World Traveller 73 
Marriott typically offers a spring and fall promotion that aligns with the business travel season. Last year, we saw a spring promotion that was pretty reasonable with a double elite qualifying night credit. We are happy to report that the double elite qualifying night credit is back for Spring 2024, which should make Marriott Bonvoy status chasers very happy. It only takes a moment to register for a Marriott promotion, so read on to see what Marriott is offering it’s fall travellers when staying at Marriott Bonvoy hotels.
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Marriott Bonvoy Launches Spring 2024 Promotion “1,000 Times Yes”: Register Now
Marriott Bonvoy has announced their spring promotion for the year 2024. We typically see hotels announce a spring promotion across many competing hotel brands. Marriott Bonvoy is no exception to this rule, and we’ve learned of news of their planned Marriott Bonvoy Spring 2024 promotion.
Marriott Bonvoy has gone live with this promotion, as it’s showing up on the Marriott Bonvoy home page. Most members will be able to find it under the Promotion Central area of their Marriott Bonvoy profile on the webpage and mobile Marriott App versions on iOS or Android.
Without further ado, here are the details of this promotion…
Promotion Details:
Earn 1,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points per stay and 1 Bonus Elite Night Credit Each Night.
The details of the promotion are as follows:
- Register now, then earn from February 13 through April 29, 2024.
- Registration ends April 15, 2024.
- Earn 1,000 bonus points and 1 bonus Elite Night Credit on each eligible paid night with no earning limits.
- Say yes to higher Elite status and exclusive benefits faster with bonus Elite Night Credits.
- Redeem your bonus points for free nights at extraordinary hotels. Plus, points give you access to unrivaled Marriott Bonvoy Moments™ experiences, room upgrades, and so much more.
Additional Promotion Details:
- Only stays paid with cash qualify toward this promotion; award or cash and points stays don’t qualify
- The standard bonus points will post within seven business days of checking out of a hotel.
- There’s no limit to how many bonus points you can earn.
- Practically speaking, the promotion period is only seventy six days long, meaning that up to 76,000 base promotion points and an additional 76 elite qualifying nights can be earned.
- Most hotels globally are participating, although stays at the Ritz Carleton Yacht Collection, Homes and Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, Marriott Executive Apartments and owner occupied weeks at Marriott Vacation Club, Marriott Grand Residence Club, Sheraton Vacation Club, Westin Vacation Club, Ritz Carlton Club, St Regis Residence Club and Luxury Collection Residence Club are not eligible for bonus points for this promotion.
- And lastly, there’s no minimum length of stay or stay requirements required to unlock the bonus.
Registration:
Registration is required for this promotion. Registration can be completed through the Marriott Bonvoy App, from within your account on the Marriott Bonvoy website under Promotion Central, or through this registration link.
Registration needs to be completed by April 15, 2024 for stays for stays ending April 26, 2024.
I had much better luck registering for this promotion with no challenges registering through the Marriott Bonvoy website “Promotions” page. After registration, I ended up at the promotion web page with the tracker displayed below.
What do I think about this promotion?
On the points side, if you value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.08 cents per point, this is like getting a potential return of $8 USD per 1,00 point promotion. While this won’t move the needle for anyone, it may replace the points for those that are taking the breakfast benefit on personal stays, in lieu of their Marriott Bonvoy Elite welcome bonus.
The better part of the promotion is related to the double elite night credit. For those that are looking to earn elite status for the year 2024, this promotion will be extremely helpful. It’s never guaranteed thing to get a double elite night promotion in a calendar year. If you’re attempting to get yourself to fifty elite qualifying nights, this will prove to be really helpful.
Having recently qualified for Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum Elite status, earning double elite qualifying nights is less interesting for me. MrsWT73 was pretty excited at the thought of this promotion, as she still has three elite qualifying years left to earn.
As a reminder for those short on elite qualifying nights, the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Credit Card offers 15 Elite Night Credits per calendar year. The fortunate customers in the United States are able to stack an additional 15 credits by also getting the Marriott Bonvoy American Express Business Credit Card.
This means that US customers can benefit from a total of 30 Elite Night Credits without even setting foot in a Marriott hotel. With the coveted Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status available at 50 Elite Qualifying Nights, it’s not a stretch to pick up an additional 20 nights for customers in the United States.
If you don’t happen to have a Marriott Bonvoy affiliated credit card, you can apply for one through these links posted below and earn the highest possible welcome bonus.
The Best offer is available below through a referral link.
American Express Marriott Bonvoy (CANADA)
55,000 Marriott Bonvoy Point Welcome Bonus with $3,000 minimum spend
American Express Marriott Bonvoy (CANADA)
55,000 Marriott Bonvoy Point Welcome Bonus with $3,000 minimum spend
The Bottom Line: Marriott’s Spring Promotion
We now know the details of Marriott Bonvoy’s spring promotion. It’s fair to say it is about a generous as you can expect from a Marriott Promotion.
The best part about the promotion is the double elite qualifying nights portion of the promotion. Those that are attempting to earn elite status for the year 2024 will stand to benefit from this promotion.
As always, it’s still worth taking the effort to register, as more points are always better than less points. This is assuming you can actually get the system to let you register properly.
What do you make of Marriott’s Spring Promotion ?
After seventeen years of travel on the road, and approximately seven hundred and fifty four nights in Marriott affiliated hotels, I’m happy to report that I’ve finally achieved Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum status. Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum status offers a set amount of upgrades for the life of the program and the life of the participant. It’s been quite a journey to get to this point. This post is about the next steps after you achieve Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Achievement Platinum status.
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”.
Selecting your Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Achievement Platinum Gift
The Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty program offers a lifetime elite program. As a member of the Marriott Bonvoy program with over 17 years of elite status, it’s always been a distant travel goal to get to achieve lifetime status with Marriott Bonvoy.
The Marriott Bonvoy Elite Program:
While this might be a re-cap for many, it’s worth just reviewing the levels of the Marriott Bonvoy Elite program.
The Marriott Bonvoy Elite Program is broken down into five tiers:
- Silver Elite – 10 nights
- Gold Elite – 25 nights
- Platinum Elite – 50 nights
- Titanium Elite – 75 nights
- Ambassador Elite – 100 nights + $23,000 USD spend per year
From my perspective, the value in the program starts at the Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite level, or higher. The Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Level offers:
- 50% Bonus on Marriott Bonvoy Points Earning
- 4 PM Check out
- In Hotel Welcome Gift: Points, Breakfast Offering or Amenity
- Enhanced Room Upgrade, Based on Availability, Including Select Suites
- Lounge Access
- An Annual Choice Benefit after staying 50 and 75 nights
While I have usually qualified for Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status through my regular travel schedule, this has simply been gravy on top of already great benefits at the Marriott Bonvoy Platinum level.
The Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Program:
The Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Program has three separate levels. Each are achieved after a substantial amount of travel.
Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Silver Elite
250 qualifying nights & 5 years as a Silver Elite or Higher
Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Gold Elite
400 qualifying nights & 7 years as a Gold Elite or Higher
Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum Elite
600 qualifying nights & 10 year as a Platinum Elite or Higher
Marriott Bonvoy designed the lifetime program so that members had to achieve both “qualifying nights” and “elite years” over a period of time, in order to qualify for lifetime elite years.
There was also previously a Lifetime Titanium Elite level for members that had stayed in excess of 750 Lifetime Qualifying Nights after combination of your Starwood Preferred Guest and Marriott Rewards accounts. However, this level is no longer publicly available, with Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum being the highest published available level.
About My Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Travel Journey:
I started seriously travelling for work about seventeen years ago. Initially, I was travelling and crediting into the Marriott Rewards program as a result of better hotel availability in my geographic area of the Pacific Northwest. Since Marriott Rewards was a pretty boring program, and there weren’t a lot of Marriott hotels in my area, I ended up switching over to Starwood Preferred Guest.
My years with Starwood Preferred Guest were outstanding. At almost every stay, I would get better and better benefits along with outstanding recognition. I can still remember the smiles on the front desk’s reception agents when I came to check in.
The points world was terrific for a number of years until Starwood Preferred Guest got absorbed by Marriott Rewards. The combined program was re-branded Marriott Bonvoy and provided recognition for achievements under both programs. While the newer program promised a great experience, it hasn’t achieved the same amount of cult following or customer centric approach that was achieved under the Starwood Preferred Guest program.
Tracking Elite Years:
Towards the end of each calendar year, the travel road warriors would track their annual year of elite credit. Each year of credit would allow for additional qualification into the Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime program.
When the two programs combined, I ended up with about four hundred and forty three eligible lifetime nights. This was enough to put me over the qualifying Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Gold level with a minimum of four hundred Elite Qualifying Nights and seven years as a Gold Elite or Higher.
During the merger, there was a period of time when the data between the two programs did not accurately map. This resulted in many being shorted a year of elite lifetime credit. Fortunately after about a year and a half of back and forth, Marriott Bonvoy corrected the issue. As a result, all Marriott Bonvoy members should have the correct amount of Life Time years showing in their Marriott Bonvoy account.
Achieving Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Elite Status:
After my Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime years successfully credited, I was sitting at nine elite qualifying years. Towards the end of the year, I had stayed the equivalent of 79 elite qualifying nights, so I had enough nights to re-qualify for Marriott Bonvoy Titanium and Lifetime Platinum status.
I always ended up with more Elite Qualifying Nights than Elite Years in the program. As a result, my barrier to entry into the Lifetime Elite Program was the number of Elite Years. It seems I have enough nights to be qualified into the Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium program; which sadly no longer is offered.
The Marriott Bonvoy program has about 122 million members. When the year ticked over into the New Year, I didn’t get an immediate notification. Given the volume of members, I figured they would eventually get around to me as they batch processed recipients.
On January 17, I happened to be snooping around the Marriott Bonvoy app iPhone for a future work trip. When I checked out the accounts section, I got a notice that I had achieved the Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum Level.
There is a Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Achievement website that is located behind a secure password protected site. I never got a congratulations email inviting me into the Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum community. Instead, I located the site through Google and Reddit.
After getting the Lifetime Achievement notice, I tried to access the Lifetime Achievement Site on the same day. However, I got stopped by the security system which apparently hadn’t caught up to the lifetime status updates.
When the weekend rolled around about three days later on January 20th, I tried again. This time, I was successful at signing in.
Inside the Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Achievement Website:
The Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Achievement Website is broken down into five categories: Congratulations, Complimentary Gift, Your Highlights, Lifetime Community, and Redemption & Benefits.
