It's been close to 10 years since we last visited Asia and for our trip back, we decided to travel in premium economy on the 13 hour flight from Montreal to Japan to treat ourselves. Unfortunately Air Canada is the only airline that flies direct to Tokyo from Montreal so that was our only option. Prices for economy were hovering around $1500 CAD while premium economy was roughly double at around $3000 depending on which days of the week you fly. It's a steep increase and for all that extra cash, Air Canada claims you get the following:
Bigger seats (wider and more legroom)
Priority airport services (Check-in, Security, Boarding, Luggage)
Increased luggage allowance (2x 32kg)
A unique inflight dining experience (note it does not claim to be better than economy)
Air Canada also claims to offer the following which I found was just outright false advertising as you'll see below:
A next generation entertainment system* featuring your own personal touch-screen TV
A single-pin audio jack for your own headset
I booked the premium economy cabin primarily for the space and to avoid the dread that flying economy has become nowadays (cramped seats, chaotic boarding, charged for every add-on and long lines for everything). Premium economy also entitles you to two suitcases, something that I thought might come in handy if I end up doing a lot of shopping in Japan.
I knew full-well that the food may be subpar, considering that even the food on my previous Air Canada business class flight was terrible and I did not have expectations of an improved inflight entertainment system but boy was I wrong (more on that disappointment below). A few days before my flight, I was notified via the Air Canada app that I could preorder my inflight meal.
Check-In
Check-in and security was a breeze using the automated baggage drop-off booths at YUL Airport. The old physical orange priority tags are no longer used as it's all handled electronically now. I did have access to the priority security line thanks to my Wealthsimple Visa (wealthsimple.com/invite/LHV6SQ) but I didn’t even bother using it because the airport was so calm at this time (an unexpected surprise for YUL these days). After dropping off my luggage, I received these notifications below that my bags were being tracked. It was a nice surprise and added a bit more confidence that my luggage wouldn’t get lost. Later on, I also received another notification when the bags were loaded on the aircraft. I felt confident that lost luggage situations were becoming rare but Air Canada managed to disappoint me on my next flight where my luggage was sent to Toronto instead of Montreal. My suggestion is to always put an AirTag in your luggage and keep an eye out on these notifications and verify the bag # and the destination as their system doesn’t do any checks, it merely sends you updates.
Premium economy passengers do not get complementary lounge access so I used my free lounge access provided by Wealthsimple to enter the National Bank Lounge. The lounge was pretty quiet on this beautiful morning. If you want to read more about the National Bank Lounge, check out my review here. Note that this lounge gets very busy in the late afternoon and evening, especially on Fridays, and Saturdays. If you are flying to Europe on those days, expect to be waitlisted and not actually get in by the time your flight boards.
Boarding
Boarding started on time with zone one for business class passengers. The line moved swiftly and I was next to board as part of zone two. There was no wait time to board and as soon as I entered, I turned right and found my seat in row 14. The overhead bins were pretty much empty with plenty of space still left after placing our two backpacks.
Seats and Entertainment
The premium economy seats were spacious and wide with just two by the window instead of the three across in economy. The seats looked old and tired. As I sat down, I realized the my seat was leaning back and the seat recline button was broken and would not move the seat in the upright position. It had to be manually adjusted by holding the button while pulling the seat in place. Very premium.
The entertainment system looked outdated, like a screen from the early 2000s. The touchscreen lagged and required physical force while pushing and holding my finger to register a click. Sometimes a quick tap would register a click somewhere else on the screen and stop my movie when I was trying to change the volume. It was a big disappointment and a direct lie from Air Canada’s claim that premium economy offers “A next generation entertainment system* featuring your own personal touch-screen TV”. The TV could also be controlled by this worn out remote that has definitely seen some better days.
The 3.5 mm headphone jack (shown below) was either broken or not set up for personal headphones as claimed. Every time the wire moved slightly, the sound switched from stereo to only a single ear and introduced loud static and crackling noises. This occurred during the entire flight and made it very difficult to enjoy watching anything. I had to leave the headphone jack hanging half out in order for the sound to come from both sides. The socket was loose and sometimes the cable would just fall out. This was so disappointing for the price I paid. It was a sad reminder that Air Canada does not have any competition when flying direct to Japan. If I compare these Air Canada premium economy seats and entertainment screen to what Emirates provides in its economy class aboard the A380, it’s quite embarrassing. Do better Air Canada!
By the end of my flight, my AUX cable had become so damaged from the constant adjusting that it stopped working. Can you feel the premium on this premium economy flight?
Amenity Kit
Waiting for me at my seat was a pillow, a blanket, a bottle of water and an amenity kit. The amenity kit was designed as a plastic tote bag and I ended up using it daily during my trips to 7 Eleven. Inside were a pair of socks, a toothbrush and toothpaste.
I quickly checked on my AirTag to ensure that my luggage has been loaded on the plane before takeoff. I could also see the status directly on the Air Canada app.
Food & Dining
The flight attendant came by to confirm our preordered dinner choice of Japanese chicken katsu and asked whether we were still comfortable with our choice. I recommend pre-ordering on the app a week before since the passengers in front of me wanted the chicken katsu as well but it was no longer available.
We also received a hot towel, a drink and snack after takeoff. Dinner was served soon after. The meal was decent though a bit sweet and I think it's the same as what is served in economy but just plated on china and the drinks served in glassware. I found the service actually attentive, something which varies a lot with Air Canada and shockingly both the meal and service were much better than my recent experience on Air Canada’s business class to London.
Chicken Katsu
I found myself much more comfortable than in the tight economy seats. As the cabin lights turned off after the meal which was around 3:30 pm, it was too early to sleep yet so I watched a movie. The biggest annoyance during the flight was having to constantly readjust my headphone jack and making sure it didn’t move. Every time I changed positions, I would accidentally hit it and the sound would cut out so I had to keep figeting with it. Tapping on one area of the screen would register a tap on a different area which made it difficult to pause the movie while my headphones fell out. If you’re old enough to remember the Walkman and iPod days then you know what it was like to twist your headphones cord and hold it in just the right position so the audio would work. Though as I found out after my flight, doing so ruined my headphones and I had to replace the cable.
Further into the flight, a tuna wrap and biscuit were served as a snack. It was basic.
I fully reclined the seats to sleep and although this was no lie-flat seat, it was significantly more comfortable than in economy. My seat was broken so it required some manual pushing and pulling but once I got it reclined all the way, it was fine. The inflight announcements always came on at full volume making me yank out my headphones every time it happened so make sure to disconnect your headphones before falling asleep so you can actually stay asleep. It was very hard to sleep anyway other than a short nap as this was a daytime and evening flight
Breakfast was finally served closer to landing and I chose the omelette.
The washroom situation was less than ideal as the premium economy cabin does not get its own washroom or one that is shared with the sparse business cabin. Instead, it shares 2 washroom with the entire economy cabin and is not exclusive to premium economy. I did find however that the lines were shorter than the economy cabin.
Conclusion
This flight reminded me why we need more competition in the airline industry in Canada and specially on a route to Tokyo considering how much tourism has increased recently. While I enjoyed the additional space that premium economy provided along with the priority lines and luggage handling everything else felt meh with the personal TVs and broken seat being the biggest disappointments. For me, the main advantage was the space and calmer cabin but if you don’t value that or any of the priority perks (boarding, security) and extra luggage then you are better off saving your money for Japan!
Look at this cute Japanese plane!