What About Air Canada?

The only caveat about flying Air Canada internationally nobody has mentioned is they also have a discount subsidiary, Air Canada Rouge, which offers a substantially lower quality product - and you have to be careful as these flights are still listed with regular Air Canada flight numbers.The Casablanca route is currently operated by Rouge but will transition to mainline in Summer 2018.

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On Rouge: We had cruise line air last fall that had a terrible return. Our TA got our flights changed to Rouge (BCN-YUL-MCO) which we had not heard of. We read all the "We've been rouged reviews (not complimentary) but noticed people were okay with it in PE or whatever they called it. Since we were PE, we crossed our fingers. Rouge is okay in PE or whatever with seats that recline. All flights were on time.

For other Floridians, the YUL-MCO flight was also Premium with even bigger seats (bigger plane maybe because of Disney fliers?) AND we were processed for US customs so we did not have to do anything at MCO but get our car. The system there does not let you proceed further until your luggage is checked through. My one small bag had been left behind in BCN so it took almost until flight time to let me go. We live on an island over 2 hours from MCO so I did not expect to see my luggage for a week. It was delivered to our door in 2 days. I would take this flight, YUL, and Rouge (PE or whatever of course) again from Europe. I realize we were lucky to get premium seats on both legs because both were accidentally foreign airports.

Glad to see Rouge was finally mentioned.

Flyers need to be really careful about what AC flight they are on.

Rouge in Economy has horrible reviews. We were in Premium Economy and very much enjoyed our (YYZ to BCN) flight.

The best way I can describe PE on Rouge is to compare it to AA/Delta/United domestic First Class.

If your reservation is in PE on Rouge, great. If not, I'd rethink it. For me, personally, comfort on a long distance flight is worth the extra $ to me.

We've flown AC, Business Class, to Europe twice, and economy once, all through Toronto. The BC experience overall is very nice. Comfortable pods, good service.

Toronto is a great airport, and easy to transit thru, even coming home to the US. If you have a known traveler card you can pass thru customs faster, FYI.

Our issue is that twice, we've had significant delays. We got in the air, went 3 hours out, and turned around to go back to Toronto at midnight. The next day, when our 0800 flight was supposed to leave, it was delayed for another 6 hours. We missed our entire first day in Rome, arriving over 24 hours late. (Yes, better to turn back than have issues over the ocean, but two separate delays??) The next time, our flight home, thru Brussels, was delayed enough that we were unable to make our connection. They did find us another connection, but we barely made it, and if we hadn't made that one, we'd have been delayed another whole day. In the process, ds's luggage was lost, completely. AC was very difficult to work with on compensation, wanting receipts for everything he'd packed, and very lackluster customer service reps. Who has receipts for clothes bought last year for your 12yo?? Then, without warning, 6 weeks later, it shows up on our doorstep. (Thank goodness for hard luggage tags!) Yes, good we got it back, however I'd just bought him all new school clothes since we presumed them lost and school had already started. Since we live 90 minutes from the nearest town, returning them wasn't simple.

So, I have mixed feelings regarding AC. When things go well, I quite like them. But we are 2 for 3 in things not going well, and while they ultimately turned out well enough, adding that kind of stress and 12-24 hours longer to your travel is not fun especially when paying for BC.

I read this thread for comments about Rouge. I agree with other posters that Economy on Rouge is very uncomfortable. We took an AC Rouge flight from Athens to Montreal a couple of years ago (booked on Princess's EZAir) and found very little space between rows -- this was confirmed by SeatGuru. I suggest that if anyone flies AC, check if it's on a Rouge plane and perhaps consider other options.

While transferring to our US-bound flight, we had to get in a line where Canadian customs agents showed us our luggage on a monitor. You had to confirm that those were your bags before you could proceed to US Immigration. This took longer than expected and some people lost their connecting flights.

Upon boarding our connecting flight to the US, a guy could not fit his bag in the overhead compartment and slammed the door hard trying to close it. He broke the latch. AC did not have a replacement latch at the airport that evening so we were deplaned. We had to leave the transit area, get our luggage, and go to the AC desk to get hotel and meal vouchers. The only option offered to us was a 6am flight, for which we had to arrive at the airport by 4am to go through check-in and US Immigration once again.

I'm writing this long story about a not-fun end to our cruise vacation so that others consider whether the price difference is enough of an incentive to fly AC on an in-bound flight from Europe in order to connect with a flight to the US. If something goes wrong -- guy breaks a latch --, deplaning and trying to get another flight the same day or the next is more complicated than if the long haul flight had arrived to one of the US airport hubs.

I have flown A.C. a number of times from Hartford to Vancouver and back. I have to change planes in either Toronto or Montreal. I've always flown Economy. I would allow a minimum of 2 hours for a change in Toronto, although the changes have always been efficient and fast, even with having to clear customs. I have to fly a small prop from Hartford where you must check your carryon baggage. The plane is noisy but fine. A.C. makes you pay for seat selection, so I don't bother. Changes made in Montreal can be tighter as the airport is less busy. The biggest problem is if you must reach customer service as you may wait an hour or two or more on the phone. For me, to get to Vancouver, they offer the most flights and the fastest way for me to get there locally. I've been pleased. The one that annoys me is that the economy fares only earn half miles on flights.