Congratulations:
Immediately after signing in, the landing page offered a video from Mr Tony Capuno, CEO of Marriott International. This was an easily viewable one minute and eight second video that offered a theme of continued exploration, and highlighted some of the benefits that Lifetime status featured. These included marketing that Marriott Bonvoy points that don’t expire, and benefits that last for life.
There was also a montage of staff members in various countries around the world, which was a nice touch since they are typically the point of contact we have as travellers.
In an interesting theme, the video appeared to me to be more oriented towards the continued earning and redeeming of points. The word “loyalty” isn’t mentioned at all until almost the end of the video at the 48 second mark.
Complimentary Gift:
Scrolling down past the video, the Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Achievement Program offers a complimentary gift. Marriott Bonvoy has elected to provide a set of two Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Luggage tags as a way of recognizing their lifetime members.
There is no alternative gift offered (such as a discount on a redemption, or additional points) that we’ve previously seen under the Starwood Elite Re-Qualification program. The Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Achievement gift is a take it or leave it scenario.
On selecting the gift, you’re asked to confirm your mailing address and that you consent for the release of the information. After confirming the luggage tags, you’ll receive a confirmation screen and subsequent email indicating that your luggage tags will be delivered within 12 weeks.
Interestingly enough, Marriott Bonvoy only provides for ninety days for the selection of the luggage tag gift. This seems like an awfully short window for people that are likely on the road quite a bit and I am surprised that it’s not open for a longer or indefinite period of time. It seems that for something that takes at least ten years to earn, that the selection of a gift should be a standing item available whenever.
Your highlights:
The next part of the Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Achievement website is that Your highlights section. This section contains a “pull” of much of the data belonging to your profile over the course of your relationship with Marriott and Starwood Preferred Guest.
In my case, it showed data earning from 2006 all the way up to 2024. While it showed the amount of lifetime points earned, it also showed the overall amount of redeemed points. It’s worth mentioning that these amounts didn’t exactly balance to the remaining points available in my account for redemption. Accordingly, it’s more like “general information” than anything scientific.
I was interested to see my most frequent hotel brands stayed in, (Westin, Sheraton and Marriott), along with my most frequently visited cities.
While there was nothing out of the ordinary within this information. it was worth a few minutes to look back at your own travel journey over the past decades.
Lifetime Community:
The next portion of the website revealed some information on the most popular Marriott Bonvoy redemptions. This area was separated by region mostly centered around a continent. Showing where the world is headed these days, Greater China had it’s own section on the map.
The website allowed you to see where the top twenty most popular redemption where for each region. This portion of the website didn’t feature any personalized content, but rather an aggregate of the overall communities’ stay patterns.
Flipping through the lists, there were no major surprises amongst the lists. It wasn’t mind blowing to know that the New York Marriott Marquis was the number one hotel for point redemption in North America. However, the list did provide some insight as to the destinations and properties that Marriott Bonvoy elite members redeem points. If anything, it demonstrated the properties to avoid if you were seeking an upgrade since they’re likely to be flooded with Marriott Elite members.
Redemption and Benefits:
The last portion of the Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Achievement site was a Redemption and Benefits section. The redemption and benefits section highlighted the different ways to stay engaged with the program; by redeeming points for all inclusive resorts, Marriott Homes and Villas and Ritz Carlton Reserve.
There wasn’t much in this section of the website that a ten year elite member wouldn’t already know if they have been following along with the program. As a result, I ended up skipping over this section of the website for the most part.
How I Feel About Achieving Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Status:
It’s fair to say that after seventeen years of travel on the road, it’s nice to be finally recognized and not have the pressure to achieve an elite level in a hotel program. It has been many nights away from home in Marriott and Starwood hotels on work travels, along with a few great personal holidays in there for good measure.
It’s a lot harder for us in Canada to achieve Marriott Bonvoy elite status. The most elite nights you can get from a credit cards such as the American Express Marriott Bonvoy Credit Card is fifteen elite nights, which aren’t stackable with any other card. This means that you have to spend at least 35 nights in hotels on the road, just to earn Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status. The largest relief is not having to worry about being away from home.
In Closing: Achieving Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum Elite Status
I have finally earned Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum elite status.
It only took about seventeen years and about seven hundred and fifty four nights in Marriott properties to achieve this. While the Marriott Bonvoy program isn’t as exciting at the Starwood Preferred Guest program, it’s nice to be guaranteed some form of breakfast, a minor upgrade or lounge access where it is provided.
I’ll be looking forward to my next Marriott stay as a Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum member.
If you are a Marriott Bonvoy Elite Member, are you looking forward to earning Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Status ?
My final flight on this trip was on Air Canada’s smallest Airbus 300 series aircraft; the Airbus 319. Air Canada only has a few of these Airbus 319’s in the fleet, so it marked a special occassion to have flown them. Despite the smaller size, Air Canada has maintained the same size of business class for this size of cabin. Let’s take a look at what a short haul business class flight looks like on a smaller Air Canada narrowbody jet.
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.
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:
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Winnipeg
- Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Winnipeg – Montreal
- My Experience Renting with Hertz President’s Circle: Montreal International Airport
- Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, Canada
- Air Canada Business Class: Montreal – Edmonton
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Edmonton – Vancouver
Review: Air Canada Business Class A319-1, Edmonton International Airport – Vancouver International Airport
I tend to almost exclusively fly with Air Canada within Canada for business travel. Westjet doesn’t easily compare, with no real frequent flier program and travellers that generally seem to be infrequent and less organized.
Today’s flight was on the rare Air Canada Airbus 319 series aircraft. While there are over one thousand three hundred Airbus 319’s operating globally at the time of this report, it’s pretty rare to fly one within the Air Canada fleet. There are only 5 Airbus 319 series versions within Air Canada’s portfolio.
I’ve also previously had the opportunity to fly the Airbus 319 with larger fleet operators of American Airlines, British Airways, Etihad Airlines, LAN Peru and United Airlines on short haul regional and international flights. I’ve also had the opportunity to fly with them on smaller boutique regional airlines such as Air Namibia. Be sure to check out those reviews if you want to see how other manufacturers operate their smaller jets.
Connecting through Edmonton International Airport:
Getting back to the report, I arrived into Edmonton International Airport on an Air Canada Business Class Montreal – Edmonton flight. I ended up taking a connection instead of a non stop Montreal – Vancouver route, in order to save my company a little bit of money.
After a visit to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton, it was time for me to locate my departing gate.
Air Canada
Business Class
YEG – YVR (Edmonton International Airport – Vancouver International Airport)
AC 241 – Business Class (P)
12:30 PM – 1:36 PM
Dec 7, 2023
Booked: Airbus 319-1
Flown: Airbus 319-1
Boarding Air Canada Business Class:
Air Canada Business Class tickets get you Priority Zone 1 boarding. Today’s flight happened to be parked next to a plane headed off on a trans – continental flight to Toronto. As a result, the boarding area was quite congested.
I ended up locating my departure gate at Gate 52. I found myself in Zone 1 about three back from the front of the line. During the boarding process, Air Canada would end up organizing to load several elderly people numbering into the dozens. This added a little time to the process.
On Board Air Canada Business Class:
Air Canada has been flying the Airbus 319-1 series since the year 1995, with various deliveries until 2001. The Air Canada Business Class cabin on the Airbus 319-1, much like their Airbus 320-2 series represents their oldest business class cabin. At the time of this report, there are only 5 remaining in the Air Canada fleet. This makes the opportunity to fly on an Air Canada Airbus 319 a unique and rare experience.
Despite the Airbus 319 being a rare experience, the aircraft interiors are quite dated. The last upgrade took place in 2005 as part of the Air Canada XM project, which added personal video back screens and glacier blue chairs. Since then, a lot has happened in the technology and space areas (like the introduction of smartphones), and the cabin appears somewhat antiquated by modern standards. Thankfully, work on a new cabin is in progress, and by the end of 2025, most aircraft should have undergone the modification.
For today’s flight, I entered the Air Canada Business Class A319-1 series cabin. The narrow body cabin is set up with four rows of business class in a 2 – 2 configuration. There were four rows of business class. There are no seats in position 1A and 1C, with a crew coat closet taking up this space. As a result, the cabin has fourteen seats available.
Each seat has a dated seatback monitor that offers some entertainment value. Dependent on your window shade, the screen can get washed out a bit with ambient light.
I found my way to my assigned Seat 3F, which was on the shady side of the flight. I’ve taken to sitting on the opposite side of the sun if I can manage it, as it makes for a less bright flight.
As with my other flights, I did find that the video screen and entertainment system, which has been around since 2005, has well past it’s peak performance. The screen was very slow to react, and often took several seconds in order to register commands.
When you think that a modern smartphone’s lifecycle is about three years, an audio / video entertainment system that’s been around for almost 18 years, the age of the system really stands out.
In terms of seat comfort, the space was about “as expected” for a domestic first / business class seat. The seat offered a reasonable amount of shoulder room. Showing it’s age, the seat didn’t offered many places to store digital devices such as cell phones or computers. I would end up storing these in the bulkhead wall pocket in front of me.
Pre Departure Services:
While most United States carriers offer an open bar pre-departure beverage, Air Canada simply offers a small bottle of Naya Water which was waiting on the seat. A complimentary pair of headphones was also resting on the console for use with the in flight entertainment system.
Additionally, I was joined by a seat mate who ended up in the cabin on e-upgrades. At least, that is what I gathered from overhearing the conversation based on the in seat phone call to their partner.
Typically, the pre-departure portion is when Air Canada passes out in flight menus. However, on this one hour and twenty five minute flight, a standard snack is served. As a result, there were no printed menus provided.
Departing Edmonton International Airport:
I had a straightforward departure from the Edmonton International Airport. With no departure delays, it was an immediate departure out of Edmonton under sunny skies on snowy grounds.
The Meal: A Snack
Todays flight was marked at one hour and twenty five minutes gate to gate. Once we leveled off at cruising altitude, a light snack was served.
A small chilled cheese plate was served. I ended up with a Ginger Ale, which was served without an offer of ice cubes.
Shortly after the cheese plate was served, staff came around with a snack basket. The snack basket contained Miss Vickies chips and Lindor Dark Chocolate Bars. While the snack basket occasionally runs out in terms of quantity, for this particular flight, there was more than enough to go around.
It was a fairly quick flight back to Vancouver. While the snack didn’t substitute for a complete meal replacement, it was something to keep you going and pass the time over the hour and a half duration of this particular flight.
Arriving to Vancouver International Airport:
With a mid day arrival into Vancouver, we approached on runway 16R. Without any delays, we landed pretty quickly.
