I got some bad news that my Dad will require a triple bypass on Monday in Edmonton. I live in Copenhagen and was scheduled to fly with Air Canada in business class from Copenhagen to Mexico City on Sunday with a connection in Toronto. I am Super Elite and when I heard the news about my dad, I thought---well at least I will not have to worry about flights. I will take the first leg from Copenhagen to Toronto and then catch a flight from TO to Edmonton and be home. Then fly back through Toronto in January (hopefully dear old dad will be doing well again by then). To my dismay, the agent at Air Canada was not at all helpful. Apparently my whole ticket is cancelled if I do not fly through to Mexico City. This really does not make sense. I was not asking her to CHANGE my ticket at all. I was going to cover the cost from TO to Edmonton myself. But she said that the rules are the rules. She even went so far to say "I know you expect the rules will change for you, but they won't". I really can not believe that this is how a Super Elite customer is treated when her father has had a heart attack and she wants to go home. I have been such a fan of Air Canada encouraging my European friends to try the business class when they travel to north america. I have been a loyal customer since 1999 even though I live in Europe I have kept my flyer card with Air Canada. I never take time to write complaints but honestly Air Canada has let me down BIG TIME. I am in shock at the lack of compassion or assistance to a customer who has been so positive for so long. Does anyone here have an idea of what I can do to just use the Copenhagen Toronto/Toronto Copenhagen part of my ticket? In this emergency situation I thought there could be an exception to the rule.
Thanks
The rule whereby if you miss a leg, the remainder of the ticket gets canceled has been there forever. You cannot expect the agent to work around that. Pretty sure the thing is automatic and the agent has no power to change it. Blame the airlines rules. (BTW this is not specific to AC.)
So you should look for a different plan. If this is unrestricted J it can be canceled, and a new ticket can be purchased. However my guess is that the ticket is restricted and the fare in question no longer available.
What about getting a round trip ticket Mexico-YEG?
Programs: AC S100K aka AC*SE aka wanna see the world!
Posts: 280
Some others might have to chime in whether this is right, and assuming you have booked CPH-MEX Executive lowest -you could arrive at the airport and change your YYZ-MEX-YYZ-(FRA or LHR)-CPH return flight to a different day (even way off to the future) - and this would possibly be a free change. Then you could fly CPH-YYZ to get to Canada. It doesn't help you get back to CPH though after you see your dad (YYZ-YEG I am assuming) and then leaves you with a remaining ticket where you would have to make your way back to YYZ to use.
Alternatively fly CPH-YYZ and ask for a refund on the remaining ticket price minus the applicable fee (I think $250).
You are in a tough situation because airlines don't have any policies in place for emergencies like that.
Last edited by mountaingrl; Dec 15, 12 at 12:49 pm..
Programs: LH, BA, AC Super Elite, IC Amb, Fairmont President's Club Platinum
Posts: 5,226
What is your exact itinerary and would booking class did you book (i.e. Z/D/C/J?)
Have you tried just changing the entire ticket to CPH-YYZ-YEG? Or changing the routing to CPH-YYZ-YEG(stopover)-YVR-MEX? Or possibly even easier, trying to postpone the date of the YYZ-MAX flight so you´ve had a stopover in YYZ and could buy a separate ticket to YEG? I´m sure there must be something that can be done even when abiding to the fare rules.
Not sure how long you plan to spend in YEG, but here's what I'd do:
1. cancel my flgiht to MEX and ask for a refund or credit - should only lose you a couple of hundred dollars
2. re-book CPH-YEG-CPH. If you can stay a weekend, CPH-YEG is only $1,256++ departing tomorrow (Sunday), although the return looks pricier. You could always do that in Y and eUpgrade.
3. If you don't need the miles for SE, use IKK to get to YEG.
Programs: AC SE 1MM, HH Dd, SPG Gld, PC Plt/RA; AA; Wyndham Rewards, AirMiles
Posts: 12,580
there is another solution that might have been overlooked. Add a stopover if it is allowed (usually is on international tickets) in Toronto. You can fly to MEX at some other later time and then just buy another ticket from Toronto to Edmonton return. When you fly back to Toronto after dealing with matters in Edmonton, complete your leg to MEX, turn around (if you have to or stay if you have time) and fly all the way back home.
Good luck with everything. We know it is stressful and fare rules just add to the stress but they are unavoidable--sometimes they can be worked with in your favor. If not, it is not your fault or AC's fault, it is just the "rules".
Programs: AC SE 1MM, HH Dd, SPG Gld, PC Plt/RA; AA; Wyndham Rewards, AirMiles
Posts: 12,580
rules for z fare stopover CPH-MEX on AC:
1 STOPOVER PERMITTED IN EACH DIRECTION IN AREA 1.
NOTE - TEXT BELOW NOT VALIDATED FOR AUTOPRICING.
EACH STOPOVER TAKEN UTILIZES A PERMITTED TRANSFER.
UNLESS RESTRICTED BY ROUTING ATTACHED TO FARE
RECORDS.
Programs: AC E50K, Delta Privilege Platinum, SPG, Fairmont PC
Posts: 21
I have a different idea.
I would ask about a compassionate fare to Edmonton. I would think that having a parent undergoing this type of critical surgery and being in ICU would qualify you for that. These days, they don't actually have any cheaper fares for this purpose but they do remove all restrictions and charges for changes etc.
So I am proposing that you ask the telephone agent to allow you to make the change to the entire itinerary at no cost for compassionate reasons. They may or may not require your Dad's doctor to sign a form. I was lucky and encountered a very helpful agent when I had to call in mid-trip last year and change a bunch of flights when my mother was critically ill. Did it again this fall when my father died 5 minutes before taking my daughter to the airport to fly across the country. They just refunded her entire one-way ticket home and let her rebook when ready to leave.
Programs: AC E50K, Delta Privilege Platinum, SPG, Fairmont PC
Posts: 21
Oh yes....one more word of advice, frequently repeated in this forum. If the agent you speak to isn't able to help you, thank them, hang up and dial again. You often get absolutely opposite answers, one after the other, from different agents!
Oh yes....one more word of advice, frequently repeated in this forum. If the agent you speak to isn't able to help you, thank them, hang up and dial again. You often get absolutely opposite answers, one after the other, from different agents!
However repeating the question, if the OP can just drop the MEX leg, won't help. The computer does it, period.
What he should do is to ask the agent to look for the best solution, changing the ticket, or canceling, or flying back from MEX. And yes, mentioning compassionate grounds.
Programs: AC*SE, Marriott Platinum, National Exec Elite.
Posts: 891
Quote:
Originally Posted by BCABSkier
Oh yes....one more word of advice, frequently repeated in this forum. If the agent you speak to isn't able to help you, thank them, hang up and dial again. You often get absolutely opposite answers, one after the other, from different agents!
yes, and you can save time by asking if they are from Montreal, if yes - tell them how useless all the other call centers are, and you are automatically on their good side and they will fight for you. If it's a St-John's agent, it's completely hopeless, don't even bother asking - just hang up. Frenchmen love being buttered up like a bag of popcorn or a bagel!!!
