World Traveller 73 
Air North offers unusual service between select points within British Columbia and the Yukon Territory in western Canada. Air North remains one of the few independent air carriers in Canada, offer offering niche service to and from the Yukon territory. Today’s flight would have me fly on Air North between Vancouver and Kelowna on one of their alternate routes. They offer this flight once or twice a day and are competing against Air Canada and WestJet that offer a much more flexible schedule. Instead Air North usually offers quite a discount on this flight and route, given its lack of flexibility in terms of timings. Read on to see how my air experience with Air North fared.
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Review: Air North B737-5, Kelowna International Airport – Vancouver International Airport
I had a weekend trip between Vancouver International Airport, and Kelowna International Airport in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. On this weekend, on Saturday morning, the Air Canada flights were pricing at three times an Air North Flight. With loyalty programs being a lot less than what they used to be, I decided to go with the cheapest option. As a result, I went with the Air north flight for different flight experience.
Air North is a quirky carrier that is headquartered in the capital city of Whitehorse in the Yukon territory. Air North operates a small fleet of eleven aircraft consisting of one Boeing 737-400, four Boeing 737 500’s, and two Boeing 737-800’s. Air North also use four ATR-72 aircraft, which are usually only seen within the Yukon territory.
Air North’s focus is to fly passengers and cargo across a limited route network between Whitehorse and Vancouver, Kelowna, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Dawson City, Old Crow, Mayo, and Inuvik. In this case, Air North runs a dog leg flight between Kelowna – Vancouver – Whitehorse using the same aircraft. Since they are head to head with Air Canada and WestJet, you can often find excellent flight deals between the Vancouver – Kelowna segment when the aircraft is mostly empty.
Departing from Vancouver International Airport:
I had an easy Air North check in at the Kelowna International Airport. Old school Air North does not offer a smart phone app or any other fancy mobile check-in services. Instead, it was a visit to the airport in order to get fully checked in.
While you can check in online via the Internet, you will not get a fancy Apple wallet pass for your mobile device. Instead, I checked in at the Air North check-in desks in the Kelowna International Airport. At the time of my visit, Air North was located in the far left-hand side of the domestic check-in terminal.
Air North offers a complimentary checked bag with all of its fares. While I was travelling with carry-on baggage, only, I didn’t need to use the checked baggage service. However, it’s nice to have it available without having to pay an extra fee unlike the major carriers.
Air North does happen to charge for a seat assignment. Since this was a short flight of less than an hour, I didn’t really care where I sat. As a result, I didn’t pay for a seat assignment. I waited for a check in, in order to be automatically assigned a seat. My seat assignment ended up being a window row in Seat 2A near the front of the plane. It ended up being beneficial to wait, in my circumstances.
After checking in, I proceeded through Nexus security. There isn’t too much to do on the secure side of the Kelowna International Airport as a result I ended up just waiting near the gate. The Kelowna International Airport uses podium boarding, with a scramble on the other side of the podium to the jet Bridge.
Boarding occurred approximately 30 minutes prior to departure time. I made my way on board and settled into the Air North cabin.
My last flight of this trip would be back on Air Canada’s narrow body aircraft. While I listed for an upgrade, I wasn’t high enough up the list. As such, I would end up back in the preferred economy seat that I had originally purchased. While Air Canada Economy Class isn’t all too exciting, I figure that I would comment on the Air Canada Preferred Seat and whether it is worth splurging for the indulgence.
This post is one chapter on a northern Canadian trip across the top of Canada from Vancouver to Iqlauit, Canada. This trip was made possible through Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories & Nunavut via Canadian North
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Yellowknife
- The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Canadian North: Northwest Territories – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit
- Nunavut: Hiking the Apex Trail
- Shopping Costs in Iqaluit – A Deep Dive
- Top Sightseeing Spots in Iqaluit, Nunavut
- Canadian North: Iqaluit – Ottawa
- Air Canada: Ottawa – Vancouver
Review: Air Canada B737-Max, Ottawa International Airport – Vancouver International Airport
After a flight out of Iqaluit on Canadian North Iqaluit – Ottawa, and an overnight stay at the Fairfield Inn Ottawa Airport, it was time for a simple trip home.
I regularly fly this route for work reasons. While I had listed for an upgrade using Air Canada Aeroplan E-Upgrade instruments, I wasn’t successful. Most recently, the trans continental upgrades are quite popular. I would end up being #12 on a list of more than twenty on this Monday morning.
