I've been using Air Canada forever but it was only in recent years that I noticed how the service went down. I flew from Montreal to Toronto and then from Toronto to Hong Kong using Air Canada in June 2012, for such a long trip overseas, I expected more accommodating service. I just feel like overall, they do not go above and beyond to make your trip an enjoyable experience. They offer very basic transportation, it's just like taking the bus, but in the air. Not a premium company. They are expensive too! Unless you're traveling over seas, no meals, no snacks, no free headphones for the entertainment system (they charge 3.25 for the worse piece of crap that falls apart). From the check in at the airport, staff appears annoyed, rude and tired. At weigh in, when our baggage went slightly over the 23kg allowed limit, the employee at the counter repeatedly shouted out "It's too heavy, too heavy!" drawing uneeded attention. Seems like the Air Canada employees are all middle aged, especially when it comes to in flight personnel. Flight attendants look unkempt. Women with messy, fly-away hair, no make up, boring uniforms. They just do no look appealing, personality wise either. Once we transitioned from Hong Kong with another flight carrier (Cathay Pacific), we noticed the difference in attentive service, everyone is all smiles and friendly, very youthful and staff is easy on the eyes. read more

Please see my review for Air Canada at LAX. The Customer Service Mary D is beyond wonderful. Words CANNOT express the excellent customer service she gave us on 6/9/2018 I had Passport problems. We arrived on Flight 778 from LAX. read more

I flew Air Canada on a 3 hour flight from Montreal and was pleasantly surprised based on the negative reviews. Originally, my wife and I had different seats but the gate agent fixed that for us; we flew an Embraer 190 which was comfortable with larger seats and plenty of legroom compared to the U.S. based airlines I have flown before. The service on the plane was friendly and frequent. All of my bags arrived and were not damaged. read more

Always there when United can't make their own flights operate on time. Air Canada is convenient their flight times mirror United's and their flight crew has much less attitude. Oui. read more

Security line at YUL is longggggg so make sure you show up at least 2 hours early. They have a high tech scanning system so you don't need to wait in line to check your bag with staff. Several people's carry on bags (including mine) and my research poster holder tube (which is hollow lol) were searched after the security check point, which prolongs the process overall. Other than that, the staff are friendly and let us check our carry on bags at the gate to our final destination and board early. Our airplane to Toronto was spacious and comfortable. read more

Booked a flight from Chicago to Montreal. Service was eh. A bit slow. I accidentally left my iPad on the plane. Filed a report, received a call stating they had found it but when I followed up it was suddenly missing again. Upon landing the staff lost my stroller and had to search for it. After about 30 minutes they did find it but the entire time they were incredibly rude and made me to feel like a burden to them. I'm a burden yet they lost my stroller and forced me to sit in the airport with my one year for an extra 30 minutes. read more

Never never never fly Air Canada....boarding a swap meet, paid for preferred boarding ignored, take off 30 minutes late, landed in Montreal it's 70 degrees and everyone is sitting now 20 minutes so the plane can de-ice!! NEVER ....Really I'm not kidding read more

I wish I read all these terrible reviews before booking with these guys! This company is a joke safe to say I'll never be using them again.

Yech. Booked Business class air Montreal to LA. Requested wheelchair. Upon arrival, no representative anywhere in site. Had to get cart, push bags up an escalator and a significant distance to the check in point. Was told to wait in service lounge. Upon entry, several people were already waiting. Over the next 45 minutes, the room totally filled up. Finally one service rep came and took someone. At that rate we might have been there several hours before getting to plane. Decided to try to make it on our own. When finally on board, we were served the worst meal I ever had on a flight. The meat was so below standard that I wouldn't have given it to a dog. Now I don't expect a great dining experience but this was inedible and disgusting. When I pay so much extra for business class I don't expect swill. read more

Today we started our journey from Athens to Montreal to San Francisco. I am in the same camp as if I could give negative stars I would. On a 10 hour flight, there is no entertainment available on board. They announce to download their mobile app to be able to stream, that was a joke (passengers were trying to load the stupid app with no luck!!!!). I figure I will keep myself entertained by reading or playing on my tablet, I quickly find out that the cabin lights do not function. Really?? What a shame, what a terrible customer service, the staff on board did not crack a smile the entire flight. This was by far my worst flight ever, 10 hours of misery. Ugh, not sure what the flight to San Francisco has coming. Can't wait to get home and never again AIR CANADA.... read more

