Good morning from Orlando, Florida!
My name is Alex, and welcome to another trip report.
Today, I’m flying with Air Canada Rouge in their Premium Rouge cabin, from here in
sunny Orlando, back up to Toronto, Canada.
First things first though, it should be clear - this was filmed in December 2019, so things
don’t quite look the same these days, and neither does the Rouge fleet.
Also, the eagle-eyed among you may have noticed I’ve now opened up channel memberships!
If you’d like to support my work on YouTube in other ways, with some added perks, you
can click the join button to find out more!
Air Canada Rouge is Air Canada’s vacation brand, and at the time, flew a fleet of A320
family aircraft and 25 Boeing 767s, which is what I’m flying on today.
However, these 25 aircraft were all retired from passenger service in spring 2020,
along with all of the mainline 767s.
So, unintentionally, this was actually my very last flight on a
Canadian-registered Boeing 767.
With Rouge having recently restarted operations though, I figured now would be a good time
to share this trip, and look back on the good times.
Orlando International Airport has a very unique terminal design.
Essentially, there’s one central building for check-in, baggage, and security, and then
you hop on these people mover systems towards the actual departure gates.
They also provide quite the view on parked aircraft, but you sadly can’t ride them
back and forth from these gates without having to re-clear security.
I know I could’ve spent plenty of time doing that!
Unfortunately for premium passengers though, the only two lounges in this part of the terminal
aren’t partnered with Air Canada.
There’s this one, and a Delta Sky Club nearby.
There is a United lounge at the airport, but it’s in another terminal entirely and again,
you’d have to re-clear security.
Slightly disappointing, but it left more time for some spotting from the windows.
My aircraft for today is one of the younger 767s in the Air Canada fleet, an 18-year-old
Boeing 767-300ER with winglets, registered as...
This 280-seater aircraft was first delivered to mainline Air Canada in 2001, and flew for
them until 2015 when it was transferred to Rouge and reconfigured
in this much denser configuration.
At the time I’m uploading this, this airframe is unfortunately stored in Shannon, Ireland.
Even so, it’s still less than 20 years old, so hopefully it’ll fly again soon.
Seeing as it was late December, the gate area is a bit crowded with sunburned Canadians
like myself returning home after getting our fix of Vitamin D.
So, let’s go see what it’s like flying in Premium Rouge on this 767!
The Premium Rouge cabin has four rows in a 2-2-2 configuration, in these North American
business class-style recliners, and my seat for this 2 hour flight north is 4A.
Waiting at each seat was a pillow and water bottle.
The legroom in these seats is pretty nice for a tall person like myself.
There’s also a footrest, which was a little tricky to work, as well as plenty of storage space.
The headrests are all adjustable, and there’s a coat hook on the side of the seat as well.
You’ll find the tray table in the armrest, as well as the call button, lights, and a
little table in the centre armrest.
There are also two power ports between the seats.
One surprising thing is, there aren’t any air vents.
I know that some newer aircraft don’t have them to save weight, but I wouldn’t have
expected them to be removed entirely on an 18-year-old 767.
As boarding continued, the very friendly cabin crew handed out menus, as well as these iPads
for inflight entertainment, and I’ll go over that once we’re in the air.
The covers on the iPads slide right into the seat in front, for an admittedly, low-budget
alternative to IFE screens, but not a bad one by any means.
In the meantime, here’s our departure from Orlando, off of runway 35L.
(music)
Tray tables are something that don’t really change much between aircraft, but this one
I actually really like, with all of that knee space!
Shortly after takeoff, the crew came around with Canada customs forms, and hot towels.
As far as the in-flight entertainment goes, these tablets are complimentary for Premium
Rouge passengers, but you can also rent them for use in economy.
As you can see, there was wifi on board, but it wasn’t really working,
even when I tried to connect with my phone.
I believe these tablets come with preloaded movies anyway,
so there was something to watch at least.
Not long after that, the cabin crew handed out the usual Air Canada bowl of nuts and
a complimentary drink.
I have to say though, they did a really nice job refreshing the cabin!
You wouldn’t know this plane was 18 years old just looking at it!
Eventually, about an hour into the flight, meal trays were given out.
For lunch today, I opted for the chicken, which came with rice, salsa, and vegetables.
Also included was a spinach and arugula salad, a bread roll, and a carrot cake for dessert.
That all came on this really nice looking tray with metal cutlery,
and proper plates and glasses!
The salad was just alright, but the chicken plate was warm, smelled delicious,
and was very flavourful.
The carrot cake was also really tasty.
It was nice and fluffy, and a great way to end the meal.
This is a bit of a spoiler for a later video, but this wasn’t actually that different
from the mainline catering on the inbound flight.
Regardless, I really did enjoy the food!
In the seatback pocket, Rouge had a 767 safety card,
...an air sickness bag,
...the current month’s issue of Air Canada’s inflight magazine,
...as well as this Aeroplan promotion.
The front lavatory on the Rouge 767 is identical to those on the mainline ones,
except slightly newer.
Otherwise though, not a bad amount of space up front!
Just before landing, the cabin crew came around collecting the tablets, which was a shame
since I was almost done with a movie.
It does make sense though since it’s kinda hard to round them all up once you’re on the ground.
Stay tuned for my final thoughts on Premium Rouge after landing.
For now, here’s our arrival onto Toronto Pearson’s runway 23.
(music)
Overall, Premium Rouge honestly wasn’t bad at all.
On a short transborder flight like this, I found the service wasn’t actually too different
from mainline North American Business Class.
Although mainline Business is, more often than not, a better experience,
Premium Rouge was pretty enjoyable!
The cabin crew were so friendly, the seats were comfortable enough,
and the food was delicious.
I am curious to see what’ll happen with Rouge should Air Canada’s
merger with Air Transat go through.
Although Rouge has had its fair share of flak for being...
“a cheaper version of Air Canada”, I’ve had good experiences with them,
and I’m hoping for the best for everyone there.
I will miss the 767s too, although this one was no longer in mainline paint, they did
revolutionize transatlantic air travel for Canadians.
I wasn't planning for this to be my final Canadian 767 trip, but it was a good flight
to end the 767 era on.
*ding*
Thanks for watching this trip report with Air Canada Rouge!
If you enjoyed the video, please leave a like, subscribe, consider becoming a channel member,
and I’ll see you next time.