Air Canada Rouge, Is it really that bad?

[calliopecruiser]

Given the choice of paying $25 for a carry on or $25. to check the same back.....we would always go with the carry on. The luggage fee is not the issue for us.

 

And you would be one of the few, which would be great because there would be lots of space and time. The idea isn't to forbid it, just to de-incentivize it so it's not overused.

[RickT]

Since I just completed my first (and hopefully last) flight on Rouge I thought I'd come back and report on my experience.

 

I wound up flying Rouge (767) as I had enough Air Canada Aeroplan points to fly from Montreal to Barcelona and back from Rome to Montreal. Air Canada had no other flights available using points.

 

For the flight over I paid to upgrade to Rouge Plus seats (more legroom and more recline). At a cost of $90 it was money well spent but in reality would not have been needed if I had managed to fly a regular Air Canada flight. As advertised the Plus seats had plenty of legroom and allowed me to stretch out and not have the seat in front of me pressing against my knees.

 

For the flight home I decided to try regular Rouge seats and as expected spent the majority of the flight praying to god that the lady in front of me didn't recline her seat (she didn't :D). To say Rouge is lacking in legroom would be an understatement.

 

As far as Rouge itself goes, the cabin crew were young, enthusiastic and overall decent. The food was typical Air Canada food but with no free alcohol ($7 for a beer or wine). The inflight entertain system worked fine, but given the majority of movies/shows were a few years old there was nothing worth watching.

 

Rouge would have to offer a significant price reduction or improvement in routing for me to consider using them again. My DW just booked flights to LA and would have saved a whole $12 by booking Rouge over Air Canada. No Thank You!

 

I suspect Air Canada will increase it's use of Rouge on many routes which will probably drive me away. Too bad, I've always liked Air Canada.

Edited August 21, 2015 by RickT

[boone2]

I was booked on AC rouge from BCN to YYZ for work last year and based on the reviews I was dreading it. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I was lucky in that I had an empty seat next to me and I could stretch out. This year I was booked for another contract on Alitalia to ATH changing in Rome. I actually asked to change to Rouge with a direct flight rather than doing that combination, I hate FCO it's a zoo. I hope I don't regret it[emoji16]

 

Terry

 

 

Ok I eat my words. I flew rouge to Athens and paid $100 for an exit row seat. Even with this it was hell one of the worst flights I've had. The extra room barely extended much beyond my knees. I will totally avoid rouge and take FCO transit any day. I flew home with Turkish airlines from Istanbul. I got an exit row for no extra money and had one of the best flights I've had in economy - ever. I fly reasonably - frequently 22 long haul segments last year. And I got way less FF points on rouge than on Turkish

[travelplus]

Rouge is bad enough and avoid them like the plague. From San Francisco to Barcelona and Dubai-SFO its best to fly on an airline like British Airways that includes real Tv's at your seat along with included alcohol and better food.

 

For the same cost as Rouge I would rather fly a legacy carrier such as Lufthansa, Air France, British Airways Swiss etc.

 

I think Air Canada needs to cancel their Rogue product and go back to the way it was before and include alcohol in Economy Class. They are really trying to suck money out of passengers who don't realize they could have flown on Lufthansa for the same cost or a bit more.

 

On Lufthansa in Coach not only do you get a decent meal but they serve you Campari, Cognac Beer Wine and Bailey's Irish Creme. And the snacks are really good with the chocolate bars.

 

British Airways also offers good products in Y.

 

Why should I have to provide my own entertainment device when other airlines give you seatback tv monitors with on demand everything?

[FlyerTalker]

They are really trying to suck money out of passengers who don't realize they could have flown on Lufthansa for the same cost or a bit more.

DING DING DING We have a winner.

 

Exactly the point. They are targeting those who only look at price, not at comparative value. Amazing how folks who will research for weeks on the purchase of a television or computer or camera will just buy airline travel on price.

[LHT28]

I purchased AC flights to FLL months ago a week or so ago I noticed it is now ROUGE :(

I had booked the 3pm flight because I hate early morning flights ..they booked me on the 8:55 am ...I got it changed to 10:55am still a PITA for me

 

Seems the non stops to FLL are now on Rouge

 

We are doing WS on the return

 

Check your flights ..AC is switching them without notice

[OVgirl]

I purchased AC flights to FLL months ago a week or so ago I noticed it is now ROUGE :(

I had booked the 3pm flight because I hate early morning flights ..they booked me on the 8:55 am ...I got it changed to 10:55am still a PITA for me

 

Seems the non stops to FLL are now on Rouge

 

We are doing WS on the return

 

Check your flights ..AC is switching them without notice

 

I just checked our flights and luckily the non-stops out of YOW to FLL are still on AC. But it does show all the non-stop flights to FLL out of Toronto and Montreal on ROUGE. Thanks for the heads up.

