Advice about how to handle this complaint/Request Compensation
 

We were on a paid Business AC fare CPH-YYZ-LAX. My original connection time at YYZ was to be 2 hours and 10 minutes. But the flight from CPH departed 2 hours late due to a mechanical issue (coolant system).

About 30 minutes into the delay, the lead FA announced that the issue was resolved, and they were just finishing the paper work. Captain came on to correct the FA. The issue was NOT not resolved. He had to move us away from the gate to a different part of CPH for the mechanics to continue. Strike One on the FA for falsely announcing the problem was fixed. Plane moved to another gate and the delay continued.

So we took off 2 hours late, meaning our connection time would be 10 minutes. We were supposed to land at 2:20, but it would now be 4:20 and our next flight was 4:30. I asked the FA about missed connections, and he said they would make up some time and land at 3:30 (so we would make up 50 minutes of the lost 120 minutes.) He said that we'll land at 3:30, and an hour is plenty of time at YYZ to make our connection. I've been to YYZ and I know an hour is good enough. I was content with a 1-hour connection.

Skip ahead to just before landing. The new 3:30 arrival was now updated to 3:40. I figured we still had enough time, but I checked with the FA anyway. He said we're still fine. Especially since YYZ-to-U.S. passengers do NOT have to go through security again. I knew he was wrong, as I've studied YYZ and AC forums here for the past few weeks. But he was so confident and convincing, I fell for his misinformation. I trusted his professional expertise. Strike Two on the FA for this false information.

A bit later, he came to our seats and asked our destination. We told him the 4:30 flight to LAX. "Ohhh," he says. "We've rebooked you on the 6:30 flight to LAX." He showed me a printout that said showed something like 10 LAX passengers with missed connections are re-booked on the 6:30 flight. (This was untrue and was Strike Three, all on the same FA...but we'll get to that). He said relaxing for a few hours at YYZ is better than racing through to catch a connection. Fine. (Even though he had just assured us that 50 minutes was plenty of time.).

He then made an announcement listing all the missed connection flights and the new flights people were on. There were a lot. Flight landed at 3:40 and another 10 minutes of taxi and waiting for jet way. Got off the plane at 3:55.

Took our time getting off the plane (we thought we had 2.5 hours), and there were 2 AC agents at the end of the jet way with new boarding passes for the missed connection people. But they didn't have any for me and wife or other LAX folks. "Are you sure? The FA assured us this was taken care of." No, they said, you have to see an agent at the customer service desk. Still taking our time, we went to customer service desk #1 , and the lady said we had to go to the US side and ask someone over there. Went to desk #2 and the guy scanned our BPs. "Why did he say you were re-booked? The 6:30 is already fully sold out. You're still on the the 4:30 flight. You better hurry." It was 4:10 at this point, and we started our sprint.

Luckily, a short security line, followed by a reasonably short Global Entry line. Sprinted to the gate and boarded with the last few people at 4:30, Phew, we made it.

I don't believe there is much compensation to ask for here, since we made both of our scheduled flights. But telling 10 different passengers that they are on a new flight when they really weren't? And misinforming the entire flight about a repair being completed? And not knowing the security procedures for his own home/hub airport? These are three unacceptable things for the lead FA to blow. Rather than ask for compensation, I simply would like to know, in detail, how each of these three errors occurred. I just want an explanation of the alleged re-booking and how he could tell us (twice) that we were on the 6:30 flight when in fact we were not.

Is there a customer service email address that might handle FA questions and procedures? Any advice on the best way to handle this?

Thanks !

I don't think you have any grounds for compensation.

You made your original flight.

I'd definitely write in about the experience (less emotion, more facts) and say it made the situation more stressful and confusing than it needed to be, and they might throw you a token goodwill gesture.

And hopefully retrain the FA.

Why is it so important to "know in detail" how each of these errors occurred?

By all means file a complaint or express your concerns, but beyond that what is the point?

Definitely file a complaint. You might get a few AP points for "goodwill." Nothing ventured as they say. I probably wouldn't have made your second flight. Among my hard and fast rules is to never run in an airport. I will walk quickly but never run.

1. There is no compensation. You were not delayed. Had you been delayed at LAX by 3+ hours you would have been due EUR 300 and by 4+ hours EUR 600. In your case, nothing. Seems quite correct too.
2. This is all a function of too much information leading to expectations. None of it mattered and thus, not worth imparting. If you wish to send in a brief 2-3 sentence (maximum) note saying that you did not appreciate the incorrect information, you may certainly do so. You will receive a standard cut & paste response to the effect that AC is sorry it didn't; live up to your expectations and hopes to see you again soon.

So to summarize, you want compensation because the FA and counter staff have room for improvement and you had to make a tight connection?

If they start paying out for that they'll be broke in a year.

This is tricky because mostly we hear about folks wanting more information... but correct/accurate info should be the base expectation.
TBH, I take everything with a grain of salt and try to use multiple sources- ie checking the app; third party sites like FlightAware, and then triage the info to try to sort real from not-so-real.
The note upthread re pointing out to AC Customer Service that the FA (or was it the SD?) was providing you incorrect/contradictory information would be the only action I would take.

