AC20/19 Singapore to Vancouver Nonstop on Air Canada, and a Solar Eclipse in Montreal

[yflyer]

As I settled in for the flight, I thought this was a very impressive business class hard product, which I would be very happy with on long or even ultra-long haul flights.

[yflyer]

A glass of Champagne before departure...



I browsed the menu...



Like SQ, AC also has a culinary panel...



On this flight, they would serve dinner after take-off, followed by breakfast 1 hour and 15 minutes before landing.



I was amused that the meal after take-off was called "dinner" although it was probably going to be just 1 or 2 hours after the 9.10am departure time out of Singapore -- more like brunch. But I guess it was dinner time at our destination, Vancouver.

Champagne, wine and cocktails...



Non-alcoholic beverages...

[yflyer]

An outdoors-themed safety video, featuring many scenic locations in Canada...



A nice video, and I enjoy these entertaining safety videos as much as anyone else (Especially QF's walk through the airline's history), but at the back of my mind I always wonder if a straight, serious safety video would get the message across better in case a real emergency happened.

Pushback, taxi and turn onto Runway 02C...



Wheels up, with nice views of the Changi control tower out the left side windows...

[yflyer]

As soon as the seatbelt signs went off, I headed to the bathrooms at the rear of the J cabin...



There was also one bathroom in the front, but for this flight, I would use the rear bathrooms almost exclusively. The next picture should make it abundantly clear why.



While not the only aircraft out there fitted with bathroom windows (CX's A359 also has them), they remain quite rare on today's commercial aircraft.



My seat was a middle seat so if I wanted window views, I would have to head to the loo...

[yflyer]

The cabin crew came round with hot towels...



Refreshing!



I reclined my seat into lounging mode...



At this point early in the flight, pax could still control the electronically dimmed windows. Later, after meal service, the cabin was centrally dimmed.



A round of beverages was served...



More champagne, along with a bowl of nuts...

[yflyer]

Time for meal service, beginning with the starter and salad on a tray...



Salt and pepper in paper sachets...



Bread from a basket...



The seared tuna tataki starter was tasty...



On my other AC sectors, including my return YVR-SIN sector, it was possible to pre-select a main course, however this was not yet available for the SIN-YVR sector.

I picked the Dory fish in hot garlic sauce with szechuan ban mian noodles, and choy sum...



...and paired it with a glass of white...



A very satisfying dish!



After that, I switched to the red...



Very nice...



Dessert and cheese were served from the trolley...



I opted for both cheese...



...and dessert...

[yflyer]

Cabin lights and windows were centrally dimmed...



The AC business seat went almost fully flat.



I say almost, because while it would definitely be considered a lie-flat bed, I found that at maximum recline, the upper portion of the bed was still marginally angled -- very marginally. Close, but not exactly horizontal. It was fine for me, however a small minority of pax might take issue with it.

Very good bedding was supplied, with a mattress topper and pillow, as well as a thick blanket.



Ample space in the cubby hole to stretch out.



Although this was a daytime flight, I still somehow managed to fall asleep for long stretches at a time (Perhaps unsurprising, considering how much Champagne and wine I had consumed so far...).

[yflyer]

The shelf above the first row bulkhead seats was used to place snacks during the flight.



I thought the selection of fresh fruit was good, especially the plums...



Yum...very sweet and tasty...



Mid way during the flight, I felt peckish, and ordered the satay and a G&T (Which came perfectly prepared, complete with lemon slice)...



All satays are not created equal. SQ satay is still superior. The AC chicken satay was too soft, and didn't have the wonderful texture of SQ's satay. Also, it was cashew sauce, not peanut sauce (Perhaps to avoid any risk of peanut allergy?).

I snuck a peak at the snacks laid out in the galley for PEY (and maybe Y pax). If I was really hungry I guess I could have had a sandwich too.



No cup noodles onboard (At least not on the menu). I made a mental note to BYO my own cup noodles for my YVR-SIN flight home.

With 4 hours to go, our routing took us over the Bering Sea and the Aleutian Islands...



I checked out the different views on the inflight map...