We parked at Gate 31, which was located really close to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Vancouver. I disembarked and was home by the late afternoon after collecting my car at Park n Fly.
The Bottom Line: Air Canada Business Class A319-1
The Air Canada Business Class on the Airbus 319-1 has more of a novelty factor as being one of the few Air Canada Airbus 319 series aircraft. With only five left in the fleet, flying one is a different and unique experience.
The short haul flight between Edmonton and Vancouver doesn’t offer a whole lot. While you will get a more comfortable seat, and a small snack plate, there isn’t much else that is offered between these two cities. The main benefit are the priority services. which can compliment a journey quite nicely.
If you’ve flown Air Canada Business Class between Alberta and British Columbia, have you enjoyed the snack basket or cheese plate on your travels ?
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.
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.
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:
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Winnipeg
- Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Winnipeg – Montreal
- My Experience Renting with Hertz President’s Circle: Montreal International Airport
- Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, Canada
- Air Canada Business Class: Montreal – Edmonton
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Edmonton – Vancouver
Review: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, Edmonton International, Alberta, Canada
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.
Map Courtesy flyeia.com
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.
If you visited the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Edmonton, did you prefer it from the nearby Plaza Premium Lounge ?
Air Canada has recently acquired their newest fleet addition; the brand new Airbus 220-300 series aircraft. The aircraft were designed by Bombardier aircraft in Quebec, Canada before being acquired by Airbus and rebranded as the 220 series aircraft. With Air Canada ordering 45 Airbus 220 – 300 series aircraft for their smaller jet routes, it seemed like a great time to try them out in Air Canada regional business class.
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.
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:
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Winnipeg
- Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Winnipeg – Montreal
- My Experience Renting with Hertz President’s Circle: Montreal International Airport
- Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, Canada
- Air Canada Business Class: Montreal – Edmonton
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Edmonton – Vancouver
Review: Air Canada Business Class Airbus 220-3, Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport – Edmonton International Airport
On a recent business trip within Canada, I found myself on an Air Canada flight between Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and Edmonton’s International Airport on Air Canada’s newest narrow body aircraft: the Air Canada Airbus 220-300 series aircraft.
After my Air Canada Business Class Montreal – Edmonton (this post), I would end up connecting to an Air Canada Business Class Edmonton – Vancouver flight before returning home.
Departing from Montreal International Airport:
I was visiting Montreal for a series of meetings in the suburb of Montreal Brossard, Quebec area. After a multi day stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, I was up at 4:45 AM, leaving the hotel at 5:30 AM for a self drive trip to the Montreal International Airport.
After returning a Hertz President’s Circle car rental in the Montreal International Airport car garage, I headed into the Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. Wandering through the airport, I passed by the Air Canada Priority Check In area, located in check in area 100 – 199.
I had previously checked in through the Air Canada app for iPhone. I didn’t have any checked baggage, so I rolled straight through to security. Air Canada Business Class tickets offer priority security screening, as marked on the boarding card.
In addition to Priority Screening, I had a Nexus Card, which offered me front of line security screening located just beyond the Air Canada Priority Services desks. With no one in line at security screening at 6:10 AM, I was through to the secure side using a Nexus Card very quickly and promptly.
The Domestic portion of the Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport is a small and tired facility to most other Canadian airports. It’s dark and cramped hallways are mostly at capacity, although were pretty empty this morning at just past 6 AM when I passed through.
I went and located the nearby Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Montreal Domestic. Access was provided courtesy of the class of ticket on my boarding card. Since my last visit, there haven’t been many changes for the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge. As I’ve reviewed the lounge previously, I won’t do so again. Please feel free to check out that earlier review in order to see the amenities of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge -Montreal Domestic space.
During my time in the Maple Leaf Lounge, I did happen to get a glance at the Air Canada Airbus 220-300 aircraft pictured above that would be taking us to Edmonton. The plane looked sharp and was virtually indistinguishable from their livery on the larger Airbus 320 series aircraft.
Air Canada
Business Class
YUL – YEG (Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport – Edmonton International Airport)
AC 331 – Business Class (P)
8:10 AM – 11:02 AM
Dec 7, 2023
Booked: Airbus 220-3
Flown: Airbus 220-3
I eventually wandered down to Gate 1 prior to boarding. The gate area was fairly cramped, with standing room only. The gate agent processed a few standby passengers prior to starting the general boarding process.
Since I was early, I was among the first to board with Boarding Zone 1.
On Board Air Canada Business Class:
The Airbus 220-300 series aircraft is Air Canada’s newest fleet addition. The Airbus 220’s joined the Air Canada fleet on January 16, 2020 just prior to the global pandemic.
This particular Montreal – Edmonton route marked Air Canada’s third longest route by distance, behind Montreal – Calgary coming in at second longest, and Montreal – Los Angeles taking the crown as the longest Air Canada Airbus 220 route currently in the system. With a flight time of four hours and fifty minutes, the flight would easily give enough time to properly review the experience on a longer trans continental flight.
When boarding was announced, I was among the very first on board. I entered into the Air Canada Airbus 220-300 series Business Class cabin.
The Air Canada Business Class cabin on the Airbus 220-3 features a 2 – 2 configuration. This is an upgrade from their Air Canada Canada Regional Jet Business Class cabin that features a 2 – 1 configuration. Air Canada offers three rows of Business Class on the Airbus 220-300, situated across rows 1, 2 and 3.
The Air Canada A220 Business Class seats are the slim line seats that are also found on the current generation Air Canada Boeing 737 – Max aircraft. The Airbus 220 version offers larger than expected cabin windows that offer travellers a great look outside, along with allowing a lot of bright light into the cabin.
I had selected seat 2F, which was a window seat on the “shady” side of the aircraft for our western flight. The in flight display offered welcoming images of the destination. It was a great way of getting travellers into the mood to fly, in anticipation of arriving to the arrival city ahead.
The Air Canada Airbus 220-3 seats are upright recliner styled First Class seats. While they don’t recline into a full flat seat, they do offer a small foot rest that was retractable from the seat ahead. Given my longer frame as a 6ft 2 inch (185 cm) tall person, I didn’t find the rest all that comfortable.
The seat recline was accessed through pressing a button in the centre console. The second button also extended a foot rest recliner for longer rest periods. For this day time flight, I didn’t end up using either.
The seat offered a small amount of storage in the centre console. Empower seat power plug ins were also located in the centre console. The Air Canada Boeing 737 Max version of this seat offers sufficient space to store a laptop. Unfortunately, the Airbus 220 version only allows enough room for a Lonely Planet Guidebook Alaska for a trip that I was in the middle of planning. For those that were looking for a convenient work charging space for a longer trip may be a little disappointed.
The cabin on the Air Canada Airbus 220-3 series offers individual lights and individual air nozzles. I always find that having personal air nozzles always makes a flight more comfortable and was comforted to see them on this particular flight.
The space was “as expected” for a domestic first- or business-class seat in terms of comfort. There was adequate shoulder room in the seat. The version of the seat was a little more compact than the Air Canada Boeing 737 Max version of the same seat; mostly notably in the storage space for laptop computers. However, if you’re just planning on relaxing, you won’t notice much of a notable difference.
Pre Departure Services:
Air Canada served a simple pre-departure beverage, which consisted of a tiny bottle of Naya Water that was waiting on the centre console. Additionally, a free set of headphones for the in-flight entertainment system were provided free of charge.
A printed breakfast menu was distributed by the flight attendants as boarding completed. The printed menu that Air Canada continues to offer is a great extra that makes the experience feel just that much more special.
Despite this, the usual Air Canada breakfast omelette made it’s appearance. This item hasn’t really changed substantially in the last twenty years that I’ve been flying Air Canada. Given that it’s typically pretty plain, it’s gained a bit of notoriety its presentation.
A drink list was also provided. Given that it was breakfast hour, I wasn’t paying much attention to anything on the menu other than a decent cup of hot Lavazza Coffee.
The lunch / early dinner menu featured a choice of two hot entrees, along with an appetizer consisting of a heritage mixed salad, along with a blueberry cheese cake for dessert. The food offering was reasonable for a trans continental flight, with a little bit extra available for those that were really hungry.
Departing Montreal International Airport:
We departed on time. Our push back included a pilot announcement that we would be headed over to the de-icing bay for a quick de-ice of the wings.
After we de-iced next to a Sunwing B737, we headed off towards the runway. We had no wait for take off, and haad views of snowy Montreal as we ascended towards cruise altitude.
The Meal: Breakfast
The flight time today was scheduled at four hours and fifty minutes gate to gate. The meal service started at about forty five minutes after take off from Montreal. As an early morning flight, and having left the hotel at 5:30 AM, I appreciated the opportunity to get down to breakfast as soon as possible.
The in flight service started off with a warm towel service. This has become a regular feature on Air Canada domestic flights. Although it isn’t usually expected, it remains a nice touch.
Having enjoyed dozens of Air Canada Omelettes, including one on my flight out on Air Canada Business Class Vancouver – Winnipeg, I decided that I just couldn’t do another one. Instead, I opted for the Traditional French Toast with a fruit compote with a vanilla creme anglais.
The traditional french toast had a colourful appearance to it, although the fruit compote had a canned taste to it. The creme anglais was tucked underneath the french toast itself, making for a little work to incorporate it into each bite.
I pretty much devoured the meal. While fruit, yoghurt and a bread basket was also offered along side the main course, I still found the serving side to be a little less than what I might have liked. If I had about twenty percent more food, I would have been completely full.
In Fight Entertainment:
I fiddled with the outdated in-flight entertainment system during the flight. The Air Canada Airbus 220-3 series in-flight entertainment system has an updated version that contains the most modern type of Air Canada’s in flight entertainment system.
The in flight entertainment system offered a number of movies split somewhat annoyingly by category; new releases, action, drama, international. By splitting up the movies in this manner, it requires many key strokes to review any movie selection. While the selection was much more than the comparable narrow body Airbus 320 aircraft under Air Canada’s older XM product, it still offered a lessor amount than you might find on a larger wide body aircraft.
The entertainment system also offered a 3d flight map that was almost too complicated for it’s own food. I was able to periodically follow along with the flight map as we crossed Canada towards Edmonton.
This particular flight was outfitted with the Air Canada wifi system. The system was able to be activated through turning on wifi, then opening your web browser.
Air Canada allows for in flight wifi to be purchased within the following increments:
- 30 minutes = 600 Aeroplan Points or $6.50 CAD
- Flight Pass = 1,200 Aeroplan Points or $11.75 CAD
- North American Plan = $65.95 CAD
It’s great that Air Canada allows for the redemption of points for in flight wifi. It’s actually priced at a really reasonable redemption value at about a penny a point; an excellent deal.