This is one of those 'forget about it and move on' situations

compensation for what?
 

Travel much?
As soon as I board, I take note of the name of the customer service agent. Get to know him or her.
The CSA is the essential link between you and the AC staff meeting the arriving flight. He/she would already have their nose out of joint because of the way the pilot "corrected" the announcement i.e. he/she is on your side. Advise him/her of your concern and ask for assurance your cnx. will be protected (I know it did not matter in this instance, but, now I am on the record).
Did the CSA handle other aspects of the flight well? If so, I recommend you send a note to AC commending them. Compensation? For what? Poor communication?
IF you really want compensation, you can get it for the 2 h mech delay. What will you get? 15 % discount code for your next AC tix. Whoopee.

Rule number one - when flying on AC you have to take responsibility for everything yourself. Do not rely on anything you're told by flight attendants, gate agents, or telephone agents because half of them have no idea what they're talking about or simply make it up as they go.

That may sound a bit harsh, but put in the bum-in-seat time and you'll find it's perfectly accurate.

The OP is part of the US based demographic that AC wants to encourage and increase, so by all means submit a "comment' - not a request for compensation - to Customer Service. I'd send in the post pretty much as written here, with the questions as to why it happened more rhetorical than appearing to want precise answers. The post is an entertaining outline of a very annoying comedy of errors.

The one thing that really puzzles me is that the OP's seat was not in fact given away, since at one stage AC was routinely rebooking people who they deemed unable to make a connection, and who then showed up to board and were denied.

My main point is a burning curiosity to learn how the Lead FA could go around to 10 different passengers on a plane and give them new flights, new times, new gates, etc., and also show them the paperwork which verifies the rebookings. In actuality, none of us were rebooked at all. How does such a mess occur?

Were none of you rebooked or were YOU not rebooked?

I've noticed a lot of paid J bookings lately will be protected on alternate flights without cancelling the original flight.

For example, a friend of mine had SFO-YYZ-FRA with a reasonable connection. The first flight (noon departure) had a posted delay by 8am. And there a UA SFO-FRA flight on the PNR at that point. He inquired, and was told very explicitly that he had the option to take either flight.

He took the AC flights, and made the connection. He's only UA*G.

Paid J entitles you to certain perks that wouldn't otherwise be available to a non-SE (like holding a seat on a completely full flight that they really need for handling other misconnects).

Another possibility here is that you ended up booked on both YYZ-LAX flights, but since you weren't "re"booked, the agent meeting the flight wasn't aware of you. So even though the later one was full, you may have had a seat there.

I'm not saying this excuses any of the confusion caused by this, but it's another plausible scenario.

And which point, I slow down, miss the 4:30, knowing 6:30 is sold out, I will have 600 Euros in my pocket for taking an even later flight.

If you write in, you will get a 10% coupon at best (really 3-5% as it doesnt cover YQ). You can decide if thats worth your time.

Next time pick a different airline, you can see first hand how this one runs their operations.

I doubt that the FA "made up" anything. On the contrary, the FA was most likely told that the pax would be rebooked and their flights protected. The FA relayed the information. Following departure, the pax implicated either did not have their flights rebooked, or there were further changes, none of which was correctly conveyed to onboard pax. There is no incentive nor motive for a FA to provide inaccurate information. Yes it might occur with a misfit, but for the most part, the FAs are normal people doing a job with the tools and support provided.
The responsibility for this incident rests with the operations group responsible for rebooking pax and providing general service during flight disruptions. They continually screw up. Whether it is due to under staffing or a lack of resources, it is obvious that the management of pax needs under these types of circumstances is not a priority for Air Canada. How many times have we seen similar stories, or for those of us who are not SE experienced this? AC consistently provides a negative experience when there is a problem. (And before the SEs chime in with the but I am greeted and escorted and blah blah blah, please keep in mind that us mere mortals who pay business class fares and who are not SE are often treated like crap without access to the concierges advertised, and it is worse for the unwashed peons in the back of the bus.)

The passenger was not treated appropriately and should indeed convey those sentiments to the airline. people do not pay business class fares to be treated like this.

When we landed and got to the end of the jetway, the AC reps were there with piles of new printed boarding passes for all the missed connection people.. We told them our name, and they couldn't find our passes. Then we told them the new flight number we were supposed to be on, and they had no BPs for that flight (this tells me that it wasn't just wife and I who weren't re-booked, but everyone on that later flight. The FA told all 10 of us the new flight, but the reps inside had no BPs for that flight).

Back to when we were still on the first flight and the FA was telling us about the new flight, he did say we were protected on the new flight. We asked if we were protected in J seats, and he said he didn't know about our seats, but we were protected.

I was wondering the same as you mentioned...if we are protected on the 6:30 flight, have they cancelled our seats on the 4:30 flight? As soon as I realized we weren't on the 6:30 flight at all, it became obvious that the the 4:30 seats were still valid (and our only option), and then we began the sprint.

