Originally Posted by
seawolf
AC's tariff only allow for involuntary refund for causes within AC control or (delay/cancellation) "required for safety purposes." AC's appears to be sticking to a position that since COVID-19 is not within AC control, involuntary refunds clause cannot be invoked.
This will not hold up in court or with the DOT. In most cases, nobody is preventing AC from operating these flights. Very few if any countries have legitimately shut their borders to all flights. The fact that they would be very empty because of COVID-19 does not mean the cancellation was out of Air Canada's control. They are not operating them because they would not be economical to operate, which is completely within their control.
On another note, since bookings will be able to turned into forever credit for the foreseeable future, doesn't this make their 1 change limit somewhat pointless? I can just cancel and rebook an infinite number of times while this policy is in effect. I can also use this to top up Aeroplan miles at 1.3c USD per mile by just booking and cancelling flights and refunding to AP miles.