As a reminder, Air Canada offers free texting for Aeroplan members. This is accessed through entering your seat and flight number. Since this met my needs, I didn’t access the access the wifi.
The Second Service:
Within the last hour of the flight, Air Canada offered a beverage and a series of warmed nuts. These were served on a dish, along with your favorite beverage.
The nut service was followed up with a snack basket consisting of Miss Vickies Original Recipe potato chips, along with a Lindt Chocolate bar. Given that I was still pretty hungry, I had one of each.
While I can appreciate that many American Airlines go straight for the snack basket as a primary food offering, I found it alright that Air Canada offered a snack basket as. a secondary food offering on this brief five hour flight. It seemed to strike the right balance between two meal services, versus a single meal service and a snack.
Landing at Edmonton International Airport:
We didn’t have any air traffic delays landing in Edmonton. Being in the start of winter, I had more snowy views out of the oversized A220 windows as we descended into Edmonton International Airport
It has been a while since I’ve flown a trans continental flight that had snow on the ground at both ends. After a successful landing, we deplaned into Edmonton International Airport. Parts of the airport were deserted and serene, despite being near lunchtime.
I found my way to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton, prior to connecting to my Air Canada Business Class Edmonton – Vancouver flight home.
The Bottom Line: Air Canada Business Class A220-3
Air Canada has done a pretty respectable job with it’s business class offering on the Airbus 220-300 series aircraft.
While the seat itself is almost identical to the Air Canada Business Class Boeing 737 Max product, only the most hard core business travellers will pick out the subtle differences in less storage space between the two types of aircraft. The seat comfort was much better than the Air Canada Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ), which is a major improvement.
The in flight service consists of a mostly filling meal, although I would have appreciated a little more variety in the menu offerings. The snack basket was a great addition as a second meal, even if they didn’t have time to serve a full second service.
Overall, the Airbus 220-300 marked a better experience than you’d get on Air Canada’ current 300 series aircraft. I’d happily look forward to flying this aircraft again in the near future.
If you have flown the Air Canada Airbus 220, did you enjoy the business class experience ?
Travels this week had me travelling to the edge of the Eastern Townships in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. My week had me based in the Quartier Dix 30 area of Brossard; a suburb of Montreal, Quebec. With few hotels in the area belonging to any loyalty programs, the only choice for me was the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard. The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard was located just across the street from all the retail shopping of Quartier Dix 30. How would the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard fare for a weeks’ worth of travels?
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.
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:
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Winnipeg
- Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Winnipeg – Montreal
- My Experience Renting with Hertz President’s Circle: Montreal International Airport
- Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, Canada
- Air Canada Business Class: Montreal – Edmonton
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Edmonton – Vancouver
Review: Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, Quebec, Canada
“A brand new Courtyard by Marriott for the urban traveller that’s located on the sidelines of Quartier Dix 30 in Brossard, Quebec; a comfortable stone’s throw from Montreal”
My visit to the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard marked a three day visit to the region.
Booking The Courtyard Brossard:
The suburb of Brossard, Quebec is located about fifteen minutes drive out of Ile de Montreal. There were no other chain hotels in the area, aside from the Alt Hotel located nearby. My visit would have me based out of the hotel for the weekday portion of the week for meetings in the area.
The hotel opened in June 2020 as a brand new construction build in the Dix 30 neighbourhood of Brossard. Along with the rest of the Dix 30 neighbourhood, most of the area is a construction zone consisting of a mix of newly constructed medium rise office and residential towers.
The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard hotel generally offers rates between $160 – $220 CAD ($117 – $160 USD) during the week for a standard guest room with one king and a city view.
I booked through the Marriott Bonvoy website, which as a Marriott Titanium Member, entitled me to a complimentary upgrade to the best available room, including select suites, complimentary access to the Marriott Executive Club Lounge (of which there wasn’t one at this property), and a complimentary late check out up to 4 PM.
It is worth mentioning that there are only a few Executive Suites at this particular property. As a result, the likelihood of getting an upgrade into an actual suite (with a separate living room) is limited. The likely Marriott Bonvoy Elite upgrades offered will be a soft upgrade into a higher floor category, a better view or quieter area away from the elevator.
Marriott Bonvoy Redemption Opportunities:
The Courtyard by Marriott Brossard offers competitive room redemptions with the new variable redemption rates. While I can’t imagine many wanting to redeem points at this hotel, rooms are typically around 20,000 points per night, on a fairly constant basis. I managed to see rates as low as 15,500 on Sunday nights, with rates as high as 26,500 on weeknights.
If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at $0.008 a point, you’d have to spend more than $160 USD to come out ahead for a 20,000 point redemption, or $124 USD if you happen to find an excellent 15,550 point redemption. While this represents reasonable value, it’s not likely that many business travellers will be redeeming points at this property. Perhaps if you were looking for a place to stop over on the way to and from Vermont.
Getting to The Courtyard by Marriott Brossard:
I arrived into Quebec through the Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport on an Air Canada Business Class Winnipeg – Montreal flight. I picked up a Hertz President’s Circle Car Rental and headed out to the surburb of Brossard, Quebec, Canada.
The city had received 30 centimetres of snow the day that I arrived. As a result, it was a bit of a slower drive through the cities highways as I headed out to Brossard. It took me about thirty minutes to drive between the airport and the hotel.
The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard is located in the newly constructed Dix 20 neighbourhood. The neighbourhood contains a number of newly constructed mid rise towers between ten and fifteen stories high.
The property is also short walk away from the regional “Du Quartier” Station of the REM Train, which could allow you access to the property without having access to a vehicle. Despite having the train close by, my business and personal schedule didn’t allow for me to test it out with a trip into Vieux Montreal.
There are ample dining options around the hotel itself. In addition, there is big box retail shopping heaven located within 5 minutes walk (or 2 minutes drive) from the property in Dix 30. I managed walking to restaurants around the hotel property with proper winter boots given all the snow around the area.
Upon arriving to the hotel, the loading zone was completely full of cars that obviously hadn’t moved beyond the fifteen minute loading time period; most of them where completely snow covered. As a result, I had to locate street parking well off the property, in order to check in.
Even though it snowed a considerable amount, it would be helpful for arriving guests to either have a loading zone that is available for guests or easy signs towards the hotel parking. In my experience, this didn’t seem to be manned at all which made it slightly less convenient.
With no visible parking garage for the hotel, it made for a less than convenient arrival. I ended up parking about one block away and walking through the snow to get the front desk.
Checking into the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard:
Upon entering the lobby, I walked down towards the front desk. The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard had a high ceiling with a giant staircase up to the second floor on the left hand side of the lobby. In a sneaky design trick, the ceiling of the lobby had a mirror on it, making the lobby look a lot higher than it actually was.
Upon arriving at the front desk, there was only one staff member working tonight. I was promptly checked in, and given instructions to the parking garage.
Given that a short line of travelers had quickly accumulated behind me, I had a business like and efficient check in. Having completed a mobile check in through the Marriott Bonvoy App, everything was pretty much ready to go when I arrived.
There wasn’t any mention of Marriott Titanium loyalty, nor did I start to ask about it. I did ask about parking garage instructions and was given directions to take two rights out the front of the hotel driveway, and park in any spot not marked as reserved in the hotel underground.
Getting back to the hotel, the lobby contained a small market with sundries available for purchase. This was located immediately beside the front desk. While didn’t get the opportunity (or need) to purchase any additional items, it was nice to find things available for purchase if needed. Given Canadian alcohol licensing regulations, there were no alcoholic drinks available in the market.
I hopped back in the car and navigated around to the building underground. The Courtyard Hotel shares the parking underground with other restaurants and offices in the combined block building.
There isn’t anything obvious marking the underground entrance but it is a fairly large one. Fortunately, the parking remains free of charge, and a great deal for an inner city suburban hotel.
The Room: Executive Guest Room, 1 King, Sofa bed, City view:
After parking my car in the underground, I headed up to my assigned room #1014.
Courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status, I pro-actively received an upgrade to an Executive Guest Room with 1 King Bed. This was pre-assigned after I had checked in on the mobile app, and there was no further upgrade at the front desk.
I key fobbed my way up to the tenth floor. Room #1014 was located fairly close to the elevator.
The Bedroom:
After entering the room, I found myself in a short hallway that led towards the main room. The Executive Room was a slightly larger version of their standard room. The room featured the current longer rail desk with a moulded suitcase rack integrated into the design.
The Executive Room at the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard was nicely decorated with a contemporary soothing look. Courtyard has come up with some pleasant looking hotel rooms. They’ve offered a nicer decor than the last Four Points by Sheraton that I’ve had the chance to stay in.
There were a few amenities in the room, although nothing to get super excited about. The room featured a Keurig Coffee maker, along with a microwave and an empty mini refrigerator. While you won’t be blown away by the convenience, it’s certainly something that you’d miss if it wasn’t there.
Like my last stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Nanaimo, the television viewing angle from the bed was at a ninety degree angle. I didn’t end up spending much time in the hotel room given work activities, but this may be a less convenient angle if you happen to enjoy watching television in bed.
The Bathroom:
The room bathroom featured a nicely fitted bathroom with a stand up shower complete with convenience shelves. These are always super handy for travels, since there is never usually anywhere to store your own toiletries in hotel room showers.
Much like my past experiences, surprisingly, the room actually featured proper glassware; which is a nice touch for a business traveler hotel. I’ve usually come to expect plastic cups when I stay at the within brand “Four Points by Sheraton” hotels.
The room itself offered a city view over the rooftops of nearby empty construction sites and other office buildings in the area. The high floor was a redeeming feature of this particular view, which overlooked the park and another building pad.
In terms of sleep quality, I am happy to report that I had an excellent sleep over my three days at this property. The room offered central air conditioning, leading for a quiet environment. Hallway noise was minimal and I didn’t hear any noise throughout the property. I’d give this place top marks for a quiet place to sleep.
Around the Hotel Property:
The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard isn’t considered a full service hotel. As a result, it offers limited amenities.
Fitness Centre – Indoor Pool:
The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard offers an indoor pool and exercise centre. Unfortunately, this area is not obviously marked. I needed up missing the fact that this property offered a pool until well after I left.
If you’re interested in using the pool, make sure you inquire at the front desk for it’s location.
While I didn’t use either the gym or the pool, it’s nice to have an option available to guests; assuming that you can find out where it is.
