Air Canada has been fairly reliable with offering a Maple Leaf Lounge through it’s major centre cities in its airline network. The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Edmonton represents an example of its smaller format lounge. Despite the City of Edmonton not being a major hub or focus city for Air Canada, Air Canada has operated a Maple Leaf Lounge at this location for years. My recent visit to the lounge would test out Air Canada’s medium lounge format in it’s most northernly situated lounge offering.

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This post is one chapter on a winter work trip within Canada. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Air Canada Aeroplan Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Edmonton International, Alberta, Canada

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I arrived into Edmonton International Airport on Air Canada Business Class Montreal – Edmonton. Afer a ninety minute connection, I was connecting to Air Canada Business Class Edmonton – Vancouver. With a little time in between flights, I had a some time to spare. As a result, I headed to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge for a brief connection.

If you’re visiting the Edmonton International Airport, you may also have access to the Plaza Premium Lounge – Edmonton accessible through premium credit cards such as the American Express Platinum Business Charge Card.

Locating the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Edmonton:

My arrival into Edmonton was through a connecting flight. The lounge is centrally located and shares an access point to the nearby Plaza Premium Lounge.

Although the Edmonton International Airport Concourse was busy, it was not overly crowded or difficult to navigate.

Eventually, as I came towards the main portion of the airport, I located the lounge precint. After passing through the glass doors, I took the elevator up one level to an upper lobby. I headed to the left to access the Air Canada Maple Leaf Loune – Edmonton, whereas if I went to the right, I would have accessed the Plaza Premium Maple Leaf Lounge.

It was pretty easy to locate the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton. The airports single concourse hallway made it easy to navigate the airport and get yourself situated.

Accessing the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge:

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge was accessed today courtesy of a business class ticket for my Air Canada Business Class Edmonton – Vancouver flight. Within Canada unlike the United States, business class travellers are afforded access into the business class lounge with the purchase of their ticket.

You could also get access into the lounge through a business class ticket on Air Canada under the Star Alliance Lounge policy, by purchasing an annual lounge membership, or through select Canadian based credit card memberships affiliated with American Express.

Access to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge is also permitted for Star Alliance Gold Customers travelling in any class of travel. Access is permitted for a Star Alliance member airline operated flight which departs at the same day as the visit or latest by 05:00 AM the next morning. If your boarding pass does not carry the Star Alliance Gold indicator, you will need to also show your valid Star Alliance Gold card. Under these circumstances, one guest is permitted.

Inside the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Edmonton:

As I mentioned, it has been a while since I’ve had the opportunity to return to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in Edmonton. Recently, I seem to find myself connecting through here on cheaper business tickets ever since Air Canada reduces it’s connectivity through Calgary.

After entering the lounge itself, the lounge is set up in a rectangular format. The lounge is oriented along an interior glass window with a southern western facing orientation; an ideal set up which makes the space appear particularly bright.

There is lounge seating that runs the length of the windows, including a three sided gas fireplace marking the centre of the lounge. The lounge seating is split on both sides of the gas fireplace. During my middle of the day visit, while it was reasonably busy in the lounge, I didn’t have any challenges finding a place to sit.

On the opposite side of the lounge (opposite from the windows), there was a small media centre consisting of a television, some various world time zone clocks in the world, and a paired desk area for working for three of your closest work colleagues.

Also on the back side of the lounge was a small business centre that contained about five or six workstations. There was also a stand alone printer available.

It was interesting to note that the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton was substantially smaller in size than their version in Calgary. The smaller foot print of the Edmonton lounge demonstrates the lessened traffic in the northern Alberta area in comparison to the more business centric Calgary International Airport.

In comparison to the Plaza Premium Lounge – Edmonton next door, the Air Canada version is much more spacious, and seemed to have a more relaxing vibe to it. Most of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge travellers are on the business circuit seeking peace and quiet.

Whereas on my last visit, I got the impression that the Plaza Premium Lounge – Edmonton travellers were of the kind of occasional visitors to the lounge; the kind that make speakerphone calls in the middle of the lounge resulting in a less relaxing environment.

Food and Beverage:

It was lunch hour during my visit. Typically, we usually see a full spread of sandwiches and other lunch meal items at the Maple Leaf Lounge during the lunch period.

However, today, we were just offered a light salad bar, along with some other snack items consisting of salty and sweet snacks.

For some reason, the alcohol service was behind a small taped line. I got the impression that this was to prevent self service alcohol, similar to at the Maple Leaf Lounge in Calgary, where there is a dedicated bartender that serves drinks. While there was no bartender here, I watched staff serving several drinks for lounge patrons.

I didn’t stay for a whole lot of time given the time constraints of a connecting flight. After a very quick bite consisting of a bowl of soup, I headed out towards my connecting Air Canada Business Class Edmonton – Vancouver flight.

The Bottom Line: The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Edmonton

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton marks a small format Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, as compared to the other offerings in the system.

The lounge offers everything that you might expect from a full service lounge. Although it was meal time, there were only light snacks out for lounge customers. The location wouldn’t serve as a meal replacement by any means.

Between the two locations, I much preferred the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge for it’s quieter environment, and slightly more spacious environment. Either way, the lounge was a relief from the general concourse.

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If you visited the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Edmonton, did you prefer it from the nearby Plaza Premium Lounge ?

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