Today I’m bringing you a review of Air Canada (AC) business class on the route from Toronto (YYZ) to Tokyo Haneda (HND). The flight numbers on this route are AC5 (YYZ-HND) and AC6 (HND-YYZ), operated by the Boeing 777-300ER (77W). Air Canada markets these transpacific flights as a three-cabin product, but there is actually no first class—just business class, premium economy, and economy. You can refer to the seat map for this flight on Seatguru.
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Redeeming Award Tickets
I’ve booked this flight multiple times using both ANA and UA miles.
Booking Through ANA
Readers who redeem awards frequently probably already know that ANA charges only a very low 95,000 miles for Star Alliance business class awards between China and North America, and ANA’s premium-cabin experience is among the very best in the alliance. Unfortunately, ANA imposes high fuel surcharges (YQ) on its own award tickets, and the YQ on round-trip ANA tickets between China and North America can easily reach 500 USD. However, on China–North America routes, there is no YQ if you redeem flights operated by United (UA), Air Canada (AC), Asiana (OZ), or Air China (CA). The first time I redeemed this Air Canada flight, I specifically wanted to save a bit on YQ, so I booked one direction on ANA and the other on AC.
ANA miles usually come from transferring MR points at a 1:1 ratio, and they can also be obtained via Marriott point transfers.
Booking Through UA
Compared with ANA, UA miles are easier to earn and more flexible. You can get UA miles simply by transferring from UR, and the added flexibility comes from being able to book one-way awards. United charges 70,000 miles one way for its own business class between China and North America, while partner business class costs 80,000 miles. No matter which airline you redeem, there is no YQ, and only minimal taxes and fees are charged.
That said, 80,000 UA miles can also get you United’s own first class, but that makes it hard to connect in Japan, and award space on the nonstop EWR-PVG flight is concerningly limited, so it’s generally not something I consider.
Visa
For readers traveling between China and the U.S., choosing Air Canada naturally means connecting in Canada. In many cases, Chinese citizens do not need a Canadian visa to transit in Canada. For whether a visa is required in your specific situation, please see this article; for a guide to applying for a Canadian visa, please see this article.
Seat
Air Canada’s long-haul business class cabin uses a reverse herringbone layout descended from the highly regarded Cathay Pacific design.
The reverse herringbone 1-2-1 layout is arguably one of the best business class seat designs out there today. Every passenger gets plenty of privacy, miles ahead of some low-cost carriers. I chose a window seat because it felt a bit more private. Since I had no confidence in my own photos, the next two images of the individual seat are from Air Canada’s official website.
There’s a touch control panel by the seat for adjusting the lighting, seat position, and firmness of the seat cushion, and it also offers a basic massage function.
The headphones provided onboard were PHITEK noise-canceling headphones, and they were actually pretty decent.
Overall, Air Canada’s business class seat is quite strong—noticeably better than ANA’s business class seat, even though both are in Star Alliance. The seat is spacious enough that it never feels cramped whether sitting upright or lying flat. The adjustable cushion firmness also eliminates the need for a separate mattress pad, which definitely deserves praise. One minor drawback is that storage around the seat is a bit limited. There’s a covered compartment on the window-side shelf for small items like a phone or headphones, and another storage area under the right armrest, though that one is only big enough for a bottled drink. Larger items such as a coat, blanket, or shoes don’t have an especially good place to go.
Food and Drink
First, here’s the menu.
Not long after boarding, the crew came around with pre-departure drinks. You couldn’t order freely from the drink list at this stage—only the champagne and orange juice being served by the flight attendants were available. I chose the champagne in the interest of sleeping better on the flight. It was average.
The main meal service began shortly after reaching cruising altitude. To be honest, I never have high expectations for food on North American airlines, but maybe because my expectations were so low, I ended up finding Air Canada’s food surprisingly tolerable.
After the main meal, Air Canada also offered a few items that could be ordered anytime during the flight. Feeling brave, I ordered the noodle soup first. On the menu, it was called Hot noodle soup, shrimp and pork wontons, gai-lan. What arrived is shown below:
…a bowl of instant noodles. Please ignore the half-bright, half-dark lighting. After I complained, the flight attendant brought over two wontons and some gai-lan as well—see the left side of the photo below. On the right is the Dim sum selection of siu mai, har gau, shrimp and spinach dumpling. The taste was honestly a little alarming. Still, in North America, getting the difference between gai-lan and broccoli right is already no small feat, so I won’t complain too much more.
Next came breakfast before landing. Since this was a Canada-to-Japan flight, both Western and Japanese breakfast options were available. For some reason, I made the questionable decision to choose the Japanese one. Let’s just say…the fruit was pretty good.
Overall, Air Canada’s food is acceptable as long as you avoid the riskier Japanese and Chinese menu items. Compared with UA, it’s still on a completely different level.
Airport Lounges
There are not many Star Alliance lounge choices at either YYZ or HND. Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounge at YYZ and the ANA Lounge at HND are basically the only options at each airport. We’ll cover both lounges in separate articles.
Summary
Among Star Alliance airlines operating transpacific flights, I think Air Canada business class is one of the best options. Compared with ANA business class, ANA of course wins easily on onboard food, but I personally think seat comfort matters more when flying, and that’s where AC has a slight edge. Readers based in Canada, or those living close to Canada, may want to give it a try. Connecting in Canada really isn’t a huge hassle, and an itinerary like EWR-YYZ-PVG is a good example.