Today’s flight had us returning to Air Canada’s better than average Business Class transborder product, after previously flying United Airlines and American Airlines on our stateside flights. In comparison, Air Canada would offer a newly refreshed business class cabin along with full catering meal service which included a bar and beverage service for our transborder route. Take a look at what you can expect when flying Air Canada on a flight to and from the United States of America.

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This post is one chapter on a trip with my 82 yr old mom from Canada to Singapore. For informaton on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Air Canada Aeroplan and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: Air Canada Business Class B737 Max 8, Vancouver International Airport – San Francisco International Airport

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The first leg of our journey from Canada to Singapore was a positioning flight from Vancouver to San Francisco in order to connect to our Air Canada Aeroplan reward ticket on Singapore Airlines Business Class San Francisco – Singapore.

I wasn’t able to find Aeroplan saver reward availability between Vancouver in San Francisco so the fact easiest way was to pick up a revenue paid ticket to position to our departure city.

I purchased and paid for this ticket using the Toronto Dominion Visa Infinite Credit Card, which allowed me to learn 1.5 Aeroplan miles per dollar spent. I credited these flights to Air Canada Aeroplan frequent flyer program.

Checking into Air Canada Business Class:

I arrived to the airport in a Hertz rental that I picked up the day before. Instead of leaving my car outside for three weeks at the Vancouver international Airport, I would end up just self driving as it was cheaper than an Uber.

I was travelling with my 82-year-old mom on this trip with her first experience in international business class. She was in terrific spirits as we got underway towards her home in Singapore.

After entering into Vancouver international Airport, we went to go find check in. Most of the check-in counters are all along the main bank. Air Canada offers a Priority Check-in area that is adjacent to the Fairmont International Airport Hotel access.

We had no wait at the Air Canada Business check-in counter. As a result of Vancouver’s heavy cruise ship traffic, Air Canada has wisely invested in a separate check in area for it’s elite travelers. Since baggage is dropped at a central checkpoint, there is minimal infrastructure that’s required other than a computer podium.

Consistent with a paid Air Canada Business Class ticket, we were placed into boarding group 1, which was the highest possible boarding group.

We proceeded across the departure hall and dropped our baggage. My mom was given TSA pre-check as a result of my Nexus card travelling as a “plus one”. As she did not have Nexus/global entry, I use the my passport control app to pre-fill her declaration using the priority line at US CBP Vancouver pre-clearance. It actually went much quicker than anticipated. We passed through security with minimal wait and found ourselves on the secure side.

I went and located the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Vancouver Transborder, which was included with our business class ticket. I also had access to the Plaza Premium Lounge Vancouver Transborder courtesy of the American Express Platinum Card, but I find the Air Canada lounge to be much brighter and a more comfortable space to relax.

Since I’ve reviewed the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge transborder several times before, I won’t be doing so again. The lounge was pretty busy on our visit with hardly anywhere to sit. We ended up at a long table and enjoyed a few sandwiches before our flight.

Our flight today was departing from gate E 72. We ended up boarding early since my mom is a bit of a slow walker on the jetway.

Air Canada
AC 554 – Business Class (Z)
YVR – SFO (Vancouver International Airport – San Francisco International Airport)
May 27, 2024
10:25 AM – 1:24 PM
Booked: Boeing 737-Max8
Flown: Boeing 737-Max8

On Board Air Canada Business Class:

I have reviewed the Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft on several occasions previously. Please see the following posts if you’d like a little more description of the cabin.

• Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Phoenix
• Air Canada Business Class: Calgary – Vancouver
• Air Canada Business Class: Ottawa – Vancouver
• Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Ottawa

After boarding Air Canada Business Class, we found our seats. Air Canada Business Class on their Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft is offered in four rows of business class in a 2–2 configuration.

The Air Canada business class cabin looks sharp in different shades of black and gray. There is a reasonable amount of shoulder hip and leg room in the seats. The additional space makes for a much more comfortable flight for travel. I would imagine the upright recliner seats would be fairly comfortable for travel up to five hours.

Our seats today were 3A and 3C. Even though I had given my mom the aisle seat, she decided she preferred the window.

The Air Canada business class cabin offers a somewhat flimsy retractable foot rest that is tucked away under the seat in front of you. Given my large frame at 6’2″, I didn’t find that the foot rest added much comfort to my flight.