Food and Beverage:
The Courtyard by Marriott Nanaimo offers an attached restaurant called Industria Restaurant and Bar that is accessible through the hotel lobby. There are also a number of independent restaurants located a short walk away.
Since the Industria Restaurant and Bar didn’t look too exciting, I ended up going off property for a late dinner.
Iru Izakaya Brossard Restaurant:
During my stay, I ended up dining in the nearby Iru Izakaya Brossard restaurant. The Iru Izakaya was located just a two minute walk from the hotel’s front doors.
I turned up at 9:15 PM without a reservation on a Monday night and was able to be seated. The restaurant offered a large tavern style bar, with Japanese and Korean tapas and appetizers. It was the perfect thing after a long flight.
The Iru Izakaya restaurant featured some pretty cool neon lights that were reminiscent of Akihabara in Tokyo Japan. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a great collection of neon anywhere. As a result, this urban decor brightened my mood.
I was able to load up on chicken karage and some tuna tatiaki described Fried chicken with wasabi mayonnaise and Seared red tuna served with ponzu sauce, white truffle oil, red onion, tobiko, yuzu, with a giant Sapporo beer to wash it all down.
Overall, I enjoyed the Iru Izakaya restaurant. It hit the spot for a quick snack with a menu that met my West Coast tastes that was slightly different than the usual work circuit restaurant.
Checking Out of The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard Hotel:
On departure day, I checked out of the hotel using the Marriott Bonvoy app. I dropped off my used keys at the front desk.
I had no surprises on the bill with everything “as expected”. The check out was instant through the app and without incident.
My Marriott Bonvoy points posted to my account within 48 hours as promised, although the online check out indicated they might take up to ten working days. In this case, they surpassed expectations.
The Bottom Line: The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard Hotel:
The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard met all my expectations for a business stay.
The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard offered brand new accommodations that were located in Quartier Dix 30. The room condition was brand new and everything was as you might expect for a stay at a Courtyard by Marriott property. There were several nearby restaurants that were able to accomodate a person on a West Coast travel schedule, meaning that they were actually open for dinner past 9 PM.
About the only thing I could fault was the less than smooth arrival experience, since underground parking isn’t readily obvious when you arrive to the property. Having said that, once I had found it, it was pretty easy to locate in the future.
If you have stayed at The Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, did you enjoy your stay ?
I have always been intrigued by Hertz President’s Circle status. However, I think my days holding this elite level with Hertz are numbered. With many of my rentals failing to actually credit for elite status, I have recently been spending a lot of time chasing them in order to get credit applied. This week’s travels would have me passing through Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. While I usually get better experience in the United States, how would my experience rate for this Canadian destination?
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.
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:
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Winnipeg
- Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Winnipeg – Montreal
- My Experience Renting with Hertz President’s Circle: Montreal International Airport
- Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, Canada
- Air Canada Business Class: Montreal – Edmonton
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Edmonton – Vancouver
My Experience Renting as Hertz President’s Circle Member at Montréal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.
As I have previously written about, I’ve maintained Hertz President’s Circle status for the past several years as a result of some heavy work travel. One of the primary benefits of Hertz President’s Choice is the Ultimate Choice aisle where you get to pick any car in the aisle and go. The marketplace has standardized this feature across many of the major rental companies in this space.
At times, I’ve gotten some pretty terrific upgrades that have included upgrades into Mercedes SLK Convertibles…
…and even a great brand new Volvo V60 station wagon with less than 4,400 kilometres on the clock.
About Hertz Gold Plus Rewards:
Since this space is about loyalty programs, Hertz offers a loyalty reward program called Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. The program is primarily designed to keep your driver’s licence, credit card and insurance preferences on file to allow for quicker rentals that allow for bypassing the legal formalities of the rental counter in many locations and allow you to get out on the road faster.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards also offers the ability to earn Hertz Gold Plus Reward points. While we didn’t typically get a lot of value from car rental points, they’ve recently delivered outsized value from travel when car rental prices escalated during the pandemic when many Hertz locations reduced their vehicle fleets, driving up car prices.
Hertz Gold Plus Rewards offers three tier levels of Gold, Five Star and it’s top tier President’s Circle. It’s around the Hertz Presidents Circle level where the benefits get interesting.
Hertz President’s Circle Benefits:
Hertz’s highest tier level is Hertz President’s Circle. Hertz Presidents’ Circle offers the following benefits:
- Upgrades: Guaranteed
- Hertz Gold Rewards points earning: $1 = 1.5 points
- Hertz Ultimate Choice: Widest Selection
- Dedicated Hertz Reservation Line
With reward redemptions starting at about 950 Hertz Gold Plus Rewards points, you’ll need a little bit of spend in order to get a free rental.
About Hertz Ultimate Choice:
My favorite feature of the Hertz rental experience is the Hertz Ultimate Choice feature found at airports where Hertz Gold Canopy service is offered.
Hertz Ultimate choice offers the ability to “pick from the best car in our newest fleet and go”. Airport locations in the united states offer the best versions of this, but there are select locations that do offer a great experience.
Typically, there is a sign board that designates the lot, along with a convenient monitor that indicates the location of your car. Dependent on the size of the lot, there is a correspondingly large zone.
There is also typically a sign information board that sets out the location of your car, in addition to any messages. Dependent on the size of the station correlates to the size and number of renters on the sign.
at Hertz Toronto Pearson International Airport
As a Hertz President’s Circle member, and as long as you rent an intermediate class car or better, I was able to choose any car in the aisle. As a result, there is usually something pretty good kicking around the lot.
There are odd times when you get stuck with the usual boring junk, but it’s better than nothing. There are often a few compact Sport Utility Vehicles parked around, and usually a Dodge Charger or two.
This leads me to my most recent experience renting from Hertz at the Montreal International Airport.
My Experience at the Hertz Montréal International Airport
I arrived into the Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport on an Air Canada Business Class Winnipeg – Montreal flight. As a result of snowfall that day, I was running about thirty minutes behind, as a result of the late arrival of the aircraft.
Finding the Rental Car Kiosk:
I was trying to catch up with some work colleagues for dinner that had arrived on a flight about ninety minutes earlier. As a result, I wasn’t looking to waste any time.
The car rental area in Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau is located quite a walk from the actual airport itself. After getting land side, I ended up crossing the arrivals zone and walking the green walkway which was intended to lead me to the rental car kiosks.
I would end up walking halfway through the garage, eventually taking a left, then another right to get to the centrally located rental car kiosk rows. All major car rental companies are located within the kiosk area.
Upon getting inside the kiosk area, Hertz was located at the far right end of the counter tops. When I arrived, there was a small group of people lined up at the counter. I suspect these were in efforts to try to change their car rentals to all wheel drive vehicles, as the city had received thirty centimetres of snow that day.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait in that line since I was a Hertz Gold Plus Rewards member. A pop up banner directed me to bypass the counter and head straight for the island kiosks located somewhere in the parking lot.
I hopped outside and ended up doubling back towards the right, in efforts to locate the Hertz kiosk. I ended up walking about four parking rows, until the Hertz kiosk became apparent.
There was no one lined up at the kiosk and no attendant obviously on site. After entering the kiosk, a man appeared quickly to process my reservation.
My paperwork had been pre-printed and was ready to go. The Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau location does not have Ultimate Choice, and their highest level of service is Gold Counter. This meant that there was no browsing the aisles to select a vehicle of choice, as you might find in an airport with Hertz Ultimate Choice.
The Vehicle: A Current Year Toyota RAV4
I had booked an intermediate vehicle. Hertz President’s Circle status offers a guaranteed upgrade. Today, that translated into being assigned a brand new Toyota RAV4 with 36,000km on it.
Despite renting in Quebec, the vehicle had Ontario Licence plates on it. The vehicle had 4 winter tires on it, something that I appreciated.
It is worth mentioning that the Province of Quebec makes it mandatory for cars to have full winter tyres on them between December 1 and March 15. Hertz charges a $3.05 a day “Tire Management Fee” for this service, regardless of whether you are renting during the winter months, or the summer months.
The vehicle was clean and full of gas. I hooked up my Apple Car play to the vehicle through a USB and self navigated myself to the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, where I was staying for the week.
I had no issues with the vehicle during my four day stay, and I actually enjoyed driving the little SUV around for my meetings.
Returning at Montreal International Airport:
After a week at the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, it came time to head home. I was scheduled to depart on an Air Canada Business Class Montreal – Edmonton flight for my next adventure.
I located a Shell gas station in Lachine, Quebec in order to gas up the car. I didn’t notice too many gas stations near the airport. Since I was arriving to the airport at 6 AM, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to get stuck with a closed gas station.
When I arrived to the airport’s return at about 6:10 AM, I was expecting a roving attendant. It turns out that the Hertz office didn’t open until 7 AM. As a result, there were about thirty cars stacked up in the return bays. I just picked a lane, took some photographs of the condition of the vehicle, and located the key drop box which was adjacent to the Hertz Gold Plus Rewards parking lot rental kiosk.
I usually don’t like using key boxes to return cars as it usually takes forever to get your invoice closed. In this case, I recorded the mileage and gas tank level and placed it in the rental envelope. Fortunately, Hertz Montreal was prepared for the amount of cars. I received my final invoice by email about ninety minutes after I’d dropped it off.
Unfortunately, I had issues getting my Hertz Gold Plus Rewards to credit. As of seven days past the rental, the points haven’t turned up in my account. I sent a Missing Points Request through the hertz website and was informed that it would take up to seven days to look into the matter. Fourteen days have long past and I still haven’t received any credit whatsoever.
My Thoughts on Hertz President’s Circle at Montréal International Airport:
While I’ve previously had high expectations of Hertz President’s Circle Ultimate Choice, I’ve learned to taper those expectations.
While I received a small upgrade, the service was pretty transactional. The car I received was in great condition, but i can’t be bothered having to chase rental car companies for loyalty points. The whole purpose of loyalty is to make those transactions easier; when I have to chase them, it leaves a negative feeling in my emotions.
If you have visited Hertz Montreal, did you get assigned a reasonable vehicle that met your expectations ?
The Airbus 320-2, the backbone of Air Canada’s narrow body fleet, was used for today’s trip. With the Airbus 320 being the most popular model, Air Canada has been operating the Airbus 320 family of aircraft across the nation for nearly 35 years. In keeping with the aircraft’s age, the Business Class experience with Air Canada is likewise a little antiquated. Let’s check how the product has held up over time…
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.
