Review: Air Canada Business Class from Toronto to San Francisco

Introduction – The Australian Open Series

I love travelling the world to experience global sporting events. Having checked off the FIFA World Cup in Doha, Qatar and the French Open in Paris in the last couple of years, I was ecstatic to check off the Australian Open in Melbourne from my bucket list of global sporting events. My trip to the Australian Open started at Toronto Pearson Airport (YYZ) with Air Canada Business Class from Toronto to San Francisco (SFO).

The Route – Flights from Canada to Australia

My route from Canada to Australia included a six-hour flight from YYZ to SFO on Air Canada, a four-hour layover and then SFO to Brisbane ( BNE ) on United Polaris. There was another eight-hour layover, followed by Virgin Australia (VA) flights from BNE to Melbourne (MEL). Unfortunately, no direct flights were available on Aeroplan for my dates from SFO to MEL;

YYZ –> SFO (4 hr layover) –> BNE (8 hour layover) –> MEL

This one-way route was booked through Aeroplan and cost 87,500 points + $186.56 in taxes and fees.

Flight: AC 743 YYZ – SFO
Aircraft: Boeing 737-MAX 8
Duration: 5hr 53min
Seat: 2D

Air Canada Business Class YYZ – SFO: Boarding and Cabin

At boarding, there was a minor hiccup. There was a gentleman with an Indian Passport boarding on the Zone 1 line that took what seemed forever to validate, at which time more than half of the economy line boarded. It was just poor training on the part of the check-in agent, who should have asked her colleague checking in economy passengers to check in the rest of the business class passengers while she dealt with her passenger. I don’t see the point of having priority boarding if half the economy passengers board before you do.

The Business Class cabin was a 2-2 configuration with recliner seats across four rows. The in-flight entertainment system on each seat included an impressive array of content for the upcoming six hours. Unfortunately, the headphones provided were poor quality, and I had to stop my movie early in the movie because the sound quality wasn’t up to par.

Air Canada Business Class Seat – Boeing 737 Max 8

Air Canada IFE

Air Canada Business Class YYZ – SFO: Meal Service

The meal service onboard included a three-course menu served shortly after take-off and a round of snacks just before landing.

AC Business Class menu

Meal service started with a small serving of almonds and cashews, and as it has been written before, there weren’t many cashews in the bowl.

Air Canada Drink service

The main meal consisted of salad, chicken, and a vegetarian option, with blueberry cheesecake for dessert. I went with the garlic ginger chicken, which was okay, but I expected it to be slightly spicier. The salad was supposed to have Brussels sprouts and cauliflower; however, mine had just one tiny cauliflower and no Brussels sprouts.

Heritage Salad

Garlic Ginger Chicken with Veg Fried Rice

The dessert was blueberry cheesecake, though it tasted like a regular cheesecake, and I didn’t taste any blueberries. Snacks during the flight included AC’s standard Miss Vickie’s Plain kettle chips, Kit Kat bars, and Lindt 70% Dark Chocolate bars.

Air Canada snack service

I thought the meal and drinks were poor for the nearly 6-hour AC flight to SFO, mainly because the meal wasn’t as advertised on the menu.

Air Canada Business Class YYZ – SFO: Takeaway

This Air Canada business class flight was a 6 /10 for the above reasons. While the cabin staff was lovely and polite, the service was good but unremarkable.

Landing in SFO on time, I had 4 hours to enjoy the SFO United Polaris lounge before my 14+ hour flight to Australia. My Air Canada flight landed in Gate D, and my outbound flight flew from the G gates, so it was a 15-minute walk between terminals. On the way, I passed by the new AC MLL in SFO that opened last year, which has been reviewed here before on PMB. I popped in for a quick peek before heading to the Polaris Lounge.

Title Image Credit: Air Canada