Departing from Ottawa International Airport:
After arriving to the airport, I visited the Aspire Salon Lounge Ottawa courtesy of Priority Pass. While I didn’t have access to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Ottawa on this visit, the Aspire Lounge was more than satisfactory for this short visit.
Our Air Canada Boeing 737-Max was parked at gate 14 at the Ottawa International Airport. The Ottawa International Airport terminal was not too busy this morning. It was a short walk up from security over to the gate. I boarded with Zone 2, courtesy of Air Canada Aeroplan elite status.
This flight would mark my second and last flight on Canadian North aircraft. Like my initial Canadian North flight, my ticket was downgraded from a Boeing 737–400 series to a 737 – 300 series aircraft. Despite this, I kept my original seat assignment and had a whole row to myself. I was also fed a reasonably good but unattractive looking meal, and enjoyed several glasses of wine on my trip down from Iqaluit to Ottawa. Please read on to see the kinks and quirks of flying this unique Canadian airline on an airplane redemption.
This post is one chapter on a northern Canadian trip across the top of Canada from Vancouver to Iqlauit, Canada. This trip was made possible through Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories & Nunavut via Canadian North
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Yellowknife
- The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Canadian North: Northwest Territories – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit
- Nunavut: Hiking the Apex Trail
- Shopping Costs in Iqaluit – A Deep Dive
- Top Sightseeing Spots in Iqaluit, Nunavut
- Canadian North: Iqaluit – Ottawa
- Air Canada: Ottawa – Vancouver
Review: Canadian North B737-3, Iqaluit International Airport – Ottawa International Airport
After two wonderful days exploring Iqaluit, Nunavut, it was time to start the journey back home. While it was a quick weekend trip, I had to fly out of Northern Canada down to Ottawa, Ontario, an overnight at the Fairfield Inn Ottawa Airport, then a trans – continental flight back to Vancouver, British Columbia. Either way you approached it, it was going to be a long journey.
For my Canadian North Iqaluit – Ottawa flight, I attempted to check in on line at the Canadian North website. However, I got no where with my Aeroplan ticket.
With that error message, I ended up just heading to the airport for check in. It’s been a while since I’ve fully checked in at the airport. As a result, I made sure I arrived several hours before my trip.
Departing from Iqaluit International Airport:
Since I hadn’t officially checked in, I arrived to Iqaluit International Airport at 180 minutes before my scheduled flight. It was pretty quiet on arrival. I got the impression that most travellers leaving Iqaluit didn’t bother getting to the airport all that early.
There were no queues at Canadian North check in desks. With Canadian North having a monopoly on travel from the airport, there weren’t any other desks around.
After providing my identification, I was asked to place my rolling carry on luggage on the scale. I got a “tsk tsk” from the check in agent, with the scale showing as 23.5 lbs. I had previously weighed my bag with a luggage scale that I had brought with me, and it had shown 22 lbs earlier.
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The territory of Nunavut has no surface roads to the lower provinces. This means everything has to be shipped in, either by air or by boat, during the limited summer months I had heard about the cost of food and the issues surrounding food insecurity in the northern territory. Although I have done many travels, it is always sobering to see the reality of costs for simple groceries firsthand in isolated locations. My visit to the local grocery store in Nunavut showcased this point tremendously.
This post is one chapter on a northern Canadian trip across the top of Canada from Vancouver to Iqlauit, Canada. This trip was made possible through Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories & Nunavut via Canadian North
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Yellowknife
- The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Canadian North: Northwest Territories – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit
- Nunavut: Hiking the Apex Trail
- Shopping Costs in Iqaluit – A Deep Dive
- Top Sightseeing Spots in Iqaluit, Nunavut
- Canadian North: Iqaluit – Ottawa
- Air Canada: Ottawa – Vancouver
Shopping Costs in Iqaluit: A Deep Dive into the Cost of Shopping in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.
Iqaluit is an inexpensive city. With no surface ground roads to the lower Canadian provinces, everything has to be either flown into Iqaluit by air, or moved in by boat during the short summer months. This makes all food and consumable items very expensive.
Having heard about the expensive food costs, I wanted to go sample this for myself.
About Shopping in Nunavut Territory:
The Government of the Territories of Nunavut and the Government of Canada subsidize some of the food that enters Nunavut through the Nutrition North Canada program. This means that food that has nutritious value gets a gonverment subsidy that makes it more cost effective to eat.
