Help with cancellation policy
 

Feeling pretty stupid. I had no idea a visa is required for transiting thru Canada. I reached the airport this morning at 5.30a to check in for my flight to India via YYZ. And the agent said I cannot board the flight.

I called the customer service, the rep said she cannot put me on any other flight (skipping Canada) say united or lufthansa. I asked her what my options are, she said I can cancel the flight and use the credit later, minus $300 change fee. I mentioned to her I remember seeing I can get a refund minus $200 fee. She said that is not correct. I accepted the cancellation. (I have booked another flight using miles).

Now I am looking at the original email confirmation when I made the booking, it sounds like I can get a refund?

Tickets are refundable (a $200 CAD fee applies per person) and non-transferable.
Partially used tickets may be submitted for a refund assessment. The refund will be calculated as follows: actual fare paid minus the value of the portion of the journey that has been flown, and minus the applicable fee.

Can any one please confirm.

Also I paid $70 checked bag fee, I guess I can't get a refund for that?

Thanks.

If your itinerary says cancellation fee is $200 you definitely should contact Customer Solutions (on their web page) and request that this be fixed. Ditto about reimbursing vs. a credit.

If you paid a checked bag fee but never checked a bag (which I assume, because you did not board the flight), you should be able to get a refund for that too.

I found this on the Govt of Canada site:

Find out if you need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) or a visitor visa

As of March 15, 2016, visa-exempt foreign nationals are expected to have an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to fly to or transit through Canada. Exceptions include U.S. citizens, and travellers with a valid Canadian visa. Canadian citizens, including dual citizens, and Canadian permanent residents are not eligible to apply for an eTA.

However, from March 15, 2016 until fall 2016, travellers who do not have an eTA can board their flight, as long as they have appropriate travel documents, such as a valid passport. During this time, border services officers can let travellers arriving without an eTA into the country, as long as they meet the other requirements to enter Canada. Find answers to your questions about the leniency period.

So I am not sure why you were denied boarding unless you are a citizen of a country that Canada requires a visa? Or you didn't have the right documents for India?

The start date for Canada's ETA program has been delayed by six months, until September.
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13F

OP was denied boarding for lack of visa, not ETA.

What passport was the OP carrying?

Presuming that OP has quoted the full language of the "refundability" provision, the agent got it wrong and OP is entitled to a full refund of the ticket (it is unused), less $200.

OP may already have a satisfactory solution to the new ticket, but if not, AC may well simply apply the ticket value less $200 to a new ticket on UA/LH routing without a Canadian entry (although if OP selects LH he ought to confirm that he does not require a visa for his FRA transit connection, albeit highly unlikely).

The eTA issue seems to be a red herring as OP's problem appears to be that he is a national of a country for which Canada requires a visa. But, OP might clarify that for us.

I carry an Indian passport.

This is a new rule effective since just two weeks? I booked the tickets in sep, and the email confirmation from orbitz doesn't say anything about visa requirements. I wish orbitz or aircanada had send out an email a month or so in advance, as a reminder.

I booked with EY using aa miles. AC rep said my only option is to cancel.

It is always up to the passenger to determine admissibility for whatever their nationality, not up to Orbitz or wherever else you may book a ticket.

However if he would have bought the ticket on aircanada.com, I believe there would have been a warning.

AC is very aware of these issues of course and it appears they do their best to minimize, but they have no control over these internet TAs.

I saw a similar situation taking place at GRU while visiting the back office to resolve a (duplicate) ticketing issue. US-bound Brazilian lady on a ticket bought by a relative in the US. I believe the itinerary included a warning, She did not travel that day.

The warnings are generic because there are untold combinations of possibilities. Those are not known to the carrier or the TA at the time of booking.

It is the passenger's sole responsibility to obtain the documents required for admissibility to transit or be admitted at each connection or stopover.

There are numerous places to check the requirements for an itinerary based on your nationality. Here is one. As you can see, an Indian national departing the US enroute India requires a transit visa if connecting at YYZ:

https://www.united.com/web/en-US/app...aspx?i=TIMATIC

Regardless of the warning, it is still not ACs or Orbitz problem. It is still on the pax to make sure they have the proper documentation to travel where and through they purchase a ticket.

It is. But repeating this ad infinitum does not really help.

People are clueless. Telling them they are does not really help, does it?

None of this really matters as OP was denied boarding. What does matter if OP has everything correct is that the AC agent incorrectly told OP that his ticket was non-refundable when it was.

OP could have had the ticket refunded, less the $200 fee and purchased a UA ticket via EWR and not had to deal with any immigration issues at all. Needless to say the UA ticket might have cost more, but that is a different issue.

Not necessarily as OP said they bought their ticket in Sept. and the ETA notice only was posted on ac.com mid-Sept.

http://www.aircanada.com/en/news/150917.html