Blondie85

Thanks. I have noticed that before as well.

During this event at YQB I can confirm they were different agents (female at check in) and a male at the gate.

YOWgary

In this context "nobody's ever had a problem with it before" should not be taken as evidence of what does or doesn't comply with the rules.

Consider how many times in your life you've seen somebody struggle to cram a clearly-oversized carry-on into the overhead, because the rule governing which bags are of an allowable size simply wasn't enforced prior to boarding.

This doesn't prove you broke the rules, only that "they let me do it the last five times" doesn't prove you didn't.

Blondie85

That’s a really good point (and great example: oversized carry on that I see all the time).

Using that example though, there are standard tools that are used or can be used in that situation (like the baggage sizers and scales). I don’t expect a GA to have a measuring tape on hand but I had documentation in my hand that was valid until the end of April 2019 signed by a veterinarian (which the GA refused to look at).

It’s like when you are waiting in line at an amusement park, have you ever seen the ride attendants stop a child bc they “looked” too short to ride? So they bring over a measuring stick and confirm if the child is tall enough (sometimes the child is indeed too short or just meets the required height but either way it’s never based on opinion). Going back to my situation, being offered no remedy and instead being escorted out of the terminal and told “too bad buy a new flight” offers no remedy. Thankfully we were in YQB but what if that happened on previous flights from Florida or Vegas when driving back to YYZ was not an option?

(And I hope I’m not coming off as rude I am just looking at it from both sides of the coin)

expert7700

If you ask 10 humans you may get varying answers if the animal looks OK to fit. If it touches the top of a carrier, or uses more than say 80% of the size in any dimension some may say it is inhumane.

The argument had nothing to do with the carrier size. If the carrier was empty it likely would have been accepted underseat. .
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Sadly, even just presenting paperwork while smiling the whole time can be logged as argumentative and refusing to comply with crew/employee directions.

My guess is at most a waiver will get buried in the contract of carriage or tariff that says AC/airport employee or flight crew has final authority and discretion regarding if the pet and carrier can fly.

eqeqeqx

Yeah. Someone may even say that if it uses more than 10% of the size in any dimension, it's inhumane. So what?
That's what the airline guidelines are for. So at at the time of departure you can expect that if you have adhered to the guidelines, you will will be able to board, and not be at the mercy of what sounds like a clueless GA with some sort of issue.

To remove even further doubt op even got a statement from an expert:
"my veterinarian also has given a written statement that this carrier is appropriate to give my dog adequate space to sit up and move around."

AC has guidelines and OP has done an excellent job showing her dog and carriage adhered to those guidelines and should have been able to board without problems.
Based on the OP's response to some of the later nonsense comments (I will not even call them "playing the devil's advocate", as they seem so nonsensical), I have no doubt OP must have been perfectly calm and as non-argumentative as possible at the airport too.

From a fellow dog owner (far too big to travel in the cabin unfortunately): thanks for the update and good luck. Hope justice is in the end served on AC's head.

Blondie85

Air Canada wants this to go to trial… little Whisky and his Sherpa carrier too.

According to the judge, this is going to be a simple black and white matter: does the dog fit or not?

Just some interesting facts::
Air Canada has since updated their “pet in cabin” page on their website. I have the 2019 screenshot at the time of the incident. There’s def more detailed information now VS when this took place in April 2019.

Having said this IATA has since updated their website since 2019. Prior to this all the info regarding transport of pets regarded guidelines for pets in cargo NOT the cabin.

Air Canada claims their stance on this argument is due to IATA guidelines. Given we flew AC Rouge just months prior to LAS without issue and other domestic/ transborder flights with WS and AA is an interesting argument.

Now the petty side…
AC claims we were removed from the terminal due to our behaviour and stands by this (even though I have evidence from YQB’s security report). Security appeared around the time I was flatly denied that I would be travelling on this flight and this is when I asked for additional options to be rebooked the next day (my husband had already realized that this was the last flight out to YYZ/YTZ even with alternate airlines). When the rest of your immediate family (same PNR) is already aboard the aircraft if anything we were slightly panicked just looking for options or short term solutions. The aircraft was still boarding at this point and the whole ordeal of being denied lasted 10 to 15 minutes at most before being escorted out. It’s not like we were harassing the agents.

