yupenn

Edit:

This is a very cheap one-way ticket on AC PEK->YVR->ORD. I am a U.S. green card holder but new rule in Nov 2016 requires green-card to apply for ETA.

Confirmed that AC agents at PEK are contract agents from Air China.

Happy holidays to all!

EndEdit.

I was denied check-in on PEK->YVR->ORD due to new Electronic Travel Authorization requirement effective this Nov. The counter agent misled us by saying it would take 1-3 days to get ETA online and flight could be rebooked with no charge. Neither is true!! they lied!

Facts:
1. When we got back from the airport and applied for ETA, it took us only 10 mins to get ETA approval. We could have done that in the airport! But AC just wanted you to "no-show" their flight so that they can charge you a lot more.
2. Changing the flight is not free. We called the reservation desk and they were quoting 300 USD for cancelation penalty and 150 USD+fare difference for rebooking flights.

We ended up tossing our useless AC tickets have to buy last-minute ticket from a US carrier

keitherson

I would get the counter agent's name and file a complaint. Unfortunately, you will likely not get anywhere in terms of compensation from Air Canada. They'll just blame it on you for not having your travel documents in order, even if the agent was blatantly wrong.

24left

Hmmmm.

I'll throw some questions out there:

1. Where exactly or from whom did you buy the ticket?
on Aircanada.com? From an airline phone reservation agent? From an OTA? From a TA (corporate or otherwise)?

If you bought it directly on Air Canada's website, they've had the notice re the eTA for quite some time, on the main page right under the "Update" heading, in bold.

"Update - Electronic Travel Authorization - Flights to Canada"

2. What kind of ticket did you buy in what fare class?
It matters as they all have rules and many have fees for changes and cancellations?

3. Unfortunately, this question is after the fact of your experience, but perhaps a lesson for anyone else in the future.

You wrote:
"The counter agent misled us by saying it would take 1-3 days to get ETA online and flight could be rebooked with no charge. Neither is true!! they lied!"

Did you get their name? Which airport?

Obviously either the agent lied or was misinformed or for whatever reasons, did not give you the correct information for your ticket.

I get your anger and frustration.

I have no idea if this was your first time buying an Air Canada ticket. I have no idea if you researched the fares and looked at the Fare Conditions (on the website) during the booking process, as they would have given you the fee information as well.

I don't understand why you would throw away a ticket since we don't know what you purchased and if it had any residual value.

If you have more information and any documentation from your encounters with agents (names, dates, etc), you could contact Air Canada to ask why you were misinformed and so on.

The Lev

Given the title of this thread, I think it is reasonable to assume the airport is PEK.

As far as I recall, the check-in agents there are contract, not AC employees. It doesn't come as a huge shock that they don't know the finer points on AC ticketing and ETA. As people mostly accustomed to Chinese bureaucracy, I can understand why they would assume a visa approval process would take days rather than 10 minutes.

Anyway, hopefully OP can at least get a credit for use within a year from AC for most of the ticket value if he contacts them.

Wallace99

I have a similar story to this, I have a friend who is currently here to visit us for the holidays.
She has a Pakistani passport and a U.S. green card, lives in the DC area. AC employees would not let her check in at the airport or online - saying she would be rejected at Canadian customs. They said she could not get the ETA done at the airport - and said she would not be able to do her trip.

Ended up wasting her ticket, flew to Buffalo on new ticket and had no issues coming across the border by land - after someone at the air canada call center said its different rules by land vs air.

She went to Montreal for work in September and had no issues then.

Still not exactly sure what the rules are, the land crossing said she could have flown and would not hAve had any issues.

sself

Part of the issue with this system is also a problem with the Nexus system. You don't need a Passport to fly back into Canada if you have a Nexus card at any flown point of entry. Ever. Period. The Nexus website was even updates to make it clear a Nexus is all you need for flying. But many gate agents either don't know that or are misinformed, so they demand you show them your Passport. Even the automated checkin machines at most airports are smart enough to ask for a Passport OR Nexus now. But, when it comes down to a gate agent making a call the situation becomes murky because they're making an admissibility decision.

Therein lies the problem, gate agents should NEVER be making admissibility decisions. ETA effectively tries to shift the responsibility of verifying traveler documentation from a border services employee onto airline agents. They have no idea of the finer points of finesse involved in that. My understanding is a US green card holder wouldn't need an ETA, since they're a US resident, and except from the requirement. But, again, that comes down to finer points that an airport agent should not need to deal with. The ETA system should be scrapped in favor of a few fields on ticket purchase like the US has, and deal with it at that point.

24left

Right.
Except look at who is making all these decisions to deny boarding.
Someone failed here. Or multiple parties failed.

skybluesea

Already said contractual obligation rests with OP, not airline to be prepared to travel with right docs in-hand. Just had this happen, and fortunately Thai in Bangkok helped me at biz counter get an Australian ETA lickety-spit.

More problematic, is the potential consequence of "tossing our useless ticket"?

OP does not explain whether this was one-way booking? or was first outbound leg on a return journey? If yes to either, then OP free to do what they so wish.

OP does provide opportunity to check-out Rule 25(e) in the International Tariff about Prohibited Ticketing practices?

"Throw-away ticketing NOT permitted", thus Air Canada has every right to come back and recalculate the outbound ticket, if outbound was on AC, and ask for payment of the one-way airfare, should this be more than the round-trip airfare originally paid by OP.

Why should frequent travelers care about what OP does? Well, abuse of ticketing rules means AC responds by making even more complex rules to protect their revenues - and we all bear the brunt.

Some might argue well empty seat can be used for standby, and AC gets paid anyway. But AC may be getting paid less than if traveler purchased a more expensive one-way airfare.

Whether you agree with tariff rules or not, this is current contract we have with AC -and I for one would prefer AC avoid responding by making our contracts even more challenging to navigate.

and of course Merry Christmas to OP, and trust this event not cloud your joyous season.

flybit

Actually, China does not have a hopeless Bureaucracy if your comparing it to Canada.

SparseFlyer

FYI, eTA doesn't always get auto-approved, and can take days before getting it.

Just an FYI before someone here thinks they can just show up at the airport without an eTA and still have time for boarding.

KenHamer

If AC can sell an ETA for Australia at the point of check-in why cannot they do the same for their home country?

antirealist

US citizens are exempt from eTA requirements, not residents. See here and here

skybluesea

??? ETA issued by Canadian government, with on-line message to AC DCS to issue boarding pass.

And this is the real problem - the mis-perception about AC role, and the fact AC has nothing to do with ETA, other than receive a message that permits boarding.

Plenty to blame AC for, but not OP showing up without ETA in-hand.

best wishes all...

robsaw

Airlines pretty much everywhere for a long time have been responsible for verifying prior to boarding that passengers HOLD the correct travel documents to enter the destination country and intervening international connections where necessary. What the airlines are NOT responsible for is verifying that passengers have such documents in advance of for giving advice on how to obtain such documents. That responsibility is on the passenger. The ETA process has not shifted the responsibility, it has supposedly automated the process for a portion of the travelling public in that the ETA is linked to the passport.

KenHamer

No disagreement that it's not AC's responsability but it disproportionately affects them, and the AU ETA system suggests it is possible for ETA at check in. You'd think AC would be pushing for it.