Flying Air Canada Signature Class for the first time ever

It was my first experience with Air Canada’s Signature Business Class product and the second time I fly in business class across the Atlantic Ocean (the first time was many years ago with Lufthansa and it was a free upgrade at the gate). Contrary to Air Canada’s economy class reputation, I heard many positive reviews about Air Canada’s Signature Class product in the last few years, so I was eager to experience it, review it, and compare it with other airlines.

I bought the ticket from the Air Canada website; I needed to buy a ticket from Warsaw, Poland to Toronto but all economy options were overpriced. Hence, I found an excellent deal that was a combination of business and economy for about $1,175 USD. It was an excellent deal as Air Canada Transatlantic business class seats normally sell for much higher than this price. I took the deal and I was counting the days before the flight to Toronto even though I wasn’t too excited about returning to Toronto but that’s another story.

In this blog, I will review my business class experience with this Air Canada B777 and briefly write about the first leg of the flight (Warsaw to London Heathrow) with LOT Polish Airlines.

LOT Polish Airlines Business Class

I was planning to write about my business class experience with LOT Polish Airlines in a separate blog but I realized that there isn’t much to talk about as the experience I had with them was mediocre at best and I will explain why in the next few paragraphs.

I arrived at Warsaw Chopin airport a few minutes before 6 am to catch my 7.35 am flight to London Heathrow, and even though I was excited to fly on business, I didn’t really have very high expectations about the first leg of the flight as I didn’t hear incredible stories about the LOT Polish Airlines’ business class. Anyhow, there’s a dedicated check-in section for business class passengers at Warsaw Chopin airport; I was the only one in the area, so I didn’t have to stand in any line, arrived at the check-in desk and greeted the check-in agent. Still, I hardly heard any reply to my morning greeting so I thought she was probably in a cranky mood. Anyhow, the check-in process took longer than usual so I asked her if everything is alright, she looked at me but didn’t respond. She made a phone call and then I asked another guy to explain to me why there was a delay I would say that he was very professional and friendly and explained to me that I probably made a mistake while checking in online (I chose ID card instead of passport) and he informed me that everything will be alright. After the matter was resolved, the check-in agent gave me my boarding passes but didn’t say a word, not even “Have a nice flight!”

There’s a fast-track security check for business class passengers, so it was like a breeze and in a few minutes, I was standing in front of LOT business lounge. The lounge was alright but there’s absolutely nothing special about it; the food options were very limited, and it was very crowded. I still managed to find a free table there and had coffee and something small to eat because I knew I would have a proper breakfast meal on the plane. Overall, the lounge experience was just average.

It was time to board the flight; boarding started with business class passengers, families with children, and people who needed assistance; the boarding was quick, and I arrived at my business class seat 3A, which was basically an economy window seat with extra legroom and a blocked middle seat. Unfortunately, this is the sad reality of European business-class seats.

The cabin crew offered us a welcome drink (it was a canned orange juice) before taking off. After the take-off, the service started by offering us water with a chocolate snack. No breakfast menus were handed out and instead, the flight attendant asked me to choose from 2 dishes; omelette or porridge. I chose the omelette and I would say, the food was the only great thing about this flight. The omelette with cheese and mushrooms was one of the best breakfast food I’ve ever had on an airplane. The dish also had a tasty salad and fresh fruits; everything tasted great and was nicely presented. I ordered coffee after breakfast and then I tried to catch some sleep. Before landing, I visited the washroom and unfortunately, it wasn’t very clean.

We landed safely at London Heathrow and this is when I realized that my true business class experience is about to start and everything before this point was just a warm-up. About LOT Polish Airlines, my experience with them was just average and I personally wouldn’t pay extra to fly on business with them. I simply don’t think that it’s a great value for money, and I don’t think there’s a great value for their business-class product.

Star Alliance Lounges at London Heathrow Airport

I had about a 6-hour layover in Heathrow and that was enough time to check out three Star Alliance lounges. If you’re flying business with any Star Alliance airline, then you can access any lounge of the alliance. There are four Star Alliance lounges in LHR; Lufthansa Business Lounge, Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Singapore SilverKris Lounge, and United Club Lounge. In my 6-hour layover, I managed to visit Lufthansa, Air Canada, and Singapore Airlines lounges.

My lounge fest started in Lufthansa Business Lounge, where I relaxed for about 2 hours on a very comfortable seat, charged my phone, enjoyed sipping German coffee, and also tried some German salads such as Sauerkraut and German beet salad. I didn’t want to eat a lot in the lounge because I was planning to head to the Singapore Airlines lounge and have lunch there next. I wasn’t trying to make any assumptions, but I was almost certain that I would like the food in Singapore Airlines lounge more than in Lufthansa’s, even though the food at this Lufthansa lounge looked and smelled so good.