This is my experience for Air Canada at Montreal Airport. I had an morning flight, I arrived 2 hours early. We went to the ticket machine to have boarding passes and luggage tags printed. The Boarding Passes came but no luggage tag. We were directed to stand in the long line for check in. Eventhough we already had our boarding passes. During the wait I noticed that everyone who was late to the airport and had earlier flights were pulled out of the line and given instant service. When I asked if there was a way for those who only needed a luggage tag could somehow just get it without waiting 45mins. I was told by "Michael" that 1. We tell everyone to come early to the airport, 2. Sometimes the "Machine won't Print the luggage tag because it wants you to check in with the counter staff" He didn't apologize and his attitude was negative bordering on arrogant. The flight was also late as was our connecting flight. I have flown the national carrier for many countries. Air Canada is about as positive an image for Canada as United Airlines is for the USA. When I returned to I saw in the News that an Air Canada flight almost killed themselves and four other planes on a Taxiway. http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Disaster-averted-at-SFO-after-jet-lines-up-to-11281503.php Ask any pilot this is really bad flying. If I ever visit Canada again, I won't fly Air Canada. read more

Air Canada is my second least favorite major airline, right behind Lufthansa. I only fly with them when I don't have a choice. I usually fly United - which is also no prize, but I'm close to 1 million lifetime flight miles with United so I want to hit that mark. I work for a Canadian company and United flights to Canada are often codeshare with Air Canada. The problem is that Air Canada is not customer service oriented, the employees are often unfriendly and rude, and although I'm flying on a United ticket they won't honor United seating and baggage policies. read more

This experience was absolutely horrific and I would never recommend flying Air Canada. Worst airline I've flown to date.

Most amazing facility and friendly staff. It was a pleasure visiting and working their.

I was on a flight Thursday mid-morning from LAX to YUL and the flight the gate area was packed with anxious passengers waiting to either arrive in Montreal or connect through Montreal to their destination. A big shout-out to the boarding agents and subsequently the air crew of this flight who handled everything so smoothly, no wonder Air Canada is Canada's number 1 airline. I am glad that my flight was rerouted from LAX. I would choose this route again for sure with Air Canada. read more

Oh Air Canada, while I have certainly benefited from being a slave to your Star Alliance (that round-trip business class to Thailand and Korea on Asiana paid for entirely in points was quite lovely thank you), I am oh so pleased that soon, I will never have to fly with you again. Sure, I thought you were adorable when we had our first flight and you still offered those cute little airplane meals, I loved the way you pronounced "pasta" too. And the couple of times when your overbooking resulted in me getting free business class almost outweighed the multitude of times when the same practice resulted in me shoved in the back by the toilets, far away from my traveling companions. But Air Canada, it just wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to make up for the fact that I once paid almost a thousand dollars to fly coach from Vancouver to Toronto, or the time that I had a shoot in New York and you lost my bag, refused to deliver it to me, and refused to offer any compensation. And Air Canada, remember all those times I pressed the call button? You never responded, not once! Sure, I just wanted to give you way too much money for a crappy beer, but you didn't know that, it could have been a medical emergency! Farewell Air Canada, I won't miss your near monopoly. read more

I do not recommend this airline. It was my first time flying air canada and I was not impressed. I had a flight from San Diego to Toronto, a two hour lay over in Toronto, and then Toronto to Geneva. The staff wasn't exactly friendly, and I was pointed in the wrong direction more than once. My flight to Toronto was not direct, we all got off at Montreal without explanation where we all stood confused in the tunnel for about 5 minutes because the staff on the otherside of the door hadn't let us into the airport gate. When we got into the gate many people had the same question, where do we go if we just got off the plane and want to go to Geneva? The staff seemed irritated with us but they hadn't told us what was happening or what to do but sit and wait. After about an hour we reboarded. The choice for dinner was chicken or pasta. I took the pasta and after mixing it a bit I suspected that it had meat. I asked one of the flight attendance if the pasta sauce indeed contained meat and she said "I don't know they don't tell us the ingredience of the meals" The person sitting next to me was also vegetarian and had already began chowing down after I asked another flight attended who answered "yes there's beef". This should have been told from the beginning when asking which meal we wanted. Finally arriving in Geneva, the airline had lost my luggage and sent me twice to the special baggage area where my baggage was not found. After coming back to the office for the second time, they took another customer who had arrived after I did and attended to her before me. At this point I was pretty pissed and after an hour they had told me my luggage was left at Toronto. Not the greatest welcome for my first trip to Europe. read more

I am giving a four-star rating right now because of a couple of recent trips and the great improvement Air Canada is making. I believe the President, Calin Rovinescu, has significantly improved the overall service and operations of AC. There are wonderful staff which I have encountered, But, please continue to hire more friendly agents, especially in Quebec and the Maritimes. read more

