Air Canada vs Air France
Air Canada scores 8.5/10 against Air France at 8/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare.
By Jon Miksis · cabin data verified · fares for travel November 8–14, 2026
Best product each one flies
Scored on what can be verified. Service, food and ground recovery are absent deliberately: they need someone in the seat, and they live in the reviews rather than here.
One caveat on the Value line, stated rather than buried: Value is computed from business fares, and a carrier with too few of them does not get a Value score at all. Where you see a dash, we have fewer than three priced business routes for that airline and did not want to invent a figure from one or two — so its product score is the mean of three dimensions rather than four, and it is not directly comparable to a score built on hundreds of fares. The airlines with the most fares behind them are named on the business-class ranking.
Air Canada
777-300ER / 787-9 / A330-300 (Signature)
- Seat
- 8/10
- IFE
- 8/10
- Lounge & bags
- 10/10
- Value
- 8/10
- Product score
- 8.5/10
Air France
A350-900 / 777 (new Business Suite)
- Seat
- 10/10
- IFE
- 8/10
- Lounge & bags
- 10/10
- Value
- 4/10
- Product score
- 8/10
Dimension by dimension
Seat: Air France
8/10 on the 777-300ER / 787-9 / A330-300 (Signature) against 10/10 on the A350-900 / 777 (new Business Suite).
IFE: level
Screens, connectivity and power: 8/10 against 8/10.
Lounge & bags: level
What the fare includes before you board: 10/10 against 10/10.
Value: Air Canada
Median premium over the cheapest carrier on the same route: 8/10 against 4/10.
Where both were priced on the same dates
Every fare is November 8–14, 2026, so a difference between two rows is a difference between two airlines and nothing else. These are economy fares, while the cabin scores above describe the business product — read them as how each airline prices against its competitors, not as what its business seat costs.
| Route | Cabin | Air Canada | Air France | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS → BCN | economy | $637 | $678 | Air Canada by $41 |
| BOS → CDG | economy | $707 | $719 | Air Canada by $12 |
| SFO → BCN | economy | $749 | $752 | Air Canada by $3 |
| IAH → MXP | economy | $756 | $1358 | Air Canada by $602 |
| SFO → MXP | economy | $776 | $1082 | Air Canada by $306 |
| LAX → MXP | economy | $777 | $1051 | Air Canada by $274 |
| LAX → ZRH | economy | $777 | $1962 | Air Canada by $1185 |
| LAX → LIS | economy | $781 | $803 | Air Canada by $22 |
| SFO → LIS | economy | $781 | $803 | Air Canada by $22 |
| IAH → FCO | economy | $804 | $787 | Air France by $17 |
| PHX → DUB | economy | $1271 | $793 | Air France by $478 |
| PHX → LIS | economy | $1225 | $805 | Air France by $420 |
| IAH → ZRH | economy | $815 | $1310 | Air Canada by $495 |
| SFO → DUB | economy | $817 | $834 | Air Canada by $17 |
| SFO → FCO | economy | $835 | $2046 | Air Canada by $1211 |
| IAH → LIS | economy | $837 | $1360 | Air Canada by $523 |
| SFO → CDG | economy | $1314 | $856 | Air France by $458 |
| ATL → ATH | economy | $902 | $2010 | Air Canada by $1108 |
| DTW → MAN | economy | $1020 | $1018 | Air France by $2 |
| ATL → MXP | economy | $1032 | $2000 | Air Canada by $968 |
| DTW → FRA | economy | $1083 | $1626 | Air Canada by $543 |
| IAH → MAN | economy | $1172 | $1088 | Air France by $84 |
| IAH → CDG | economy | $1249 | $1244 | Air France by $5 |
| LAX → FCO | business | $4790 | $7241 | Air Canada by $2451 |
| LAX → MXP | business | $4846 | $8625 | Air Canada by $3779 |
| SFO → LIS | business | $5023 | $5633 | Air Canada by $610 |
| IAH → FCO | business | $5307 | $5606 | Air Canada by $299 |
| DTW → MAN | business | $5983 | $6348 | Air Canada by $365 |
| ATL → ATH | business | $5994 | $12887 | Air Canada by $6893 |
| IAH → MXP | business | $6349 | $11145 | Air Canada by $4796 |
| IAH → LIS | business | $6498 | $11062 | Air Canada by $4564 |
| IAH → MAN | business | $6673 | $7749 | Air Canada by $1076 |
| IAH → ZRH | business | $6788 | $10379 | Air Canada by $3591 |
| LAX → ZRH | business | $6792 | $14929 | Air Canada by $8137 |
| PHX → FRA | business | $7123 | $10649 | Air Canada by $3526 |
| IAD → MAN | business | $7126 | $7749 | Air Canada by $623 |
| PHX → LIS | business | $7952 | $7271 | Air France by $681 |
| SFO → FCO | business | $8755 | $8771 | Air Canada by $16 |
| PHX → CDG | business | $12578 | $12570 | Air France by $8 |
Common questions
- Is Air Canada or Air France better to Europe?
- Air Canada scores 8.5/10 against Air France at 8/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare. On the four dimensions we can verify, Air Canada wins 1 and Air France wins 1. Service and food are not scored here because they cannot be read off a spec sheet.
- Which is cheaper, Air Canada or Air France?
- On the 39 routes where both were priced for the same week (November 8–14, 2026), Air Canada was cheaper on 30 and Air France on 9. Every pair of fares is the same departure and return date in the same cabin, so the difference is the airline rather than the dates or the cabin.
- Does the aircraft change the answer?
- Not on seat: both carriers fly a consistent product across the aircraft we have verified.
- Has Jon flown either of these?
- Neither, so this page is product facts and fares only. Any review we publish of either will be labeled Researched until that changes.
Join the Club, free
One email a week: the Europe fares worth acting on, the new transatlantic routes, and first look at the tools. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