There’s another lounge inside the Lufthansa business lounge called Senator Lounge and it’s for passengers who have gold cards in the Star Alliance, which includes Senator and HON Circle members of Miles & More.

After spending about 2 hours in Lufthansa Business Lounge, I wanted to try the Singapore Airlines Lounge which is conveniently located near the departure gate. The walk took me around 15 minutes. I arrived at Singapore SilverKris and I was pleasantly surprised with what I saw; I immediately realized that I probably wasted time in the Lufthansa lounge and that I should have come to the Singapore Airlines lounge earlier. Everything about this Singapore Airlines lounge was spectacular; the food, the drinks, the service, the seats, the views, and the shower. The lounge is spacious and it was completely empty as there were probably 2 or 3 other passengers sitting there when I arrived.

I had a light meal there; tried delicious pasta and Indian-style chicken with some rice and I would say, everything I tried there in this lounge tasted so good. After enjoying a light meal and some stunning views of the airport tarmac, I wanted to feel fresh for the upcoming flight and since the lounge was almost empty, I thought it was a good idea to have a quick shower there (the original plan was to shower in Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge). Still, I’m so glad that I changed my plans as Air Canada lounge was so crowded when I visited it later that day.

After the shower, it was time to say goodbye to this amazing Singapore Airlines Lounge and head to my last lounge fest stop, Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge.

Air Canada Lounge is located right opposite to Singapore Airlines Lounge and they’re both very close to the departure gate. I went inside, and to my surprise, it was full of people. It was still nice and spacious but there was barely a place to sit. I managed to find a seat in a quiet room deep inside the lounge where I was about to fall asleep because I felt so relaxed after the shower. I still managed to get up and walk around the lounge to check the food and other amenities. Still, I think that because it was too crowded, I was unable to make an opinion about this lounge but based on the look of the food and the service, I think that the Singapore Airlines lounge is far superior to this one. You can tell from my words that I truly had a great time in that amazing Singapore Airlines Lounge.

It was time for boarding, so I made my way to the boarding gate. Luckily, boarding started the moment I arrived there, so I was amongst the first people to board the plane.

The Seat

Finally, the big moment to connect with my business class seat is here. My seat number was 10K; a window seat with direct aisle access. Actually, all Air Canada Signature Business Class seats have direct aisle access. There’re two business class cabins on this Air Canada B777 plane; the forward cabin is larger and has 26 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, while the rear cabin is smaller and has only 14 seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, so I’m personally glad that I chose to be in the smaller cabin as it felt quieter there even though the flight was full.

I started to explore the features of the seat and the amenities provided. The seat is so comfortable, spacious, and wide, with plenty of space to store items. Each seat offers a large in-flight entertainment monitor, plenty of storage spaces, universal electrical outlet/USB ports, and a fully flat bed in sleep mode. A seat mattress, a pillow, a duvet, a bottle of water, noise-cancelling headphones, and an amenity kit from Acqua Di Parma were provided on the seat. There’s also a literature pocket down by the knees where you can keep a laptop or a tablet, and the side table is already large enough to keep other belongings.

The flight was full, and it seemed that every single passenger in both economy and premium economy classes passed through the business class cabins so I noticed that there were so many eyes on my seat. I even heard some people talking to each other and saying how great these seats are. I must admit that people’s eyes and words made me feel a little bit nervous as I naturally don’t like to be under spotlights. I was hoping for boarding to end as soon as possible so that I get the privacy I wanted. Speaking of privacy, this seat provides a good level of privacy but don’t expect it to be a fully private suite like the Qsuite in Qatar Airways.

More and more passengers kept on coming and I was patiently waiting for the “boarding completed” announcement. After about 45 minutes, I finally heard it, and this is when the cabin crew started to drop food and wine menus to business class passengers. There were 4 main dishes to choose from for the dinner meal and only 1 choice for the pre-landing light meal. There were no welcome drinks by the way so I had to wait for the service to start after take-off.

The Service

We took off 30 minutes late, but that wasn’t an issue, as we landed half an hour earlier than scheduled. The cabin crew started to hand out hot towels, followed by taking our orders for food and drinks. I ordered a sparkling drink that was served first with nuts, and I chose the lamb dish for the main course. The other options were chicken breast, Cod fillet, and mushroom and cheese pasta.

