passenger66

I suppose my best option is to phone them and plead for help - either the refund or a flight credit or something. I'm supposed to be an experienced flyer but I've gotten this one all wrong.

24left

@passenger66
I feel your pain. I've made my share of mistakes. Sometimes I learn from them.

I was thinking about your ticket as well as how and when you cancelled it because I noted the wording in AC's 24 hour policy as I had posted upthread.

"24 hours refundability: If you cancel your booking within 24 hours of purchase, we will refund the value of your ticket or simply cancel the payment transaction."

When I cancelled mine sometime around 15 hours after purchase, it showed me a screen with the full amount (detailed) and that it would be refunded to the form of payment used to purchase and then an email arrived.

But the 24 hour refund wording from AC offers 2 options " we will refund the value of your ticket" OR "simply cancel the payment transaction".

Do you recall if you were presented with an option and might have selected one instead of the other?

Also, looking at the AC International chart for Economy Standard, it shows "Future Travel Credit" - which I assume is what would happen after the 24 hours. Is it possible you selected the wrong option?

And while I don't know what these tickets cost nor the breakdown of the Base Fare and all of the other fees, if someone is willing to check, I wonder if your $169 are the taxes for eg. and the rest was the fare. Without a recreation of your ticket or seeing the Summary page details, it's also hard to know where that amount came from..

And looking at your purchase time stamp on the email you received versus the time you cancelled, is it possible is was close to 24 hours or slightly over? I'm only asking these questions because I or we are trying to understand what happened in an attempt to help you. Part of why I screen shot every page of a ticket purchase is I've made mistakes with everything from the wrong dates chosen to the wrong flights or times and I didn't notice until the confirmation arrived and went back to check and saw where my mistake was. It's extra work for sure but I do it anyway.

And @ChrisA330 may be right too and that it's AC's IT which is known for issues, often well documented on this forum.
.

passenger66

24left said: "But the 24 hour refund wording from AC offers 2 options " we will refund the value of your ticket" OR "simply cancel the payment transaction"."
I just don't remember for sure, but my belief is there was no option.
I'm not looking forward to phoning them because I'm bad at verbal communication.
I booked at about 7pm EST yesterday and cancelled at about 8am EST today. I was well inside the 24h window.
I think you are right, 169 was the taxes.
Here is what the cancel email had:

SUMMARY
1 adult Air transportation charges 2246.50 Taxes, fees and charges

Passenger Service Charge - New Zealand 35.00
Harmonized Sales Tax - Canada - 100092287 RT0001 4.55
Passenger Security Charge - New Zealand 14.70
Border Clearance Levy – New Zealand 38.00
Air Travellers Security Charge - Canada 25.91
Airport Improvement Fee - Canada 35.00 Total amount paid 2399.66

NON-REFUNDABLE FEES
1 adult Air transportation charges -2230.00 Taxes, fees and charges

Passenger Service Charge - New Zealand -0.00
Harmonized Sales Tax - Canada - 100092287 RT0001 -0.00
Passenger Security Charge - New Zealand -0.00
Border Clearance Levy – New Zealand -0.00
Air Travellers Security Charge - Canada -0.00
Airport Improvement Fee - Canada -0.00 Total non-refundable fees -2230.00 Total amount paid
2399.66 Total non-refundable fees
-2230.00 Balance (refund) - Canadian dollars $16966

passenger66

Actually I think I booked at about 2pm EST yesterday. Hotmail timestamps are slightly tricky to figure out. But I definitely cancelled at 8am EST this morning.

24left

@passenger66

Thanks for posting the details of your ticket. Yup, you got the taxes back but it's insane you would have to forfeit the rest. Something doesn't make sense somewhere.

For one of the tickets I bought and cancelled within the 24hours, first step is I went to the My Booking page and selected the PNR for the trip. At the top are icons for Changing seats and also to Cancel.

Once I clicked Cancel, it asked me if I really wanted to, yes, then the first page below appeared.





I then clicked "Cancel booking" and then received this page. And then the email arrived.

expert7700

The two options are not really options, they are outoutcomes If AC authorized but did not finalize the charge, they postvoid/cancel the transaction. It will likely never show as a charge or refund in this case.

If AC finalized the charge (typically at the end of the day, but payment systems and settlement times vary), then you get a refund.

In @passenger66's case, AC clearly lists $2230 is being kept. Hopefully a blatant IT error, but I would call at once.

I have never heard of an AC ticket with <24hrs refundability. Regardless of fare class , close-in booking date, etc. I have even done a similar next day refund on a block of AC flight passes (which really do not stipulate this, but their contract of carriage tariffs said 24hr refund for international, transborder, domestic).

passenger66

I logged in to my bank account and it shows all 2399 under "PENDING TRANSACTIONS". I'm just assuming it will be applied and then show under "POSTED TRANSACTIONS".
Like I say, I have to steel myself up to phone them.

canadiancow

It'll definitely be easier to call before the 24 hours are up, rather than waiting until it posts.

On Time Reports

I would call and be like "I want to confirm that since I cancelled within 24 hours, the entire amount will be refunded back to my original form of payment".

passenger66

I will try now.

passenger66

I tried calling this number:

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...support.html#/

1-888-247-2262

Toll free 24hrs/7days within Canada and the U.S.

For all Air Canada inquiries, including new Air Canada reservations, changing or cancelling your reservation, or flight information.


There was no option to speak to an agent. Then the phone just hung up.

24left

I'll just post this screen shot to go with the link and quote I posted upthread. I highlighted the 24 hour portion.

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...-refund.html#/

passenger66

I called the number back and chose option 6 new bookings. Then it said they can phone me back when an agent is free. So now I'm waiting for an hour or so (hopefully). I'm sure it all sounds stupid but I'm just posting how it's going.

TTC900Rocket

I have also experienced a first where I cancelled a booking well under 24 hours, and yet the original charge went through. I had booked it Sunday afternoon and then took advantage of the Cyber Monday savings.

Hopefully the cancelled booking charges will reverse over the weekend.

Added: the cc charges were reversed overnight.

terencelai

Unfortunately there is no AC agents step out to comment anything after this long thread, basically Air Canada has multiple sales office, channels, sales charges gets finalized after every 500 book's of tickets got sold per each sales office/channel, which means you will see a sales charge and refund on your credit card whenever every 500 books of tickets got sold. In between 001 to 499, the reservation sales charge will be simply voided if you do decide cancel and refund your ticket, the transaction will not shown on your credit card statement at all.