So, here I go. I’m
feeling a little queasy, but that seems to happen whenever I travel, even when
going up to the lake. So, I’m not
terribly concerned. An hour and fifteen-minute
drive and I have parked my truck in Jet Set parking, where I get a discount
with BCAA. The shuttle driver was more
than helpful, loading my heavy bags onboard for me.
The previous night I logged on to the Air Canada site to
confirm my booking. Well, at least I
tried to. Between my internet being
stupid and Air Canada’s servers being down, what should a been a few minutes
exercise, turned into a two-hour marathon.
But it was finally done, and I am confirmed for my trip.
I walked into the airport after finding a cart to carry my
suitcase, camera bag and backpack. In I
went to find the Air Canada counter, absolutely jam packed. There had to be 600 people there and I was 4
hours early for my flight. Here’s one of
the perks of flying Business Class. I
was led past the travelling hoard to a counter where I was the only one
checking in. She weighed my suitcase and
carry on camera bag. The suitcase was 40
pounds and camera case 35. I’m entitled
to two suitcases of 70 pounds each, so I’m well under.
I then went and purchased my American money. 99% of my purchases will be with my VISA card
to build up points for my next trip. But
it’s always handy to have some cash with you.
That done, and it hit. I went
racing for the bathroom, and now I know it wasn’t just the usual
butterflies. I don’t know what it was,
but I did have a Subway sandwich for lunch.
I finally made my way in, to take advantage of another perk,
thanks to all of you. I had gone out and
gotten my Nexus card. When I got to the
security checkpoint, again, I was able to breeze right past the crowd, that was
even larger than the Air Canada counter.
Total time when I walked through the door, to the time I was through
security, 10 minutes. Excluding the time
spent in the bathroom.
Next perk, I went into the Maple Leaf Lounge to relax before
my flight. There was a buffet with snack
type foods. Another buffet with about 8
different types of wine. A selection of
hard liquor and liqueurs. A fridge full
of various beers. I was almost sorry I’m
a non-drinker. There were pops, juices,
bottled water. The kicker to all of
this, everything is free. But I still
wasn’t feeling great.
The flight was scheduled to be on a Boeing 777, But when we
loaded it was onto a brand spanking new Boeing 787. I don’t think it had ever been used
before. There wasn’t even a scuff mark
to be seen. I went to my seat 5A, and
into my pod, which included a large screen TV.
We were given a choice of various drinks and snacks.
One strange thing that happened, is that Business Class
usually loads first. But in this case,
maybe because the jet was so new, the catering company was having trouble
filling the Business Class pantry, so Business class loaded last in this case.
Once we got past that delay, we had to wait for the plane to
be de-iced. So, we were delayed further. When we did get on the runway and those Rolls
Royce engines kicked in, man did they kick in.
I was literally pushed back into the seat. I’ve never quite felt anything like that
before. The takeoff run was short as
well.
The Pod I was seated in has fully reclining seats. It was awesome as well, however, I’m 6’3”
tall and I would bet that anyone over 6 feet would have the same problem I
did. My feet were jammed into a tiny
space and my head was jammed against the back wall. It literally felt and I hesitate to use the
term, in a coffin. With the way I was
feeling by now, probably a good analogy.
In any case, I passed out and a few hours later I was awakened for breakfast. Served on real plates, with real
cutlery. I had a couple of bites and was
up and racing (well as much as I can race) to the bathroom.
Skipping forward, the second leg of the trip from Toronto to
Orlando I was on Air Canada Rouge on an Airbus 319. It felt like 3 of these would fit in the
787. The engines didn’t have the oomph
of those Rolls Royce engines and the takeoff run seemed to take forever. I had taken a Gravol, so I kept passing out
throughout the flight and the one engine sounded “funny”.
The first thing I did after getting checked into my hotel
was go up to my room and have a snooze.
I woke up at 4:00 PM and decided to see if I could eat anything and keep
it down. I went down stairs, leving my
camera and cell phone behind. I had my
first ever Cuban Sandwich and a salad, it was awesome but for $26 American, I’ll
eat elsewhere next time. But it stayed
down.
As I headed back to my room, I ran into Harry Potter in full
costume. He was an adult version and
works nearby at the Harry Potter Wizarding World park. He stays in this hotel in between shows. It would have been great to get a pic, but
maybe another time.
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