CPH-YYZ-YUL in Premium-Economy and a boat trip on the St. Lawrence River

[jestraveller]

Hello Guys!

I will do this in English, as I do not know how well you will understand this if I wrote it in Danish.

First of all I will just briefly introduce myself. I'm a long time lurker, but haven't have anything to contribute with until now. I have always been passionate about the aviation industry, and airplanes and airports in particular. In the last couple of years the milage addiction has started, given an extra dimension to my passion.

I am educated as an marine engineer since January, and was offered a job as a travelling service engineer for the Danish company Wärtsilä Lyngsø Marine starting February.

My travelling did not really commence before May, which involved 6 return flights to Hamburg from Copenhagen to participate in training and courses. That made me EB Silver and Intercontinental Gold (IHG Reward Gold).

My job is really eventful to say the least. I come to the office in the greater Copenhagen area in the morning, and during the day I try to solve our customers problems remote, either by E-mail or phone and arrange flights/hotels/agents. In many cases the remote troubleshooting is not possible, and the customer then orders a service visit from one of our service engineers. Some visits is made a long time in advance, others are day-to-day request.

Thursday the 9th. of July

As I'm still in my training period, my days is mostly spend by helping customers with remote troubleshooting. Thought that this is going to be "just-another-day-in-the-office" but right after lunch my coordinator dropped by to tell me that he was expecting a phone call within 10 minutes to clarify whether or not a service engineer was needed to solve an urgent problem in Canada. I was then told to search for flight tickets and visa requirements if needed. I called our travel agency and told them that I might be needing tickets for Montreal, Canada as fast as possible. While the lady from the travel agency was searching for options I got a "thumps up" signal from my coordinator, telling me that the customer accepted the terms and conditions for the visit.
Getting tickets to Montreal the same day was not possible, so she started searching for the next day, which gave me several options. KLM/Delta via Amsterdam or Air Canada via Toronto. The prices where almost the same but the Air Canada option was faster, and the flight from CPH to Toronto was in Premium-Economy where KLM where in economy. That did not take me long time to decide. The final itinerary was then:

10. July Copenhagen - Toronto (Premium Economy) Air Canada

10. July Toronto - Montreal (Economy) Air Canada

Friday the 10th. of July

As my flight was at 12:15 I decided to sleep til 7:00 instead of going to the office in the morning. Went to Østerport station in Copenhagen around 9:30 and took the Øresundstog towards the airport. 25 minutes later I was in Kastrup airport. Silver members can use fasttrack and lounge in July and August, but only when travelling with SAS and not there Star Alliance partners.

As I'm fairly new into the frequent flyer world, I have only visited one lounge before, and that was Lufthansa Gold lounge in Hamburg, due to an invitation by my Diamond level coworker.

My Air Canada flight was already at the gate. It was going to be my first time on the B787-8



Walked to the C-pier where I haven't been in a long time. Did some spotting as the pier was almost full.

Had a good view to my flight being prepared.



During boarding premium-economy can take part in the priority boarding. I was therefore one of the first in the Premium section and could take some pictures of the seat.

Route: AC883 Copenhagen-Toronto
Aircraft: Boeing 787-8 (Dreamliner) #C-GHPU
Gate: C28
Class: Premium-Economy
Seat: 14G





I'm 1,95m tall and would normally always go for an emergency exit if possible. As I have NEVER tried anything else than basic economy these seats and legroom was a huge step in the right direction. "I can easily adapt to this" I thought to myself. Felt quite important as I sat there while the rest of the plane was being filled. I know this does not compare to the comfort many of you have tried, but for me it was as close to heaven as possible.



During boarding of the economy section menus and pre-departure drinks was handed out. No champagne, but the choices was water or orange juice. The menu was only an description with only 2 main dishes to choose from. Still better than the "Chicken or beef!" question as presentation in economy.



Shortly after takeoff hot towels was given before the table was set for dinner.





This was my first time eating with real cutlery and with a seat pitch large enough to eat without arm wrestling with my side neighbor.

I went for the chicken breast with white wine and the food was descent, but miles better than what I have been served in economy.





After dinner there was another drink offering and I went for a coke. I leaned my seat back as far as possible, and enjoyed that I could actually stretch my legs for the first time without sitting in the emergency exit row.



After the table was cleared I went to the bathroom and to my surprise it was larger than normal and even had a window. (I know, I'm easy to impress)





As I knew that the ship was waiting for me, and therefore probably wanted me to work right away, I figured that as much sleep as possible was needed. As the flight was a mid-day flight I wasn't tired at all. There was a small amenity kit in the seatpocket which included earplugs, eyeshades and socks, which was all nice, but didn't helped me at all. I then returned to my movie and did not get any sleep on the flight at all.