It was extremely embarrassing and such a LIE… it’s just not something in our character. Period.

Having read so many other stories of mistreatment and “their word against yours” incidents involving pax VS airlines I assure you this is real. Im always the “there’s 3 sides to every story” but having followed every procedure for pet in cabin and to be treated like a criminal and offered ZERO assistance by the airport agent nor reservations was beyond frustrating. To have to drive back to Toronto through the night in poor weather was just infuriating (given 4 of our family members were waiting for us as they had flown). I’m not as a frequent flier as some on FT but average 16-18 flights a year (generally international or transborder). Never had any issues, and never believed I would become “that” person. If it could happen to me it could happen to you (and not just with AC, any airline).

Also just wanted to update this as I still to this day get private messages or have people contact me on social media regarding similar experiences asking for advice. I’m not bashing Air Canada (as I have flown with them with a pet several times without incident) but given how they have handled this situation (refunding me for the tickets only AFTER I went to the medial… even that took 7 weeks!). I do avoid them now in favour of other airlines both with and without a pet.

songsc

From what’s being posted here, it seems like AC knows they don’t stand much chance, so they are making this as difficult for OP as possible, such as bringing dog and carrier to the court, bad behaviour accusation, etc, hoping OP would drop the case.

mysterym

Agree, disgusting on the part of Air Canada, I wouldnt do business with them

eqeqeqx

Happy to see you are not bending over for AC and what sounds like a power tripping and lying GA. Best of luck.

p106_peppy

Oof, I'm flying with a puppy who is supposed to be a similar size and weight, and I'm really worried about being denied because there are literally no other options right now.

We bought a dog from a breeder in Montreal, and need to pick it up and bring it home to Edmonton. AC isn't allowing pets in Cargo right now because summer heat/baggage issues. Westjet is, but only on direct flights, and WestJet doesn't have any direct montreal-edmonton flights. When we asked the breeder if we could defer, they told us to "read our contract", as we had already deferred twice, in May and June. We also asked to pick it up in a few weeks in September when AC starts accepting Cargo pets again, but they told us that other people just take the puppies in the cabin and it's not a problem.

So that's what we've booked for. I'll go to Montreal Saturday morning, pick up the puppy, and fly home Saturday night with the dog in the cabin with me. The dog is a Samoyed, which are actually quite a bit smaller than most people think, but I still feel like this breeder has likely embellished how likely it is that AC is going to be cool with it, so they can get rid of this dog.

Based on the size history of our other Samoyed, it's very much on the border of what is okay. But there is no plan B.


UPDATE: It was fine. Dog fit in our carrier no problem (although now I suspect that the breeder had misrepresented the age? Because our other samoyed was much larger at the same age). Check in agent had never done a dog before, so I got to dictate what is normal and okay, but I think it would have been fine regardless. I think the OP of this thread just got someone who was exceptionally anal, and it's not the norm. Gate agent didnt care. FA didn't care.

Also for a while I was convinced I was going to be denied boarding because the dog wouldn't stop barking and whining. But it turns out that Air Canada doesn't care if your flight is miserable, so there's no rule against annoying noises, and after the first hour the dog fell asleep anyway.

Stranger

There is an (obvious) plan B: take a train or rent a car, and fly WS from Toronto.

zappy312

As a plan B, could you use WestJet to fly Montreal to Calgary, and then drive from Calgary to Edmonton?

p106_peppy

Yeah, I think that's probably the most reasonable option. Although I'd have to figure out my own way home from Calgary as my partner is on call and cannot leave Edmonton. I'm just pissed off at the dog breeder who only gave us a week and a half notice to book flights and then rejected our request to wait until after Sept 12 when dogs are allowed in cargo again.

Peter Snijder

That sucks.

tt092816

I'm sorry that you had to go through this and dragged so many years! I recently adopted a chihuahua around 8lbs and am planning to take her on flights with me in the future. Thank you for the updates throughout the years. Hope that everything worked out.