Toronto Lester B Pearson International

The lines at the immigration were not that long and I passed immigration quite quickly. Compared to my last trip back in November 2010 the questioning was quite strict and it was not only about purpose of trip but why going to San Francisco and continuing to Denver and so on.

But I was allowed to enter the land of the free and now had to pass security again. The waiting time was a bit longer than the one for immigration and it was again shoes off, laptop out of the bag – the usual procedure I have now done many, many times in my life.

The metal detector let me pass with a green light and the security people were satisfied with my belongings as no manual search had to be done and so I could store everything back in my carry on.
I barely missed the elevator to the lounge, which is right after immigration; the lounge could only be reached by elevator.

The lounge is quite nice and big and has a nice relaxed atmosphere. WiFi is not free, but the airport offers free WiFi and the signal is strong enough and therefore one could access the airport’s public wifi from the lounge.

I got a can of tonic water from buffet and later a glass of chardonnay with some pretzels and vegetables. I checked e-mails and turned my US mobile phone on and sent a few text messages and to be able to receive the information from flight stats. I use flight stats as tracking for delays and cancellations of flights. I have found this service very reliable. It is free of charge and very reliable. From my point of view, there is no need to pay for a subscription of a competitor as flight stats offers the same service. However I have not yet tried Tripit Pro which offers this service as well and monitors your flights. Both services works better in the US and Canada than in Europe. I read a bit in the papers and magazines I brought along and picked a few new ones for the flight to SFO.

A few minutes prior to boarding I headed down to the gate 161, where the plane was prepared for our flight to San Francisco. Boarding started 15 minutes delayed with Business Class and Aeroplan Elite Members as well as Star Gold Passengers.

22 June 2011
YYZ – SFO
[Toronto Lester B. Pearson Pearson International – San Francisco International]
AC 739 (Air Canada); Airbus A 319 (C-GBIM)
Gate 161
17:15 – 19:40 [effective 17:23 – 19:45]
Economy Class
Seat 19 D

I was among the first passengers to board the plane and could store my hand luggage quite easily in the overhead compartment and the laptop under the seat in front of me.

Our Airbus A 319 was delivered to Air Canada as brand new plane on June 12, 1998 and was equipped with 14 seats in 2-2 configuration in Business Class and 106 seats in the standard 3-3 configuration in Economy Class. Seat pitch is 32 inch, which is okay and two inch more than in the NEK cabin of Lufthansa.

The plane filled with passengers and it seem only one seat remained empty. Doors were already closed and we were already ready to be pushed back because the captain had already mentioned this in his welcome speech as the last passengers boarded the plane. Soon later we were pushed back at 17:23. The safety video was shown during push back and on the way to the runway on the screen of the AVOD system.

At 17:45 the captain powered the two CFM56-5A5 engines and we took off at 17:45 twenty minutes behind schedule and climbed into the rainy sky above Toronto.

A few minutes after take-off, the flight deck told us to expect some turbulence for the next 15 minutes and therefore the seat belt sign remained switched on and the crew was requested to remain seated as well. So the service would start a bit delayed. The turbulence were light; it was indeed a bit bumpy but nothing really serious.

I had already started my laptop and continued the reports I had begun to write on the transatlantic flight. The Airbus was equipped with AVOD system and power outlets, which I did not use, since my laptop was fully charged and with the battery lasting for seven hours, there was no need to charge the battery. WiFi was not available on this flight.

A few minutes after we had passed the area with turbulence, the crew started the service. It was food and alcoholic beverage for purchase and non-alcoholic beverages were free of charge. First snack items were offered for purchase and then the beverage chart followed. I opted for tonic water and got the whole can. I would rate the crew as attentive, and they were friendly.

Items from the beverage service were collected soon later and the crew did also a two additional beverage rounds through the cabins as well as offering water.

I worked on my trip reports and later read in a magazine I brought with me from the lounge. It was sometimes a bit bumpy, but nothing serious. The crew was friendly and attentive throughout the flight, especially they did not disappear during the flight, and quite a change from many of their colleagues from the US based airlines.

Earlier in the flight I overheard a conversation of German passengers behind me. It was a couple traveling together from Frankfurt to California. He mentioned the flying time to San Francisco being only two hours and he convinced his wife, that she was wrong, there are no time zone changes in the US. Well after two hours he had to accept that there are time zone changes within North America. It is still difficult to understand these different timezones and flying times. And you often forget that a transcontinental flight could easily be as long as a transatlantic flight. If you are not used to the distances, one get this easily wrong.
Flight time passed quickly and we soon began our descend into the Bay Area.

We touched down at 19:47 and taxied four our gate G 91 at terminal 1, where we arrived at 19:47. It took a few minutes before I was able to leave the plane. I proceeded to the hotel shuttle bus in front of the international time and waited for the shuttle bus to the Doubletree hotel.

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