Geoflying

According to the story linked to below a Markham, Ont. family says their flight to Peru in June had a rocky start before it even started. The issue: one of their passports was rejected by an Air Canada agent who claimed it had water damage. AC then did not live up to their promise to let him change his flight at no cost.

http://globalnews.ca/news/2943753/wa...p-for-gta-man/

Jumper Jack

life must really..really sucks being AC PR.. the constant cycle of negative tsunamis.

eigenvector

What a load of garbage... I have had slight water damage on every passport I've ever owned, no immigration officer cares as long as the photo page and any applicable visas are not damaged. Passport Canada even refused to replace one of my water-damaged passports on the grounds that it wasn't sufficiently damaged (many of the stamps are blurred to the point of illegibility or have migrated to pages they weren't originally on).

jc94

Most of my stamps are illegible after 5 years. For some reason the US DHS ones are the worst.

Interesting how "the flight was full". Maybe this is another new cost cutting measure, if the flights full thou must have status AND a passport in perfect condition.

TimMinYYZ

I don't think the story says that.

FlyingFelix

@TimMinYYZ - Yes, in the video, they told the family that they flight was full.

But this is insane. A little water mark and they deny boarding? If the picture page and front cover are fine, they cannot deny boarding. If Peru immigration makes a stink, that's another story and THEY are the ones who make that determination, no some gate agent in Toronto!

BlondeBomber

I've had a heavily damaged passport (dropped in a melting snow drift in Toronto and recovered a few days later) that I travelled on for a couple of years. I had remarks made about it but never been denied travel/entry to countries.

segacs

AC is also proving that it cannot / will not fix its own issues unless the media steps in.

That's going to lead to a lot more people going to the media = more negative PR.

WildcatYXU

I wonder why the check-in agent and the supervisor didn't consult the problem with a CBSA officer. It really can't be such a big problem at YYZ.

ffsim

I guess AC's concern is that the passenger would be turned back at the destination and they'd be on the hook for the cost of returnig the passenger to Canada. Not sure what CBSA can offer any assurance that the passport would be accepted at the destination.

segacs

Sounds like the typical AC agent on a power trip, combined with the usual amount of incompetence about follow-up (i.e. 3 agents assured him he'd get a free replacement ticket, but magically the note was nowhere to be found on the file).

They should have allowed him to board. A slight water stain on the back cover does not constitute damage, especially if the passport scans fine and the photo page is in working order.

But if they were going to deny him, they should have rebooked him on another flight a couple of days later on the spot, for free, and given him all the necessary confirmation information right then and there, along with compensation. But then, they've eliminated ticketing at the airport to cut costs, so...

Wpgjetse

Would have liked to seen the damaged passport in the news report.

Stranger

I would reserve my judgement until hearing the other side.

I have a hard time believing there is not more to the story. A bit too easy blaming agents "on a power trip." Even when that happens it usually doe not go that far. And usually if more agents are involved the other ones tend to balance things out.

I was one almost denied boarding because the agent misread the rules. Which I knew quite well, having dome the same trip on same passport before. Second agent got involved, quickly set things straight.

segacs

Air Canada's side is quite well expressed in the story. They claim that it was a mixup that he was forced to pay for another ticket, they refunded him his money, AND gave him a $500 credit. In other words, they know they screwed up.

Stranger

That he had to pay for another ticket may have been a mixup. Denied boarding, who knows.