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:
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Winnipeg
- Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Winnipeg – Montreal
- My Experience Renting with Hertz President’s Circle: Montreal International Airport
- Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, Canada
- Air Canada Business Class: Montreal – Edmonton
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Edmonton – Vancouver
Review: Air Canada Business Class A320-2, Winnipeg Richardson International Airport – Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport
As the only practical choice for business travel in Canada, Air Canada continues to be the top choice for travellers on business. The majority of Canadian travellers still choose Aeroplan because it’s the only genuine frequent flyer programme that exists within Canada. I had to fly to eastern Canada for a series of meetings that required attendance.
As a result of better fare options, I found myself on a connecting flight between Vancouver and Montreal. The first segment was this post on Air Canada Business Class Vancouver – Winnipeg, and the second flight was on Air Canada Business Class Winnipeg – Montreal (this post).
Connecting through Winnipeg International Airport:
As I had mentioned, I had arrived to the Winnipeg International Airport on Air Canada Business Class Vancouver – Winnipeg. My flight in was on a similar Airbus 320-2, so you can check out that flight review if you want to see what a similar flight looks like.
I took the opportunity to stop in at both the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Winnipeg and Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg. Access to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Winnipeg was included in the class of service of my ticket.
I had reviewed the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Winnipeg previously, so I won’t do so again. Unfortunately, when I visited the Maple Leaf Lounge in the mid afternoon, the lounge was completely at capacity with every available seat occupied. As a result, I didn’t end up staying too long and opted for the comfort of the concourse instead.
Air Canada
Business Class
YWG – YUL (Winnipeg Richardson International Airport – Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport)
AC 376 – Business Class (P)
2:45 PM – 6:45 PM
Dec 4, 2023
Booked: Airbus 320-2
Flown: Airbus 320-2
On Board Air Canada Business Class:
Since 1990, Air Canada has operated the Airbus 320-2 series, taking delivery of the aircraft in several phases until their last delivery in 2003. The Airbus 320-2 aircraft carrying Air Canada’s Business Class cabin is the airline’s oldest business class cabin. There were 16 in the Air Canada fleet left, as of the time of this report.
The last refurbishment took place in 2005 as part of the Air Canada XM project, adding personal video back screens and glacier blue chairs. Since then, many airlines have modernized their cabins, a lot has happened. Today, the cabin appears somewhat antiquated by modern standards. Thankfully, work on a new cabin is in progress, and by the end of 2025, most aircraft should have undergone the newer upgrades that are planned.
For today’s flight, I entered the familiar Air Canada Business Class A320-2 cabin. The narrow body cabin is set up with four rows of business class in a 2 – 2 configuration.
I found my way to my assigned Seat 3A, which is the second row on the left hand side of the plane. There is no row of seats on the left side of the plane for the first row. Again, I had no issues storing carry on luggage in the overhead bins, despite the older configurations.
The space was “as expected” for a domestic first- or business-class seat in terms of comfort. There was adequate shoulder room in the seat. The seat didn’t give many locations to keep digital items like computers or cell phones, which was indicative of its age. I would eventually store these away in the pocket of the seat in front of me.
Pre Departure Services:
Air Canada serves a simple pre-departure beverage, a tiny bottle of Naya Water that was waiting on the seat, unlike most US carriers that offer an open bar. Additionally, a free set of headphones for the in-flight entertainment system rested on the console.
While waiting for the plane to complete boarding, the flight attendants also passed out a printed breakfast menu. The printed menu that Air Canada still provides is a wonderful addition that elevates the quality of the service.
The lunch / early dinner menu featured a choice of two hot entrees, along with an appetizer consisting of a heritage mixed salad, along with a blueberry cheese cake for dessert.
The flip side of the dinner menu offered the drink list. It offered a list of beers, unspecified wines, spirits. The spirits were pretty mainstream; although there was an effort at upscale Tanquery Gin, there wasn’t all too much “wow” on the spirit menu.
Overall, this was a pretty reasonable menu service for a two hour flight. Most of my flights in First Class in the United States do not offer such a comprehensive meal offering.
The Meal: Lunch / Late Dinner
The flight time today was scheduled at two hours and thirty seven minutes gate to gate. The meal service started at about forty five minutes after take off from Winnipeg International Airport.
The in flight service started off with a warm towel service. This isn’t typically expected on domestic flights. It was a nice touch, even if the towels are looking a little worn.
We were also served some warm nuts that consisted mostly of almonds, with the occasional cashew nut in the mix.
I ordered the Lasagna Pomodoro, which was filled with creamy ricotta cheese and presented with pomodoro sauce and roasted fennel.
It seems that the chef ran out of a few ingredients as mine appeared to be missing some fennel. While it was relatively interesting, the lasagna was fairly limp and soft.
Despite the plan tasting lasagna, the oil and vinegar salad was pretty tasty and fresh. The blueberry cheese morphed into a version of carrot cake. It was also a nice pairing with the meal.
It’s great that Air Canada offers a full meal on a short two and a half hour flight. It’s a far cry ahead than our American counterparts that usually offer a snack basket instead. I would rather that the food be just a little more tasty and engaging as opposed to limp.
In Fight Entertainment:
I fiddled with the outdated in-flight entertainment system during the flight. The in-flight entertainment system is somewhat antiquated, as was previously observed. By today’s standards, the majority of inputs are non-responsive, exhibiting a significant touch slowness when entering commands.
The entertainment system offered a flight map, along with a limited number of movies. The system does not have the same number of movies that you might expect from an overseas flight. As a result, there are only about thirty – forty movies which makes the selection a little limited.
The entertainment system screen is a little on the smaller side. Despite this, it’s great to actually have a screen and not have to hand hold up your device to eye level.
This particular flight was outfitted with the Air Canada wifi system. The system was able to be activated through turning on wifi, then opening your web browser.
Air Canada allows for in flight wifi to be purchased within the following increments:
- 30 minutes = 600 Aeroplan Points or $6.50 CAD
- Flight Pass = 1,200 Aeroplan Points or $11.75 CAD
- North American Plan = $65.95 CAD
It’s great that Air Canada allows for the redemption of points for in flight wifi. It’s actually priced at a really reasonable redemption value at about a penny a point; an excellent deal.
As a reminder, Air Canada offers free texting for Aeroplan members. This is accessed through entering your seat and flight number. Since this met my needs, I didn’t access the access the wifi.
Landing at Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport:
As the sun drew to a close, I had an arctic view over the great lakes of the Mid West. There was recent snow in the area, making for a wintering view from the wing.
Our flight descended into Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s International Airport. It was a winter wonderland into a full on winter that can be expected in Canada.
After we landed, we rolled off to a taxi way. The pilot announced that thirty centimeters of snow had recently fallen that afternoon. The Montreal Airport operations were trying to keep the runways clear. However, this caused a few gate delays.
We ended up parked on a taxi way while gate ways were cleared for about thirty minutes. It’s always a bit of an inconvenience when gates are ready for aircrafts, and there isn’t much that flight attendants or pilots can do; other than to encourage everyone to remain seated.
Eventually, we rolled up to our arrival gate. Despite the snow, the door was connected relatively quickly. After stepping into the terminal, I wandered my way through to baggage claim and the exit.
I would end up collecting a Hertz President’s Circle car rental and driving myself over to the Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, for a three night stay.
The Bottom Line: Air Canada Business Class A320-2
The Air Canada Business Class on the Airbus 320-2 is nearing the end of it’s business lifecycle. The aircraft features a comfortable seat, but the features of the experience are quite dated as compared to today’s airplane business class standards.
While you will get a business class experience with priority services, the cabin is less designed for the convenient for the storage of electronic devices. While you’ll get a meal, the in flight food is pretty simple, and the entertainment system is a relic from a completely different generation. Despite this, it’s pretty much the only way to fly business class through Canada. Fleet refurbishment improvements are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025.
If you regularly fly Air Canada Business Class, do you find the older Airbus 320’s experience to be less than stellar ?
The Plaza Premium Lounge network operates over sixty lounges under the Plaza Premium Name worldwide. The Plaza Premium Lounges typically offer a consistent lounge experience with a broad food presentation, even when visiting outside of regular meal hours. Today’s travel took me through the Plaza Premium Winnipeg lounge on my trans continental route across Canada. How would the Plaza Premium Lounge Winnipeg fare for a connecting traveler ?
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.
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:
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Winnipeg
- Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Winnipeg – Montreal
- My Experience Renting with Hertz President’s Circle: Montreal International Airport
- Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, Canada
- Air Canada Business Class: Montreal – Edmonton
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Edmonton – Vancouver
Review: Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, Canada
I arrived into Winnipeg Richardson International Airport on Air Canada Business Class Vancouver – Winnipeg, and was connecting onwards to Air Canada Business Class Winnipeg – Montreal.
I had a ninety minute connection in Winnipeg. During this time, I figured I would check out the Province of Manitoba’s only Plaza Premium Lounge, the Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg.
For another lounge in Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, please see our earlier review of the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Winnipeg.
Locating the Plaza Premium Lounge:
The Plaza Premium Lounge Winnipeg International Airport is located within the domestic area of the gates at Winnipeg International Airport. Since international flights to overseas destinations also occasionally use the domestic gates, this lounge can be accessed by those departing on International Flights.
The Winnipeg International Airport offers a US Customs and Border Protection Services Pre-Clearance facility. Unfortunately, if you are departing on a US Transborder flight, you won’t have access to this lounge, unless you happen to be connecting from another Canadian flight and happen to access this lounge from the secure side, prior to your processing by US Customs and Border Protection and your eventual departure to the United States.
The Plaza Premium Lounge is located midway down the concourse in a central and convenient location.
Map Courtesy http://www.waa.ca
Since I was arriving through a connecting flight on Air Canada Business Class Vancouver – Winnipeg, I had already cleared security and found myself on the departures concourse when I arrived into Winnipeg International Airport. I arrived into the terminal through gate 10. After wandering down the concourse, I easily found the lounge. The lounge is located just past the sole central security screening checkpoint near the centre of the airport.
The Plaza Premium Lounge Winnipeg is only a short walk from security, and actually happens to have a convenient location that meets most travellers needs.
Overall, I had no problems locating the lounge. It’s location is reasonably well positioned and is easy to access from every area of the airport as a result of the Winnipeg airport being such a small place.
Accessing The Plaza Premium Lounge:
There are several ways to access the Plaza Premium Lounge.
The Plaza Premium Lounge accepts reservations for entry on it’s website. The reservations are split into blocks of time ranging from two, three and six hours. As of the time of writing, the prices was as follows:
- Two Hours = $48.72 USD or $66.08 CAD
- Three Hours = $58.89 USD or $80.64 CAD
- Six Hours. = $79.36 USD or $107.52 CAD
The above pricing includes applicable taxes and fees.