After the drink, the appetizer was served: a smoked duck with a grilled apple dish with a green salad and garlic bread. The appetizer dish tasted so good, but I was even more excited to try the main dish, which was a rack of lamb, mashed potatoes, tomatoes, and herb mushrooms. Honestly, the taste was excellent! It wasn’t so easy to eat the lamb, though, as the provided knife wasn’t sharp enough for it. It was still an enjoyable meal with excellent quality.

The food kept on coming, and this time it was time for dessert, so I ordered the pistachio chocolate cake and a small plate of assorted cheese with grapes and crackers and a tasty cup of cappuccino. The cake was alright but definitely not the best dessert I’ve ever had on a plane, the cheese was also alright, but I must say that it’s the cappuccino that was outstanding.

After this fulfilling meal, it was time to sit, relax, and enjoy beautiful views. I made a video of the beautiful engine view I had during the flight so I hope you enjoy it below.

After the meal service concluded, I converted my seat into a flatbed, put on the mattress and bed cover, and made it ready to nap. I visited the washroom before taking a nap, and I would say that business-class washrooms were kept clean all the time. There was also a window in the washroom so you could always enjoy the view while being there.

Back to the flatbed seat. Unfortunately, I realized that I didn’t take a photo of my seat bed but I found a photo on the internet that shows clearly what Air Canada flatbed seat looks like here.

I got myself ready to sleep for a few hours. I couldn’t fall asleep easily even though I was very tired. Actually, my only issue with this seat when it’s turned into a sleeping mode was the tray table; You can fold it in half and push it forward and backward but in sleep mode, you do have to fit your legs/body underneath it so you feel that your legs are really tight. You can’t move easily while sleeping. I finally managed to get some sleep but it was for about an hour only.

WiFi was provided for a fee, so I bought a 1-hour pass for about $10.75 CAD. The internet connection was alright.

After I woke up, there were about 3 hours left for landing, so I wanted to check out the In-Flight Entertainment. There was a large selection of movies and TV shows, and the IFE monitor is so bright and crisp. I enjoyed watching a movie for about two hours before the pre-landing service started.

The cabin crew started to serve the light pre-landing meal that consisted of an egg salad sandwich, fruit salad, a scone, and clotted cream (something so Canadian). It was a light and simple meal, but I would say that it tasted fairly good. I also had a coffee before landing; honestly, there wasn’t anything memorable about it.

The service on this flight was professional but also very formal and maybe a bit dry too. I’m not surprised to experience this with Air Canada as they’re not known to provide an exceptional quality of service similar to the one offered by other carriers such as Qatar Airways, Emirates, Etihad, or even Turkish Airlines and Lufthansa. The quality of food and drinks and the seat itself impressed me, though.

A few minutes later, we started to descend and finally landed in Toronto Pearson Airport half an hour before the scheduled time.

Summary

This will always be a memorable flight for me as I rarely get the opportunity to fly over the Atlantic in business class. I must say that I truly enjoyed the whole experience from the moment I checked in at Warsaw airport till landing in Toronto Pearson airport and that is despite all the criticism about the cranky mood of LOT’s check-in agent or the average lounge and flight experience in the first leg of this journey.

I flew with Air Canada numerous times but it was all in economy class and I must say that Air Canada was never among my favourite airlines. After flying with them on business, I must admit that Air Canada Signature Business Class has a solid hard product as the seat is one of the best in the industry; it can be converted to a fully flat bed, good level of privacy, aisle access, large storage space, and many other great features. However, I must also say that the service on board this flight wasn’t anywhere near top-notch.

The service was professional, but I also felt it was extremely formal and dry. I didn’t feel that any cabin crew members are ready to go out of their way to offer anything extra. They weren’t rude or anything but I clearly felt that they were not service oriented. Maybe because it was a full flight and they had many other passengers to serve or maybe this is just the level of service in Air Canada and the airline just chose not to be competitive in terms of service with other carriers such as Emirates, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa, or Turkish Airlines. It was also disappointing that we got no pre-departure or welcome drinks.

I can remember numerous situations that I experienced in the past with many other airlines where cabin crew members showed a genuine and superb quality of service. Sadly, I didn’t see anything near this in Air Canada.

The food was very good though; I enjoyed the taste and the portions were also good. However, have I had better tasted and presented food while flying on other airlines than the food I had on this Air Canada flight before? The answer is yes.

It was still a great experience and I enjoyed every moment of it and I would do it again if I get the chance (and if it’s affordable for sure). I guess this is all I wanted to share about this memorable flight for now. Stay tuned for more travel blogs in the next coming few weeks!