Air Canada Business Class Flight 7461 New York LaGuardia – Montreal, Canada

SEAT COMFORT

Air Canada’s Embraer 175 seats 73 passengers. The business-class cabin has nine seats in a 1-2 configuration. Seats are 20” wide with a pitch of 38”. They would not have looked out of place on a much larger aircraft. My seat, 3A, was on the left-hand side of the plane.

I found my business-class seat to be quite comfortable and supportive, especially on such a short flight. Each seat had a monitor in the seatback and the in-flight entertainment system offered a variety of movies, television programs, news programs, and music tracks.

IN-FLIGHT SERVICE

It was the in-flight service that made the airline really shine. For a flight that was under one hour, having a relatively full service with a beverage served right after we leveled off, accompanied by a package of almonds, and then a warm dinner was impressive. The flight attendant in my cabin was very friendly and was constantly in the aisle, refilling glasses, and making sure everyone’s needs were attended to.

The dinner, a chicken pot pie, was really good (and it’s difficult to achieve a good crust at cruising altitude). The entrée was followed by tea and coffee and at that point we started the descent into the Montreal area. It was still light out as we were approaching Montreal and I was able to see some of the city from above, mostly covered in snow and ice.

ARRIVAL

We landed in Montreal at 6:49 p.m., one minute early and were at the gate two minutes later, making arrival six minutes early. A concierge was waiting to escort me to the lounge. I had almost two hours before my flight to London and I took the opportunity to visit the much larger Maple Leaf Lounge in Montreal and enjoy a light snack before the longer flight, so I could maximize my sleep time en route.

BOTTOM LINE

I was admittedly confused during parts of the flight. I was on a regional jet yet the service and food were worthy of a long-haul flight. Clearly, this was not a typical RJ experience and that is apparently Air Canada’s stock in trade. From check-in to my first encounter with the concierge to the superb on-board service, it became apparent that I had been missing a special experience and I vowed to visit the Great White North more frequently, or at least fly on its airline.

(Photos: Accura Media Group)

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