AC 852 Toronto - London Heathrow
28 April 2025 21:20

With 4 flights a day from Toronto to London, getting a redemption seat on a weekday wasn't too difficult with Air Canada's Aeroplan. Spring isn't a busy season anyway and it was over a week after Easter already. The cherry blossoms are not yet out and temperatures are wildly swinging between cold and hot, so it's not a good time for tourists to visit. Since Aeroplan's devaluation to dynamic pricing, a transatlantic one-way redemption usually costs close to 30,000 points. Tonight's flight was on the more expensive end at 30,400, which does not include a checked bag. That's another CAD $75 extra. By contrast, BA flies twice a day and charges 25,000 avios with one free checked bag. I reached Pearson 90 minutes before departure. Terminal 1's check-in area is divided into domestic, international, and transborder areas. I headed to the international section, where it was busy but there were plenty of available kiosks. I had checked in the night before and was able to secure a window seat but it wouldn't issue a boarding pass, referring me to the kiosk or agent at the airport. I suspected a manual check is required now that an ETA is required to enter the United Kingdom, but I was pleasantly surprised when the kiosk was able to issue a boarding pass without any further staff intervention. With some time left, I looked around land-side hoping to spot some skyline views amidst the sunset. The drop-off curb at one end of the building opens up with a good view of smaller Air Canada planes. Vending machines sell the typical unhealthy stuff but a few distinctly Canadian items such as Miss Vickie's and ketchup chips, as well as useful essentials such as medications. At the other end of the building near the transborder check-in area, there is a long line of windows with chairs facing Vaughan, downtown, and a few parked aircraft. The stuck Antonov-124 cargo plane that the government seized from Volga-Dnepr airlines as a result of Russia's invasion of the Ukraine remains parked here since 2022. The Canadian government contracted it to ship COVID-19 rapid test kits from China, but while it was unloading the cargo here, Canada enacted a ban on Russian aircraft from its airspace, and legislation that allowed seizing sanctioned Russian entities' assets followed. With the US trade war fully under way, the transborder section of the airport where check-in for US destinations takes place was eeringly empty.
There are also courtesy phones where you can call various airlines for help, the old school way. I heard someone using it actually whilst passing by. Terminal 1 is a Star Alliance hub with Air Canada anchoring the facility and a sprinkle of its alliance friends.
. Security was quick but they're still using the old style machines where you have to take out your electronics. Nevertheless, I was out air-side in no time for the long walk to the international pier. There are no moving walkways for half the stretch as you loop around the terminal so if you have mobility issues, don't shy away from requesting wheelchair or buggy service. Along the way, I scanned the sea of Air Canada planes of various sizes beyond. They have a number of liveries on their planes from the older neon blue base to the more classic new dark blue tail and the red-and-white-only Rouge colours for the discount arm. Mississauga's emerging skyline rises in the distance. It's only a 30 minute bus ride away. Most late evening departures are headed for Europe, with a Heathrow flight an hour before me and another one 2 hours after. The international pier was quite busy with insufficient seats for everyone. The airport tried to give more spacious desk spaces to make the wait more comfortable, but the section is not big enough to handle multiple widebodies at once so I kept browsing along the windows instead of trying to find a seat. Luckily, it wasn't busy at the Tim Horton's for your last fix before leaving the country. Passengers also don't clean up after themselves so there are plenty of remnants and crumbs lying around. Boarding was timely and with the huge glob of people clustering around the gate waiting for their zone to be called, a smart and assertive agent came right to the line's entrance to open up space for my zone 3 passengers to come by, asking the other zone's folks to step back and let us pass. She then retreated back to the desk to make multiple announcements to herd us in, even smartly asking where are the other 50+ zone 3 folks? By then, I was almost at the scanner and the agent didn't ask for my ETA either. While navigating through huge crowds was not pleasant, boarding was actually quite efficient and by keeping strictly to the zones, I reached my window seat at the back of the plane quite quickly once on board. Air Canada's high-density 777 has a huge Economy Class comprising 3 sections that can seat 336 passengers. There are a further 40 Business Class and 24 Premium Economy passengers up front, so it's no surprise the gate won't have enough space for almost 400 people. Every seat already had a pillow and blanket laid out. Unlike BA, they still wrap their blankets in plastic, which might not be very environmentally-friendly, but I still prefer for hygenic reasons. This high-density 777 isn't the nicest place to be for a transatlantic flight, but my travel hack is to find a place at the back of the plane where the row of 3 becomes 2, so it's a bit more spacious and there is a little nook between the window and my seat that is big enough to store a backpack and to stretch out a little more. Luckily, it wasn't a full flight and I got the whole row to myself. The IFE has improved over the years but still doesn't offer as much as BA. However, they do have a wide range of international content and there is a neat feature that can classify by language, including Cantonese.
We pushed back a minute ahead of schedule and headed towards the north runway. There was no cockpit announcement but it looks like a short transatlantic flight of less than 7 hours tonight. We took off towards the west and looped around for a northeasterly trajectory towards Europe.
Free wifi messaging is offered for Aeroplan members and during online check-in, it gave a reminder to log your membership number so you can get this perk. This is a fairly standard feature amongst many legacy airlines I fly nowadays. BA offers the same for its members as well. Both airlines offer paid packages for better access such as streaming, with Air Canada a little ahead since you can redeem your points for it.
Transatlantic meals are free and despite being at the back, I was still given the 2 dinner choices by the time the cart reached me. Tonight's choices are chicken with mashed potatoes and a vegetarian pasta. Learning from experience, Air Canada's catering isn't good so I never have high expectations. Having had dinner already before leaving for the airport, I didn't feel too bad about the very salty chicken as there was a bread roll and cheese to offset. The crew then came by to ask us to close our shades as the sun will soon rise above the Atlantic. After dinner, I managed to doze off a bit amidst some turbulence with the comfortable 2-seater space. Despite being a relatively full flight with a sprinkle of empty seats here and there, I didn't encounter lines for the lavatories, and the crew had placed a snack bar at the back galley where you can help yourself.
As we neared descent, a second light breakfast snack was served. We got a sweet cake and a small yogurt, which is similar to the pastry I got on the BA flight in the other direction.
By now, I could spot the English coast and London was not far away. We began our descent at 8:40am local time near Liverpool.
With my right window seat and a sunny day forecasted for London, I had high hopes of the approach above the city. However, the winds were not in favour so we would land from the west this morning, skipping the city views altogether. We ended up looping around northwest of the airport a few times on holding pattern, and I noticed a few other airplanes beneath us doing the same. Again, there was no cockpit announcement on this but the arrival time on the IFE continued to tick upwards.
We exited the loop and headed west to near Reading before turning for final approach.
We landed at the north runway at 9:28am and taxied past an exotic array of planes, which is typical of Heathrow anyway.
Spotting the Jetblue narrowbody, I couldn't help but think the transatlantic journey can get a lot worse than a high-density 777 or Basic Economy. I really hate narrowbodies for long flights and hope this type of jet won't get on BA or Air Canada's radar in the coming years. Terminal 2 arrivals wasn't too busy this morning and it wasn't a long wait to get through immigration. With hand baggage only, I was out the door quickly for the bus station a little over an hour after landing. Tonight's transatlantic flight was uneventful and Air Canada got me across the pond safely and on time. There isn't more I can ask for especially with 2 seats at my disposal on the high-density 777. I would even say the experience was quite pleasant from airport to airport.