Departure Day, December 14th
Overnight Flight
Pick up at home via car service/limo sedan.
I did not want to be lugging a winter coat around South America! Especially since our flights between BA and Mendoza and Mendoza and Santiago had weight restrictions of 15 kg and 20 kg respectively. Nor did I want to return from an 11 hour overnight flight only to have to dig my car out from under a snow bank and drive home. Prearranging a car to the airport was the best choice for us – no coat required.
At The Airport – YYZ
We were travelling on Air Canada via Aeroplan points as I mentioned, and had booked business class but at the time we booked there were no business class seats available (apparently there are only two seats allocated for points for that flight). We had to wait until we arrived at the gate to see if we would actually be able to get business class seats.
We went to the Air Canada lounge to relax and have a drink and light snack before going to the gate. I love airport lounges, I pick up lots of magazines that I wouldn’t normally read and have a glass of wine (or if I’m lucky a coupe) and relax until boarding time.
If you do not have business class tickets or have access to a lounge by status miles, you can purchase access to many business lounges – you just have to determine whether it is worth it or not.
Keep in mind that there is a big difference in the quality and services offered at business lounges. Some lounges are fantastic such as Singapore Airlines in Singapore Airport and some are down right disgusting – Milano Linate Alitalia comes to mind.
On Board
We were lucky to get the business class seats and we were on the new Air Canada airplane with the individual pods where the seats lay flat out. Of course this is much better than economy class seats but I still cannot sleep in these seats.
We boarded the plan just before midnight and to my surprise dinner was to be served. Now normally I like to have a coupe or two as soon as I’m on board but I decided I would make a big effort to try to sleep so I declined all food and beverages, did not open the video screen and laid flat out as soon as the seat belt sign went off. No luck, I still didn’t sleep a wink.
Eventually I stopped trying and started to watch movies until breakfast was served – this time I accepted the coupe with my breakfast.
The attendants were great and overall the flight was pretty comfortable. One comment I have about the new Air Canada seat configuration in Business Class is that the seats are only conducive to being solitary. If you are travelling with someone it is likely that you have been seated across the aisle from them and are basically yelling at them in order to have a conversation. Also you cannot see very well out the window as a result of the angle that the seats are on. So you’re either yelling across the aisle at your travel partner or cranking your neck to try to see out the window. Not sure who the designer was but these seat configurations need improvement.
Read Other Posts In This Series:
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Part VI
Part VII
Part VIII
Part IX
Part X
Part XI
Part XII
Part XIII
Part XIV
Part XV
Part XVI
Part XVII
Tags: air canada business class, buenos aires airport, buenos aires travel, South America travel