The program splits food into three categories of low, medium and high subsidy. The low category offers toilet paper, canned fish and vegetables, soap, shampoo, hand sanitizer and laundry detergent. The medium category offers fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, meat, tofu and bread, along with rice and pasta. Lastly, the high subsidy offers frozen vegetables and fruits, fresh milk and infant formula.
This structure incentives peoples to purchase healthier food with costs that are mostly comparable to what you might expect in the lower provinces.
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Given it’s small size, Iqaluit has a small urban inner city center. Beyond the city limits, there are some beautiful parks and trails. I had access to a vehicle and was able to get out beyond the city limits after seeing what a Iqaluit’s “city center” had to offer. I highly recommend getting access to a car for at least one day during any visit to Callie.
This post is one chapter on a northern Canadian trip across the top of Canada from Vancouver to Iqlauit, Canada. This trip was made possible through Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories & Nunavut via Canadian North
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Yellowknife
- The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Canadian North: Northwest Territories – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit
- Nunavut: Hiking the Apex Trail
- Shopping Costs in Iqaluit – A Deep Dive
- Top Sightseeing Spots in Iqaluit, Nunavut
- Canadian North: Iqaluit – Ottawa
- Air Canada: Ottawa – Vancouver
A Day Sightseeing Around Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.
On this trip, I had two days in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada. While I was staying at a friend’s house and was able to save on hotel costs, he had taken a trip to Greenland for the week. He kindly gave me access to his car in order to drive around and self guide myself around the city.
Although it cost about $250 to rent a car for the day, I would recommend at least renting a vehicle for part of your time in a Iqaluit. Having access to a car will allow you to get out beyond the inner city and experience some of the more remote areas like Sylvia Grenell Park showcased below.
In addition to this, you can find my posts on Shopping in Iqaluit and Hiking the Apex trail as activities to experience, when visiting Iqaluit.
Starting at the Black Heart Café:
I started my sightseeing adventures at the Black heart Café. It’s located just off the main street in town. It is an exceptionally popular place full of visitors and locals. For breakfast places, it’s pretty much this or the more luxurious Frobisher Inn hotel that also does a buffet on the weekends.
I was able to pick up the very best coffee in town along with the best crock miss year that I’ve had in a while. Breakfast came to about $37 Canadian Dollars. While it wasn’t the most filling breakfast, it hit the spot and allowed me to get going with some energy.
My visit to Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada had me wanting to seek out some activities in town. I discovered the Apex Trail, a short trail located just out of central Iqaluit. The trail would travel along the coastline towards the old Hudson Bay buildings located in nearby Apex. This post goes over my experience with the trail, what the walking experience is like, and in addition to what to expect when attempting the Apex trail.
This post is one chapter on a northern Canadian trip across the top of Canada from Vancouver to Iqlauit, Canada. This trip was made possible through Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories & Nunavut via Canadian North
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Yellowknife
- The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Canadian North: Northwest Territories – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit
- Nunavut: Hiking the Apex Trail
- Shopping Costs in Iqaluit – A Deep Dive
- Top Sightseeing Spots in Iqaluit, Nunavut
- Canadian North: Iqaluit – Ottawa
- Air Canada: Ottawa – Vancouver
Hiking the Apex Trail, Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada.
With several days in Iqualit, Nunavut, I needed to find something to do. I was visiting during the summer months. As such, I thought I would take the time to do some outdoor activities.
One of the activities that I had on the list to try was the Apex Trail. The Apex trail is a trail that travels along the arctic coastline between Iqaluit and Apex. Apex is best known for the Hudson’s Bay trading post that had been on this site since 1949.
About the Apex Trail:
I picked the Apex Trail as it was quite close to the city of Iqaluit. While I had access to a car, you could easily get dropped off by a taxi from town.
The trail follows a short coastal route that hugs the coastline between Iqaluit and Apex. It highlights the tundra coastline and the low – growing plant life found across Nunavut.
The trail is only 5 kilometers or 3.1 miles and the elevation gain is minimal at 45 meters. As a result, it’s pretty easy to navigate as long as you are able bodied and can handle some uneven terrain.
I would recommend bringing hiking boots or waterproof boots since a portion of the trail is damp and boggy. You’ll have a high degree of getting your feet wet, even in early June when I travelled the trail. My feet were soaked fairly early on in the hike.
The other great part about trekking “north of sixty” is that you don’t have to worry about starting late if you are visiting in the summer months. The trail is in daylight until well past eleven PM.