[LHT28]

I just checked our flights and luckily the non-stops out of YOW to FLL are still on AC. But it does show all the non-stop flights to FLL out of Toronto and Montreal on ROUGE. Thanks for the heads up.

I think the flights to MIA are still on AC but unfortunately for us this cruise is from PE :(

[FlyerTalker]

I think the flights to MIA are still on AC but unfortunately for us this cruise is from PE

So, for thirty miles, you're willing to be uncomfortable with Rouge??

 

And, FWIW, the easy way between the two is to just rent a car and drop it off at the other location. Not sure why there is such an aversion to car rental with cruisers.

[LHT28]

So, for thirty miles, you're willing to be uncomfortable with Rouge??

 

And, FWIW, the easy way between the two is to just rent a car and drop it off at the other location. Not sure why there is such an aversion to car rental with cruisers.

My flights were already booked before they made the change

so non refundable tickets

One way car rentals are a bit more than just the drive distance

 

I have not flown Rouge before so we will see how bad it is

Edited August 23, 2015 by LHT28

[em-sk]

I purchased AC flights to FLL months ago a week or so ago I noticed it is now ROUGE :(

I had booked the 3pm flight because I hate early morning flights ..they booked me on the 8:55 am ...I got it changed to 10:55am still a PITA for me

 

Seems the non stops to FLL are now on Rouge

 

We are doing WS on the return

 

Check your flights ..AC is switching them without notice

 

It could be worse. It could be United. I would take Rouge any day over a United 747 or 737 in economy.

Edited August 24, 2015 by em-sk

[LHT28]

It could be worse. It could be United. I would take Rouge any day over a United 747 or 737 in economy.

 

Good to know :D

[calliopecruiser]

My flights were already booked before they made the change

so non refundable tickets

One way car rentals are a bit more than just the drive distance

 

I have not flown Rouge before so we will see how bad it is

 

If your flight was Rouged after you purchased it, Air Canada will "easily" allow you to change the ticket (at no charge) - they will probably allow you to get a credit on a future flight as well. "Easily" means you have to reach them by phone, but they won't argue with you. It happened to me on a flight to San Diego (YYZ-SAN) on my way to a cruise. I changed it to a flight to LA instead, and rented a car from LAX to drop off in San Diego. Nice drive, and not flying Rouge was worth every penny of that $75.

[LHT28]

If your flight was Rouged after you purchased it, Air Canada will "easily" allow you to change the ticket (at no charge) - they will probably allow you to get a credit on a future flight as well. "Easily" means you have to reach them by phone, but they won't argue with you. It happened to me on a flight to San Diego (YYZ-SAN) on my way to a cruise. I changed it to a flight to LA instead, and rented a car from LAX to drop off in San Diego. Nice drive, and not flying Rouge was worth every penny of that $75.

I never thought of changing to MIA at the time :(

I did reach them easily to change the flight times

Oh Well I will see how Rouge is it is only a short flight I would not want to do a long haul flight with them ....I don't think

[phabric]

I had booked in May for my Dec 24-Jan 2 flights to FLL from YYZ on Air Canada. In July, they changed flight #, cancelled the 3pm return and now on Rouge (I understand things change when you book early). I contacted them and they put us on the 11:55am flight, with no problem. Two weeks later, they changed my 11:55am flight to 8:50pm. I contacted them, was told no seats on the 11:55am flight, asked why I was given paid preferred seats only 2 weeks before. I did not want the 8:55pm flight so took the 12:40pm flight from MIA.

 

They have changed our departure time twice in the last month.

Edited August 29, 2015 by phabric

[LHT28]

we flew to FLL on Rouge last week in Bus

the seats were the same as AC bus & the meal was ok not as good as AC BUS but it was good

 

One was a pasta dish & forgot the other option we chose the pasta dish it was actually better than the same dish on HAL ;)

 

we flew home on Westjet cattle class ...never again

Edited November 10, 2015 by LHT28

[calliopecruiser]

I've said "never again" to flying Rouge economy, but I should know never to say "never". I'm flying to a business conference with a friend next March, and she's a very, very nervous flyer. I chose Rouge because we can go non-stop and fly beside each other without someone being seated in the middle, and we can't afford to fly "Premium". So I'll get to see if anything's changed since my last horrible experience - but this time I booked early and paid for Plus seats.

