Trip Report: Air Canada, Toronto to Washington, D.C. (October 2021)

   Trip Report: Air Canada - Toronto to Washington, D.C.
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was booking my flight from Washington, D.C. to Toronto and return.  On the outbound the best flight and connection I found was with Delta and on the return the best connection, flight time and price I found was with Air Canada.  This routing would take me from Toronto to Washington Reagan via Montreal.  I found the flight on Google Flights but went to AirCanada's website directly to book the ticket.  It was quick and easy to book the ticket online, select my seat, and get my reservation.

My original flight had me departing Toronto at 4pm with an 1hr layover in Montreal and then arrive into Washington. D.C. at 8pm.  I arrived to the airport a little more than 2-hours in advance because I thought I had to stand in line for my documents to get checked.  In line they said that if I received my mobile boarding pass then everything was clear and nothing needed to be shown/checked so I proceeded to security.  Since I was going to Montreal it was treated as a domestic flight so I did not need to clear immigration and because of that, I got to the gate really quickly.  When I approached the gate, the earlier flight to Montreal was on 'last call' and they asked me if I was part of that flight.  I said I was part of the later flight and they asked if I wanted to take the earlier flight; since I had only hand-carry I said yes and I was able to take the 2pm flight to Montreal onboard a Boeing 787 dreamliner.  

This flight generally departs Toronto at 2pm and arrives into Montreal at 3:14pm.  The flight was

operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and it was great to experience this Dreamliner plane on a short domestic flight.  The plane was laid out in a 3-3-3 configuration in economy and the seat width and seat pitch were very good; I am tall and the legroom was excellent.  Yes it did help that no one was next to me but despite that I thought the legroom was great.  The seat was very comfortable to sit on and had a lot of features including a seatback PTV with a USB port and headphone jack; underneath that was a full-size tray table; and below that was a seatback pocket.  Universal power outlets were also available.  The amenities were nice for the short domestic flight but given how everything was laid out, I would not hesitate to take the flight long-haul.  Shortly after we reached cruising altitude inflight service commenced.  I was surprised that Air Canada was doing a full drink service and pretzels on this short flight; yes the entire cabin was not full but flight time was only 1hr15min and that is not a lot of time to get through the service.  The FA's were really good about being efficient but also decently friendly; they were definitely friendlier and better as compared to some American FAs.  We landed in Montreal and because of my earlier flight I now had 3-hours in Montreal. 

Unfortunately, due to COVID there was only one or two shops that were open in the entire airport.  I understand it was a pandemic but there were A LOT of people and not enough services provided so either more services needed to be available or less people needed to be transited through Montreal.  I bided my time and then proceeded downstairs to the basement where my next flight would be departing from. 

My flight to Washington, D.C. would be operated by a CRJ2 which is a small regional jet with a 2-2 configuration.  The plane was very small, tight, and not a lot of leg space.  There was an open seat available and I asked the FA if I could move, but there was a main FA and a FA in training and they had taken up those seats even though not of them sat there throughout the flight (not great customer service).  The service and experience on the CRJ2 experience was in complete opposite of the my previous experience - the plane was smaller and extremely uncomfortable, the FAs were not nice nor customer friendly and overall it was not a good experience.  Once airborne, inflight service of a drink and pretzels were provided and then it was not long before we landed as it was only a 1.5hr flight.

In the end, it was an interesting flight with AirCanada.  During my first flight from Toronto to Montreal I got to experience their long-haul fleet and that seemed comfortable so something I would want to try and experience.  On the second flight, from Montreal to Washington D.C. I got to experience their regional jets and FAs which were not nice and very uncomfortable.  I have flown on AirCanada's Embraer from Toronto to New Orleans (link here) and it was a very comfortable experience so I will try and remember that experience versus this one.

Trip Report: Turkish Airlines, Business Class - Houston to Lahore via Istanbul (February/April 2019)

Trip Report: Turkish Airlines - Business Class
Houston to Lahore via Istanbul
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was flying from America to South Asia and for this trip there are many options – Emirates, Qatar, or Turkish.  My last couple of trips have been in business class and, since it is a long flight, I wanted to travel again in business class.  I have flown on Emirates business and really enjoyed both the lounge and in the air-experience, especially on the Airbus A380 (see review here), but in my last couple of flights with Emirates the service seemed to have dwindled a bit so this time I was looking to try other services.  I have flown Turkish many times, mostly in economy and once in business class – the business class was decent with lots of food and lie-flat beds, however it wasn’t the best product out there but good value for what you pay for.  When I was searching for this flight, Turkish kept coming up in terms of best product, best flight times, and overall better price for the service so I went ahead and booked Turkish Airlines Business Class. 