I have been traveling on Air Canada for longer than I can remember. As of 2008, I have needed to travel more than the average customer, logging between 100,000-140,000 miles per year. That does not include flight I need to take that AC does not service, so another 20-50K per year is racked up on carriers like Delta, Jet Blue, American, etc. My providing the preamble is to establish that my ability to comment on Air Canada is based on valid experience. While every airline will have the occasional mishap, technical or employee, I find Air Canada to be of very high caliber. I highly recommend Air Canada as an airline. Customer service is always a priority and no one is ever intentionally treated poorly. High marks need to be given to the on board crew that helps make my time in the air as comfortable as possible. Also, the reservation website is clear and easy to use. It worries me that there are an abundance of negative comments regarding Air Canada on this site. It does not reflect the overall experience I've enjoyed, especially over the last eight year. I highly recommend Air Canada. read more

From a lack of organization and communication to charging for alcohol on an international cross-Atlantic flight, Air Canada's service was a disappointment every step of the way. In Rome, we waited in line for an hour only to be stopped at the front for literally 100s of passengers to move in front of us for an earlier flight. I understand the need, but the lack of signage and communication meant we felt incredibly mistreated. I imagined at least five solutions to improve their set-up while we stood and watched people pass us. Once onboard we found a standard US style card in the seat back pocket describing the snacks and drinks we could buy. On an international flight of 9+ hours? Though they never communicated what would happen, we were served meager food, but alcohol was a premium $6.50. We'd flown to Italy on another Star Alliance airline, Lufthansa. They were fantastic in every way. Clear communication about services. Food and drink freely available between served meals. Free alcohol. I'll grant you, our flight was safe and relatively on time, but the experience is not one I'll repeat. I always say when flying international, use airlines outside the US. Except Air Canada. Their service is worse than ours! read more

If you ever take a morning flight from Trudeau -- YUL -- Be sure to bring some camping gear. This I have to tell I arrived at 6 am, punched my booking reference; The screen said, "Go to counter." No "sorry," "please," no deference. The check-in line was moderate, but to compensate Clerks chatted with passengers, to ensure that we'd wait. The line to reach security was football fields long. Folks spent several hours, waiting in the throng. The guards in security ensured their checks were thorough. No bag, no pram, no walking stick escaped their careful burrow. In sum over two hours from entry to the gate (Be sure you check some luggage, or else the plane won't wait). At the gate, we were informed they'd overbooked by eight. They had to find eight volunteers. This added to the wait. Put together YUL and our flagship line Are rated with a solid 1, that's what I opine. read more

Literally every time I fly air Canada there's problems. Wether they delay my flight and then forget to book me on it and it's overbooked on my flight back. or The workers aren't there and the line piles up through the entire airport. Or after delaying my flight over the entire weekend give me a voucher worth 10$. air Canada always has problems read more

Leg and cabin room for coach economy, not cheap, is sardine class. Service was ok, not friendly and not welcoming but ok. Fly attendants were trying. Soft drinks and coffee in very small cups. How much does that really save? Management does not fly in this class for travel on Air Canada My guess Southwest is their choice. Worse than ever! Southwest or a road trip. read more

I would give zero stars but it's not allowed. Dirty planes, zero Accountability. Would rather travel with air isis

Online checkin fails saying to go to counter. No reasons given. Charged for baggage 3x because the checkin fails. They then don't load my paid baggage onto the plane anyway due to "take-off weight". Find out after an hour waiting for baggage at the other end. Got another 2 connecting flights... What a joke of an airline. Hard to do much on a trip without clothes. read more

For starters, they never answer their phone. The recording says that you have a wait of 18-24 minutes but after 40 minutes there's dead silence. I would put the quality of cabin service on Air Canada at the same level as Icelandic (broken tray tables and shabby seats) and LOT Polish Airlines (which doesn;t actually have any planes. It's basically a charter airline with a Brazilian crew and about as Polish as the Samba. Air Canada takes the term "economy class" to heart. I understand that peanuts cause allergies for some people so you need a substitute snack. Air Canada's answer is mini-pretzels (or "bretzels" if you prefer the French). They resemble dog treats or something fossilized. I didn't think that Mott's still made Clamato, but that's their substitute for Bloody Mary mix. The tomato juice was Soylend Red. Cabin crew attitude: somewhere between indifferent and hostile; actually a little closer to the latter. Canada is a wonderful country with great people. They should display those lovely traits in their airline personnel who , by comparison, make United and Delta seem downright cuddly. read more