Cockpit view...



One nice feature on the IFE...they had an option to only show films whose running time would complete by the remaining flight time.

[yflyer]

The sky outside was getting brighter as we approached Canada...



The sun was rising. It was time for breakfast service...



The breakfast tray...



There was a choice of omelette or noodles...



I picked the noodles...



Very tasty! The noodles were spicier and more peppery than they looked, which was great for me! The dim sum was good as well.



On the whole, I was quite impressed with Air Canada catering. Both dinner and breakfast were quite delicious, with the only miss being the mediocre satay (But then SQ (and MH) have had years to perfect inflight satay!).

[yflyer]

Clear blue skies today...



Wonderful ambience in the Business Class cabin.



While enclosed seats are all the rage with airlines these days, I am still a fan of a more open business class seating concept. Privacy is all about perception. When seated in the business class seat, I felt I had decent privacy, and did not really notice the pax around me. The open cabin was in some ways preferable to the slightly claustrophobic, closed in feeling that you get with some more "private" J seat concepts.

Cabin ambience in PEY and Y...



Today's flight was 100% full in all classes...

[yflyer]

One unique feature about AC's inflight map...their destinations and flight schedules are integrated into the map display...

Want to see where AC flies?



It's all shown on the map!



RIght down to flight operating schedules...





I checked out my next flight, YVR-YUL...



Full flight schedules were available...



Wifi was also available for a fee...about CAD30 (SGD30) for a full flight. Wifi connectivity was good throughout the flight.

[yflyer]

Great views on final approach into Vancouver...



...and a smooth landing in VVR at 8.17am, 30 min ahead of scheduled arrival at 8.50am. Total flight time 13 hours and 30 minutes.

[yflyer]

Overall, I had a great flight on AC20 SIN-YVR in business class. The business class hard product and catering were very good, and the cabin service from the seasoned, experienced crew was very thoughtful as well.

This was the same cabin crew that flew on the inaugural YVR-SIN 2 days prior, and they were now heading home.

I personally found that I preferred the seat on this AC light to SQ's current generation A350 J long haul / ULR seat, which is showing it's age.

I have very fond childhood memories of flying Air Canada. As my flight drew to a close, I told the cabin service manager that the last time I flew Air Canada out of Singapore, it was on a Lockheed Tristar on the SIN-BOM-LHR sector way back in 1986. She was quite amazed to hear that.

It was great to be flying Air Canada out of Singapore again.

[yflyer]

Off the plane in Vancouver, I followed the signs for connecting passengers, and eventually found myself at the immigration area for pax connecting to domestic flights in Canada. At that hour in the morning, around 8.30am, there weren't many other flights arriving, so there were hardly any queues at the automated passport checks. For pax with luggage, there was a waiting area in the connections zone for their checked luggage from Singapore to be collected, but for those without luggage, we were waived through.

Within minutes, I was in the airside area for Air Canada's domestic flights.

As there was still time before my next flight to Montreal, I headed to Air Canada's Maple Leaf Lounge, which was open to AC's frequent flyers as well as Star Gold pax. This was the Maple Leaf Lounge in the domestic terminal. There was another lounge in the International Terminal, which I would visit a week later, prior to my flight back to Singapore.



This was a spacious lounge with full length windows and tarmac views.



The lounge was not busy at 9am in the morning.



There was sofa-style seating...



...as well as communal tables for work and/or dining...



The counter-style seating by the windows were a great way to take in the view...

[yflyer]

There was a dedicated dining area...



...with a small breakfast buffet...



...with cut fruit...



Bread and bagels...



Muffins...



Oatmeal...



...with real maple syrup!



Sausages and scrambled eggs...



Boiled eggs...



Potato wedges...



Condiments, including Sriracha!



Lots of Canada Dry...



No alcohol served until 11am...



I helped myself to coffee and some breakfast.



Overall, I would say this was a decent but unexceptional lounge. Just about adequate for a brief pit stop in between connecting flights.



I did appreciate the airside views though, with the coffe and bright sunlight helping me to adjust to the local time zone.