My first sector was on Turkish’s Boeing 777-300ER from Houston to Istanbul.  Turkish does provide complimentary pickup and dropoff to Business and First Class passengers within 30 miles of the airport – it’s a nice service that some of the competitors only offer at their home base.  Through Turkish’s updated website and app, I was easily able to manage my flight, my seat selection, meal preferences, as well as select my complimentary pickup.  Turkish leaves Houston at 8:55pm and that is a nice time as it is later than its competitors so there is not a lot of rush at the airport.  We got to the airport well ahead of schedule and went to the business class line were our bags were checked to the final destination.  After security we went to the lounge – Turkish does not have its own lounge but its passengers have access to their Star Alliance partner United’s Polaris lounge in Concourse D.  The lounge has recently been updated to the Polaris look and it is a THOUSAND times better than what is before – before the lounge was very sad and just looked like an upgraded waiting area, but now the lounge actually looks like a lounge with improvements to the seating, the overall look, the service, and the food.  It was really nice to spend time in the lounge, but the only problem is that United does not have flight times for any of their Star Alliance partner flights so it is up to the passenger to monitor their time and ensure they leave the lounge in time for their flight.  We left the lounge and made our way to the gate to board the plane.  Even though we were supposed to board around 8:15pm, Turkish always seems to have a flexible on-time schedule.  No flight I have ever taken with Turkish has ever left on time and this was the case with these flights. 

Boarding finally started and Business Class boarded in a separate line and through a separate entrance into the plane.  The plane was configured in a 2-3-2 layout which isn’t ideal especially if you are stuck in the middle seat for over 12+hours.  I was able to preselect my seat and I had chosen a window and an aisle seat.  The seat itself was very long but it was a bit narrow, especially if you were a bigger person.  On one side was the seat and on the other side was a console with a huge TV screen on top and a footrest on the bottom.  The footrest could be opened to allow storage during the flight (I appreciated this because some other airlines do not have this feature and it makes it inconvenient to constantly get up to get things from the upper storage).  The airline magazines as well as a shoe storage were also located in this console.  The seat itself was nice and comfortable, although as I said a bit narrow.  The seat was upright and could be maneuvered to be completely lie-flat.  The seat had a reading light, and adjustable footrests as well as other adjustable parts (however – this all depended on all the controls working on every seat, which not all did).  There was a massage function as well on the seats, but again not all the functions worked for every seat.  Below the armrest in a dark cubby hole was the plug-in for the headphones as well as a USB port.  While these amenities were very nice, it was very difficult to access given the narrowness of the seat, and it all got tangled when you lay the seat flat.  This cubby hole is also were the remote was for the PTV – the PTV was touchscreen but because it was so far away the remote was needed; however, again the functions of the remote sometimes worked and sometimes it was just easier and quicker to move to the touchscreen on the TV.  I have said this in other reviews and while traveling in economy, and it remained the same in business class – Turkish’s onboard entertainment has a decent selection of movies and TV shows but they are only enough to pass about 5 hours of flight time; if your flight is longer than that I would suggest downloading movies on your personal device.  The same was for this flight as the entertainment selection was decent for about 5 hours of viewing time, and then you had to improvise (in this category, no one can beat Emirates’ selection).

Before take-off, pre-drinks were served, newspapers were offered, noise-cancelling headphones were distributed (again, some headphones worked better than others), and amenity kits were also distributed.  While the amenity kits were nice, they looked more like a premium economy kit rather than a business class kit as the kits contained socks, eyeshades, toothbrush, toothpaste, earplugs, a small lip balm and small lotion.  I have received the same kit – in a less fancier package and without the lip balm and lotion – in economy class on other airlines.  I have also flown business class on other airlines – namely Emirates – where the business class amenity kit includes much more such as razors, shaving cream, and cologne.  Menus were also distributed prior to takeoff and this is one area where Turkish excels over its competitors.  Both the quality and quantity of food was very good and it was an extensive menu of offerings that the passenger gets to choose from. 

Once airborne, the inflight service started a hot towel service and then with drinks and nuts.  The tray table is in the middle console which is shared between the two seats but the positioning of the tray table makes the narrow seat feel even more narrow, especially for those who are larger.  Also, the tray table is supposed to move diagonally to let the passenger out of the seat but again some of these worked better than others.  The tray table was set with linens, a fake candle, and really interesting salt and pepper shakers.  After the nuts, the first course of appetizers were served, followed by another starter, then your selection of the main dish, then dessert, then cheese and fruit, and then coffee or tea.  Again, it was a lot of food and it took about 2.5 hours for the entire course of meals to be presented and consumed.  As I said, both the quality and quantity of food were good.  Once the meal service finished, the attendants came by to make up the bed.  The pillow was already on the seat, and it was an average size pillow.  The mattress padding was fitted onto the seat, and that was a bit thin in quality but the blanket provided was nice and of good thick quality.  You really felt the narrowness of the seat when you slept, as there was not a lot of room to move in the seat, although the seat did lie completely flat so that was nice. 

