J_Fleish

Air Canada has a very unresponsive customer service department. My sister had booked a flight April to travel to the New York Area, the flight was booked for a 6.30 am departure giving her a full day in New York. upon arriving at the airport she was told to proceed to the gate to pick up her seat, only then ( at 4 am no less) was she told that the flight was overbooked and that she was going to be bumped off the flight. Her only option being to wait until 6.30 pm and try and get on another flight, worse yet she had checked a bag. She asked that the bag be returned but she was told that it was not possible, that the bag would be traveling on the same flight as her( yeah Right). Why did Air Canada not put her on another airline, even one that they are not an alliance with, especially seeing as it was totally their fault. Guess what happened to my daughter, she left on a 6.30 pm flight but as suspected her bag didn't, they are still trying to locate it. Worse yet we have been on hold with customer service for over 2 hours trying to speak to someone, very disappointed indeed. Things happen in life, we would have expected a better response from Air Canada especially as it was their mistake that caused the issue ( overbooking) and didn't offer anything in return for her being bumped from the flight doesn't normal overbooking in North America result in compensation in flight vouchers as well as being offered a later flight. Air Canada did not make any announcement that the flight was oversold or offered any compensation for bumping My a sister just randomly chose my sister and told her she couldn't fly on this flight because it was overbooked. What kind of service is this from a company that claims to be the best airline in North America. On top of all the aggravation Air Canada has entered the wrong e-mail address to contact my daughter. I have been on the phone for over an hour trying to speak to someone who can correct the error.

KenHamer

Save your energy. Go straight to the CBC.

It's probably the only way you'll get satisfaction

songsc

Perhaps AC learned something from this thread and found out that they don't have to be that proactive because that made us happy:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-c...ive-bumps.html

longtimeflyin

Small claims court.

J_Fleish

It not just about compensation the thing is when my sister ask about anything all Air Canada told her its their policy to overbook flight but its against their policy to compsenate passengers being bump and now her bags haven't made it to new york and they don't want to compensate her for lost baggage and told her that her bags should arrive in new york wednesday and that is after she arrives back in toronto. Their phone customer service told us to write a email but expect a response after 12 months like for an airline that won best airline in north america that is ridiculous they can bump passengers involuntary and not compensate with a 1 year wait to hear back from customer service on what they are going to do.

aionesu

1) Use your CC to claim the lost baggage and have them pay for any expenses you had to incur in the meantime.

2) The DOT in the US has strict rules for IDB. AC cannot tell you that it isn't "their policy" to compensate for IDB. Based on your feedback, you're eligible for 4x your one-way fare: "If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (400% of your one-way fare, $1350 maximum)."

3) Beyond that, contact the CBC/small claims court if you want something bigger out of this. Complaining on Twitter can help too.

pt flyer

Very confusing post. One minute it is his sister, the next his daughter......

SparseFlyer

Lol. The only thing that seems true in this post is the 12 month lead time for customer relations

djkyyc

Does DOT have jurisdiction over a Canadian airline flying out of a Canadian airport?

1Newflyer

Its not a court hearing. Just replace these two words with a "person" and you will understand OP's post.

robsaw

https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/...e-tariffs.html

See Air Canada international tariffs (Rule 90) for denied boarding. Not enough info in the post to determine what MAY be owed in compensation.
- Did they ask for volunteers?
- What was reason for denied boarding (simple oversell or ?)
- Was aircraft 60 seats or less?
- Did passenger meet all check-in/boarding time cut-offs?

As for baggage, see Rule 60. AC owes at a minimum an overnight amenity kit plus whatever the international convention on delayed baggage requires (Montreal convention).

If tariff has been breached, file a complaint with the CTA if AC refuses to comply.

https://services.otc-cta.gc.ca/air-travel-complaints

Transpacificflyer

And for others, their entertainment.

Perhaps, he is from Bountiful, BC.

I appreciate that the OP is frustrated, but what can one say to this? I have no idea why there were delays and the reasons why. Perhaps it was an actual overbooking or perhaps it was a cascade of events including cancellations due to weather that caused the event. What I do know is that the people most likely to get bounced are those in the lowest fare classes and on flights without connections on the same ticket.

Cheap seat tickets are just a chance to ride on the bus in the sky. It's no different from public transit where having a card or ticket doesn't mean you will get a seat on the bus at rush hour. The airlines must make clear to the customers that this is what happens to people in the cheap seats. It is why the seats are cheap. The simplest way of avoiding crushed feelings and unrealistic expectations is to have a pop up that requires the customer to acknowledge the consequences of purchasing a low cost airfare.

As for the OP expectation of being booked on an alternative airline, what planet has this person been living on for the past 10+ years?

smallmj

^^^^^^

InTheAirGuy

Gosh, I thought this was about the LOT airlines flight with the damaged wing, with the thread title, "Air Canada bumps plane without offering any thing in return"

Low Roller

That is the best analogy I've heard so far. You have a real talent for explainin' stuff