I assume in the later update , "he" is the agent on the bridge.

So easy enough problem: the flight crew doesn't understand the distinction between "protected" and "rebooked" (+ you don't know how to interpret 800baud friendly text printouts).

I agree this was a problem, and I frequently detect people who think they know what they are talking about going overboard. I'm not sure that this is especially endemic among AC staff, but I perhaps have built up an auto-salt deployment system when talking to them.

Write in, flag the problem. Don't expect more than a worthless apology or any change. But they won't change until they know its a problem.

Unlikely in the OP's case. Was initially told by an FA he was on a 6:30 flight, told at 4:10 he was actually on the 4:30 flight and still had to clear security and immigration? It's well below the MCT. Missing that flight isn't game playing and not grounds to cancel a flight on a no-show basis.

You missed my point regarding Rankourabu quote. Game playing can bite you on the ... sometimes and ends up effecting everyone after time.

You missed my point regarding Rankourabu quote. Game playing can bite you on the ... sometimes and ends up effecting everyone after time.

Your point even though you felt the need to state it twice was off the mark in this situation. It would have been entirely appropriate to not rush to the gate knowing that the later flight is full. My result would be the same because I don't run in airports. No games played at all.

I fully agree that the FA did not lie or make stuff up. He was simply mis-informed by operations. That's why I'm not really after compensation, but explanations. Also, when he said the mechanical issue was resolved (even though it wasn't), I doubt he made that up either. Someone gave him bad info.

The part about him telling me that I would not have to go through security at YYZ is clearly his mistake though, and that was the least of my complaints. "I don't know" is such a better answer than a guess/wrong answer.

It is simply hit and miss.

I've had a flight not too long ago where the SD came up to me and said "Mr. RatherBeInYOW, there will be an agent waiting for you on the bridge with a new boarding pass" and there in fact was. I've had concierges meet and run with me to make flights. I had a concierge with me one time where a flight to YOW had just been closed and she had the GA re-open the flight, issue me a BP, close it and re-print the manifest and walk me down to the plane before closing the door. I had a concierge call me while connecting YYZ, find out where I was, and then call the gate and make sure they did not close it until I boarded. Sometimes AC does all sorts of stuff that make me happy to be SE, and I think paid J gets a lot of the same treatment. This is when it goes well.

Other times they mess up. Nobody to be found with new BPs while getting off wildly delayed flights and then massive queues (even with priority) at the airside transfer desks in YYZ. Agents in YYZ Dom refusing to help you out. Deciding to proactively rebook me on to a later flight and not tell me about it, and then I find out when I make it to the gate of the flight I was originally on in plenty of time. This happens too often as well sadly.

Your best bet is to be as proactive as you can. Check online or call AC if you have a priority number to see where you are at, and whether you have been rebooked. Don't assume that you are being fed good information from an agent on the plane, or at the gate. Sometimes you can find out more than they seem to know by simply checking online or calling and finding someone who does know what is going on.

Finally; you are not going to get explanations. You're going to get, at best, token compensation. Chalk this up to "*&$% happens" and move on.

lol.. game playing... maybe one is just old and feeble and cant run... or maybe one who paid for J shouldnt have to run because AC had no idea what they were doing on top of a 2 hour mechanical delay....

But in a way, you may be right. Given this is AC, and given the general incompentence of AC - maybe they would have offloaded the OP and marked them as a no-show after their own delay violated the MCT. That does sound like something AC might do.

Agreed. Not sure why explanations need to be given for a foul up. An apology, yes, Compensation, perhaps, but they are not going to lay open their inner workings to satisfy idle curiosity. This is not a 60 minutes expose we are talking about here.

:eek:

Biggest takeaway from this thread?

I found someone who actually reads EnRoute.

I am very confused: Where were the concierges? OP on J INTL Arrival?

I guess concierge training in order too?

A bit TLDR, but some comments about how the concierge makes all the difference from the "peons" (a word upthread) in the back. What about the "peons" who paid to sit in the front?

OP here. Concierges were nowhere to be found. My guess is this is due to the miscommunication. AC "thought" they had rebooked me on the 6:30 flight, and since I got off the plane at 4 pm, I wouldn't need an escort to rush me anywhere. Little did I know (and apparently AC didn't know either!), that I was still on the 4:30 flight.
Actually, I'd be fine without an escort, but I would have greatly appreciated someone calling the gate and saying that 2 J passengers are on their way so don't leave without them.

I wrote my note to AC and will report their reply here.

Ouch

5AM + French as a first language

I wish there was a concierge every time I arrived in to YYZ or YUL on a delayed INTL connection. Sometimes there is and they can really help, which I really appreciate, but other times they are nowhere to be found. I suspect this is less "concierge training" needed and more that they don't have enough of them and sometimes they don't have anyone available to meet the plane.

Two weeks since I wrote to AC via their website, and a week since I followed up. Nada.

Is there a more direct way to email someone rather than the feedback portion of their website?

Not really. At least not in an effective way.

But you can always try their social media sites.