air canada boeing 777 300er premium economy

Bar service - A regular drinks service was offered, with crew wheeling the cart through the cabin several times as well as walking through occasionally with cups and a large bottle of water in hand.

On the return leg, I followed the anti-jet lag advice in the in-flight magazine and rejected the main meal (an unappetising pasta dish) but took the extras, including a pot of minted salad and a slice of chocolate cake. Extras on the plate included a chewy white bread roll with butter, a cookie and a pot of couscous salad. On the outbound flight, I opted for salmon with orzo pasta and a tomato sauce.

Tasty meals - The main meals were on the whole surprisingly delicious.

It is a small touch, but as airlines are as much service businesses as they are travel companies, the little things matter. As red-eyed passengers filed off the plane, the smiles continued. Considering they have to hop between speaking French and English for every announcement and every passenger interaction, I expected them to tire far more quickly into the journey. The Air Canada teams on both outbound and inbound flights were genuinely amongst the most pleasant I have ever experienced.

Pleasant staff - On most long-haul airlines, flight attendants tend to follow the same sort of pattern as the passengers - everyone is relatively happy at the start of the journey, becoming tired and fed up by the end.

Music programming left a lot to be desired, with albums available from obscure artists, none of whom I recognised. TV programmes were relatively recent and included American favourites such as The Big Bang Theory and The Goldbergs. Movie titles included the likes of Disney's Inside Out, Pitch Perfect 2, and Mall Cop 2.

On-demand entertainment - The on-demand personal entertainment system enabled me to skip around the good range of available programming.

Noise-cancelling headphones would help reduce the ambient noise.

Comfortable seats - The black leather-effect seating was comfortable, and the adjustable headrest sides made dozing a little easier.

I did not expect to find acres of floor space around my economy seat, but I was pleasantly surprised not having my knees pressed up against the rear of the chair in front.

Good legroom - There was a generous amount of legroom in economy class, with a seat pitch of 31 inches.

Air canada boeing 777 300er premium economy