For our summer holiday this year we flew
from Manchester to Toronto with Air Canada Rouge. A taxi from home to Derby
station allowed us to connect with the 0640 East Midlands Trains service to
Crewe, a single carriage class 153 unit. We travelled through to the end of the
line, at Crewe, as the train got steadily busier, and we were full and standing
before Stoke on Trent. The conductor made a valiant, and mainly successful,
effort to pass through the train and collect fares, as many stations along the
line have no ticket purchasing facilities.
At Crewe there was time for a coffee before we boarded the 0833 Northern Rail service to Manchester Piccadilly, a class 323 unit which was well maintained and presented, with very little litter. Our ticket was checked before we set off, but we had an anxious five minutes as we sat at Crewe past our departure time, wondering if we were ever going to move. We were soon on our way however, and as we sped towards Manchester we ate a breakfast of the leftover food from our house, all removed as we departed. At Manchester Airport we checked in in good time, passed through security, and prepared to board Air Canada Rouge flight AC1931 to Toronto Pearson Airport.
We were an hour late taking off due to a broken down plane blocking the runway, but when we were finally airborne the pilot was able to make up twenty minutes. We were disappointed when we discovered that we were travelling with Air Canada Rouge, Air Canada's budget subsidiary, and the lack of inflight entertainment and plug sockets did affect our flight experience. Entertainment is available on your own device, but with nowhere to charge it an eight hour flight puts a dent in even the best battery capacities. Inflight service however was friendly and attentive, with a tasty meal and snack along with complimentary soft drinks being provided at appropriate times in the flight. I did have to explain to the Canadian flight attendant what a fizzy drink was, and I learned that a Sprite was a Sprite and not a lemonade, but all in all there were no major issues. Seat pitch was acceptable if a little tight, and we arrived into Toronto relatively fresh for our 90 minute limo transfer to Niagara Falls.
At Crewe there was time for a coffee before we boarded the 0833 Northern Rail service to Manchester Piccadilly, a class 323 unit which was well maintained and presented, with very little litter. Our ticket was checked before we set off, but we had an anxious five minutes as we sat at Crewe past our departure time, wondering if we were ever going to move. We were soon on our way however, and as we sped towards Manchester we ate a breakfast of the leftover food from our house, all removed as we departed. At Manchester Airport we checked in in good time, passed through security, and prepared to board Air Canada Rouge flight AC1931 to Toronto Pearson Airport.
We were an hour late taking off due to a broken down plane blocking the runway, but when we were finally airborne the pilot was able to make up twenty minutes. We were disappointed when we discovered that we were travelling with Air Canada Rouge, Air Canada's budget subsidiary, and the lack of inflight entertainment and plug sockets did affect our flight experience. Entertainment is available on your own device, but with nowhere to charge it an eight hour flight puts a dent in even the best battery capacities. Inflight service however was friendly and attentive, with a tasty meal and snack along with complimentary soft drinks being provided at appropriate times in the flight. I did have to explain to the Canadian flight attendant what a fizzy drink was, and I learned that a Sprite was a Sprite and not a lemonade, but all in all there were no major issues. Seat pitch was acceptable if a little tight, and we arrived into Toronto relatively fresh for our 90 minute limo transfer to Niagara Falls.
No comments:
Post a Comment