Turkish only provides two meal services – one after takeoff and then one right before landing.  In between, if you are hungry there are small snacks, fruit, crackers, and nuts available in the galley.  While these snacks are nice, they are definitely not filling if you decided to skip the meal and get hungry in the middle of the flight (I also do not believe Turkish has a ‘dine on demand’ product available); again comparing it to some of its competitors, Emirates does at least provide some more substantial snacks that are available in between the meal service upon request.  About an hour prior to landing, the lights came on and the tray tables were set for the second meal.  Again, there was a selection of breakfast items to choose from as well as some appetizers.  This meal selection was substantial but smaller than the first meal selection (both were definitely filling though).  The cabin was then readied for landing and we landed in Istanbul. 

On my outbound flight I transferred at the old Istanbul airport while on my return I transferred through the new airport.  I did have family members who were affected by the transfer from one airport to the other, and the communication and coordination between Turkish Airlines and its customers during that time was very poor.  Luckily I had booked through a travel agent and they were coordinating and rebooking everything, and he said that the information kept changing minute by minute as he had many customers who were being affected by the transfer and cancellation of flights.  I transferred to the new airport about 2 weeks after it opened, and it was still a mess.  Long walks, not helpful ground staff (although Turkish has never been known for helpful ground staff), still under construction security areas, many confused ground staff, and a lot of teething issues.  While waiting in the lounge for my flight, the gate for the flight changed, and I am not kidding, 5 times in a span of 1 hour.

While there was one HUGE business class lounge in the old airport, the new airport has multiple business class lounges and both are identical in terms of the offerings and look – this makes it very confusing if you are meeting someone at the business class lounge because the only difference between the two is the location.  The lounges are nice with good offering of food, drink, and spaces.  There are free massages available but those are only on a first-come, first-serve basis and the wait time for the massage was over 2 hours.    

My onward flight was on an Airbus A330-200.  On the outbound the plane was very old and so was on the onboard product while on the return both the plane and the product had been updated.  The service and onboard system was the same for both flights – the seat was similar to that of the Boeing 777 as it did lie flat, the space was narrow, and the same features were available on both seats.  Same amenity kits as well as same headphones were distributed along with menus.  The main difference for this flight is that only one meal service was offered, right after take-off, and the meal quality and quantity was smaller – it was more of a heavy snack/light meal rather than a full meal – and this was the only service offered during the entire flight.  This was another difference between Turkish and its competitors as other airlines, I believe, would have either offered a more substantial meal if they were doing one meal or would have offered two light meals.

Overall, the experience with Turkish Airlines in Business Class felt more like Premium Economy rather than a true Business Class.  The lie-flat seats, the access to the lounge, and the substantial food offered on the long-haul flights are characteristics of Business Class, but the quality of the seats, the narrowness of the seats, and the overall feel and experience of the on-board product made it feel more like Premium Economy.  The negative about this is that Turkish does not offer First Class, so the choice is between Economy or Business so if you are only offering one premium class, wouldn’t you make it more outstanding instead of having minor differences between the two?  In Turkish’s defense though, the price for Turkish was lower than its competitors so if you are paying less then I guess you would expect less as well.  If you are looking for an overall business experience, then Turkish is not the choice for you, but if all you are looking for is a lie-flat seat, good food, and a nice lounge then Turkish is your airline.

Trip Report: Austrian Airlines, Frankfurt to Vienna (August 2018)

Trip Report: Austrian Airlines, Frankfurt to Vienna 
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was traveling from New Orleans to Vienna via Frankfurt.  My travel had been booked through Condor (see review here), with the first leg from New Orleans to Frankfurt being operated by Condor and the second leg from Frankfurt to Vienna operated by Austrian Airlines.  After the ticket had been booked, I received both my Condor and Austrian booking numbers.  As my flight was booked through another carrier, I could see my reservation online but could not manage it nor do anything else so in order to make any changes I had to call the airline directly.  In late July 2018, I had tried to call the US-toll free number of Austrian only for the number to be disconnected.  For two days straight the number was disconnected; the airline was quick to respond on social media, but they did not provide detailed answers.  As this was my first interaction with the airline, it was not a positive one.  

