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Hello Montreal - Night Aerial View
A nighttime aerial shot of Montreal, bustling and bright. It truly lives up to its reputation as the economic center and major port of Quebec, Canada.
Connecting Flight Transfer Process in Montreal
After the plane arrived at the airport, instead of a normal jet bridge, we had to walk down the stairs. But after only a short walk, we reached the passageway into the terminal building. Below is a photo I took of the aircraft after going down to the bottom of the stairs. Air Canada's new livery is really handsome.
It takes about 10 minutes to walk from the passageway to the transfer area. The route is long, but there are signs all the way, so just follow them.
We passed through immigration, which was huge but had very few people, making it feel unusually empty.
One thing to note: before reaching the transfer gate, there are two forks along the connecting-flight route. The first is for flights to the United States, or to Canada and international flights. The second is for flights to Canada and international flights (the second one requires scanning your boarding pass). Then you need to go to a machine to make a declaration. Just follow the instructions on the machine, and it takes about 2 minutes. It will print out a sheet of paper, which you hand to the customs officer. He will scan your boarding pass again, and then let you through.
Montreal Air Canada International Maple Leaf Lounge
Then it was just a matter of following the signs to the gates. There are many restaurants and shops along the way. Before reaching the gate area, we could already see the lounge we were going to use this time. The floor-standing signs and the signs on the wall were very eye-catching.
After going in, the reception desk is on the first floor. I showed my boarding pass, the staff scanned it, and let me in.
The actual lounge is upstairs. You can go up the stairs on the right, or take the elevator on the left up one level.
You could say it really lives up to being Air Canada's large home-country lounge in Canada. Spacious, grand, and bright. The large Air Canada aircraft model at the entrance is very eye-catching. The window seats along the side also face the airport.
Compared with the UA Club, the food here is on a completely different level. There are more and better food options, and the hot dishes are really tasty.
I was a little hungry, so I went to get a second plate. At that point I saw some fish slices being replenished, so I grabbed one. It was just average.
The sofa I chose was all the way in the back, and there was even a private lounge area next to it, which I didn't quite understand.
After finishing two plates of food, I saw two people leave the lie-flat area, so I quickly grabbed my bag and headed over. The recliner seats were very comfortable. Behind each recliner were power outlets and USB ports.
Most importantly, you can watch the planes from in front of the recliners. I happened to see two aircraft with the old and new logos. I have to say the latest Air Canada livery, in red and black, is really sharp.
As usual, I left the lounge when it was almost time to board. On the way from the lounge to gate 51, you pass through a second, "simple" customs checkpoint. You don't need to scan to go in, but if you come back from gate 51, you need to scan your ID again.
Montreal - Paris
Aircraft: Air Canada Boeing 777-300ER
Flight number: AC 870
Flight time: 6 hours 4 minutes
Distance: 5,540 km
Aircraft image sourced from the internet
Boarding
It was quick, since I was in zone 1 and among the first group to board. After boarding, the cabin crew directed me forward to my business-class seat.
Cabin Features
As expected from the Boeing 777-300ER, the onboard facilities were very new and clearly very well maintained. The seat design was also excellent: reverse herringbone, so privacy is well protected; and the 1-2-1 layout is very comfortable. Compared with the previous flight, the screen was huge, and it was very new and responsive.
I’m not sure what brand the amenity kit Air Canada gave out is, but it feels really well designed. Inside were the usual things like a toothbrush, but the only items I actually used were the lip balm and hand cream pictured below. It came with a bottle of water that Air Canada gave out at the start, and the brand was NAYA.
The seat is really spacious; stretching my legs forward felt effortless (obviously—it’s business class and can lie flat).
Next, take a look at the left side of the seat: this storage compartment. Once you open it, you can see there’s a huge amount of space inside.
I should mention that the little notch in this compartment is really well thought out; the details are handled nicely, so the cable doesn’t get pinched when charging.
Under this storage compartment is the seat control unit. You can see that in addition to adjusting the seat angle, it also has massage functions and firmness settings.
A little later, the flight attendant brought over headphones, and in later testing they turned out to be pretty decent.
I snapped the plane outside the window before departure; it was still wearing the old livery.
In-flight meals
To be fair, the food on Air Canada was genuinely good. Once the flight had leveled off, they came by to ask what I wanted to drink and handed out menus in English and French. I only photographed the English version. There was also a sheet where you could check whether you wanted breakfast, and whether you wanted the more substantial option or the lighter one. The trade-off for the heartier option was that they would wake you up earlier so you’d have enough time to eat, even though I only spent about 5 or 6 minutes on that breakfast and really didn’t need to be woken up that early...
After I checked the breakfast option, the flight attendant soon came by to ask what I wanted for dinner and collected the breakfast card. Not long after that, they brought out the starter—nuts—and my drink of choice, tomato juice. Here’s a recommendation: for the bread, I chose garlic, which is usually a safe bet. (Except on Air China; I’ll cover that in the next post...) My salmon main was also good, but I think the smoked yellowfin tuna in the appetizer was even more impressive!
Later, when we were flying over the UK, breakfast was served. It was a very Western breakfast, and the omelet tasted pretty standard.
Service
I saw three flight attendants working the business-class cabin, and they were all very pretty and friendly. One of them was French; her English was a bit halting, but she always tried hard to say things properly (she corrected herself a few times and even made herself laugh), which was adorable.
Personal takeaway
Overall, I was very satisfied with this flight as well: the cabin felt very new, the food was tasty, and the flight attendants were all friendly and kind. Sleeping flat on the plane really is comfortable! Thumbs up for reverse-herringbone seats that can lie flat!
Finally, here’s a sunrise photo I took as we were approaching Paris.
Posts in this series
Business Class "Experience" on the Winter Break Homebound Trip - Travel Notes (1) Boston to Montreal