Air Canada Lounge Toronto Pearson review: nothing special

Toronto is Air Canada's main port of call, Star Alliance company. I visited the Maple Leaf lounge on the occasion of the my flight with TAP Portugal, carrier participating in the same alliance.

The Canada reopened borders to all vaccinated travelers last September, and all things considered, I must say that the movements at the airport were numerous, as were the passengers.

Directions leading to the lounge are very frequent, it is virtually impossible to miss since it is located at the very end of the long corridor leading from the security checkpoints to the departure gates.

Upon my entrance, the lounge was practically deserted, it slowly started to fill up, and when I left, about 2 hours later, there was a line out the door with several people waiting to get in. This is a very common thing in North America and is one of the main complaints of all overseas frequent flyers, obviously it was a problem before covid and now, with the reduction in capacity, it is even more pronounced.

The main problem I found with this lounge is that it has no soul; it would be perfectly fine if it were run by an independent company, but being the national carrier's main lounge at its most important airport, I would have expected something more personal.

The lounge is located upstairs from the gates and has neither a view of the runway nor of the terminal. It is, however, very bright and a variety of seating is available inside, almost all of which are comfortable armchairs

The service has been changed, no more buffet, but a QR code that identifies each individual table: you choose from the menu what you want to order and are served directly on the spot. A system that I had also experienced in the British Airways lounge.  In this case, however, the staff was small and table service was not like in a restaurant: staff members collected multiple orders and then distributed the products to guests, resulting in a long wait for users.

The thing that puzzled me is that this does not apply to beverages, if you want to drink you have to go to the lounge bar and get served at the counter.

The menu was not the most generous, but the quality of the food was more than sufficient. The dessert, a passion fruit panna cotta, was really good.

Rich selection available in terms of wines, beers and spirits.

There are also small rooms in the lounge available for guests who need more private space, but there are virtually no services.

This is not the best Air Canada lounge, available to travelers, in fact, there is also the Signature Suite, a room that, however, can be accessed by only Canadian carrier passengers when flying in biz., so those who fly business with Star Alliance airlines and also those with high statuses in the Air Canada loyalty program are excluded. At the moment, however, it is still closed.

The verdict

Cold and soulless, there are no spaces to relax perhaps being isolated from the mess, much less are there any amenities other than showers. No announcements are made, which is fine, but there are no non-Air Canada flight departures on the lounge monitors, unacceptable. It is a huge waiting room and there is no sense of VIP.

5

Rated Location

5

F&B

6

Services

4

Pro

• Bright

Against

• Without a view
• Slow and inconvenient service