Air Canada 777-300ER Business Class (Seat 5D), PEK to YVR
SeatLink Chief Travel Officer (Dan)Published Flown Updated
Oh Canada, Up Front
After a couple of weeks bouncing around Asia I needed to get from Beijing back to the west coast, and Air Canada's nonstop PEK - YVR popped up in Business for a very reasonable chunk of Aeroplan miles (any Star Alliance program will do the trick here). The last time I wrote up Air Canada it was on a little Dash 8 Q300, so this was a slightly different proposition... AC had only just finished refitting their 777s with the reverse herringbone pods and I was keen to see how they stacked up against the Cathay version of the same seat, which I know well. It was a redeye too, so the real test was going to be the bed.The Shortcut Review of AC 77W J
What's awesome:
- Slept really well - the seat goes properly flat at 79" and the pillow and duvet were a cut above
- Good privacy in the middle pair, the divider stayed up the whole flight and I barely knew my neighbor was there
- Crew were excellent and attentive, which isn't always what you hear about AC
- Big 18" screen with a handset tucked in the side bin, plus universal power and USB
- Slippers waiting at the seat (an Asia route thing, apparently)
- Breakfast was so-so, a bit of a come down after a good dinner
- Storage is limited - one side bin, a shoe cubby by the floor and that's about it
- Footwell is on the snug side in bed mode
- 21" wide is narrow on paper, even if it doesn't feel that way
Photo gallery
38 photos from this trip — click any shot to view it full size.
Seatlink's Take
Back in December 2017 this was still just called International Business Class (the Signature Class name came along the following year) and the seats are what Air Canada call Executive Pods. Underneath the branding it's the B/E Aerospace Super Diamond, the same reverse herringbone you'll find on Cathay and a bunch of others. On this version of the 77W there are 40 of them in a 1-2-1 layout across rows 1 to 11, split into a forward cabin of 26 seats in rows 1 - 7 and a mini cabin of 14 behind the mid galley in rows 8 - 11. The two rows either side of that galley are short ones - row 7 is just 7A and 7K and row 8 is just 8D and 8G. I was in 5D, a middle seat right in the heart of the forward cabin, and from the back of the cabin the pods looked smart with the blue mood lighting on (see the cabin pics). The seat is 21" wide and lays flat to 79". That width sounds stingy but the way the shell angles away from you means it doesn't feel narrow when you're sitting, and the outside armrest drops down to give you a bit more room when it's time to sleep. Being a redeye I had the bed made up not long after dinner and honestly, I slept well - better than I expected to. The pillow is a big proper one and the duvet is thick enough that I didn't need to ask for anything else. The footwell is where you notice the compromise. It's a decent size (there's room for a bag underneath the ottoman) but it does narrow towards the end and if you've got big feet you'll know about it. The divider between the two middle seats is a tall grey panel that comes up high enough that I couldn't see the person in 5G at all, which is more privacy than I usually get in a center pair. For a solo traveler stuck in the middle it's a good result.
Controls are a little touchscreen on the console, with a couple of hard buttons for upright and flat beside it. The Comfort menu lets you poke at the headrest, lumbar and the mattress section individually and there's a massage function in there as well, though I didn't get much out of it. The IFE screen is 18" and nice and crisp and you can drive it either by touch or with the handset that lives in the side bin. That same bin is where you'll find the universal outlet and USB port along with the Air Canada branded headphones, still in their plastic. Storage-wise though that bin is really it, apart from a small cubby down by your feet that you can't use for taxi, take off and landing. The side table is wide and flat and the tray table slides out from under the screen and unfolds towards you, which I like as you don't get boxed in by it. No Wi-Fi that I used on this flight.
Food started with a glass of water and a dish of warm nuts while we were still climbing out. Dinner was good. The starter was a prawn and scallop plate with a side salad, a warm multigrain roll and a little pat of Anchor butter, and for the main I went with what I'm fairly sure was chicken in a cream sauce over rice with green beans and eggplant. Not pretty under the cabin lighting but tasty and the portion was generous. The wine list had a Drappier champagne up top and a decent mix of Canadian and European bottles. Breakfast was a different story... an omelette with a sausage, a hash brown and a grilled tomato, plus a croissant, some fruit and a yoghurt. It was fine, it just wasn't anything you'd remember five minutes later. Where AC really surprised me was the crew. They were excellent - attentive without hovering, checked on me when I woke up and were quick with a refill. Given the reputation, I wasn't expecting that at all 😀
The amenity kit is a grey herringbone wool pouch by Escents with socks, an eye mask, ear plugs, a dental kit, a cleansing cloth, body lotion and a lip balm. The pouch itself is nice enough that I kept using it after. Matching grey slippers were waiting on the seat with a bottle of Naya water, and it's a small thing but having slippers on an overnight flight makes a difference.