24-hours prior to my flight, I was able to check-in and receive both boarding passes.  I tried again to call Austrian and finally got through and was able to change my seat assignments.  Once our plane landed in Frankfurt, we had about 1hr30min to transfer between flights.  Most of the time was spent going through security and transferring from one gate to the other.  When I got to the other gate, I thought they would need to recheck my boarding pass or issue a new one (as most other international connections have done) but nothing like that occurred here.  Boarding was scheduled to commence at 12:15pm while the flight was scheduled to take off at 12:50pm; however, the boarding time came and went and we were still at the gate.  Boarding finally commenced, but there was no order.  First and Business Class plus high frequent flyers were allowed to go first, and then it was a free-for-all; it was extremely chaotic.  Adding to the chaos was that passengers scanned their own boarding pass to open the gates and the technology took a long time and some passengers were not used to it.  Once through, passengers boarded buses to be bused to our gate (which was at the other end of the airport).

Originally an Airbus A319 was scheduled to fly the route, but when the bus pulled up to the plane it was actually a Boeing 767-300.  Given the flight time is 1h20min, I was surprised such a big plane was being used on a short flight.  The flight was completely full, so given the number of passengers and given that boarding started late, it was given that we were not going to make the scheduled departure time (the airline did not seem to be in a rush to keep on schedule nor did they make any announcements regarding the delay).  Once all passengers were on board and once the paperwork was completed, the boarding doors closed, we finally pushbacked, a safety video was shown, and we took off for Vienna.  

The Boeing 767 was into three classes - business, premium economy, and economy; I was allotted a seat in premium economy.  The premium economy seat could also be a business class seat, except that it did not recline all the way.  The seat itself was very nice and spacious, both width wise and length wise.  The premium economy was laid out in a 2-2-2 configuration so the passenger at the window had to cross the aisle passenger to get to the aisle, but there was plenty of room to cross.  The seat itself was nice, comfortable, and was wide enough for premium economy.  The two seats shared a middle console, which contained individual armrests, a place for your drinks, as well as the tray table.  On either side of the console, each seat had a USB port plus the remote for the PTV and entertainment screen.  The bottom of the middle console also contained two universal plugs.  On the seatback in front, in which the legroom was very generous and almost like business class, the seat contained a large PTV screen and underneath a pocket which contained the safety card, the airline magazine, and the airline duty free magazine.  Overall, the seat was very nice and comfortable especially for the short-haul flight.  On a longer haul flight, the legroom would be really nice and the entertainment options would be sufficient but the seat comfort would probably hurt after 5+hours. 

Most passengers were not aware of the delay as the PTV screens were on and available for passengers once they sat down.  It was a nice bonus that for a short flight passengers would have PTV screens and access to the full selection of entertainment.  The entertainment selection was varied and included a lot of good movies and some TV shows (the movie selection was definitely better than the TV selection).  Once we passed 10,000ft, the attendants started their inflight service.  A complimentary snack plus complimentary drinks were provided, while other food and drink items were available for purchase.  The complimentary snack was some chocolate/candy that is famous in Vienna and along that complimentary soft drinks, water, juice, tea and coffee were provided.  Given the number of passengers and the short flight time, the attendants clearly looked and acted as if they were in a rush (and thus were not very customer-oriented/friendly).  The flight time quickly passed as passengers watched their screens and enjoyed the complimentary snacks, and then it was time for the plane to start its decent into Vienna.  We landed in Vienna late and had a quick taxi to the gate.

Overall, it was an interesting flight with Austrian.  The plane change was a nice bonus as I got to try a a plane usually reserved for long-haul flights and got to enjoy the perks of the long-haul planes, including more spacious seats and better seat options such as PTV screens.  The downside was the customer service as the attendants neither seemed friendly nor customer-oriented.  They were not smiling, never really interacted with the customers, and seemed rushed and frantic to complete the inflight service in the time given.  It was my first time flying with Austrian and I wanted to try their short-haul product before deciding whether to give their long-haul product a try; and after this experience I would say that flying with Austrian again would not be at the top of my list.  While I would not avoid the airline, I would not go out of my way to fly with them again (as for me, the soft product matters as much as the hard product).  

Trip Report: SAS Airlines, Copenhagen to London Heathrow (September 2018)

Trip Report: SAS Airlines, Copenhagen to London (LHR) 
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

In looking for flights between Copenhagen and London, there are many options available including both mainline and low-cost carriers.  The various airlines also serve the various airports in London, so which airline you choose largely depends on price, your airline preference, time of day, and which London airport you would like to arrive at.  My only criteria for my flight was that I wanted to leave Copenhagen in the evening, everything else I was flexible with.  

As I said there were a number of options available including easyjet, Norwegian, Flybe, British Airways, Ryanair, Eurowings, and SAS.  In looking at base prices, initially the low-cost carriers were the lowest in price; however, once I added on extras such as a checked baggage, the price went up dramatically.  When I looked at mainline carriers - SAS and British Airways - both had a variety of options available.  They had 'light fares' which were comparable to low-cost carriers to 'packaged fares' which included other amenities in the fare.  When I compared the package fare of SAS (which included a 23-kg checked baggage) with that of the low-cost carriers, it was only a price difference of 10euro.  To me, that is not that much of a price difference especially given that with the mainline carrier I would land at Heathrow (which is more central), the timings of the flight was better, and I would have the option for miles accrual.  Based on all these factors, I choose to fly with SAS.  