About one hour before arrival departure cards and a small pizza-roll was handed out. It had a good taste, but of course was nothing spectacular.



The landing was smooth and even though I was seated in the middle, I was able to see a lot because of the large windows that the B787 is fitted with. The temperature in Toronto was around 27°C and almost 10°C better than in Copenhagen.



I went through the immigration and further to the baggage claim and picked up my suitcase, to bring it through customs. Afterwards I walked to the domestic terminal and threw my luggage at the drop-off belt. The whole procedure took around 30 minutes, which seemed a lot faster than my earlier encounters with the US immigration arrivals. I can recommend transiting through Canada when travelling to the US, as this was quite a brief.

Found a place in the domestic terminal where I could grap a small burger before my next flight to Montreal.

[jestraveller]

Route: AC418 Toronto-Montreal
Aircraft: Boeing 767-300ER #C-GSCA
Gate: D26
Class: Economy (Premium-Economy ticket)
Seat: 38K



The flight was fully booked and they announced that they did not receive new passengers to the stand-by list because of that. I could board together with *G and priority boarding because my ticket was an Premium-Economy but the seat was a basic economy seat.

The flight time was around 1 hour and 15 minutes, and I therefore selected a window seat. Boarding and pushback was fast and we took off on time.





The weather was perfect and with a great visibility all the way I spend the entire flight looking out the window on the beautiful Canadian landscape.

During approach Montreal Airport was clearly visible.



We took a sharp right turn, turning into final and landed 10 minutes ahead of schedule.





The gate that we was supposed to use was still occupied by another aircraft. That meant almost 15 minutes of waiting on the tarmac.

Air Transat A310 if I'm not mistaken.



Finally we arrived to the gate and I was at the baggage claim 15 minutes later. At this time it was 18:35 Local time which meant 00:35 Danish time.

Exited the terminal and found the agent waiting for me with a sign. Was told that we had to wait for another 2 hours, as the customer also had requested a Polish service engineer from the Norwegian company Scana, arriving from Munich at 20:30. "Oh dear!"

Got an ice-coffee at Starbucks and went outside to enjoy the 25°C and the view of the end of the runway. Did I say that I'm really passionate about planes?



After 1 ½ hours of planespotting I decided to go back to the terminal to wait together with the agent. I was then told that the ship was anchored near the small town of Cape Vincent, New York. That meant a 4 hour car ride into the US.



4 hours of driving and 2 hours of waiting at the US border, because the polish engineer didn't have a US visa meant that we finally arrived at Cape Vincent at 1:30 in the night local time. 7:30 in the morning back home in Denmark. Another 1 hour of waiting for the Pilot to arrive and from the pilot-station it was a short 10 minutes ride out the ship.

Arrived at the ship 02:30 and had to climb an old rope-ladder with my 8 kg. backpack and a lifewest strapped around me. Did I mention that I at this point was tired?

The polish technician is doing the climb.



Was greeted by the Captain and Chief Engineer who wanted me to explain what my action on the problem was. At this point I haven't slept for 26 hours and that was also the case for the polish technician. "I think I need some sleep first". We agreed that we would look into it after breakfast at 08:00. So I went to my cabin to get some sleep.

[jestraveller]

Saturday the 11th. of July

Hotel: M/S Solina - Polsteam (0 Stars - Non-Rated)
Room Type: Cadet Cabin (2 bunks-bed)
Nights: 2

I slept terrible. I think I got around 2 hours. The bed was not long enough and as I was only 1 deck above the main engine so there was a lot of noise. I'm not an delicate/sensitive person and have stayed at some pretty disgusting places during my life. This was not the worse but definitely not the best either. I will let the pictures do the talking.







After breakfast I went to the Engine Control Room and talked with the Chief Engineer about the problems they had. They did found something that they believed could have caused it. To make a long story short, I worked for about 1½ hour and then everything was working as it should. Problem solved and I was ready to return home.

I went to the Captains meeting room to write my work report so I could return to Cape Vincent but the Chief Engineer told me that they wanted me to stay onboard all the way to Montreal, which was a 24 hours cruise away. I agreed to that, but told them that I was quite sure that they would not experience this problem again.



After I finished my work report it was almost time for lunch. The ship is Polish owned and the entire crew including the service technician from Scana was polish, so I did most of my eating alone.





