[Flight Report] AC Hong Kong - Vancouver

With the peak summer travel season imminent, it was time to escape the humid Hong Kong heat and head to cooler shores. Air Canada had a reasonably-priced fare on their High Density 777. After a search through the seat map, I decided to go for it thanks to the back seats being available, where the row of 3 becomes 2 so it is slightly more spacious. The return leg in Premium Economy did not cost an arm or a leg either so I wanted to give it a try. The biggest attraction was the cheap stopover option available where passengers transiting in Canada's largest cities can pick from a selection of hotels for an overnight stay. I wanted to break up the long flight anyway so this sort of itinerary was naturally appealing.

My last trip on Air Canada was nothing to boast about. The flight was late, the crew weren't too friendly, but at least the plane was empty. I didn't expect tonight's Hong Kong - Vancouver flight to be anywhere near that empty, but it got off to not such a good start with a 40-minute departure delay, albeit that was decided well before check-in opened.

By the time I reached the airport at around 6:30pm, or about an hour before the original departure time, the check-in counters were deserted and they had started to remove the Air Canada accessories to prepare for Turkish Airlines. I guess everyone came well before the original departure time and not the revised later one?



Check-in took a while as I had an onward domestic leg from Vancouver to Toronto, which the agent wasn't sure whether she could thru-check my bag. To my disappointment, only same-day transfers could be tagged all the way to the destination. I had to retrieve my bag in Vancouver and store it overnight with me, bringing more inconvenience.

With a 2 hour buffer between the inbound and my departure, I thought a 1-hour delay for the inbound's arrival was still enough to clean and restock the plane. I guess they really needed a full 2 hours and there was no slack time built in. As I approached the gate, I noticed long confusing lines snaking out from Gate 63. You know it's Air Canada when the crowds emerge. Even boarding an Emirates A380 doesn't stir up such a scene.



By now, the priority Zone 1-2 lines pretty much emptied out and they announced Zone 3 would board. The problem is when a full 777 with such a huge Economy Class clusters around 2 zones, it's a recipe for disaster. The lines snaked out to the next gate and I had no idea which was which. I eventually found the line that was moving and kept walking up with the crowd. Good job, Air Canada.

The back part of the 777 curves so that the window only has a row of 2 instead of 3, making it a bit easier to jump out for the bathroom while providing more stretch room for the legs and storage beside my seat. I wouldn't have gone for the 777 if I couldn't get one of these seats. At first glance, the plane wasn't vacuumed properly and there were plenty of food bits still lying on the floor by the fuselage.











We ended up departing about 50 minutes behind schedule in pouring rain. The moving map is quite good to track our movements. With bad weather in the area, it was a bumpy ascent to cruise.



A late dinner emerged. It looked obviously worse than Cathay's selection. The portion was quite small and there was just a pudding for dessert and no ice-cream. There was already small bottle of water in the seat pocket when we boarded.





As we flew over Taiwan and headed towards Japan, persistent turbulence disturbed the otherwise calm cabin. Things got progressively worse as we flew over Japan, and the announcement came to stay put with "light to moderate turbulence". That statement was a bit of an understatement. It got so bad that we had to descend below 27,000 feet. It's going to be a long night!



Luckily, the skies cleared as we approached Hokkaido. The routing seemed a bit odd that we wouldn't ride the jet stream across the Pacific southeast of Japan.



I wondered why we didn't head southeast of Japan and ride the prevailing winds across the Pacific?



We continued a fairly northern trajectory and the sun was poking out already. By the time we crossed into Alaska, it was all bright and sunny.













Mid-flight, a sandwich and cookie snack was served. I wasn't too hungry since I sat and dozed throughout the flight. The sandwich didn't taste anything special but the delicious cookies from my prior Tokyo flight were back.



A watery congee breafast was also served before landing. I suppose the small dinner was OK given we were fed 3 times for tonight's transpacific crossing.





Then the clouds rolled in south of the Queen Charlotte Islands. The forecast in Vancouver wouldn't be too good today.











I was hoping for a decent photography opportunity on descent. At least it wasn't raining ...







We landed well over an hour behind schedule after a seemingly lengthy flight despite favourable prevailing winds. Luckily, summer days are long so it was still bright at 5:40pm.



The airport was much quieter and had lots of narrowbodies.







Welcome back to Vancouver. It has been over a decade since I last visited.



There were a few announcements during the flight that customs arrival forms were no longer necessary as machines have replaced humans for much of the arrival process. Although I sat at the back of the plane, there wasn't a big line for immigration since there were rows of machines available. Scan your passport, answer the old paper questions on screen, take a photo, and a receipt prints out with your photo and a big number for the customs check. Many passengers couldn't get it right since families can group together to take that photo. Seems this is a new piece of automation for everyone.

Luggage didn't take excessively long. For those connecting in Vancouver, they still had to drag their luggage out but re-deposit them in a transfer belt. How annoying to do this yourself after a 12-hour flight! Since I was staying in Vancouver tonight, I lined up for the customs check. Unlike Japan, there are no proper counters to put up your luggage to allow the agents to properly investigate it (I guess they would go into the hidden rooms for that). The agent just grabbed my receipt and I was on my way.



Vancouver is a mid-sized airport and everything looked cozy. Hotel shuttles were just outside international arrivals and the Canada Line trains depart across the street and upstairs.