My flight on SAS was scheduled to depart Copenhagen at 8:35p and land at Heathrow at 9:35p.  The flight was scheduled to be operated by an Airbus A320 and a scheduled flight time of 2hours.  Through the app I was able to manage my reservation and create flight notifications.  24-hours prior to departure I was also able to check-in and preselect my seat for the flight (at no additional charge).  I went to the airport very early (as another airline had lost my luggage and had found it two days later) and while I was at the airport I wanted to check my bag in.  It was about 5hours prior to the flight so I inquired with SAS who informed me that they accept checked baggage up to 24-hours prior to departure!  As with most European airlines, there were self-service kiosks where I printed out the baggage tag, tagged my own bag, loaded it up on to the scale, and it was scanned and sent to holding.  

Even though I already had my boarding pass and my luggage was already checked through, I still arrived at the airport about 2hours prior to the flight time.  Boarding was scheduled to begin at 8:05pm, but I also knew I had to go through security and immigration so that could take a while; and it did.  The security lines at Copenhagen airport were ridiculously long, and it took a while to get through the entire process.  Once that was completed, those who were going to non-Schengen countries or who were going somewhere else internationally also had to complete immigration protocols - this also took some time but was quicker than the security line.  I finally reached the boarding gate for it only to be closed.  Apparently the boarding gate was closed until the boarding time listed on the ticket, so most of the passengers were crowded in the hallway waiting for the boarding gate to open (seems like an inefficient system).  The boarding gate finally opened, our boarding passes were scanned, and passengers proceeded to sit and wait at the boarding gate.  While waiting at the boarding gate, the inbound aircraft came in late and the ground crew did not seem in a rush to quickly turn the plane around; it looked like it was going to be a late departure.

Boarding finally started but there was no system to the boarding.  Business class and priority members were called first, and then it was a free-for-all so passengers could board at their leisure.  The operating aircraft was an Airbus A320 in a 3-3 seat configuration.  The seats were slimline seats but were comfortable enough for the short flight.  The seat width and seat pitch were also pretty good - better than some airlines but not as good as others; it was good for the intra-European flight.  The seatback did not contain a personal screen, but rather had a slot for the airline magazine and safety cards.  Next to the slot was a USB port, which was a welcome addition (the USB was only activated after reaching 10,000ft).  Below the slot was a tray table and below that was a pocket for personal use.  To add to the chaos of boarding, carry-ons were not limited based on their number nor weight so many passengers had multiple carry-ons in various sizes and weights; this delayed the boarding even further.  Once the passengers were boarded and seated, the pilot came on and basically said he was in no rush - he said that the inbound flight was delayed and the turnaround time 'was ridiculous for a human to accomplish' so they were going to take their time and do things properly.  This meant a delayed pushback and delayed take-off.

Once the boarding doors closed, manual safety demonstrations took place.  The plane was operated by SAS Ireland and most of the crew had English (British) accents.  Once we reached cross 10,000ft the inflight service commenced.  SAS' inflight service depends on the class and type of ticket you purchased; regular economy passengers receive complimentary tea, coffee, and water but have to pay for everything else.  If you have paid for a higher service, then complimentary meals plus a drink is included in your fare.  Flight time was scheduled at 1h30min and the flight was entirely full so it took the cabin crew almost the entire flight time to serve all passengers.  Once the inflight service had finished, passengers were left to pass the time as they pleased.  The time to start the decent into Heathrow approached, and the cabin was prepared for landing.  We landed and then took a long taxi to the gate at Heathrow.

Overall, it was a very interesting experience at SAS.  The USB ports and the seat comfort plus seat pitch were good, but the chaotic boarding and not trying to rush and maintain on-time departure was a little disturbing.  Also, there was no wifi so no personal entertainment was available on the flight (even though SAS had been advertising this all throughout Copenhagen airport and the city).  I was interested in trying SAS short-haul first before testing if I could stand their long-haul service, and based on this experience I would try their long-haul service but they would not be my first choice.     

Trip Report: Lufthansa, London Heathrow to Frankfurt (September 2018)

Trip Report: Lufthansa, London Heathrow to Frankfurt
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was returning from my European trip and had booked my return from London Heathrow to New Orleans via Frankfurt.  The ticket was booked through Condor but the first leg of the trip, London to Frankfurt, was being operated by Lufthansa.  I had received my Lufthansa booking reference number through Condor and immediately I could go online, or through the app, and manage my reservation.  The only thing I was not able to do was pre-select my seat, which was only available 24-hrs prior to my flight.  My flight was scheduled to depart London at 7:30am and arrive into London Heathrow at 10:05am.  24-hours prior to my flight time, through the app I was able to check into my flight, select my preferred seat (at no additional cost), and receive my boarding pass.  Managing my reservation and keeping tracks of my flight was very convenient through the mobile app.

