Good morning from Toronto-Pearson International Airport! My name is Alex,
and welcome to another trip report!
Today, I’m heading back home to Calgary with Air Canada,
on board a pretty special widebody aircraft for me personally - their Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner!
Now, Air Canada’s been flying quite a few domestic widebody flights as travel
ramps up again within the country, and these flights are relatively full.
Relatively full, that is, in Business Class and Economy. But Air Canada’s widebodies all
have a Premium Economy class that doesn’t seem to get much love on domestic flights.
I was actually booked in Economy today, but after seeing the nearly-full seat map in the back and
this pretty compelling upgrade price with only a few other people in Premium Economy, well…
In all seriousness, the Economy fare for this flight was pretty cheap to begin with,
and I’ve definitely paid more than double that upgrade price for just a normal Economy
seat between Toronto and Calgary before. It has been over 3 years since I last flew Air
Canada’s Premium Economy anyway so I thought it was worth a shot to get an updated perspective.
This was my ride home from Flair’s inaugural 737 MAX flight back in June,
and you can see it just across the apron at terminal 3. Here in terminal 1 though,
it’s looking refreshingly busy since I was last here about a year ago. This 8AM flight
to Calgary is the first one of Air Canada’s many departures this morning, departing from gate D43.
Our aircraft for today is, unfortunately not this 787-8,
but the one barely visible at the gate next to it - Charlie Golf Hotel Papa Quebec,
the very first 787 to ever be delivered to Air Canada back in 2014!
Not only is this plane Air Canada’s first 787, but it is the very first Canadian registered 787 ever!
The list of special things about this plane doesn’t quite stop there though,
as it’s also the only one of Air Canada’s 8 smaller 787-8 Dreamliners in their new livery.
Needless to say, I was pretty glad to be flying on this plane specifically, and for a couple other
reasons, which I’ll tell you about later. Let’s go check out Air Canada’s domestic Premium Economy!
Interestingly, today we boarded from door L1, which gave us a brief look at Air Canada’s 787-8
Business Class. Here, there are 20 lie-flat seats with 5 rows in AC’s typical 1-2-1 configuration.
One important thing to note if you’re anything like me though
is that row 5’s window seats just don’t have any windows.
Past the second set of entry doors (where you’d normally board) is Air Canada’s Premium Economy,
and I’m sitting in 14K, the last of three rows in this smaller cabin.
In total, there are 21 seats in a 2-3-2 configuration and as expected,
there’s more than enough legroom for yours truly!
Along with that, I had a ton of space thanks to the free seat next to me, and there’s also this
pretty decent wing and engine view, though not as good as it would be further up.
So far, that upgrade price was worth it for all the extra space alone!
Economy was pretty full on this one,
and I had a normal seat in the back without extra legroom, so I don’t regret the splurge.
Speaking of Economy, AC’s 787-8s have 214 seats in the typical 3-3-3 configuration
you normally find on the 787. As seems to be the trend in AC’s cabins these days,
the first row of Economy is separated from Premium Economy by this semi-solid bulkhead.
Shortly after getting settled, the cabin crew came around with a bottle of water,
some headphones, and this slimmer version of Air Canada’s CleanCare kit.
Before pushing back, I realized the 787 next to us was actually the very first one I ever flew on,
from Vancouver to Tokyo back in 2015! Even better, the one I’m currently
sitting on was my ride back from Tokyo that year, so kind of a fun coincidence.
Soon enough, Air Canada’s new safety video played as we pushed back,
along with a well-placed mask reminder for those… less agreeable passengers.
Here’s our departure from Toronto, off of runway 06R!
As usual, let’s take a look at some of the details of this Premium Economy seat.
In the seatback pocket is the usual safety card and air sickness bag.
The seats themselves are all fairly wide, and have this small shelf on the armrests between seats,
plus what I think is some storage space for really small loose items, and of course the tray table.
There’s also this footrest that folds down from below the seatback pocket,
which I actually found pretty useful later in the flight. There’s also a power outlet
for each seat, a remote for the in-flight entertainment, and a coat hook on the seatback.
Back in 2013-2014 when this version of AC’s in-flight entertainment was introduced,
it was quite the upgrade from their older mid-2000s IFE,
and it absolutely still holds up today! It may be just a touch slower than the newest one
they have on their 737s and A220s, but it’s perfectly usable and has a good selection.
In this slimmer version of the CleanCare kit, Air Canada has an extra mask, some wet wipes,
and some packets of hand sanitizer. It is much more space-efficient than the other
ones they’ve been using, but it was also nice having the pretzels right there as a snack.
Shortly into cruise, the cabin crew came around with the in-flight service for Premium Economy,
and I had my first cup of coffee on a plane in over a year and this packaged breakfast box.
In the box itself was a cold cheese plate, a granola bar, this chocolate snack mix, another
wet wipe and some plastic utensils. Overall, this was actually pretty good. The apples were
crisp and tasted pretty fresh, and the cheese was surprisingly good too. But as you all know, I am
very easily impressed and was mostly just really happy to have a plate of food on a plane again!
The lavatories just in front of Premium Economy are also pretty impressive!
Not only are they a rare example of one with a view, but there is a lot of space,
plus this very Canadian-looking wall.
Now, not only is this Canada’s first 787, but unsurprisingly,
it was also the very first 787 to visit my hometown of Calgary.
Back in summer 2014, Air Canada was just introducing the aircraft to the fleet. In doing
so, they conducted a couple touch and goes between Calgary and Edmonton for pilot training purposes.
Right around the same time, Calgary Airport was opening its new runway, and they convinced
Air Canada to show off the Dreamliner at an event they were holding for the occasion!
Thanks to some wonderful Air Canada people there that day, I actually got to go inside,
and that was pretty mind-blowing for young Alex,
so, this particular 787 will always be pretty special for me.
That said, that was 7 years ago now, and you do see some wear and tear throughout the cabin.
However, it’s still the same quiet Dreamliner experience, it’s just
kinda weird to think of them as anything but brand new airplanes!
Considering my inbound flight arrived into Toronto around 11PM the previous night and
that this flight departed at 8AM, I had a pretty short sleep that night
so I basically just passed out for the rest of the flight, and woke up on the descent.
So, here’s our arrival into Calgary, landing, quite fittingly, on runway 35R.
So, that was Air Canada’s Premium Economy on the 787-8!
First things first, I really like that Air Canada’s app now lets you see the
entire seat map when you’re looking at a flight - It’s really helpful if you’re
looking for a specific seat or you’re just curious how full a certain cabin might be.
Now, was the upgrade worth it? Well, even if I didn’t have the free seat beside me,
Premium Economy gives you a lot more space, not to mention that complimentary meal.
The crew did also come around plenty of times offering refills on coffee and extra drinks.
I have seen Premium Economy upgrade prices upwards of $300
on this route before, so if this was meant to entice people… Well, it worked!
Domestically speaking, Premium Economy is just in a bit of an odd
spot. You’ve got those travellers who just want the lowest fare in Economy,
and then travellers in Business who’ll get lounge access, the lie-flat seats, and so on.
Premium Economy does get you more personal space, but it doesn’t quite get you lounge access or, of
course, the almighty pod. For what it was on this flight though, I really enjoyed it, and if you
happen to find a similar upgrade price on a longer flight like this, I think it’s worth acting on.
Thank you very much for watching this trip report in Air Canada’s Premium Economy.
Domestic widebody flights are always fun to film, so take care, and I will see you in the next one.