The ship would pull anchor around 16:00 and from there it will be 24 hours until Montreal. I went to the lounge, but even though I do not have many lounges to compare with, I would describe it as "below-Standard". I left it quickly again.





Did some reading and a single hour of sleep until my alarm woke me up at 16:00. Went to the bridge to wait for the Pilots and startup of the main engine.



The pilots came shortly after and they pulled anchor 16:30 and set the course for Montreal through the narrow St. Lawrence River.

During the first hour I stayed at the bridge in order to make sure everything was behaving as it should. As there were no problems at all I decided to go to the mess room for dinner.



Did I mention that I'm not picky?

Spent the entire evening outside on the bridge wing, enjoying the warm weather and the beautiful passage though St. Lawrence River in the Thousand Island area. USA is on the right and Canada on the left.













After sunset I went to my cabin.

[jestraveller]

Sunday the 12th. of July

I managed to sleep though the entire night and next morning breakfast was served 7:30.






As the crew haven't observed any problems during the night I decided once again to stay on the bridge and enjoy the view.





The city of Montreal could be seen in the distance





Passing through the last of the 7 locks there is from Cape Vincent to Montreal. The 2 bridges makes sure that whenever a ship is passing through the locks, the trains can still run.









From there it was just smooth sailing to the port of Montreal where my driver would pick me up.

I made a phone call to our travel agency and informed them that I would be in Montreal around 4 PM, and made them arrange flight tickets and hotel if needed. Got an message saying that I had to fly home the next day at 18:00 because they did not believe I could make it to the airport in sufficient time to make it the same day. Instead I got a room at the Courtyard by Marriott in downtown Montreal.





My driver was waiting for me in the white van on the quay. I was at the hotel around 17:30 and took a shower before going out for dinner and to see the city.

Hotel: Courtyard by Marriott
Room Type: Guest room (1 king-size bed)
Nights: 1

The hotel was great and the room was large and good equipped. The large windows was providing a great view and bathroom was clean and spacious.

I have stayed at many great hotels (in Hamburg) as my company's travel policy is fairly large in that regards, so I think I'm able to compare, and say that this was great without being special.











I found an ok place to eat and went for a burger and some chicken wings. Nothing special but after several polish meals made from something from a can, I was happy!

Took an evening stroll before going back to the hotel to catch some sleep.







Bought something to drink and watched som tv before going to sleep.

[jestraveller]

Monday the 13th. of July

Woke up late and went for breakfast at the hotel restaurant. After some work in the hotel room I checked out, and went out shopping some clothes. I received an e-mail with my plane tickets, which gave me the following itinerary:

13. July Montreal - Toronto (Economy) Air Canada - 18:00

13. July Toronto - Copenhagen (Economy) Air Canada - 20:55

No Premium-Economy so I did not look forward to the flight. My driver picked me up at 15:00 and after 30 minutes I was at the airport.

After I passed security I could not find my flight on the departure screen. My flight was at 18:00 but the screen only showed one at 17 and 19. Then I notice on my boarding card that the departure time stated there, was 19:30. "WHAT?!" That would mean that I would land in Toronto 20:45 with my flight to Copenhagen being at 20:55. I walked all the way to the end of the terminal without finding any Air Canada customer center. Instead I walked up to the gate agent preparing the 17:00 flight to Toronto and asked them what I should do. They guided me to the other end of the terminal where a small customer center was located. After quite some waiting I could finally tell the Air Canada staff about my problem. They told me that they would put me on standby and that I should notify the gate-agents that I needed priority in order to make my CPH flight. Then I walked all the way back to the gate I just came from. Of course they could only see that I was number 37! on the standby list as both flights where full. I told them that I would not make my connection in Toronto if I did not make the 17:00 flight, that at this point also was delayed 15 minutes.

The lady at the gate then told me to return to the customer center, but then I raised my voice, something that I normally NEVER do. "You have already sent me there once, the phone has been invented, so USE IT!" That seemed to work and she called them and after some talking (In French, as this part of Canada is French) and some tapping on her computer I got a new boarding pass stating 17:00.

Route: AC421 Montreal-Toronto
Aircraft: Airbus A320-200 #C-FTJS
Gate: A49
Class: Economy
Seat: 21D Aisle

The flight was 50 minutes late due to late incoming aircraft at the gate. I had planned to have a good meal in Montreal since I was there very early, but instead I ended up walking back and forth between the customer center and the gate. Therefore I didn't have time to take any pictures in Montreal.

