Jan 27, 2020, 3:42 pm
Last edit by: Adam Smith
Key points of AC COVID change/cancellation policy [as of December 10, 2021]:
(see this page under "Changes and cancellations")
Unlimited changes. No change fees. – Until December 31, 2021, if you want to change your flight, we'll waive the change fee. After December 31, 2021, you can make one change at no extra charge. If your new fare has a higher price, you only need to pay the difference from your original fare.
If Air Canada changes the time of your flight, you make a change for free.*
*Within 3 days for North American destinations and 7 days for international and sun destinations.
If your flight is cancelled, you get a refund – If your flight is cancelled for any reason and we don’t rebook you on another flight that departs or arrives within three hours of your original departure or arrival time, or if we add a connection to your itinerary, you can request a refund.
Need to cancel? Save the value for future travel – If you need to cancel a booking, the full value can be transferred to an Air Canada Travel Voucher, which never expires and is fully transferrable, or converted into Aeroplan points with a 65% bonus. Refundable tickets are always refundable.
Flexibility with Aeroplan bookings – Until December 31, 2021, if you want to change your Aeroplan flight reward, we'll waive all change fees. After December 31, 2021, you can still make one change without a fee.
(see this page under "Changes and cancellations")
Unlimited changes. No change fees. – Until December 31, 2021, if you want to change your flight, we'll waive the change fee. After December 31, 2021, you can make one change at no extra charge. If your new fare has a higher price, you only need to pay the difference from your original fare.
If Air Canada changes the time of your flight, you make a change for free.*
*Within 3 days for North American destinations and 7 days for international and sun destinations.
If your flight is cancelled, you get a refund – If your flight is cancelled for any reason and we don’t rebook you on another flight that departs or arrives within three hours of your original departure or arrival time, or if we add a connection to your itinerary, you can request a refund.
Need to cancel? Save the value for future travel – If you need to cancel a booking, the full value can be transferred to an Air Canada Travel Voucher, which never expires and is fully transferrable, or converted into Aeroplan points with a 65% bonus. Refundable tickets are always refundable.
Flexibility with Aeroplan bookings – Until December 31, 2021, if you want to change your Aeroplan flight reward, we'll waive all change fees. After December 31, 2021, you can still make one change without a fee.
Master thread COVID-19/Coronavirus; travel waivers, route changes, AC impacts
Mar 18, 2020, 5:50 pm
#842
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 302
Mar 18, 2020, 5:51 pm
#843
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,779
Note that in that same document, the EU has stated that it's okay for carriers to offer vouchers if the passenger requests the cancellation due to travel restrictions or desire not to travel. So if you really want a refund, it may be best to wait it out before cancelling. If the airline cancels the flight, you'd be entitled to a refund rather than a voucher.
I'm currently playing chicken with BA for flights on Saturday and Sunday, easyJet for a flight on Sunday, LX for flights on Monday, and LH for a flight on the 27th
Mar 18, 2020, 5:56 pm
#844
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: YVR
Programs: UA Premier Platinum
Posts: 3,759
But if you unilaterally declare a holiday on paying your debts (and a refund owed under AC's own COC is a debt), how is that different from "can't"?
Mar 18, 2020, 5:58 pm
#845
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: MEX
Programs: AC E75K
Posts: 4,171
Yeesh — and I thought I had it bad with troublesome 'I know this will be cancelled but it is not yet' tickets on LX, LA, and AR in April.
Mar 18, 2020, 6:08 pm
#846
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,779
But if you unilaterally declare a holiday on paying your debts (and a refund owed under AC's own COC is a debt), how is that different from "can't"?
I'm more annoyed that SQ owes me several thousand dollars from a ticket 2 weeks ago. I was promised a refund confirmation e-mail within 1 week and a refund within 3 weeks of that, but still don't even have the e-mail. I should have waited on them to cancel that flight (MXP-SIN) rather than taking advantage of the waiver, as that likely would have been a simpler process. And that's part of why I preach patience here as well.
Mar 18, 2020, 6:09 pm
#847
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: YUL
Programs: AC*SEMM
Posts: 602
For Montreal it seems YUL-CDG / YUL-LHR and YUL-FRA is preserved for April 1-30. LH is flying YUL-MUC ... and LX is flying YUL-ZRH ... so not so bad coverage for Europe ...
Obviously China is closed. and YUL - NRT is axed.
For Toronto YYZ - CDG is axed.
For Calgary YYC - LHR seems to be axed (?)
Obviously China is closed. and YUL - NRT is axed.
For Toronto YYZ - CDG is axed.
For Calgary YYC - LHR seems to be axed (?)
