Jan 5

Jan 5 Premium Economy Business Class - Air Canada Rouge Premium Rouge Flight Review

“While it may not be the most elevated service, being able to board first, getting a meal and having plenty of space is still better than sitting in the back of the bus. ”

— Distant Points

Flight: Air Canada Rouge 1766

Origin: Ottawa (YOW)

Destination: Punta Cana (PUJ)

Operated by: Airbus A319

Class: Air Canada Premium Rouge

Seat: 1D

Departure Time: 14:25

We started off our trip in Toronto, on route to Punta Cana. Unfortunately, to get to our destination we had to connect in Ottawa.

Our trip started off at the priority check-in at Pearson International Airport. On this Boxing Day morning, it was quiet at Toronto Pearson, as everyone was still nursing their Christmas hangover. The lady at the check-in desk was helpful and friendly. We asked if we were able to upgrade our domestic flight, but unfortunately, due to the implementation of the new Amadeus system, they were not able to upgrade at the kiosk. The lady was kind enough to print off our boarding passes so that we were able to get into the lounge, and then she said that we were able to try and upgrade our seats at the kiosk, but ultimately, that didn’t end up working for us.

There is a separate security line for elite passengers in Toronto, but as it was a holiday, it was a quick process to get through security. After clearing security, we were able to access the Air Canada café (which was awesome), covered in another review.

(I won’t cover our Air Canada express flight from Toronto – it was relatively uneventful commuter flight. I will say that the preferred seats do provide a much-needed upgrade in leg space over the regular economy seats.)

We arrived at Ottawa International Airport two hours before our scheduled Air Canada Rouge A319 departure to Punta Cana International Airport. With that in mind, we decided to kill some time at the Ottawa Maple Leaf Lounge.

The boarding for our plane took place as scheduled, and it was very organized, unlike the return trip. We boarded with group one, as we were seated in the first row.

The Seat

While it was nice to be seated in the first row of the plane, the Airbus door was still open as the plane was still offloading garbage from the previous flight. While this isn’t a concern in the summer, the negative weather left us shivering for the first portion of our flight.

The seats on Air Canada Rouge are wildly different from the mainline carrier. In fact, the Air Canada Rouge Airbus A319 that we flew has 16 more seats than a regular Air Canada Airbus A319. They have a lagging 29 inches of seat pitch in economy, which is not only very noticeable, it’s downright claustrophobic. In fact, that’s even less room that famous low-cost carrier, Ryanair.

These AC Rouge seats have only 29 inches of pitch, thats less than Ryanair.

That being said, that premium rouge seats that we booked for this flight had 36 inches of pitch and were 21 inches wide, which is plenty enough for an afternoon flight to the Caribbean, but must less ideal for an overnight flight to Europe or South America. As we were in row 1 there was plenty of room for us to stretch out our legs. In premium rouge, there is also a mini table in between the seats to leave our drinks while at cruise altitude which is useful to keep alcoholic drinks away from my work laptop, which has a built-in North American plug. There were small, uncomfortable pillows at each seat.

All the in-flight magazines were in a pocket located on the wall in front of us, which also comfortably fit my 13-inch Macbook pro.

As we were boarding, a menu was handed out, along with a bottle of water.

We pushed back five minutes early and we were airborne only 10 minutes later.

Within the first 15 minutes, the seatbelt sign came off and the flight attendant closed the business class curtain and came around to take our meal and drink orders. The best part about being on a Canadian airline is that I ordered a spicy Cesar to drink with the general tao chicken to eat while Kath also ordered a Ceaser while she also got the lactose free meal.

10 minutes later, the flight attendant came around with our Ceasers and some nuts. While salty and hot, the nuts weren’t that good.

Less than an hour into our flight our meal was served. The meal consisted of the general tao chicken, along with a salad with a simple, but delicious, olive oil and vinegar dressing, and a blondie brownie. I was also offered a piece of unappetizing bread, but I declined. The meal, while filling, wasn’t over the top amazing. The salad had one lonely olive but was otherwise fine. The blondie didn’t really taste like anything and the main course could have honestly been called any Asian meal because it was flavourless. That being said, it was still much better than what is usually served in economy class.

Air Canada Premium Rouge also offers adjusted meals based on preferences and allergies. Kath was given the lactose-free meal with consisted of a gluten free piece of bread, a similar salad, a fruit plate and a salmon and quinoa meal. Like my meal the meal lacked complex flavours, although I did like the salmon and quinoa if I was looking for a healthy meal.

Once our plates were clear, I was served coffee and baileys as an aperitif, which went down nicely. Throughout the meal, the flight attendant happily topped up my drink when she saw that it was running low. About an hour left in the flight, I asked for some snacks. There isn’t a specific snack menu offered in Air Canada rouge business class, but this flight offered Ms Vickies Chips and a Kit Kat bar to hold me over until the hotel.

Entertainment

On our A319, we had the option to purchase Wifi for the duration of the flight. For one hour, internet was $12.25 but the better deal is a flight pass for $21.50.

If we weren’t flying premium rouge I would consider buying the internet package but because we were flying business, I didn’t really feel the need to. Air Canada Premium Rouge provides iPads to all customers in the J cabin. These pre-loaded iPads are also available for economy passengers for 10 dollars. These iPads have a selection of Movies, including new releases, but disappointingly there are no television shows. All seats have a place to hang the iPad so it can act as a screen for the duration of the flight. One thing to note is that the flight attendants collect the iPads before landing, so you won’t have access to movies gate-to-gate.

The Service

I’d first like to point out that the Air Canada Rouge flight attendants are different than Air Canada mainline flight attendants, which I’ll delve into a future post. The gist of this is that Air Canada needed to create a separate airline with a lower cost base to continue to expand to leisure destination as the mainline flight attendant’s union contract didn’t provide the cost advantages or flexibility to do this. There was one flight attendant taking care of the 8 business class passengers, and 2 further flight attendants on the rest of the plane. The lady taking care of us was friendly and provided prompt service, but she never went out of her way to provide excellent service. Almost every time we asked for a drink refill (Hey, we were on vacation!) we had to ask for it.

We arrived at our destination, Punta Cana, on time. Unlike some airlines, there is no special treatment on arrival for Premium Rouge passengers upon arrival.

Is Air Canada Premium Rouge worth it?

While most business classes are significantly more expensive, that isn’t always the case with AC Rouge. Is it worth it? That’s a question that may depend on where you are going and the price point that you have to pay for it. While having a full meal and a larger seat is nice, it’s not a huge advantage if you’re flying on a two-hour domestic flight. That being said, an early morning flight where you’re looking to get some rest may also be worth it. I like to think of Rouge as a Premium Economy experience with a bit bigger seat.

The Point

While it may not be the most elevated service, being able to board first, getting a meal and having plenty of space is a much better experience than sitting in the back. That being said, if you’re looking for the true business class experience on a place, Air Canada Rouge won’t provide that experience.

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