Air Canada was voted 'Best Business Class in North America,' but the two business class lounges we visited didn't entirely live up to the hype

Rachel Askinasi

Oct 28, 2019, 23:20 IST

Rachel Askinasi/Business Insider

At least the pour-it-yourself bar means unlimited drinks.

Air Canada has earned several awards, including being named the "Best Business Class in North America" during the 2019 Skytrax World Airline Awards.
I flew the airline's Business Class - Signature Class for one leg of the trip and standard business for the other - on a trip from Vancouver to New York to see if it lived up to the hype.
But after spending several hours in two Maple Leaf lounges - Air Canada's standard business class lounges - I was left feeling somewhat disappointed.
The food I saw and ate was solid and served its purpose. But the sparse buffet and self-service liquor were far from what I expected after taking a look through Air Canada's Instagram.
Here's a look inside the lounge for Air Canada's award-winning business class.
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Air Canada was voted 'Best Business Class in North America,' but the two business class lounges we visited didn't entirely live up to the hype

On a recent trip to Canada, I was scheduled to leave Vancouver for New York at 10:30 p.m., and I planned on exploring a bit in the morning. Alas, it was the beginning of the city's rainy season, so I decided to work instead.

Rather than work from a coffee house or my hotel room, I figured I would head to the airport and spend the day seeing how I could taking advantage of Air Canada's award-winning business class.

Air Canada was voted 2019's "Best Business Class in North America" by passengers, according to the world airline survey conducted annually by Skytrax — a company that surveys more than 20 million travelers — as well as TripAdvisor's Travelers Choice Awards.

After hearing about the renovations made to Air Canada and the addition of its Signature Class, I thought I would try flying what was voted the Best Business Class in North America — and 18th best in the world. And the class experience includes the lounges.

I had a two-hour layover in Toronto ...

The Maple Leaf lounge I visited in Vancouver is nestled inside a fake rock wall in the domestic terminal.

I arrived at 2:30 p.m. and the vast check-in area was pretty empty. It felt a bit odd to see only one person behind this giant desk.

After checking in, I headed upstairs using the elevator, of course, because I always have way too many bags to carry. There's also a staircase travelers can use if they want to get some steps in before a long flight.

Desperate to put all of my luggage and cold-weather accessories down, I snagged a pair of leather armchairs and set up camp.

Since the airline boasted "mouth-watering" food by an "award-winning culinary partner," I went to check the food selection out right away.

There was a small buffet centrally located in the lounge with two hot soup options ...

... some basic do-it-yourself salad fixings ...

... a selection of chips, salsa, hummus, and bread ...

... and two bowls of what I'd call a featured side — there was a grain salad and a bowl of edamame.

I started the afternoon with a winning combo of chips, salsa, cucumbers, and hummus. I figured as dinnertime approached there would be a change-over at the buffet.

On one side of the buffet, there was a fully-stocked refrigerator with different soft drink options ...

... but there was also a pair of drinks in dispensers — watermelon and basil-infused water and jalapeño lemonade. I love fruit-infused water so I opted for that.

There was also a selection of wine ...

... top-shelf liquor ...

... and beer on tap.

All of the alcohol was self-serve ...

... which I thought was interesting considering the photos of another Vancouver airport Maple Leaf lounge show a full-service bar.

Coffee was also do-it-yourself. Even though there wasn't a barista to help make a cappuccino for my daily 4 p.m. craving, there was this easy-to-use machine that made it just as well — sans foam art.

I was able to pick my drink of choice ...

... customize it to add another shot of espresso and pick my milk.

It was actually pretty good!

After about an hour, I decided it was time for a treat. There were two options of cookies: chocolate chip and oatmeal.

I love a good taste test, so I loaded up a cocktail napkin with one of each and headed back to my seat. I was surprised that I thought the oatmeal was far superior to the chocolate chip — I'm a chocolate lover, but this cookie was unfinishable.

At around 5:30 p.m. a hot dish of penne pasta and tomato sauce was added to the buffet.

It was good, but it wasn't particularly hot — definitely not what I expected from North America's best business class experience.

I thought there would be more for dinner, so I didn't take a full serving of the pasta. But, once that silver tray was empty that was it. It was back to hummus and bread for me.

I ended my day at the lounge with a glass of Merlot from British Columbia — it was the only local wine on offer. The two white varietals were from Australia and the Cabernet Sauvignon was from California.

While I wasn't totally impressed by the food at this Maple Leaf lounge, the area itself was really nice and a pleasant place to hang out in.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leaf lounge in the Toronto airport looked a little more tired, so I ultimately chose to sit at the gate instead.

But not before I grabbed some breakfast. The food was fairly basic. There was a dish of hard-boiled eggs next to two types of melon and some yogurt containers ...

... cereal dispensers ...

... bread and jam ...

... and two large pots of oatmeal.

I went for toast with apricot jam and a hard-boiled egg. It did the job at 5:30 in the morning.

This lounge had taps for beer as well, but they were closed because it was so early in the morning.

They did have the watermelon water, though!

Overall, I thought the food at the Maple Leaf lounges was just fine. It can fill a traveler's need for a snack but definitely not a meal. Considering Air Canada holds the title of the "Best Business Class in North America," I found the food in its Maple Leaf lounges pretty disappointing.