Total Score: 12.5 / 15

Seat 4.5 / 5

Food 3 / 5

Service and IFE 5 / 5

Seat 13E

Departure from Tel Aviv at 11:45am

Flight Number AC85

Air Canada is one of two airlines to fly nonstop to Toronto along with ELAL.  Both airlines fly their newest aircraft, the Boeing 787 and have comparable products in all classes.  I was flying premium economy for the first time and while not as comfortable as business class, I was eager to find out if it’s worth the extra cost over economy class. 

Check in and Lounge

I arrived at check in about 90 minutes before departure from Ben Gurion Airport.  While premium economy class doesn’t have its own check in lane, as a Star Alliance Gold member I was able to avoid the mass of people and use the business class check in lane. 

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Thanks to my Gold status I was able to access the Dan Lounge at Ben Gurion Airport, however premium economy passengers without status don’t otherwise get lounge access. 

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Cabin and Seat

The small premium economy section is located between business and economy class, taking up three rows in a 2 – 3 – 2 configuration (compared to 3 – 3 – 3 in regular economy class) for a total of 21 seats. 

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The cabin was partially separated from the regular economy section and remained quiet throughout the flight while economy was chaotic and loud when I went for a walk through.  The premium economy cabin does have it’s own toilet (with a window!) though economy passengers came to use it as well, so the line became quite long at certain points during the flight.    

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The premium economy seats feature 38 inches of pitch and 19.5 inches of width compares to 31 and 17.5 inches in regular economy.  Each passenger has their own armrests, tray table, small storage spaces, USB charging ports, and power outlets.

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The seat itself is pretty comfortable with a nice headrest and a footrest under the seat in front of you.  I was comfortable overall throughout the flight as the seat really exceeded my expectations in terms of comfort.

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Each seat features a high quality, large IFE screen with among the best content selection I’ve seen on any airline.  I found about a dozen movies I would be happy to watch including all the Harry Potter movies!

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Food

Upon boarding, menus exclusively for premium economy class were distributed and read as follows:

We were first served lunch about 30 minutes after takeoff.  The cabin manager stood at the front to explain the dishes, and in quite a theatrical manor which I found entertaining.  Contrary to what was recommended, I chose the chicken dish and was very impressed with the quality and taste!

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The quality of the meal was similar to what I’ve gotten on most business class flights and I really enjoyed it.  We were also given real glassware and metal utensils which certainly enhanced the meal and made it feel more like a business class meal.

A few hours later, we were served a pita with cream cheese and some pretzels, the same options offered to economy class.  After a tasty lunch, I was not so impressed by a dry pita sandwich and didn’t have more than a couple bites.

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Before landing we were served one final hot meal. Just like the snack, these were the same meals that were offered in economy class.  I found it so odd that only one meal was actually enhanced for premium economy while the rest was not.  For this meal I went with the beef which was decent enough, though not to the same standard as lunch.

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Service

As I arrived at my seat, waiting was a pillow and blanket, small amenity kit, water bottle and the menu.  Shortly after being seated I was offered a drink and a warm towel. The drinks were served in plastic cups though I was impressed to be served a drink at all, so I didn’t mind.  The pre departure service really set the bar high for my expectations of the flight with business class like amenities and service.

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This being a daytime flight, there was plenty of crew interaction and I was so impressed by the high level of service from Air Canada.  Each of the four crew members who worked our cabin were extremely friendly, helpful and happy to chat.  There was a clear difference in the service given to the premium economy passengers over economy class which was closer to what I expect in business class.  Way to go Air Canada!

Bottom Line

My goal after taking this flight is to compare premium economy and economy class, to decide whether or not it’s worth the extra cost to fly premium economy.  For the sake of argument, I’ll take a random date to compare fares on this flight in all three cabins.  On these dates, economy class is selling for 1,113$, premium for 1,824$ and business for 4,024$ round trip.    

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Do I think premium economy is worth an extra 700$ (350$ in each direction)?  For the extra money you get:

-A more comfortable seat with extra width, legroom and recline.

-Upgraded service

-One upgraded meal

-A more intimate and quieter cabin

-Priority boarding

-Amenities including water bottles, amenity kits, hot towels, and welcome drinks.

I can appreciate the value flying in premium economy, and for $350 extra per direction I do think it’s worth paying a small premium for. Premium economy was more enjoyable than I anticipated and for a long daytime flight like this one, worth the extra money over economy class.

If Air Canada could improve one thing about their premium economy service it would be the meal service.  After the bar was set high during the lunch service, the remaining meals left more to be desired.  To me, the disappointing meals were the only things standing in the way of this being a 5 star premium economy product.