leyland1989: [American Eagle 2936, CRJ-200ER, Economy Class, YUL-ORD] The 50 seats Flying Greyhound, 2016 Mini-Mileage Run to Asia Part 1/6

The Spring has finally arrived which also mean that the peak travelling travelling season is approaching shorty, airfare to Europe and Asia would be nearly double compare to the traditional low season.

As a frugal person myself, I would certainly try to avoid paying the extra premium for nothing but suffering. (if you wonder why, you probably have never travelled during Christmas time... )

Since a large part of my family reside in Hong Kong, where I was born, I travel there regularity about once every 2 or 3 years. However, travelling to Hong Kong from where I currently live is not an easy task. A direct flight from Toronto would take about 15 hours (~8k miles) and not to mention that I live in a small city with no intercontinental airports (well, 1-2 daily flights to Europe and that is it), 4 hours driving (or 45 mins flying) away from Toronto which we called the capital...

Before the airfare goes skyrocket, I decided to make a short trip to Hong Kong with the very limited time slot I have in April.
Of course the most time efficient way would be taking a flight from Ottawa to either Toronto or Vancouver then directly to Hong Kong.
However, they cost CAD$1.6k and CAD$1.2k respectively and despite YOW-YVR-HKG is within my budget, I am not very willing to spend 5 hours on the Airbus A320 and 13 hours on the 10 abreast 777-300ER Slaveship since I value my air travel experience even more so than the time I spend in my destination.

After some searching on the Internet,
United Airlines and Delta both offer some indirect alternatives for a very competitive price below $1000 Canadian but they require either overnight transfer in America or transferring in Shanghai, China (Good luck with that).

Having been a somewhat loyal Star Alliance flyer in the past few years, I was about to book my flight with United but I decided to research some more options that seemed to be impossible or impractical and JAL being one of the many crazy searches.

And guess what...

Below $1000 Canadian, transferring in Japan, 2 new types to my log, and far above standard products.

JAL gave me the best offer I could not refuse, despite I don't have an active mileage profile with One World Alliance.

So here goes my 40 hours to Hong Kong... Part One.

No... No.. Not yet.
I'm not getting on the plane yet.

I need to get to the Airport first...

In order to save another ~100ish,
I thought it would be a good idea to catch the plane in Montreal via greyhound.

So my journey actually begun with a 2 hours midnight bus ride.

~~Flight~~ Bus Info:

Origin: Ottawa Central Station

Destination: Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL/CYUL)

Departure: 13 April 2016, 0230 EDT

Arrival: 13 April 2016, 0430 EDT

Duration: 02hr00min

~~Aircraft~~ Bus Type: MCI D4500 (Fleet Number: 1153, 15 years old)

Seat: Forgot...

Late night (actually in the early morning?) bus,
I was the last passenger to board and nearly missed it. (long story..)
Load was very light, about 60% only.

Bus left the station at exactly 0200.

Passing through Orleans to pick up passenger,
this is not the normal "non-stop" service to Montreal,
it takes the country road (Hwy 17) and stops at Hawkesbury

Power outlet and WiFi are provided.

Fair Legroom with foot rest.

After 2 hours, finally arrived YUL.

And here goes the actual flight report.

Flight Info:

Origin: Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (YUL/CYUL)

Destination: Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD/KORD)

Departure: 13 April 2016, 0708 EDT

Arrival: 13 April 2016, 0850 CDT

Duration: 02hr42min

Aircraft Type: Bombardier CRJ-200ER (reg: N869AS, 15 years Old)

Seat: 13A Economy Class

First time flying a Regional Jet and seat count wise, the CRJ is probably the smallest commercial plane I have ever flown. (closely followed by Saab 2000)

Since the door is also a stair, the jetbridge requires a special ramp to connect it to the plane

Sitting at the low row, fortunately it is unlike the MD series where the Engines are located right next to the cabin and blocking the last set of windows.
Noise and vibration are tolerable.

the best RJ (IMO) is parked next to the worst RJ (in popular opinion... )

Ugh, What's Legroom anyway... who needs that.. right?

First time seeing the old style Bombardier overhead panel.

Window seats headroom are slightly limited by the curvature of the pane and notice the signature waist height windows on the old CRJs.
Bad for viewing but great for filming

Push back, lots of planes heading south in the morning.

The Takeoff

I'm surprised some lakes are still frozen

Flying off along the St. lawrence river

Safety card time,
no hints of American Airlines on it.
The plane is operated by SkyWest Airlines on behalf of American Eagle, pretty much like wet lease, flight attendants and pilots are all employees of Sky West instead of American Airlines.

Flying over CYOW and directly my house...
Probably not a very good idea to tell everyone on the internet precisely where I live ...

CYOW from above

In fight service at the mean time.

Was going to ask for a cup of tea, but they only have coffee...

and Apple Juice is ran out because I'm sitting at the last row.

American Airlines Branded cup.

Checking my boarding passes,
Funny to see how many Airlines are involved in this flight
The flight is operated by SkyWest Airlines on behalf of American Airlines, branded as American Eagle and sold as Japan Airlines JL7449 to a Finnair Frequent Flyer ...
I wonder if it can get more complicated than that.