I have my own similar story to tell. Last fall my wife, our 2 year old son and I were traveling AC from SEA to PVG via YVR. Our SEA-YVR flight was to be AC8090 on a Jazz dash-8. There was heavy fog that morning at Seattle with visibility less than a quarter mile on the runway. On flightaware I could see the inbound Dash-8 flight holding at JAWBN, a navigational fix about 40 miles northwest of SEA for about 30 minutes, and it eventually turned back to YVR, probably because the equipment or the crew wasn't qualified to fly a category II ILS into Seattle. AC8090 that morning was cancelled and we would miss our connection to PVG.

As 40 or so passengers rushing towards UA's customer service counter (UA is the handling agent for AC at SEA), a gate agent quietly slipped me an AC number and told me to call that number right away - that agent knew that we were on an international connection. I called that AC reservation number and call was immediately answered (no wait). The AC reservation agent managed to get us onto the few last seats on the YVR-PVG flight on the following day, and rebooked us to a later flight to YVR.

Once we arrived at YVR I inquired about hotel vouchers (I was E in 2011). The agent at the check-in counter checked my SEA-YVR flight and told me that she couldn't do anything because it was cancelled due to weather - not AC's fault. She then suggested that the ticketing might be able to do something. I went to ticketing, and a very helpful agent made a phone call and arranged lodging at the YVR Fairmont right at the terminal, along with meal vouchers. The hotel stay at the Fairmont was a big hit for our son. The room overlooks the terminal and ramp with a great view to the city and the mountain to the north.

I have to say AC delivered that day for my family. Under the circumstances they did everything right, even though it wasn't their fault and they could have put us into a cheap hotel instead of the Fairmont. I am grateful for what AC did.