Yet another Canada trip, but this time just flights

[ModMan]

I'm planning a week or two in Vancouver to see friends. Last time I flew it was Air Canada who I didn't really rate (No seatback TV's and uncomfortable seats) so I don't want to make the same mistake twice.

However, BA and Air Canada are about £600 each. Air Transat are £350ish using Thomas Cook. If I pay for Premium seats each way (£99 x 2), then choose the seats (I can get row 1 or 2 of that helps) it comes up to about £50 less than BA/Air Canada (Economy).

Any helpful tips or advice? Apparently they use A330's but that doesn't show up on SeatGuru.com so I don't know how good/bad the seats will be.

[fatboy b]

You need to take your own fuel with Air Transat - apparently.

[Leadfoot]

Thomas Cook flights:

The premium seats are the same regardless of the row (but don't go for the last row - 7 IIRC - as the toilet cubicles are behind them), they're not going to be anything like business class seats on BA/AC but are a lot better than the economy ones.

If you don't go for the premium seats, be aware that the economy seats at the exit rows have a fixed central armrest that contains the tray table, so are narrower than a standard seat (by a couple of inches in the case of one of the A330s).

Don't expect the last word in in flight entertainment either, but then that's why the flight is cheaper.

[sawman]

Most air canada flights have seatback tvs these days. I have heard not such good reports of air transat,

The only way to be comfortable is to go first/business class!

[Streetrod]

When are you going? If it’s over Xmas I would stay away from BA as they are currently looking at possible strike action. I am flying with Air Canada at that time and apparently all the planes are now new. They even give you a choice of 3 vegetarian meal choices if that is you bent. I have to say they have been very good from a customer service point of view but the prices I have paid are a lot higher than you have quoted as they are over the xmas period.

[ModMan]

Thanks for all the advice. Booked for next week for 10 days with Air Canada in the end

[havoc]

Sorry to resurrect, but we're looking to go to Canada next year - what were Air Canada like? And compared to which other airlines?

Thanks,

Martin

PS - any tips for Canada?

[Markytop]

fatboy b said:

You need to take your own fuel with Air Transat - apparently.

Can vouch for this as when I flew with Air Transat a few years ago we had to land at a military base in Newfoundland to refuel as they didnt put enough fuel in to reach Toronto. The pilot blamed the high fuel prices at Gatwick for not refueling in the UK, so tried to make it to England and back on one tank. A bit of circling around Gatwick on the way in apparently used up more than they expected, hence the rather unscheduled stop on the return leg.

However the only reason I ended up flying with them was because Air Canada had gone on strike and I had to switch airlines at the last minute.

Have flown BA since then without problem, and if you book when they have their sale on the price can be pretty reasonable if you are flexible with dates.

ETA - the AirTransat incident was around 1999/2000 so plenty of time for them to have saved up for a full tank of fuel now

Edited by Markytop on Thursday 31st December 09:00

[sawman]

havoc said:

Sorry to resurrect, but we're looking to go to Canada next year - what were Air Canada like? And compared to which other airlines?

Thanks,

Martin

PS - any tips for Canada?

over the last few years have used zoom, air canada, american, northwest and BA to fly transatlantic, they are all about the same in my experience, I would buy your flights based on convenience and price, ie does it get you where you want to be when you need to be there, how is the journey from your house to wherever the flight goes from. (most north american airports are where you need them to be!)

There is a new carrier that has taken the place of zoom - i keep getting spam from them, but cant remember the name of the top of my head. tbh i was as happy with zoom as any of the others and they were quite reasonable (probably too reasonable, hence bust!).

I have noticed that the best prices are about 6-8 weeks before departure!

[havoc]

sawman said:

I have noticed that the best prices are about 6-8 weeks before departure!

Interesting...most of our experiences with long-haul (all going east from UK) have been that prices keep rising.

Does £400pp return sound like a reasonable fare LHR-Toronto-LHR?

[sawman]

havoc said:

sawman said:

I have noticed that the best prices are about 6-8 weeks before departure!

Interesting...most of our experiences with long-haul (all going east from UK) have been that prices keep rising.

Does £400pp return sound like a reasonable fare LHR-Toronto-LHR?

I typically use expedia for flights, they seem as good as lot of places and they accept my uk credit card when I'm in canada. They are quoting £371 at the end of june so that sounds reasonable. It depends how much energy you have in terms of searching for a bargain. but if you can play with your dates some days of the week are cheaper than others, and some weeks seem to be too. Expedias trip planner is handy for this, and also car hire/hotels if you need it

have a good trip

[chrisga]

Hi, we just got back from Canada and flew Air Canada. No probs, except we didnt know about on line check in for the outbound flight so didnt get great seats (originally offered the very middle 2 of a block of 4). It was our honeymoon so we had a little discussion adn the guy at the gate gave us 2 different seats by the window so were happy with that. The service was all fine, they did have entertainment in the seat backs but the in flight maps never worked for either journey. Increased security wasnt a problem on the plane, but Calgary airport was rubbish. Hundreds of people were sort of corralled in to small areas which were locked so no way to proceed to next stage, ie being searched after checking in, then no way to get to the departure gate and all with no seating. Didnt particularly bother us but there were people that needed seats who couldnt get to them because of glass locked doors. Very frustrating.

[sawman]

chrisga said:

but Calgary airport was rubbish.

yes but those clockwork toy planes in the departure lounge are cool, n'est pas?

[chrisga]

didnt see those, must have been blind, but I did see the big model of Columbia shuttle. Anyone know anything about that? It looked a bit ropey, but in a kind of it was a scale model used for testing something type way rather than shoddily built.