[countesscoco]

I've read a number of comments about how bad Air Canada Rouge is (seatguru, various forums) and wondered if any of the Cruise Critic members have had the misfortune of flying with them?

 

I've looking at a possible Med cruise and can't help but notice that 90% of the flights to Europe on Air Canada are now Rouge branded. While I like Air Canada I have no desire to fly on Rouge if the comments about cramped space, inexperienced cabin crew and overall uncomfortable seats are true.

 

In looking at the pricing I can probably fly Air France, KLM, Lufthansa (on Lufthansa planes) or BA for about the same price with the only difference being the need to make a connection while in Europe.

 

Any comments from anyone who has flown Rouge (preferably a long haul flight) would be appreciated.

 

We flew Toronto to Barcelona on Rouge. We paid $100 per seat to upgrade. The seats were terrible. They would not recline much, there was no space for our feet (we had a wall in front of us), there was no entertainment (movies) only IPads which one would have to rent, one plug for 4 people (no good if the others do not wish to share) (centre seats even worse). Food was utterly awful. Air Attendants left much to be desired. AC would not refund the upgrade cost only gave us a credit for use within a certain time lime (which we could not use) DO NOT GO ROUGE. We flew from Barcelona back via Frankfurst on Lufthansa and then on regular AC planes. Much, much better. It is worth a stopover or change of planes rather than using Rouge. Rouge is only good for up to a 2 hour plane trip. Hope this helps.

[DaKa2002]

We just finished a Rouge flight from Athens through Toronto to DFW in economy. There was no "economy plus." The plane was also full for both flights. No problems, we would fly them again.

[countesscoco]

We just finished a Rouge flight from Athens through Toronto to DFW in economy. There was no "economy plus." The plane was also full for both flights. No problems, we would fly them again.

 

Glad to see you were happy with your flight. Our experience was quite different. We could not even change seats as the plane was full. For long haul flights, especially overnight flights we would never go Rouge again. There is no financial difference between Rouge and AC either. Some of my friends have been switched to Rouge from regular AC flights and have not been happy either. We fly a lot and to us Rouge is only suitable for short flights.

[em-sk]

We just finished a Rouge flight from Athens through Toronto to DFW in economy. There was no "economy plus." The plane was also full for both flights. No problems, we would fly them again.

 

They do. Just Air Canada has made a mess of naming its products.

 

The Rouge 767 has the following:

 

Premium Rouge - A Premium Economy service. Bigger seat (similar to domestic business class on Air Canada or what the US Airlines sell as domestic First Class). Rows 1-4.

 

Rouge Plus - An Economy Plus type seat. Rows 12-15 and 27.

 

Rouge - Regular Economy.

[calliopecruiser]

They do. Just Air Canada has made a mess of naming its products.

 

The Rouge 767 has the following:

 

Premium Rouge - A Premium Economy service. Bigger seat (similar to domestic business class on Air Canada or what the US Airlines sell as domestic First Class). Rows 1-4.

 

Rouge Plus - An Economy Plus type seat. Rows 12-15 and 27.

 

Rouge - Regular Economy.

 

Not all configurations of the 767 have Rouge Plus.

[LHT28]

They do. Just Air Canada has made a mess of naming its products.

 

The Rouge 767 has the following:

 

Premium Rouge - A Premium Economy service. Bigger seat (similar to domestic business class on Air Canada or what the US Airlines sell as domestic First Class). Rows 1-4.

 

Rouge Plus - An Economy Plus type seat. Rows 12-15 and 27.

 

Rouge - Regular Economy.

we had Rouge premium rows 1-4 the rest was just econ on our flight to FLL

[DaKa2002]

They do. Just Air Canada has made a mess of naming its products.

 

The Rouge 767 has the following:

 

Premium Rouge - A Premium Economy service. Bigger seat (similar to domestic business class on Air Canada or what the US Airlines sell as domestic First Class). Rows 1-4.

 

Rouge Plus - An Economy Plus type seat. Rows 12-15 and 27.

 

Rouge - Regular Economy.

 

We flew on an Air Canada Rouge flight from Athens to Toronto; I do not remember what type of plane it was; however, there were a few rows of first/business class that we walked by to get to our seats in row 39 and I can definitely say there were no premium economy seats!

[Twickenham]

We flew on an Air Canada Rouge flight from Athens to Toronto; I do not remember what type of plane it was; however, there were a few rows of first/business class that we walked by to get to our seats in row 39 and I can definitely say there were no premium economy seats!

 

Well, if you want to get technical...

 

Rouge doesn't have business class. Their top class is in fact Premium Economy, equivalent to the PE they now offer on Air Canada.