The nightmare of a trip home from Las Vegas, caused by United Airlines, was left to Air Canada to fix. The company we were booked into to get us to Toronto from San Francisco (and eventually Halifax). I do have to say, I am supremely impressed with them, and specifically one staff member who upon hearing our terrible time that United had put us through.. took it upon himself to make sure that my girlfriend and I would be in aisle's alone by ourselves. A small, but really genuine helping hand that we both really appreciated and frankly needed. Their in flight entertainment option, "Enroute" is by far the greatest entertainment option in the world, and is, hold your applause.. FREE. It's a great touch added by Canada's main airline. This trip I watched the Lego movie, a comedy special, Just For Laughs, and American Hustle. Besides that, I have flown the majority of my life with this company, and I am still here! Yay for that, and yay for the captains that get us there safe each time. read more

Air Canada overbooks flights and changes/cancels flights for no reason leaving passengers stranded after they have paid for their flights. This unethical practice should be illegal in Canada but for some reason isn't. I always prefer WestJet but unfortunately they don't fly as many places as AC. Be prepared to be jerked around, disrespected and treated poorly by this monopoly of a company. read more

Bungling idiots who can't even tell you what line to stand in until AFTER you've stood in it for an hour then they tell you to go to a different line.... 4 times. Missed all flights and had to spend a night in Canada due to the absolute incompetence of these idiots. Will never fly this garbage airline again. read more

I flew AC for the first time a week ago, on two different legs: one from Paris to Montreal, and one from Montreal to Los Angeles. The first leg was GREAT: nicest plane I've ever been in, very friendly crew, expansive entertainment system with a very responsive touchscreen (vs. Lufthansa's newest pieces of junk), nice meal. My family and I were so pleased until we got to our layover in Montreal where the airline said we had to wait in customs until they got word our bags were transferred to the plane...wait, what? Since when is this not done automatically? Anyway, this would have been fine had it not taken 1.5 hours to get our bags! They held us in a room with NO BATHROOM for 1.5 hours because the luggage door had gotten frozen and they couldn't get it open! You'd think in a frigid country such as Canada this wouldn't be a big deal since it probably happens EVERY FLIGHT?! Why would something so basic and commonplace take 1.5 hours to fix? To top it off, the Air Canada employee in The Hold refused to let my mother use the restroom just outside of customs even though she was practically crying from pain. Once they decided they had LOST our luggage, they suddenly said it was ok to go through to customs without our bags, and the customs officer said my mother could have gone to the bathroom at any time, that there was no rule against that. WOW. We barely made our connecting flight, then get treated to a 6-hour international flight with NO SNACKS!?! How ghetto is that? The crew was very curt as well. The airline ended up losing all of our bags for 3 days too. I was so ready to give them a stellar review from the first leg but they royally screwed up in the airport and on the second leg. DO NOT USE THEM! read more

Flew into Montreal with Air Canada and almost missed our connecting flight because of the delayed take off and 30 minutes delay at the runway waiting for a gate. We rush to catch our flight which was supposed to take off and flight is delayed by 3 and half hours. So we wait and wait and flight is delayed by 30 more mins, then another 30 mins and then another- for a total of 5 hours. This pretty much kills all our plan for our 1st day in Rome. Customer service tries to make up for this by offering soda and cookies. Ridiculous- off to check the monitor again to see if there's another delay ! read more

In addition to standart $500 ticket from Vancouver to Montreal, I had to pay more 35+25$ for baggage and second baggage as I went over 23 kgs. How come you charge 500$ with 23 kg limit? And shitty customer service doesn't even accept if its just 200 grams over the limit. I was forced to throw my things to garbage can, and then when I threw them, guy told me I have to remove stuff from my bag and fill it to a plastic bag, whats the logic here i dont get it. I got so tired when I did it, and he didn't care, they think they are doing something good trying to act like professionals, while being useless. No food or drink service for 5 hour trip, and paid 560$, for a trip stupid company read more

I have no idea how such a horrendously run company can still exist. Absolutely the WORST. Two days later and I have still not received the luggage they lost. I will be traveling for work for two months and my entire life was packed in the suitcase. They cannot confirm it's whereabouts. I have never written a horrible review but WOW air Canada. You deserve it. read more