I arrived into the airport very early as I was not sure how busy Heathrow would be in the morning.  I went to the line to check-in my bag, only to be told to turn around and use the self-service baggage kiosk.  I went there, entered my information, and out came the baggage tag.  I applied the baggage tag to my bag and then went to check-in my bag.  The first agent I went to was very strict about the weight allowance - I was allowed one bag of 23kg and my bag was over so I asked how much was it to pay for overweight and she replied "23kg is the max!"; not the most friendliest of attendants.  I went to repack my suitcase and got it closer to 23kg, and then the next attendant was more helpful and checked my bag through.  The flight was scheduled to depart at 7:35am, boarding time was listed as 7:05am, and check-in closed at 6:40am.  I went through security and even though the monitors in the airport had not listed the gate, the app had already informed me which gate the flight was going to depart out of.

Around 7:05am, boarding was announced but there were no groups and no differentiation between the boarding; it was a come-one, come-all boarding.  Luckily the flight was not completely full, load factor seemed somewhere between 80-90% with most passengers connecting to other international flights.  Even though Lufthansa had indicated that only one personal item was approved to bring onboard, this was not enforced nor was the weight of the carryon ever checked; this meant that many passengers brought on multiple carryons in various weights and sizes.  Once boarding was completed and all passengers were in the seats, manual safety demonstrations were done, we pushed back and took off for Frankfurt.

The operating aircraft for this flight was an Airbus A320neo in a 3-3 configuration.  The seats were relatively comfortable, with a decent seat pitch and seat width (I am 6'1 and my knees were not hitting the seat in front of me, which is always a good sign!).  There was no seatback entertainment nor any visible USB ports, instead the seatback contained a pocket for the airline magazine, duty free magazine and safety card.  Below that was the tray table and below that was a small pocket to house personal items.  Flight time was scheduled at 1hr35minutes so as soon as we reached cruising altitude the inflight service started.  The service consisted of complimentary tea, coffee, water, juice or soft drinks plus a complimentary cinnamon and raisin pastry roll.  I was not expecting the pastry roll (as in the U.S. its mostly just peanuts and pretzels) so the pastry roll, especially for the morning flights, was a nice and welcomed gesture.  Once the service was completed, there was not that much time left before we started our decent into Frankfurt.

We landed in Frankfurt ontime but then it took a long time to taxi to the gate.  Also, once we got to the gate we had to deplane via stairs (and only one set of stairs in the back of the plane was available) and then take the bus to another set of gates as we were coming from a non-schengen country to a schengen country.  While I understand the security and immigration of it all, it was a pain and the bus system at Frankfurt really needs to improve. 

Overall, it was a pleasant intra-European flight with Lufthansa.  I had previously flown with Lufthansa long-haul (check out that review here) and the overall experience was ok so I did not have high expectations for this flight; however, the service and the overall experience on this intra-Europe flight exceeded my expectations.  While they may not be my first choice for long-haul service, I would definitely choose them again for intra-European service.

Trip Report: Air Canada, Toronto Pearson to New Orleans (June 2018)

Trip Report: Air Canada, Toronto to New Orleans
comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was traveling from Africa back to America and was connecting in Toronto for my last flight.  My first flight was operated by Ethiopian Airlines and I was connecting to Air Canada.  Since both flights were booked on one ticket, and both are Star Alliance members and thus have a partnership, it would be a seamless transfer in Toronto.  My bags were tagged in Africa and I received my Ethiopian-issued boarding passes for my flight, so in essence all I had to do was 1) collect my bags and hand them to Air Canada or 2) just transfer and go to Air Canada to receive their boarding pass.  When I landed, the process could not have been smoother – I did not have to collect my bags and had them to Air Canada as all I needed to do was transfer from one get to another (and clear U.S. security).

I had received my Air Canada reservation number prior to my departure and had downloaded the app where I could manage my reservation.  There was a charge for pre-selecting my seat, so I waited until I got to Toronto to see if I could change my seat.  Even though I was already checked-in, I talked with an Air Canada representative who said I could use the kiosks or the app to change seat and receive my Air Canada-issued boarding pass (I also spoke with them to ensure my bags had been transferred successfully).  The entire process could not have gone smoother.