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This special review would mark my first flight on Canadian North aircraft. The route today I was flying was a unique arctic hopper that would take me across the Canadian Territories consisting of starting in the Northwest Territories through Nunavut’s Territory with a stop in Rankin Inlet, finally ending over in Iqaluit. The flight was one of the most unique Aeroplan redemptions I’ve been able to complete. It formed part of a square, coming up through Yellowknife and then down through Ottawa. My Canadian North flying experience would certainly have a few learning opportunity moments, as I would identify a few quirks and nuances of flying this oddball airline.
This post is one chapter on a northern Canadian trip across the top of Canada from Vancouver to Iqlauit, Canada. This trip was made possible through Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories & Nunavut via Canadian North
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Yellowknife
- The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Canadian North: Northwest Territories – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit
- Nunavut: Hiking the Apex Trail
- Shopping Costs in Iqaluit – A Deep Dive
- Top Sightseeing Spots in Iqaluit, Nunavut
- Canadian North: Iqaluit – Ottawa
- Air Canada: Ottawa – Vancouver
Review: Canadian North B737-7, Yellowknife International Airport – Rankin Inlet Airport – Iqaluit International Airport
After departing The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife, it was time to get back to the Yellowknife Airport. I was excited for my flight across Canada’s northern territories, and hoped that I would get some good viewing out of the windows.
I took the complimentary hotel shuttle bus and I was at the Yellowknife airport in less than 10 minutes. The Yellowknife Airport is pretty plain and institutional appearance.
it’s worth mentioning that I had previously called into the Canadian North Call Centre and had seats assigned on my Aeroplan award ticket. I was able to happily get these on a complimentary basis.
I was initially assigned 24F by request; a window seat at the back of the plane free from wing obstructions for the purposes of photographs. However, there was an aircraft swap from a Boeing 737–400 to a Boeing 737 – 700. I had kept my window seat assignment, but got moved up to row 12 F. While I would keep the window assignment, I would end up having a wing intruding on many of my photographs.
Departing from Yellowknife Airport:
After arriving to the Yellowknife Airport, I went to go check in with Canadian North airlines. They are the only game in town, and command a substantial presence in the Yellowknife airport.
While, I already had electronic Air Canada branded Apple Wallet boarding passes as a result of checking in at the Vancouver International Airport on a “through” ticket, I stopped by the Canadian North counter in hopes of getting some Canadian North paper boarding cards for the personal boarding card collection. Canadian North offers a limited online check-in, and seemed to do everything the old-fashioned way.
At the Canadian North check in counter, I had a thorough baggage inspection. The agent took a strong look at my rolling suitcase and laptop bag and asked to weigh both of them. My carry-on suitcase was 27 pounds, given that it had a bunch of coffee beans for my hosts in Iqaluit.
The check-in agent tried to relieve me of my checked bag to be assigned as a checked baggage piece, claiming that it was overweight. It’s interesting to note that there’s no published weight limit on any published Canadian North websites.
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I had one night in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Canada. I was travelling between an Air Canada ticket and a Canadian North ticket and needed a place to stay for the night. I ended up staying at the Explorer Hotel Yellowknife. The hotel offered absolutely everything that I could have needed for an overnight stay. The property actually surprised me with how well it was maintained, given its isolated location. In many aspects it was better than some of the inner city properties that I’ve recently stayed at. This post describes how many stay at The Explorer Hotel fared.
This post is one chapter on a northern Canadian trip across the top of Canada from Vancouver to Iqlauit, Canada. This trip was made possible through Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories & Nunavut via Canadian North
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Yellowknife
- The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Canadian North: Northwest Territories – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit
- Nunavut: Hiking the Apex Trail
- Shopping Costs in Iqaluit – A Deep Dive
- Top Sightseeing Spots in Iqaluit, Nunavut
- Canadian North: Iqaluit – Ottawa
- Air Canada: Ottawa – Vancouver
Review: The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
“The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife turned out to be better than expected, with clean and modern rooms that rivalled many urban Marriott properties that I’ve recently stayed at”
On my northern three stop adventure, I had a forced overnight connection in Yellowknife. I was switching between an Air Canada aircraft and schedule, switching to a Canadian North schedule. This had a forced overnight in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.
When I was looking for a hotel in Yellowknife, I was looking for something that was central to town, convenient to the airport and ideally something with a free airport shuttle. The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife met all of these objectives, and as such became my pick for this quick overnight stay.
Booking the Explorer Hotel Yellowknife:
There weren’t any major franchise hotel chains in the city of Yellowknife. As a result, it was a free game when it came to hotel bookings.