What an absolute garbage airline. I grew up in Canada and have lived in the USA for a while and have traveled extensively on multiple airlines around the world. Air Canada is by FAR the worst airline I have ever traveled on. The last 6 flights I have had with them I have encountered issues. Let me give you a rundown starting with the latest. I had sworn off flying Air Canada but when I booked this flight I thought I was connecting with Westjet (always read the "operated by..."!!). Going home for christmas I get a "GTE" where my seat should be on my boarding pass. Huh?? I've never seen this before. The simpleton at the desk tells me I will get my boarding pass at the gate. I let them know that I bought a regular ticket...NOT a standby ticket which is what they are describing. This concept is lost on simpleton and every other AC employee I talked to. I eventually get a boarding pass at the gate and the agent says "You are in luck! You got the last seat on the plane!" I respond with "Im lucky to barely get the seat I paid for?" I could tell by the look on the agent's face that simple logic is not his strong suit. On this trip I was also asked to pay for a bag when redropping it off at customs...despite connecting to my AC flight and having a bag already tagged. I had to get a manager to explain to the agent why I dont have to pay. The prior trip I had taken that had me swear off flying with Air Canada was at christmas two years prior to the above incident. I was going from Calgary to Vancouver to Seattle. Here's a rundown of what happened: -Flight from Calgary to Vancouver gets completely cancelled (not weather related...it was gorgeous outside) -I get on a later flight to Vancouver but my bag doesn't -I miss my flight from Vancouver to Seattle cause of my delay in customs waiting for my bag -Eventually I get on a later flight and my bag shows up FOUR DAYS LATER There were no apologies or reimbursement of any kind...I'm assuming this is normal operation for Air Canada so no need to apologize for the norm I guess. On to the trip prior. Im connecting in Calgary headed to Regina. I get to Calgary and find out my Regina flight is canceled due to a labor dispute (striking is the only thing AC is good at). I'm told as this is not the AIRLINE's fault I will not get reimbursed nor will they pay for a hotel. I have to come back in the morning for my next flight. Huh?? Airlines aren't responsible for their labor? Idiots... I stick by my decision to never fly Air Canada again no matter the cost or the trip length. Everybody thought I was crazy to fly Regina to Seattle via connection all the way down in Vegas. There was a cheaper AC flight with a connection in Calgary. Needless to say...my family all recognized my genius when that flight to Calgary got cancelled in Regina. I was smiling all the way to Vegas :) In summary, Air Canada is an absolute garbage airline and should be destroyed so a couple airlines can emerge from the ashes and try again. read more

Think you want to fly Air Canada? Think again as its pilot recently almost created the worst disaster in aviation history by almost hitting FOUR parked airliners, FULL of passengers: http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/07/13/canadian-aviation-officials-determine-just-how-close-air-canada-flight-got-to-sfo-airplanes/ read more

Just look at all the negative reviews here. It's all about good, friendly, knowledgeable *customer service* which Air Canada does. Not. Have. A.C. does not represent the rest of the Canadians; they are wonderful people. Just choose another carrier. read more

We travelled with a group of 7! Our experience with Air Canada was horrible! Due to mechanical problems with first flight we missed our connection! No one in Montreal could help us! After 5 hours calling al possible numbers we were routes to Toronto!! From there we finally made it to Iceland to find out that they lost one of our bags! Three days later we received our bags and today, on our way back, Air Canada overbooked the flight and we ended up not having seats! So now we are stuck, yet again! WTH? And the staff were so incredibly unhelpful! Never again, Air Canada! read more

Terrible! We have flown on 5 Air Canada flights in the last 2 days and every one of them had numerous issues. Choose West Jet. We will in the future. read more

Honestly the worst airline in the world. They make crap excuses until you no longer have time to change flights. Their maintenance people are idiots and over fuel the plane, then while burning off the fuel find some more issues that delay and eventually cancel the flight. THE WORST AIRLINE IN THE WORLD!!! read more

absolutely horrible. never flying with Air Canada ever again. Our flight from Narita Tokyo was delayed by 40 minutes, and we had a connecting flight to NY to catch in Montreal. We would have made it, as we had enough time anyway, however the airline thought it was appropriate to remove us from the flight without telling us. We didn't find out until we were sitting in US customs at the Montreal airport for 45 minutes and were not cleared to proceed. In addition to this nightmare; they sent us on a goose chase to find our luggage, only to find out they had lost 2/4 of our checked baggage. An absolute joke. Whenever we asked for assistance or clarification as to where to go to reschedule and get set up to spend the night, we were met with shrugs and rolled eyes. Ridiculous. Our rescheduled flight was supposed to be leaving to NY at 5:55 but unsurprisingly was delayed for an hour. I have no doubts that they gave our seats away to stand by passengers and flew our luggage on that flight without us. They never delivered it to our hotel like they said they would. An absolute joke. read more