The flight was scheduled to depart Toronto at 1:15p and arrive into New Orleans at 3:05p.  The flight was operated by an Embraer RJ-175 with a scheduled flight time of 2hr50m.  As I had a long time between my flights, I was waiting near the gates well before the scheduled departure time.  I am glad I downloaded the app because it was through the app that I found out that the gate had been changed (an announcement happened later on); from my understanding this happens a lot with Air Canada at Toronto (another reason to download the app).  All the passengers made it to the right gate well in time before departure.  Boarding started around 12:45p, which I thought was a bit late but it was fine considering it was a small plane the load was light.  The plane was configured in a 1-2 business class and a 2-2 economy class.  The first few rows of economy were designated as ‘Preferred Seats’ which meant they provided additional legroom and earlier boarding.

First impressions of the cabin were very good as the plane looked like it had been well-maintained and recently updated.  The seats looked like they were new-ish slimline seats and each seat had its seatback PTV.  In Africa, I was initially assigned a seat in the back of the plane but through the app I changed my seat to an aisle seat in the middle of the plane.  The seat itself was decent in terms of size and comfort, it was not too small but not too large, and the legroom was decent. I am a tall man (6ft) and my knees were not hitting the back of the seat in front of me (a good sign).  As with regional jets, the overhead bin space was limited so this was the only negative thing.  The seat itself had a personal PTV screen (which was a decent size and looked updated) and had a USB port next to it.  Below the screen was the foldout tray, and below that was the pocket with the airline magazine, duty free magazine, and air sickness bag.  As I said, overall first impressions were very good (especially since most U.S.-based regional jets do not look anything like this at all!).  The plane was about 70% full which meant that those of us in the back each got a row to ourselves.  As weight distribution is a key factor, especially for regional jets, before the boarding door closed the gate agent came to move passengers around.  I was moved from my seat in the middle to one of the Preferred Seats right behind business class.  This was a bulk-head seat which meant that my bags had to go in the bin for take-off and landing, but the legroom in this seat was really good.  The seat was still not as wide as I would’ve liked it, but it was a very comfortable seat. 

We pushed back, a safety video was shown on the screens, and we made our way to the runway for our on-time departure.  Once we reached cruising altitude, the crew started with their service.  For this flight (and most flights within Canada and the U.S.), Air Canada provided complimentary water, soft drinks, tea or coffee and pretzels but everything else needed to be purchased.  Despite the long flight, drinks were served in glasses and not cans although later on in the flight the attendants came with water.  After the service, passengers sit back and either talked, read, or watched the PTV screens.  The screens were a decent size, were very responsive to touch screen, and had a good selection of movies.  The only negative about the entertainment was that it would not remember where you were, so if you paused it or stopped it, it would start from the beginning instead of asking you to resume where you left off (as I have seen other airline entertainment systems do).  This was a small issue as overall the system was responsive and had a good selection.

Overall, I was very impressed with the Air Canada service.  Given my experience with U.S.-based airlines and regional jet service, I had very low expectations and Air Canada exceeded those.  The seats were comfortable, the legroom was decent, and PTVs as well as USB ports were provided.  The service was decent as one flight attendant (the one in business class who came back to help) provided much better and pleasant service versus the one who was based in economy.  Based on this experience, I would not hesitate to fly Air Canada short- or long-haul. 

Trip Report: Turkish Airlines - Dublin to Athens via Istanbul (July 2017)

Trip Report: Turkish Airlines - Dublin to Athens via Istanbul

         comment below and let me know your thoughts :)

I was flying from Dublin to Athens and decided to fly with Turkish Airlines for 2 reasons: 1) it was an economical price and 2) I was meeting a friend in Istanbul as we were both flying to Athens together.  I have previously flown with Turkish Airlines and my previous experience was alright; it was not great but it was not bad that I wanted to avoid the airline. 

In trying to book the flight, I previous have had issues with the airline’s website.  While the website does provide good deals and options pre-booking and during booking, it is not good post booking or managing your flight.  For these various reasons, I had purchased my ticket through a travel agency and received the airline reservation code.  Using that code, I had to call the reservation system to request seat assignments, special meal requests, and adding of my frequent flyer number (note: if you book too far in advance, the airplane has not been confirmed for your flight so you may not able to book your seat).  I was able to check-in online and receive my boarding pass, which made the airport experience easier as the airline has a separate ‘online check-in’ line. 

My first flight was from Dublin to Athens.  The scheduled flight time is 4h30min and the flight is   The plane was scheduled to depart at 10:50a and arrive Istanbul at 5:10p.  I arrived at the gate around 9:30a but the gate was empty; the flight arrives from Istanbul at 10:10a and the crew have 40 minutes to deplane, clean, and reload passengers for the return flight.  In my experience, Turkish has not been the most efficient airline so I was not expecting an on-time departure (also, according to the boarding pass we were supposed to board the aircraft at 10:10a).  The crew did a good job of turning the aircraft around, but we did board late.  