While I don’t normally use online travel agencies when it comes to booking travel, I did have a $200 Annual Travel credit waiting to be used and just sitting in my account from the American Express Platinum Business charge card.
I was able to find The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife listed on the American Express travel website. I was able to purchase with cash or American Express rewards.
I ended up selecting a base level Deluxe Room – 1 King Bed for $352.61 CAD.
I would end up redeeming my annual American Express $200 travel credit, which would end up appearing on my credit card statement as a credit. This brought the room expense down to $152.61 CAD, which was an excellent deal in a town where most hotel rooms were about $275 CAD.
The booking went through without any complications and was as straightforward as it possibly could be. I also benefited from getting one extra American Express Membership Rewards point per dollar charged, as a result of this pre-paid booking.
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Today’s flight would mark my first flight into the Northwest Territories; one of Canada’s three northern territories located north of the 60th parallel. I would end up flying Air Canada Express CRJ 900 series aircraft from Vancouver to Yellowknife. When I checked in, I was offered a last-minute upgrade into business class. This would afford confirmed access to the Air Canada Maple Leaf lounge, as well as a more comfortable seat on board. This post outlines flying into the summer midnight sun of the Northwest Territories.
This post is one chapter on a northern Canadian trip across the top of Canada from Vancouver to Iqlauit, Canada. This trip was made possible through Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories & Nunavut via Canadian North
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Yellowknife
- The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Canadian North: Northwest Territories – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit
- Nunavut: Hiking the Apex Trail
- Shopping Costs in Iqaluit – A Deep Dive
- Top Sightseeing Spots in Iqaluit, Nunavut
- Canadian North: Iqaluit – Ottawa
- Air Canada: Ottawa – Vancouver
Review: Air Canada Express Business Class Canadair Regional Jet – 900, Vancouver International Airport – Yellowknife Airport
The first leg of this trip would have me flying on Air Canada Express from Vancouver to Yellowknife, Northwest territories. Given my routing, I would have a forced overnight stay in Yellowknife, followed by a connection onto Canadian North’s Yellowknife – Iqaluit flight the next day.
Check In at Vancouver International Airport:
When it came time to check in for this flight, I checked in using the Air Canada app. As it sometimes happens, I was offered the opportunity to purchase a last-minute upgrade to business class cabin.
This often occurs when Air Canada has distressed inventory that it knows it will not be able to sell. The price for today’s last minute upgrade to business class was $161.70 CAD ($118 USD).
I thought about this opportunity for a bit. Given that the flight was 2 1/2 hours, and that the upgrade offered access to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Vancouver Domestic, I thought this was a reasonable value. After all, it was less than $64.70 per hour to be in a wider seat. With a few drinks at the lounge and perhaps on board, I’d be at break even almost instantly. As such, the deal was sold quite easily.
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This trip introduction outlines how I was able to put together a great value redemption through Air Canada’a Aeroplan, gaining great access to Canada’s remote Northern Territories. Air Canada’s Aeroplan frequent flier program offers redemptions on Canadian North, an exclusive airline that services Canada’s northern regions and territories. By using a little creativity, I was able to build a ticket that allowed a redemption on its famous “square” routing. The square routing offered the ability to gain access through one territory, travel across the Arctic Circle, then down from the Northern Territories. This ticket allowed travels up one side of the arctic and down the other. This post outlines how I was able to put this trip together.
This post is one chapter on a northern Canadian trip across the top of Canada from Vancouver to Iqlauit, Canada. This trip was made possible through Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories & Nunavut via Canadian North
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Yellowknife
- The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
- Canadian North: Northwest Territories – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit
- Nunavut: Hiking the Apex Trail
- Shopping Costs in Iqaluit – A Deep Dive
- Top Sightseeing Spots in Iqaluit, Nunavut
- Canadian North: Iqaluit – Ottawa
- Air Canada: Ottawa – Vancouver
Trip Introduction: Three Stops in the Canadian Tundra – Northwest Territories and Nunavut via Canadian North
I have been wanting to get into Canada’s arctic area for quite some time. While I have visited Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory on several occasions for work, the two other Canadian Territories consisting of Northwest Territories and Nunavut had escaped me on both a professional and personal basis. They were the last two areas of Canada that I had yet to visit. In some strange counting country way, these became conquests of areas to get to.
The territory of Nunavut is only commercially accessible through Canadian North. Within Canada, most of our travel is in the lower region of the country, in geographic areas quite close to the Canada / United States border. There is something that is aspirational about the Canadian North oute map, as it offers a glimpse into areas that don’t see a lot of traffic.