The Plaza Premium Lounge network also partners with several credit cards to provide access. This includes many credit cards worldwide, which include DragonPass, LoungeKey, LoungeClub, and the Club. You do not need to make an advance reservation while using these systems.
Within North America, the lounge is also part of the American Express Global Lounge Collection, which offers a suite of lounges available for access with it’s premium American Express Platinum Card and American Express Centurion Cards. Access can be granted by presenting one of these cards.
The lounge has recently rejoined Priority Pass. As a result, if you have a Priority Pass membership, you can gain access to the lounge.
I gained access to the Plaza Premium Lounge as a result of my American Express Platinum Card as part of the American Express Global Lounge membership.
There was no line to gain access access today. After my digital membership card and boarding pass was validated, I was invited into the lounge.
Inside The Plaza Premium Lounge:
The Plaza Premium Lounge Winnipeg is a no frills “small format” lounge. The lounge offers space for one hundred travellers and is about five thousand square feet in space.
Immediately upon entering into the lounge, I found myself behind the bar walking into the primary lounge seating area. The bar offered some complimentary beverages. Consistent with other Plaza Premium Lounges, there were other beverages available for purchase.
The room contained row seating for about seventy people, along with the usual Plaza Premium Lounge Chairs that are located in its lounges throughout the world. The right hand side of the lounge had a few individual study desks for two, whereas the smaller areas of the lounge had bistro styled tables.
There were a few small cubicle styled seating areas in the back corner of the lounge. Given that these were not separated from the other areas of the lounge, I wouldn’t imagine that you’d get much work completed here with much privacy.
The main part of the lounge offered row seating. The open air space in the lounge had peek – a – boo views over the lower level baggage claim area. Like other Plaza Premium Lounges, the seating was quite high density.
The lounge seating was more than adequate for this particular lounge, and i didn’t have any issues locating a place to sit. The lounge was about at half capacity when I visited in the mid afternoon and featured substantially less people that the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Winnipeg located just up the concourse.
Food and Beverage:
The Plaza Premium Lounge networks are normally pretty generous on food. On today’s visit, they had a substantial offering that is typically more than the nearby Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge, between regular meal times.
Despite offering a bit more food, I find that the Plaza Premium Lounges could upscale their food presentation just a little bit. At times, the food looks a little cafeteria styled than in some other places.
During today’s past lunch visit in the early afternoon, there was a variety of salads, hot items along with sweet and savoury snacks available for consumption. There was something available for almost anyone.
While I didn’t dine or indulge myself in food, I was able to charge some smart phone batteries, prior to my next flight on Air Canada Business Class Winnipeg – Montreal.
My Thoughts on the Plaza Premium Lounge Winnipeg:
Like with the Plaza Premium Lounge – Edmonton, it’s a bit unusual to have a Plaza Premium Lounge up in Winnipeg. It’s probably among the last places that I would think of when it comes to locating a Plaza Premium Lounge.
The Plaza Premium Lounge offered a comfortable environment that was a handy food and beverage stop. I couldn’t imagine buying entry to this lounge at the current price point, but since I had access through a premium credit card, it made sense for a quick visit.
If you’ve recently visited the Plaza Premium Winnipeg Lounge, did you find the lounge met your needs ?
Todays flight was on the backbone of Air Canada’s narrowbody fleet; the Airbus 320-2. Air Canada’s Airbus 320 family has been flying across the country for almost thirty five years with the Airbus 320 being the most popular version of this aircraft. Consistent with the age of this aircraft, the Air Canada Business Class cabin also offers a dated experience. It has been a few years since I’ve sat in this product. Let’s see how the product has fared over the years.
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.
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:
- Air Canada Business Class: Vancouver – Winnipeg
- Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Winnipeg – Montreal
- My Experience Renting with Hertz President’s Circle: Montreal International Airport
- Courtyard by Marriott Montreal Brossard, Canada
- Air Canada Business Class: Montreal – Edmonton
- Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Edmonton International Airport
- Air Canada Business Class: Edmonton – Vancouver
Review: Air Canada Business Class A320-2, Vancouver International Airport – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
Air Canada remains the dominant business travellers’ choice within Canada, with the only real option for work related travel. With the only real frequent flier program Aeroplan, it remains the choice of most serious travellers within Canada. Today’s travels were related to a series of meetings I needed to attend in eastern Canada.
As a result of better fare options, I found myself on a connecting flight between Vancouver and Montreal. The first segment was this post on Air Canada Business Class Vancouver – Winnipeg (this post), and the second flight was on Air Canada Business Class Winnipeg – Montreal.
Checking into Air Canada Business Class:
I checked in using the Air Canada app. I received my pre-assigned seat (2A) on the shady side of the plane. I was placed into boarding group 1, which was the highest possible boarding group aside from those travellers that needed a little extra time to board.
I used the digital boarding card, briefly stopping by an Air Canada kiosk to get a paper boarding card re-print. While the digital boarding card is fine under almost all circumstances, it’s still nice to have a paper card to save on the iPhone battery.
I briefly stopped into visit the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Vancouver Domestic, access which was included in the business class ticket. As my home lounge, since I’ve reviewed this place many times before, I won’t do so again.
Air Canada
Business Class
YVR – YWG (Vancouver International Airport – Winnipeg Richardson International Airport)
AC 292 – Business Class (P)
8:30 AM – 1:04PM
Dec 4, 2023
Booked: Airbus 320-2
Flown: Airbus 320-2
On Board Air Canada Business Class:
Air Canada has been flying the Airbus 320-2 series since the year 1990, with various deliveries until 2003. The Air Canada Business Class cabin on the Airbus 320-2 represents their oldest business class cabin. At the time of this report, there are 16 remaining in the Air Canada fleet.
It last had a makeover under the Air Canada XM project in the year 2005 which installed glacier blue seating and personal video back screens. A lot has changed since then and the cabin is looking quite dated by today’s standards. Fortunately, a new cabin is underway, which should see most planes retro-fitted by the end of the year 2025.
For today’s flight, I entered the Air Canada Business Class A320-2 cabin. The narrow body cabin is set up with four rows of business class in a 2 – 2 configuration.
I found my way to my assigned Seat 2A, which is actually the bulkhead seat row on the left hand side of the plane. There is no Seat 1A / 1C, since there is a cupboard for coats in this area. I had no issues storing my carry on luggage in the overhead bins, despite the older configurations.
I did find that the video screen and entertainment system, which has been around since 2005, has well past it’s peak performance. My personal video screen often glitched to a frozen state, and took a substantial amount of time to respond to touch screen inputs.
When you think that a modern smartphone’s lifecycle is about three years, an audio / video entertainment system that’s been around for almost 18 years, the age of the system really stands out.
In terms of seat comfort, the space was about “as expected” for a domestic first / business class seat. The seat offered a reasonable amount of shoulder room. Showing it’s age, the seat didn’t offered many places to store digital devices such as cell phones or computers. I would end up storing these in the bulkhead wall pocket in front of me.
Pre Departure Services:
While most United States carriers offer an open bar pre-departure beverage, Air Canada simply offers a small bottle of Naya Water which was waiting on the seat. A complimentary pair of headphones was also resting on the console for use with the in flight entertainment system.
During the pre-departure period, the flight attendants also passed out a printed breakfast menu. Air Canada continues to offer a printed menu, which is a great touch that makes the service feel more upscale.
The breakfast featured a choice of two hot entrees, along with a starter of fruits, bread rolls and jam.
The flip side of the breakfast menu offered the drink list. It offered a list of beers, unspecified wines, spirits. Given the morning flight, I just stuck with the Lavazza Coffee.
The Meal: Breakfast
Todays flight was marked at two hours and forty minutes gate to gate. After about one hour of flight time, breakfast was served.
Breakfast today consisted of the very familiar parsley omelette with a parmsean spinach and chicken sausage, hashbrown potatoes and tomato chutney. There have been many variations of this menu item on the Air Canada Business Class breakfast menu for several years. This was served with a firm ciabatta styled warmed roll, īögo youghurt, along with mixed fruits.
This was probably my twentieth version of the parsley omelette. It’s fair to say that the parsley omelette hasn’t improved over time. The chicken sausage was fairly dry, and the hash brown potatoes were fairly limp. I’ve had better hash browns at my local McDonald’s restaurant. The best part of the meal was that it was served on board, meaning that I didn’t have to stop in advance of getting on the flight.
In Fight Entertainment:
During the flight, I played around with the older in flight entertainment system. As mentioned earlier, the flight entertainment system is quite dated. Most inputs are not responsive to inputs by today’s standards, with a substantial touch delay when commands are entered.
The entertainment system offered a flight map, along with a limited number of movies. The system does not have the same number of movies that you might expect from an overseas flight. As a result, there are only about thirty – forty movies which makes the selection a little limited.
I ended up settling into Crimson Tide running in the background. It wasn’t an exciting choice, but seemed to be among the most current for my generation.
Landing at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport:
Instead of watching the movie, I ended up taking in views from the wing for most of the flight. I was flying during winter, and as a result, the views of the Canadian landscape were always engaging and interesting.
We eventually started a descent into Winnipeg over some flat prairie landscapes.
Upon landing at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport, we pulled up to gate 10 and parked next to another Air Canada Airbus 320 aircraft. With snow all over the ground, it surely looked cold outside.
I ended up disembarking the plane. I went for a visit to the Plaza Premium Lounge – Winnipeg Airport, had a quick stop through the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge – Winnipeg before getting onto my connecting flight Air Canada Business Class Winnipeg – Montreal.
The Bottom Line: Air Canada Business Class A320-2
The Air Canada Business Class on the Airbus 320-2 is nearing the end of it’s business cycle. The aircraft features a comfortable seat, but the features of the experience are quite dated as compared to today’s standards.
While you will get a business class expereince with priority services, the cabin is less convenient for the storage of electronic devices, the in flight food is relatively basic and unchanged, and the entertainment system is a relic from a completely different generation. Despite this, there is are improvements on the way, and we should see some changes to this aircraft by the end of 2025.
If you’ve flown Air Canada Business Class, have you enjoyed an Air Canada Business Class Omelette in your travels ?
We had a day visit through Banff, after spending the weekend hiking in the Lake Louise area. After a wonderful stay at the Fairmont Lake Louise, today’s objective was taking MrsWT73 on her first visit to Banff, Alberta, Canada. Since no visit to Banff would be complete without a walk through the Bow River Trail, we set out on this mission immediately upon our arrival in Banff.
