taxi-ed to, a gate without an aerobridge! Yeah, that was a surprise. I managed to take this picture of the stair vehicle aligning the stairs with the jet door. You can see the airport bus waiting. I heard somebody asking the Captain (who came out of the cockpit while the doors were still closed) why we had no aerobridge and I think he said that he had no idea. Just following instructions from the Tower on where to park the aircraft.

 

Passengers waiting to disembark. They did not prevent the Economy class passengers from entering the Business class cabin even though Biz pax had yet to disembark. Oh well, I have no issues with that.

 

Pax coming down the stairs, to board the bus. The bus ride to the Terminal was relatively short (I think around 5 min).

 

All in all, a good and enjoyable flight. Food was good, service was attentive and pleasant. Thanks for reading.

[Cancun01]

Glad you enjoyed our beautiful city of Ottawa. I would not recommend coming here in January if you do not like that cold!

[fbgd]

 

That is Brooklands, the world's first purpose built race track. It has an extremely rich heritage from both an aviation and motor racing standpoint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklands

 

At the end of the (now disused) runway you'll see a circle. It's a wet skid pan that is part of the Mercedes World Museum where you can do a series of driving experiences. I did one last year and it was superb.

 

Diagonally above and to the right of skid pan you'll see a Concorde that is part of the Brooklands Museum. There are actually two Concordes in that photo. A point to anyone who can spot the other one.

Edited June 28, 2015 by fbgd

[headhunterke]

Great report, I watched every video and read through all of it.

How did you find the config of that cabin? It seems rather oddly positioned. Or are the seats that are facing eachother (middle and right side) misaligned so that you're not actually looking right at the person on the other side of the aisle?

I do love the left side of the cabin, it feels very enclosed, mainly because you're not facing an actual person but the back side of the other seat, and that's what I like when flying business class. But I can imagine when flying as a couple this might have some drawbacks as well...

[Iluvcruising2]

Glad you enjoyed our beautiful city of Ottawa. I would not recommend coming here in January if you do not like that cold!

 

Yes, while I was in Ottawa for only a very short time, it was enjoyable. I have some more videos of the place, but I haven't had the time to edit and upload them. Will share them here when done.

 

I was there in May, so it wasn't that cold.

 

I heard, this year, the temperatures in Feb dropped to negative 30C ? Scary. (I come from tropical Singapore, where the temp is on average positive 30C year round)

[Iluvcruising2]

 

That is Brooklands, the world's first purpose built race track. It has an extremely rich heritage from both an aviation and motor racing standpoint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklands

 

At the end of the (now disused) runway you'll see a circle. It's a wet skid pan that is part of the Mercedes World Museum where you can do a series of driving experiences. I did one last year and it was superb.

 

Diagonally above and to the right of skid pan you'll see a Concorde that is part of the Brooklands Museum. There are actually two Concordes in that photo. A point to anyone who can spot the other one.

 

Thanks for the info! Very useful. Is the Brooklands Museum worth visiting? The Mercedes World Museum sounds very fun too.

[Iluvcruising2]

Great report, I watched every video and read through all of it.

How did you find the config of that cabin? It seems rather oddly positioned. Or are the seats that are facing eachother (middle and right side) misaligned so that you're not actually looking right at the person on the other side of the aisle?

I do love the left side of the cabin, it feels very enclosed, mainly because you're not facing an actual person but the back side of the other seat, and that's what I like when flying business class. But I can imagine when flying as a couple this might have some drawbacks as well...

 

Thanks for your positive feedback.

 

Honestly, I don't know how it feels like on the other aisle, with the two seats facing each other.

 

Both times I sat in the left aisle, which is very private. For my LHR to YOW leg, I had 8A which is the most private seat in the cabin. I felt like I was in a world of my own.

 

For my YOW to LHR leg, I was in 3A. There were passengers in 2A and 4A and it still felt very private.

[scottbee]

 

That is Brooklands, the world's first purpose built race track. It has an extremely rich heritage from both an aviation and motor racing standpoint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklands

 

At the end of the (now disused) runway you'll see a circle. It's a wet skid pan that is part of the Mercedes World Museum where you can do a series of driving experiences. I did one last year and it was superb.

 

Diagonally above and to the right of skid pan you'll see a Concorde that is part of the Brooklands Museum. There are actually two Concordes in that photo. A point to anyone who can spot the other one.

 

are you talking about the 40% scale model one, that is just directly below the actual one (pretty much directly east of the skidpad) :-)

[em-sk]

Great report, I watched every video and read through all of it.

How did you find the config of that cabin? It seems rather oddly positioned. Or are the seats that are facing eachother (middle and right side) misaligned so that you're not actually looking right at the person on the other side of the aisle?

I do love the left side of the cabin, it feels very enclosed, mainly because you're not facing an actual person but the back side of the other seat, and that's what I like when flying business class. But I can imagine when flying as a couple this might have some drawbacks as well...

 

I have been in those seats a few times. Given the angle and the way the wall acts a divider you don't see your neighbor across the aisle. The 767, A330, and most of the 777 have this older configuration. The 787 have a newer configuration and the airlines has indicated the 777 will also get moved over to the new configuration.

[fbgd]

Thanks for the info! Very useful. Is the Brooklands Museum worth visiting? The Mercedes World Museum sounds very fun too.

 

I'd say it's a very good museum and if you find yourself with an all day connection at LHR I'd take a taxi over to Brooklands or rent a car and drive over. It's certainly a good half day or so's visit.

 

The Concorde they have has been restored by enthusiasts and they have recreated the cabin and do a simulated flight which is very detailed and authentic.

 

Mercedes World is excellent if you have a driving experience. I did a half day hooning it around in AMGs and a MB owner thoroughly enjoyed, really recommend it. They have a museum there showcasing both new and old cars but I found it a little disappointing. If you're at Brooklands Museum have a poke about though.

[fbgd]

are you talking about the 40% scale model one, that is just directly below the actual one (pretty much directly east of the skidpad) :-)

 

You are correct, it is the 40% scale model. However the one due east of the skidpad is the full size one.

 

G-CONC is just to the left of the disused runway on the roundabout, you can just about see the white triangular shape. Most passengers out of Heathrow in the 1980s/1990s would have seen it before going into the tunnel that takes you to the central terminal area.

[Iluvcruising2]

In Ottawa, I visited the Parliament House. It was a good visit. Here are several videos I made to remember the visit by.

 

Getting tickets and entering the Parliament House - Part 1

[YOUTUBE]1zERMY4lj3Y[/YOUTUBE]

 

Starting the Tour - Part 2

[YOUTUBE]V8ZGClSmi6s[/YOUTUBE]

 

House of Commons and the Library - Part 3

[YOUTUBE]CTjZ40BsQaI[/YOUTUBE]

 

Senate - Part 4

[YOUTUBE]ORQa1nPpzkc[/YOUTUBE]

 

Peace Tower, gorgeous views - Part 5

[YOUTUBE]7g5zC6KfwPY[/YOUTUBE]