Canadian North happens to be an airline partner with Air Canada’s Aeroplan, in addition to running its own program called Aurora Rewards.
When Aeroplan announced it planned on raising redemption rates on Canadian North, I decided it was time to book this weekend trip.
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My latest work trip had me travelling to the northern British Columbia coastal city of Prince Rupert. With only one real hotel in town, I ended up staying at the Crest Hotel Prince Rupert. The Crest Hotel Prince Rupert has been the place to stay in Prince Rupert since the sixties. Returning back to the Crest Hotel, how would my latest remote hotel experience fare?
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter “X” or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Review: The Crest Hotel, Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
“The only place to really stay in Prince Rupert – British Columbia, the Crest Hotel of Prince Rupert’s somewhat dated shell is redeemed through excellent food and beverage at the hotels Waterfront Restaurant”
On this day, a work trip took me to the Pacific Coastal city of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. The city of Prince Rupert is located about half way up the coast line of British Columbia.
Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada is an isolated port city located at the end of a VIA Rail train line. While it used to be a major industry town, it’s fortunes have lessened and it is currently going through a period of infrastructure renewal. While it used to be served by up to five flights per day from Air Canada and Westjet, it’s now only served by one Dash–8 flight per day, on each carrier.
There is really only one hotel in town and that hotel is the Crest Hotel in Prince Rupert. There are no franchise hotel options, meaning that the Crest Hotel was going to be the hotel only hotel option for my stay.
Booking the Crest Hotel:
The hotel itself wasn’t working very well with my corporate travel agency. As a result I navigated over to the hotel’s website and made a booking direct.
I was able to complete a booking into a deluxe room. Unlike most other online booking portals, while the reservation was not instantly confirmed, it was confirmed by email within 48 hours. Within the email, I received a confirmation letter which outlined the cancellation policy as well as the room rate.
Getting to The Crest Hotel:
There are limited options for flying into Prince Rupert. The Prince Rupert Airport offers a few flights at day served by Air Canada and Westjet. At the time of my visit, it was a “one a day” frequency by each carrier.
The Crest Hotel is centrally located in the town of Prince Rupert, BC. While it is located on the water, it’s fairly close to most other amenities around town. It’s also across the street from a Safeway grocery store, which makes it handy for supplies such as bottled water or “in room” snacks.
The hotel is also accessible by car at the western end of Highway 16; a mere 8 hours drive and 720 kilometres drive from the central British Columbia town of Prince George, BC.
On the approach, the hotel isn’t super impressive. Since the hotel was built in 1961, it has a bit of a dated look to the outside. Along with hotels of that era, it features a parking lot immediately outside of it’s front doors.
The wind in Prince Rupert is so strong, that the Crest Hotel is one of the few hotels that I have visited that has a windscreen located immediately outside the front door. The windscreen is retractable, which allows the hotel to insulate the lobby from coastal breezes.
Fortunately, my stay wasn’t too windy. The weather was actually pretty favourable and dry during my visit, despite being a little grey.
Checking into the Crest Hotel:
Immediately upon entering the Crest Hotel, I was left with a bit of a dated looking introduction to the lobby. With the wooden panelling, It was reminiscent of a men’s club from the 1990s. The lobby featured extensive wood paneling, comfortable elegant furniture, along with local artwork.
I was promptly attended to at the front desk. My rate was confirmed and I was assigned my City / Mountain View Queen room. I did not get any further upgrade.
The Room: A City / Mountain View Queen
I headed down the hallway immediately off the front desk. I was assigned room #114, which was a short walk down on the ground floor.
When you stay at the Crest Hote, it’s a sharp first impression when you enter the hotel room. The hotel room represents decor from another era. While everything was exceptionally well maintained, it has a look and style from a different generation.
The room decor offers browns, greens and ornate styled furniture. It is great from a period perspective. However, it did remind me of my grandparent’s house in eighties; less the flat screen televisions.
The room offered a comfortable back lounger and foot stool. This was great for watching television.
The room offered a small desk for laptop connections and drops. While I didn’t actually do any work on site, I did use the space for charging of devices.
The room featured what you’d normally expect in a fully featured hotel room. The room offered an empty mini fridge, a Hamilton Beech drip coffee maker along with some glassware.
The bathroom had been modernized with fresh tiling. It offered a compact space with limited spots to drop your toiletries, as a result of the pedestal sink.