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”.
Walking the Bow Falls River Trail, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
After visiting the Fairmont Château Lake Louise, an completing a number of walks in the area that included the Lake Louise Lake Shore Trail, and the Fairview Lookout Trail, we had our sights set on a day visit to Banff and the Bow Falls River Trail.
About the Bow Falls River Trail:
The Bow Falls River Trail is among the most popular and easily accessible trails within the town of Banff, Alberta. Visitors to the Bow Falls River Trail will be rewarded with a relaxing view of the Bow River along a mostly level path.
The Bow River Trail is quite popular as a result of it’s proximity to Banff. If you only have time to complete one trail walk within the town of Banff, the Bow River Trail will likely be towards the top of your list.
Getting to the Bow Falls River Trail:
The Bow Falls River Trail is located within Banff National Park. To enter (and park your vehicle) in the park, you’ll need a daily park pass from the Banff National Park entry gates.
During the time of our visit, the admission fees were $10.50 CAD per person per day. In our case, we passed through the park gates at around noon, and were given a twenty eight hour pass lasting until 4 PM the next day. If you are a regular visitor, or are staying a longer period of time, an annual pass may be a more economical version for you at $72.25 CAD for a single person or $145.25 CAD for a family.
The Bow Falls River Trail is an short 1.2 kilometre trail that runs up along the eastern side of the Lake Louise lake. The trail is mostly flat, with the exception of the area near Bow Falls which has about ten minutes of elevation gain based on the use of stairs.
Since the town of Banff has mostly paid parking within the commercial area, we elected to park for free at the train station. With a short walk through town. we opted for a walk along Bow Avenue where we’d take in the Bow River on our walk out outwards the Bow Falls.
The trail and walking took us about 45 minutes to get from the train station out towards the Bow Falls.
Starting at Bow Valley River:
After departing the Fairmont Château Lake Louise we drove over to the town of Banff, Alberta. We had some spectacular views of Mount Rundle from the Trans Canada Highway from the Vermillion Lake lookout.
We parked at the free Banff Train Station parking lot. From the train parking lot, we set along the Bow Valley walkway which ran on the east side of the Bow Valley River.
We were treated to spectacular fall views. Firstly, it was amazing to see that the town of Banff is in a completely different climate zone than neighbouring Lake Louise. With fall like temperatures, as compared to Lake Louises’ winter climates, we were treated to a much milder fall walk.
It’s these types of mountain and river views that Canada is famous for, and the Bow Valley trail is no exception to this expectation. With a partial fall freeze on some elements of the river, the crispness of the images came through with a full sun West facing exposure on this portion of the trail.
The Bow Valley Trail led us towards the top of Banff Avenue. We had sight lines towards Cascade Mountain which dominates Banff Avenue.
After crossing the Bow Ridge Bridge on Banff Trail, we crossed into the more known part of the Bow River Falls trail.
Walking the Bow River Trail:
When we crossed the bridge over to the Bow River Trail, we ended up in a shady trail walkway. During our fall walk, the surfaces of the trail were damp; likely a a result of this area getting very limited sun exposure due to it’s eastern facing orientation.
We eventually had some stairs to navigate down (and up) as we eventually made our way to the famous Bow Falls.
Viewing the Bow Falls:
The Bow Falls themselves are a smaller rapid type of waterfall. They will never be as large as some of the larger Canadian waterfalls that I’m used to seeing on the West Coast, or the other dramatic waterfalls like Niagara Falls in eastern Canada.
Despite this, the Bow Falls are among the most popular natural tourist attractions in Banff. Our November visit had a bit of ice forming at the edges of the water falls, making this experience look like a very wintery one.
From the Bow River Falls trail, we were also able to spot peek – a – boo views of the Banff Springs hotel. The Fairmont Banff Springs was peeking out through the forest of trees. We didn’t take the time to explore the hotel, and ended up just returning towards Banff after viewing the falls.
The Fairmont Banff Springs hotel appeared majestic, but also reminded me of the Overlook hotel from the horror movie “The Shining”. I can’t be the first person to make that comparison, even if the exterior of the hotel looks a little different.
Returning to Banff Avenue:
After viewing at the falls, we returned to Banff on the same Bow River Trail that we took out to Bow Falls. We navigated back down (and up) the stairs, with great river views.
We eventually came across the Banff Pedestrian Bridge, which was really pretty. We were able to take a few photographs of this neat viewpoint area.
Eventually, we returned back to town getting the very last winter light of the day as it lit Cascade Mountain. The views up Banff avenue are amazingly iconic.
After the hike, we returned to our car, and headed onwards for a week’s stay at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotel & Suites Calgary West.
My Thoughts on Walking the Bow Valley River Trail:
The Bow Valley River Trail was a warmer climate walk than our Lake Louise winter hiking experiences. Despite being only one hour apart, the two areas were in completely different climate zones.
The Bow Valley River Trail has always remained a favorite of mine when visiting Banff. It’s a great nearby escape from the town of Banff.
If you’ve visit Banff, is the Bow Valley River Trail part of your visit schedule?
In the second part of local hikes within the Lake Louise area, we took in the more energetic Fairview Lookout trail from the Fairmont Château Lake Louise. Complimenting our experience on the Lakeshore trail, the Fairview trail offered those spectacular crystal blue lake views of Lake Louise that were missing from the ground level lakeshore view points. The trail was a little more energetic that I expected, although it was well worth the climb.
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Winter Hiking the Lake Louise Fairview Lookout Trail, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
The Lake Louise region of Banff National Park is full of hikes and trails. Two of the most popular are the Fairview Lookout trail, the Agnes Teahouse Trail and the Lake Louise Lake Shore Trail as described here.
About the Lake Louise Fairview Lookout Trail:
The Lake Louise Fairview Trail is located within Banff National Park. To enter (and park your vehicle) in the park, you’ll need a daily park pass from the Banff National Park entry gates.
During the time of our visit, the admission fees were $10.50 CAD per person per day. In our case, we passed through the park gates at around noon, and were given a twenty eight hour pass lasting until 4 PM the next day. If you are a regular visitor, or are staying a longer period of time, an annual pass may be a more economical version for you at $72.25 CAD for a single person or $145.25 CAD for a family.
The Lake Louise Fairview Lookout Trail is an short one kilometre trail that runs up along the eastern side of the Lake Louise lake. Unlike the Lakeshore trail, there is about 100 meters of elevation gain on this trail, and it is a fairly steady climb upwards.
The trail is rated to be approximately 45 minutes round trip between trail head and the look out. In our experience, we completed in with a leisurely one hour and twenty minutes with a leisurely fifteen minute stop at the lookout.
The trail head is located immediately behind the Fairmont Château Lake Louise hotel, between the lake and the hotel itself on the left hand (east side) of the boardwalk.
Preparing for Winter Hiking:
On the day of our walk, we arrived into town and checked ourselves into the Fairmont Château Lake Louise. It was not recommended by Banff National Parks administration (Parks Canada) to walk many trails in the winter for reasons of slipperiness, avalanche debris and other hazards. I was interested to see how easy this experience would be in our early winter weather.
After touching down and getting dressed for the weather, The Fairmont Château Lake Louise Concierge was able to loan us some winter crampons for the trail. We were recommended not to use them within the hotel to avoid breakage against the hard floors of the hotel.
The crampons were really easy to put on and off. We were also loaned a precautionary can of bear spray. Although there were a fair amount of people on the trail and with winter setting in, most bears were probably nearing or into hibernation states of deep sleep.
Unlike our Lakeshore trail experience which was completely flat and level, the winter crampons were a life saver on the ascending Fairview Lookout trail. The spikes on the crampons made the trail a lot less slippery and easier to manage with a lot less effort.
Starting at Fairmont Château Lake Louise:
We started off from Fairmont Château Lake Louise trailhead. After exiting the hotel doors, we took left to head towards the Lake Louise Lakeview Trail.
Lake Louise was looking a little clearer compared to yesterday. We would get to experience Lake Louise in picturesque simple beauty, set across a light winter backdrop.
Getting to see Lake Louise in good weather is a wonderful experience. It represents everyyhing you’d imagine about Canada and it’s natural beauty.
Locating the Fairview Lookout Trailhead:
The Fairview Lookout trailhead was located immediately to the left of the Fairmont Château Lake Louise. Like our Lake Louise Lakeshore trail, the train condition was packed snow during our early November visit.
We eventually arrived to the intersection and trail head that split the walking trail towards the Fairview Lookout, the Saddleback Pass, the Paradise Valley Junction and the overflow parking lots. While the area was signed a little bit, I wouldn’t call the area heavily signed.
The Ascent:
Although the trail only marked about 100 meters of actual elevation ascent, my exercise skills have been lacking lately with many long days and nights on the road. It’s fair to say that I’ve missed a few gym workouts lately as I found the climb to be more tiring that it would have been when I was in my younger years.
We climbed up through a wonderfully wintery alpine forecast. We had a solid forty five minute climb upwards. With all the winter clothes, and the temperatures just below freezing at about -3 Celsius, I had a sweaty hiking experience.
The climb itself was completely forested and didn’t offer any views along the journey. As a result, we just appreciated the forest and it’s silence, in the winter solitude.
Arriving to the Lakeview Lookout:
After the climb, we rounded the corner to what my eyes first thought was a blue construction tarp. In actuality, it was the beautiful blue color of the Lake Louise lake.
There is nothing like the joy of seeing the end of your destination after a substantial climb. In this case, it was in the form of a snow covered lookout that was completely empty and without other travellers.
The Fairview Lookout:
The Fairview Lookout gave us the ability to have views of Lake Louise. The elevation gain allowed for more of the deep blue color to shine through the lake shores; something we wouldn’t experience as strongly from the lake shore elevation at ground level.
The Fairmont Château Lake Louise looked absolutely stunning in the valley, with the Lake Louise ski area located behind it, covered in a dusting of early winter snow.
After the hike, we returned to the Fairmont Château Lake Louise hotel, to collect our car and head off for a walk towards Bow Falls, Banff in the afternoon.
My Thoughts on Winter Hiking the Lake Louise Fairview Trail:
The Lake Louise Fairview trail was a bit of a climb up towards a view point that offered terrific Lake Louise views. Although not as easy as the Lakeshore viewpoint, it was certainly one of the hallmark views of our time in Lake Louise.
Hiking this trail in conjunction with the Lakeshore trail allowed us to get a great feel of the Lake Louise area, despite the winter season visit.
World Traveller 73 
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