The plane after arrival in Toronto



Then it was just to walk to the international terminal, as my suitcase was checked all the way through to Copenhagen.







I found a place to eat near my gate. While eating this big bird came by




Boarding was on-time and very uneventful.

Route: AC882 Toronto-Montreal
Aircraft: Boeing 787-8 #C-GHPX
Gate: ??
Class: Economy
Seat: 21G Aisle



The flight home was without much action besides some heavy turbulence for 20 minutes which delayed the food serving. I managed to sleep for about 4 hours, and we landed on time in CPH.



Of course my baggage wasn't changed to the earlier flight from Montreal to Toronto, so by the time it finally came to Toronto the plane to Copenhagen was already gone. I received it 2 days later.

Hopefully I can contribute with many more trip-reports, as I will be travelling 150 days a year there should be some chances.

Please tell me if I can do anything better in order to improve myself. More/Less pictures? More focus on the travel to/from the airport? ETC.. Please just tell me.

If you like some of my pictures you can follow me on Instagram as jestraveller.

Thank you for watching/reading.

[Someone]

Thanks for the report. Think it is the first with Air Canada's 787s here, and for sure the first with a ship up St. Lawrence

[Chris1]

Well documented report! thanks for sharing ;-)

[WF-380]

Meget interessant rapport, og så er det til og med en debut. Jeg har da lest andre rapporter på dansk her inne, så det hadde sikkert også fungert greit.

[Discus]

Takk for rapport, den var helt super. Liker godt at du tar med litt fra destinasjonen. Det går også bra med dansk om det er enklere for deg.

[Strominho]

Meget bra rapport! Tusen takk

[krølle]

Velkommen til forumet og takk for fin rapport og flotte bilder.

[ln-bre]

Takk for en meget interessant rapport. Jeg synes den var godt skrevet, og fint balansert mht tekst og bilder. Synes det var ekstra interessant at du skriver så pass mye om jobboppdraget du var på. Opp til deg om du skriver på dansk eller engelsk.
Gleder meg til din neste rapport.

[adressa]

Takk for bra rapport. Det var interessant og lese fra livet på båten også. Gleder meg allerede til den neste rapport. Å lese rapporten på dansk skulle jeg ikke tro at det skal by noe problem for oss nordmenn. Dansk og norsk skrivemåte er jo ganske lik.

[EvakCPH]

Spændende rapport.

Det er selvfølgelig helt op til dig selv, om du vil skrive på engelsk, men hvis man som nordmand ikke kan læse dansk (og omvendt), så har man et stort problem med sine læsefærdigheder, vil jeg mene.

[kekker]

Tusen takk for flott rapport, jeg tror du helt fint kan skrive på dansk, men du skriver jo også plettfri engelsk, så det er nesten opp til deg!
Keep em comming!

[AvoidingRoyster]

Takk for kjempe fin lesing. Spesielt interessant å lese om arbeidsoppgavene dine også, fin vri på tripreporten. Håper du vil dele flere reiser med oss i fremtiden. Som nevnt tidlgiere går nok dansk veldig fint her inne på forumet men du skriver jo engelsk flytende så begge deler funker like bra tenker jeg.

Tipp topp

[Yeager]

Super fin rapport, og som flere her skriver, interessant å lese om ditt opphold på skipet, med seilas opp St Lawrence-elven. Fikk litt flashback tilbake til barndom med far som var chief engineer og senere maskiningeniør/inspektør, han reiste da ofte avsted på dagen når det var tekniske problem på rederiets skip rundt om i verden.
Dansk er overhodet ikke noe problem.

[BSSW]

En fin debut-TR dette

Et lite tips; ville kanskje vært forsiktig med hva du deler som er jobbrelevant, det er de som reagerer på slikt, og da kan du fort få issues på jobben. I og med at denne er på engelsk gjør at din oppdragsgiver kan lese den. Husk dette er et åpent forum.
Når det er sagt, forsett med slike TRer!

[pingo]

Originally Posted by BSSW

En fin debut-TR dette

Et lite tips; ville kanskje vært forsiktig med hva du deler som er jobbrelevant, det er de som reagerer på slikt, og da kan du fort få issues på jobben. I og med at denne er på engelsk gjør at din oppdragsgiver kan lese den. Husk dette er et åpent forum.
Når det er sagt, forsett med slike TRer!

Fin kommentar. Jeg har tænkt lidt i samme baner mht til risikoen ved at dele specifikke joboplysninger i et åbent forum.

Men super TR og spændende læsning.

[Bergern]

Superduper report!
Thanks for shareing