Being on the ground floor, the view from the room was not all that inspiring. The view from my room was over the smoking pit near the entrance. I ended up keeping the blinds closed most of the time that I was in the room, since everyone had a view directly into my sleeping space.
Despite the close proximity to the parking lot, I had a solid sleep at the hotel. I didn’t experience much noise from the parking lot, entrance or the hall way.
Around the Hotel Property:
The Crest Hotel Prince Rupert offers most hotel features of what you’d expect from a full service hotel. The best feature of the hotel was the food and beverage.
Food and Beverage:
The Crest Hotel offers three food and beverage experiences. The full service Waterfront Restaurant, the Charley’s Lounge and the Crest Café. I would get the opportunity to test out one out of three of these options.
The Crest Café
The Crest Café is pictured in the background of this first photograph. It offered take a way coffees, along with a few pastries.
I didn’t actually end up using the Crest Café during my stay. In the morning, I found quite a few queues here with people that didn’t seem to be moving.
I ended up walking across the street to the Safeway grocery store for the embedded Starbucks located inside. However, it if were raining (like it is known to do in Price Rupert), the Crest Café might be just up your alley for a convenient morning coffee fix.
Charley’s Lounge:
Immediately off the lobby was the popular Charley’s Lounge. The Charley’s Lounge was almost always fully occupied during the weekday evenings during my stay. It offered a brisk business, serving both hotel guests and people visiting the hotel.
Waterfront Restaurant:
Instead of the Charley’s Lounge, I ended up in the Waterfront Restaurant on two separate visits. These would include a morning breakfast and a late dinner.
After work event, I ended up at the Waterfront Restaurant for a late dinner. The menu’s were actually quite intriguing for a hotel in a small town in the middle of nowhere.
What really brought me to the restaurant was the featured “Halibut-fest” that my fellow other business travellers were raving about. During my visit, it was a spring time halibut season, and as such, I ended up enjoying some of the freshest halibut on offer.
I enjoyed a halibut shrimp cake, which was an enjoyable appetizer almost large enough to be a main course. It was tasty and perfect for a late dinner.
On my second visit to Waterfront Restaurant, I passed though for a full breakfast.
I ended up enjoying a smoked salmon Eggs Benedict, which was topped with parsley and paprika. It was nicely prepared, although a little light on the smash-brown potatoes.
Despite this, the breakfast view from the Waterfront Restaurant is to die for. There’s nothing wrong with a pristine view like this.
While the waterfront location of the Crest Hotel is spectacular, unless you book yourself a water front view room, you’re not apt to get to fully experience it.
In my case, since I had a city view hotel room, I rarely got to see the water while I stayed in the hotel.
Checking Out of The Crest Hotel:
I didn’t have any issues checking out of the Crest Hotel. Check out time was at 11 AM.
My hotel bill was as expected. Since the hotel doesn’t participate in any major loyalty programs, the only excitement in this area will be related to the credit card that you use to charge your room.
The Bottom Line: The Crest Hotel Prince Rupert
I always find it interesting to review rural properties on the work travel circuit. In this case, travels took me to the Crest Hotel Prince Rupert. With no other real options in the area, it became a home for a three night stay.
While the room and the hotel furnishings weren’t exactly to my taste, the food and beverage from Waterfront Restaurant were the highlight of my stay. I have to commend the hotel for keeping things interesting with it’s Halibut-fest menu.
Overall, I’d return again if travels brought me back to Prince Rupert.
If you have visited the Prince Rupert, did you stay at the Crest Hotel of Prince Rupert ?
Tonight’s Air Canada Business Class flight was on a Boeing 737 – Max Eight aircraft. This was the last flight of the day out of Toronto Pearson International airport. On top of that, I ended up having an additional two hour flight delay on top of our late scheduled departure time. By the time we were on the way, I was pretty knackered. Despite this I had a late dinner on board and slept most of the way home. Read on to see what a late night Business Class service looks like out of Toronto International Airport.
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Review: Air Canada Business Class B737 Max 8, Toronto Pearson International Airport – Vancouver International Airport
My travel schedule ended up on another work trip back our national’s capital in Ottawa, Canada. Today’s travel took me back from Ottawa to Vancouver via Air Canada Rouge Business Class Ottawa – Toronto, then connecting onwards to this flight on Air Canada Business Class Toronto – Vancouver.
Today’s flight was on a now familiar Air Canada Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft.
