This is the letter I sent Air Canada and the Canadian Aviation Authority and the US Dept of Transport:


August 16th 2011


Dear Sirs,

I am writing for help with poor service and unfair compensation regarding our recent flights with Air Canada. I would be grateful for any help you can offer with this complaint. This was my last letter to air Canada:

I am claiming fair compensation and refunds for 4 people and for 3 journey legs:

On Sunday Aug 14th Air Canada AC857 from LHR to Toronto was over 3 hours late and AC7406 from Toronto to Rochester was on time and left without us just after our baggage arrived. There was no other flight with seats out of Toronto to Rochester for days so we had no choice but to leave and find alternatives because I had important work the next day. We wish to claim a full refund for this leg of the journey for two adults and two children plus expenses for travel food and beverages and exhaustion from jet lag and driving all night. I paid you for a service and you did not provide any service.

On Saturday Aug 6th I arrived in Heathrow on AC848 but my luggage was lost. My baggage claim was LHR AC 91588. Eventually it was delivered to my mother's home in Wales, but I was not able to change clothing or shave for
48 hours or take photos of my mother's birthday, the reason for my visit. Also a glass gift for my mother was received smashed.

On Sunday June 26, 2011. Air Canada flight AC7407 from Rochester to Toronto was 3.5 hours late and my wife and children missed their flight from Toronto to Heathrow. In Toronto they were left with just 15 minutes to run all the way through Toronto airport to catch the last flight of the day,
AC858 to London. The stress of not knowing whether they would make all their connections as well as stomach pain caused by the rush left my wife in tears. My wife has a hiatus hernia which was made considerably worse due to this unnecessary rush through the airport with luggage, and as a result spent much of her 6 weeks holiday in Turkey lying down and visiting doctors for antibiotics, and now back in the USA she is expected to need major hernia surgery. As a result of the air Canada delays they almost missed the Turkish Airlines connection in Heathrow which was on time. In the past when I flew each week I was offered $200 per person when I was asked to take a flight 2 hours later and $400 dollars for a flight 4 hours later, which is similar to the delay they experienced when they were forced on to the last flight out of Toronto. However, I note you only offered 10% discount off future air travel within 12 months, which we cannot use, and as a result I am sending this email to the Canadian Transportation Agency for independent help and
guidance: [email protected].

In many years of traveling I have never experienced any of these issues yet on this journey we had all three issues. My Star Alliance Eurobonus Gold card number is EBG and I look forward to your reply.


This is Air Canada's latest reply:


Dear Sir,

We have reviewed the documentation you provided us for the out of pocket expenses you incurred and are pleased to reimburse you in accordance with our guidelines.

We have been advised the value of the unused segment of your tickets is approximately $92.00 CAD ($23.00 X4).

Upon further review, we are pleased to issue you a draft for your out-of-pocket expenses in the amount of $186.00 CAD (278.00 - 92.00). This will be sent by mail.

As a further gesture of goodwill, we are also pleased to offer you a one time saving of 10% off of the base fare on your next booking at aircanada.com. Simply make the booking between September 9, 2011 and September 7, 2012. Please note all travel must be completed by September 7, 2012.

To receive the discount, enter the one time use Promotion Code in the Promo Code box at www.aircanada.com when you make your booking. This offer is available on a new booking only and applies to a maximum of four passengers, provided all passengers are booked at the same time.

The discount applies exclusively on published fares for Air Canada and Air Canada Express designated flights. Multi-city bookings and flight pass purchases are not eligible for the discount and promo codes cannot be combined with other discount codes. Please note the fare displayed on the Select Flights screen will reflect the discount rounded to the nearest dollar.

Once the flight is booked, you may retrieve the booking through Manage my Bookings, found on the Home page to purchase any a' la carte options, such as lounge access, travel assistance, in-flight meal vouchers and advance seat selection.

Thank you for allowing us another opportunity to review your concerns. We hope your family's future travels on Air Canada are pleasant and trouble free.

Sincerely,



Kim
Customer Relations



Can anyone please explain what Air Canada, a flag carrier who we paid over $6000 are doing?