From time-to-time after booking my flights, I double-check my reservations to make sure nothing has changed so I won't arrive surprised. The stopover program's website keeps a running record of my hotel reservations. Interestingly, there was a disclaimer on it that hotel transfers are not included. But that is probably a standard sentence embedded into all reservations, since my stopover hotel does provide a free airport shuttle for the 10-minute ride.

Air Canada is not reknowned for premium service. Best in North America doesn't mean anything. That's a pitiful continent to fly in the first place. But it will give you a fairly good offer for a nonstop flight. Just find a cozy spacious corner and not somewhere in the middle of the huge HD cabin. The 3-4-3 configuration is quite a torture for such a long flight and the seats are indeed noticeably narrower.

More : http://www.globalphotos.org/ac8.htm

AC uses 3-4-3 but provide a competitive price on their ticket. I am still wondering how CX completes with AC after they change their 77W become 3-4-3.

I only flew once (HKG <> YVR) on AC and that was still an A343 era. It was a nightmare ... I did not fly them on this route since then.

On which day did you travel? Maybe there was a typhoon near Japan. It would explain the turbulence and routing.

Seems that the immigration and baggage recheck procedure at Canadian airports isn't any different from that at an American port of entry.

From my experience, catering on outbound flights from Hong Kong is usually worse than on inbound flights. I would imagine that the meals on your return flight would taste better?

S3BL100 發表於 2017-8-20 23:58
Seems that the immigration and baggage recheck procedure at Canadian airports isn't any different fr ...

I made a trip to Vancouver last month yet I was travelling with CX. The catering service onboard YVR to HKG was even worse than that on HKG to YVR. For instance, the outbound flight from HK served Movenpick ice cream but the return flight only served some Canadian local brands which was hard and tasteless. The main course and fruit on the return flight were also awful.

Regarding the immigration and baggage recheck procedure, there was announcements at the baggage claim requiring all international arrivals (regardless citizens or tourists) to collect their luggage and clear all border services counter before rechecking for domestic flights since Vancouver is the first port of entry to Canada.

clivetock 發表於 2017-8-21 12:03
I made a trip to Vancouver last month yet I was travelling with CX. The catering service onboard Y ...

Interesting... When I flew AA HKG-DFW this past May, the catering was absolutely awful. The lunch entree and the dim sum breakfast were practically tasteless. I never flew AA HKG-bound; I can say however that the only other time I flew AA long-haul (LHR-DFW last year) the food was much better. And I know exactly how terrible a fully-loaded 10-across 77W feels.

Before that experience I flew exclusively KE between HKG and the US while a student, transitting through ICN. (Almost always the cheapest option and I didn't have that much money at the time.) Meals on flights from ICN or from the US were almost always much better than meals on HKG-ICN, even for the same entree. I think right now KE has a contract with LSG Sky Chefs on flights departing HKG, though if I remember correctly they had CX catering as their supplier on the HKG end at one point. Neither was particularly great.

And yes, when entering the US you have to clear immigration and customs at the first port of entry. After clearing immigration you have to collect your bags, go through customs, recheck your bags (even though it may be tagged through). This is exactly the same as the Canadian procedure. Then you have to go through TSA security again. Obviously it could be painful, especially after a long flight. Best to leave aside at least 3-4 hours for international-domestic connections. But I just have to get used to it. My home airport right now -- closest to my workplace -- has no nonstop international flights from Asia or Europe. I've done this at least three times since I started working at my current location.

S3BL100 發表於 2017-8-21 12:46
Interesting... When I flew AA HKG-DFW this past May, the catering was absolutely awful. The lunch e ...

Based on my previous experience, I did not expect anything from CX catering for economy class but the meal served on my outbound flight from HKG to YVR was a bit better that what I expected, especially for the ice cream part. At least it was acceptable for filling my stomach. What really surprised me was that the meal served on my return flight was much more unpleasant than my expectation. It might be true that catering in outer ports are generally better than that in Hong Kong, but I do not think this applies to CX catering in Vancouver.

OT: When I travelled to Vancouver 4 years ago with CX, there was a piece of ham and cheese sandwich served during middle of the flight between the two meals. It was not seen again this time so I believed it is now cancelled.

clivetock 發表於 2017-8-21 12:03
I made a trip to Vancouver last month yet I was travelling with CX. The catering service onboard Y ...

From my recent travel experience on CX YVR-HKG - May 2017 - (or you can visit my Flight Report on this board), the YVR-HKG sector stills provide a Haggen-Daz brand Ice-cream; while the return flight, they provide Movenpick. If I recall correctly, they start to provide Movenpick at the end of May. Anyway, I am quite satisfied their catering actually based on those flights.  

clivetock 發表於 2017-8-21 15:05
Based on my previous experience, I did not expect anything from CX catering for economy class but  ...

You can request a cup noodle or snacks during two meals. I tried to get a Haagen-Dazs ice-cream bar once (I mean you can try to request it if you really want to).

AVD1 發表於 2017-8-22 15:36
You can request a cup noodle or snacks during two meals. I tried to get a Haagen-Dazs ice-cream ba ...

I attempted to ask for something like sandwiches or dinner roll to fill my stomach during two meals but the answer is 'no'. I did get a cup noodle though but its quality had deteriorated since my previous flights. Besides, even though there was cup noodle avaliable, the crew were not much willing to serve it. I think they would prefer passengers to pick up a piece of fruit or snack by themselves instead.

And yes, they were serving Movenpick on HKG-YVR but Haagen-Daz was not seen on YVR-HKG during my trip in July 2017.