Connecting at Toronto Pearson International Airport:
We had a slow arrival into Toronto on my arriving flight Air Canada Rouge Business Class Ottawa – Toronto. While I waited for gate, I eventually got off my inbound flight over one hour late. With this flight scheduled to leave within twenty five minutes, I ran over to my connecting gate at D22. Fortunately, when I arrived, there was a distinct lack of activity that’s quite common at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
While I was waiting for the aircraft, I did my usual check on the Air Canada app to see what the upgrade situation was like. The flight was completely full with quite a number of people upgraded into the 16 person business class cabin.
With the lack of baggage handlers, I would end up in a long ninety minute rolling delay. Unfortunately, with this delay, it would end up in Air Canada loosing my checked baggage for this flight. Eventually, after an additional ninety minutes added to the schedule, I would end up getting on board.
Air Canada
AC 129 – Business Class (Z)
YYZ – YVR (Toronto Pearson International Airport – Vancouver International Airport)
February 14, 2025
Scheduled: 11:00 PM – 1:11 AM + 1 Actual: 12:21 AM – 2:44 AM
Booked: Boeing 737-Max8
Flown: Boeing 737-Max8
On Board Air Canada Business Class:
The Air Canada Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft is now the backbone of Air Canada’s narrow body fleet. It offers a 2 – 2 configuration across four rows of business class totalling sixteen seats.
I ended up in Seat 2D for today’s flight. I’ve taken to using the aisle seats more often on the trans continental flights.
I have reviewed the Air Canada Boeing 737 max 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 – Ottawa
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Phoenix
- Air Canada Business Class: Calgary – Vancouver
- Air Canada Business Class: Ottawa – Vancouver
The Air Canada Boeing 737 Max Business Class cabin features four rows of business class using slim line seats. The cabin is set up in a 2–2 configuration and features an attractive black and gray colour scheme.
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 don’t tend to use or find any comfort in the foot rest.
In general, the Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8’s upgraded business class cabin is far superior to the Air Canada Airbus Series short-haul aircraft’s legacy product which is getting quite outdated. The interior of the Boeing 737 is designed to contain and keep electronics while they charge, and the seats are generally more comfortable. As a result, my favourite Air Canada short-haul business class cabin is the 737 max.
Pre Departure Services:
Given we were already late, there wasn’t much in the form of any pre-departure services. It turned out that they actually weren’t able to cater the flight in a timely manner, adding to our ninety minute delay.
Another item from pre-departure services that has disappeared was the printed menu. The menu was available through the Air Canada App. I was able to download a copy before the flight. However, there were a few flight attendant / passenger discussions for those that didn’t have the opportunity to check the menu in advance.
The Meal: Late Dinner
After a ninety minute delay, we flew out of Toronto Pearson International Airport. Eventually we got to altitude and the dinner service started.
While it was late, I ended up taking one for the team and going through the full dinner meal service. Given that it was well past my workday, I ended up going for a white wine with a mixed nut mix.
Feeling adventurous, for the main course, I went with the Honey Ginger Sesame Chicken with shaodong flat noodles, carrots, bok choy and edename. It was served with a heritage mixed salad with julienne apples and pomegranate seeds.
While the salad was about “as expected”, the honey ginger chicken was absolutely inedible. It was tough, tasteless and stringy. While it was likely intended to be a lighter option, it was certainly lacking in taste.
Overall, I’ve found more recently that Air Canada catering is lacking a lot when compared to it’s competitors. The food taste isn’t all to exciting, along with the options being generally quite bland in taste.
Second Service: A Snack Basket
About three quarters of the way through the flight, Air Canada flight attendants came around with a snack basket.
I ended up being completely sacked out and asleep by this time. As a result, I didn’t enjoy any snacks in the second service.
The snack basket typically contains Miss Vickies potato chips, specialty pretzels, licorices, KitKat milk chocolate and Lindor dark chocolate chocolate bars.
Landing at Vancouver International Airport:
I eventually arrived to Vancouver International Airport at about 3 AM, a good two hours after my scheduled arrival time.
As can be expected, my checked bag was left behind in Toronto. I’d spend the next three days getting reunited with it.
Unfortunately, this is almost par for the course when travelling through Toronto International Airport. It’s become the reason why I try to travel with “carry on only” for most work trips where at all possible.
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 to get across the country. While it is not a fully flat seat, it’s much more comfortable than flying in economy class.
While most my trans continental flights are pretty uneventful, this one was marked with a late departure out of Toronto, and my baggage being left behind. While I don’t make a habit of arriving at the airport at 3 AM, unfortunately, that’s what happened tonight.
World Traveller 73 
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