The operating aircraft was a Boeing 737 with a 3-3 seat layout in economy, and a 2-2 seat layout in business.  The interior looked updated and the color scheme of Turkish with black and red seats are very nice.  Each seat had a pillow as well as a headphones on the seat, and each seat had a PTV with a USB port and headphone jack.  Beneath the PTV was space which held the safety card, the airline magazine, and the sickness bag.  Below that was the tray table, the remote for the PTV, and then another pocket for your personal belongings.  There were a lot of amenities on the seat, but the location of the tray table and the remote was problematic, especially for a tall person like myself, as your knees keep hitting the tray table.  The position of the tray table also cut into the seat pitch, which was already narrow to start with; there was definitely not a lot of leg room.  The seat comfort was average, it wasn’t bad during the beginning of the flight but towards to the end you did start feeling the somewhat lack of cushion.

Once everyone was on board, the doors closed, the safety video was shown, and we took off for   Turkish is a full-service airline, which means that complimentary luggage is provided as well as complimentary meal and drinks.  The meal service start a bit later than normal, and regular meals as well as special request meals were served at the same time.  Along with meals, complimentary drinks were provided.  Turkish has advertised ‘chef on board’ for the business class and has promoted their airline meals, and while the meal wasn’t great it was definitely better and more substantial than I have had on other airlines.  After the meal service, tea and coffee were served before the meal trays were cleared.  For the remaining flight, passengers were able to pass the time with the PTV which had a decent selection of movies and television shows.  In my previous experience, which was on a long-haul flight, the PTV selection was good for short-haul flights but there was not enough content for the long-haul flights; it was the same experience now.  The selection was good and decent for the short-haul, but was a bit limited for the long-haul flight. 

Istanbul.

We started out decent into Istanbul, and after a long time of roaming around the airport and waiting   Each time I have transferred through Istanbul, it has been very crowded and very long – there are long walks between gates and when transferring from one gate to another.  Additionally you have to go through security even when transferring as well as go through a boarding pass check.  Given the immense crowds, seating space is a commodity especially since the gates are only announced about 1.5 hour prior to the flight; the airport capacity has not kept up with the growth of the airline. 

I made my way to the gate for my next flight, and when I got there I saw a very big plane for a short flight.  My next flight was from Athens to Istanbul and the operating aircraft was a Boeing 777-300ER, which is a very big aircraft for a flight time of 1h30min.  We were scheduled to depart at 7:15p and arrive Athens at 8:45p which meant we were scheduled to board at 6:15p.  Boarding started late and, due to the size of the plane and the number of passengers, boarding took a while so we were delayed in our departure.  The boarding doors finally closed, the safety video was shown, and we departed for Athens.

The plane is laid out in a 3-3-3 seat layout.  I have previously flown this aircraft with Turkish on a long-haul flight and during that time, the seat pitch was very tight given the long flight duration.  Given that, for this flight I requested a bulkhead seat which had lots of legroom.  The seat itself was comfortable, especially because it was a very short flight.  Usually the seats contain a pillow and headphones, but those were not available during this flight (again, I am assuming due to the short flight time).  Each seat did have its own PTV which had a variety of TV shows and movies; however, the selection was limited as there weren’t as many options as my previous flight.  Each seat also contained a seat pocket which contained the airlines magazine, duty free magazine, safety card, and an air sickness bag.  As I was in a bulkhead seat, the PTV did not have USB ports but rather underneath the seat, next to the holder for the PTV screens, there were USB ports and a universal plug. 

Once we passed 10,000ft, the inflight service started.  Turkish is a full-airline which means they  I knew this, but given the short flight distance I did not expect much.  The attendants came around and handed out cheese sandwiches and offered a choice of beverage.  The service was quick and rushed, I think the attendants themselves were overwhelmed in providing the service to the large number of passengers in the short flight time.  Once the service was done, and the trash collected, most passengers watched the inflight entertainment until it was time to land.  We landed in Athens a little after the scheduled arrival time, taxied to the gate, and deplaned.

provide complimentary meals and drinks of each flight.

My return flight was also operated by Turkish and the experience was very similar (including the chaotic transfer in Istanbul).  Overall, the experience with Turkish Airlines was decent; I neither had a positive nor negative experience on Turkish.  They provided a decent onboard product, with nice amenities such as USB ports and PTVS as well as complimentary meals and drinks, but nothing was outstanding.  The seat pitch on the Boeing 737 was a bit tight (even for the 4+hr flight time) and the chaotic transfer in Istanbul (on both the outbound and return) was not enjoyable.  Given all this, would I fly Turkish again?  They usually have good promotions going which makes the costs more affordable, so given that I would fly them again but mostly for short-haul; I think other airlines provide a better and more comprehensive long-haul service.