Air Canada featured aspirational photographs of the destination on the seat back monitors. Today’s flight taking us to San Francisco featured photographs of the Golden Gate Bridge.

For the most part, the Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8 Business Class cabin is quite a ways ahead of the legacy product on the other Air Canada Airbus 320 series aircraft. The cabin configuration is configured to hold electronics while they charge, in addition to having several storage spaces and empower and seek power.

Pre Departure Services:

There isn’t much in the way a pre-departure services on an Air Canada transborder flight. Air Canada continues to simply offers a small bottle of Naya Water which was waiting on the seat. The water today was actually refrigerated as opposed to it being presented at room temperature.

The meal orders were taken by Air Canada Aeroplan elite status seniority. There must not have been many elite travellers on this particular flight, as as a low Air Canada Aeroplan Elite 25K member, I was the first to have my meal order taken.

Air Canada has recently eliminated the printed menu, instead offering a menu within the Air Canada app. This has mixed results because if you’re operating without data on your phone and some international location, you won’t always have access to the printed menu.

Based on the flight attendants talking to the passengers, it seems that many travellers did not access the menu prior to departure. The flight attendants spent quite a bit of time describing the menu, as there were many meal explanations going on when orders were being taken.

The menu was also available through the in-flight entertainment system after a keying your way through several options.

Departing Vancouver International Airport:

We departed Vancouver international Airport on runway 26R. We had an immediate right turn headed towards the United States of America.

On the climb, I took the opportunity to look at the in flight entertainment system. Air Canada offers in-flight entertainment on a complementary basis, unlike many US carriers that do not offer an in seat back monitor.

Disposable headphones were provided for free in business class. There are a number of movies available consistent with a smaller offering on a narrow-body aircraft.

We had a public address announcement from Captain Andrew James and First Officer Stewart. They indicated that we would have an on-time departure and arrival along with a smooth flight expected.

The Meal: Lunch

Once we have gotten to cruising altitude and after about 40 minutes from departure, the in flight service started.

Air Canada offers a full meal and bar service on it’s transborder routes. It is a lot more than United Airlines offers on the same route. United Airlines only offers “a selection of sweet and savory snacks” and “free alcoholic drinks”on flights between 300 to 900 miles. Since Air Canada Vancouver – San Francisco clocks in at 802 miles, whenever we flown this flight United Airlines Business Class Vancouver – San Francisco on United airlines we are always disappointed.

The meal service started with a warm towel service. I have to give Air Canada credit for trying here since towels are always a nice way to start a service.

Air Canada offered a beverage and mixed nut service. I ended up taking a french white wine along with warmed nuts which consisted of almonds and cashews.

I ended up ordering the saffron roasted chicken with sautéed kale and peas. This was served with rice instead of the peas. I also enjoyed a freeze a salad and a slice of chocolate cake along with Air Canada’s usual ciabatta dinner roll.

My meals on Air Canada lately have been an exercise in blandness and repetition. Today saffron chicken dish was actually better than expected; admittedly the bar was pretty low. However, the dish was tasty and interesting for airplane food.

Landing at San Francisco International Airport:

About 30 minutes to landing, we started our descent into San Francisco International Airport. The weather around SFO was foggy. Unfortunately we didn’t have any aerial Golden Gate Bridge views. Instead, we ended up settling for some downtown views.

Our aircraft landed on Runway 28 R. During our visit, runway 28L was closed with SFO just operating the sole runway 28. We arrived into San Francisco Terminal Two at Gate D14. We had a very short walk for baggage.

Since we were travelling for three week trip, we had checked a bag. For some reason even with priority baggage tags, it took 43 minutes to reclaim our bag. This is in stark contrast to Alaska Airlines that offers a 20 minute baggage guarantee.

I would have been worried about the bag but with an Apple AirTag installed and the Air Canada app offering status updates and confirmation that the bag had been loaded, I was less worried about the delay. It was more of an irritant and reminded me why I usually try to do “carry-on” only for business trips.

The Bottom Line: Air Canada Business Class B737-Max 8

The Air Canada Business Class on the Boeing 737 Max 8 is a pretty reasonable way fly transborder. The seat itself is comfortable, and the fact that you actually get a meal in comparison to Star Alliance partner United Airlines is an added benefit. Unfortunately we were marked with some very slow baggage collection upon arrival in San Francisco. Aside from that, it was a comfortable flight.

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If you’ve flown Air Canada Business Class Transborder, do you prefer it to United Airlines?

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