Mar 18, 2020, 6:09 pm
#848
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 302
Can't, I'd say, is if they actually can't make the payment now. I don't think that that is the case. It's entirely possible that they're hoping people will go for this because it's less hassle than being on the phone line and they can preserve some cash on the books for as long as possible. As well, in the current environment it may be a long time until they would forced to pay out if it went to a challenge, again preserving cash for some time. Passengers one by one won't bankrupt them now, but failing to pay larger and more important creditors might.
Mar 18, 2020, 6:17 pm
#850
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: YVR
Programs: UA Premier Platinum
Posts: 3,759
They will tout this to investors as "taking steps to preserve our cash"
Have you read the tariff lately? As I've pointed out upthread, or in some other thread, they revised it months ago when APPR was passed and removed a lot of clarity regarding schedule irregularities and passengers' rights when those happen. So what they're doing may not actually be contrary to the tariff. Go read it and see what you think. Rule 80.
Have you read the tariff lately? As I've pointed out upthread, or in some other thread, they revised it months ago when APPR was passed and removed a lot of clarity regarding schedule irregularities and passengers' rights when those happen. So what they're doing may not actually be contrary to the tariff. Go read it and see what you think. Rule 80.
AC seems to anticipating a cash crunch. From the management perspective I understand why they want to limit refunds and they may see it as necessary to preserve AC's remaining operations. If that's the case, I hope AC will act in good faith and make these credits refundable when the company has passed through the current crisis. Otherwise they stand to receive a windfall in 2 years time when many of them will expire unused.
Mar 18, 2020, 6:20 pm
#851
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 302
Fair enough. I wasn't up to speed on the latest tariff changes. I agree, it's ambiguous. But if AC actually uses that ambiguous language to withhold refunds on a mass scale for flights they don't actually operate, I sincerely hope that regulators will take notice of it.
AC seems to anticipating a cash crunch. From the management perspective I understand why they want to limit refunds and they may see it as necessary to preserve AC's remaining operations. If that's the case, I hope AC will act in good faith and make these credits refundable when the company has passed through the current crisis. Otherwise they stand to receive a windfall in 2 years time when many of them will expire unused.
AC seems to anticipating a cash crunch. From the management perspective I understand why they want to limit refunds and they may see it as necessary to preserve AC's remaining operations. If that's the case, I hope AC will act in good faith and make these credits refundable when the company has passed through the current crisis. Otherwise they stand to receive a windfall in 2 years time when many of them will expire unused.
Mar 18, 2020, 6:23 pm
#852
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: YVR
Programs: UA Premier Platinum
Posts: 3,759
I guess I just don't see why such drastic action to withhold cash from customers is being taken not as a last resort, but as a first step.
Mar 18, 2020, 6:24 pm
#853
Moderator, Air Canada; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: YYC
Programs: AC SE MM, FB Plat, WS Plat, BA Silver, DL GM, Marriott Plat, Hilton Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 16,779
Keep in mind that there can be a lag, sometimes significant, between an announcement being made and that being implemented. Hours after they announced suspension of all service to Italy, I was still able to buy a new ticket for early April - they hadn't even zeroed out the inventory, let alone cancelled flights, before making the announcement. And it took them a couple of days to flush the cancellation of my pre-existing booking through the system.
This is a massive task for scheduling/revenue management, so it will take some time for them to implement it fully.
Mar 18, 2020, 6:34 pm
#854
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 302
Surely given AC's financial position as stated on Monday, there is time to secure emergency financing from government to prevent that from happening. I can't imagine Ottawa lets AC or WS fail due to this pandemic, and Ottawa has plenty of fiscal capacity to prop them up until it has passed.
I guess I just don't see why such drastic action to withhold cash from customers is being taken not as a last resort, but as a first step.
I guess I just don't see why such drastic action to withhold cash from customers is being taken not as a last resort, but as a first step.
Mar 18, 2020, 6:38 pm
#855
Join Date: Sep 2019
Programs: AC, KL
Posts: 52
They explicitly stated the destinations they'll be flying to internationally, and TPE wasn't one of them, so there's no reason to think it won't be cancelled.
Keep in mind that there can be a lag, sometimes significant, between an announcement being made and that being implemented. Hours after they announced suspension of all service to Italy, I was still able to buy a new ticket for early April - they hadn't even zeroed out the inventory, let alone cancelled flights, before making the announcement. And it took them a couple of days to flush the cancellation of my pre-existing booking through the system.
This is a massive task for scheduling/revenue management, so it will take some time for them to implement it fully.
Keep in mind that there can be a lag, sometimes significant, between an announcement being made and that being implemented. Hours after they announced suspension of all service to Italy, I was still able to buy a new ticket for early April - they hadn't even zeroed out the inventory, let alone cancelled flights, before making the announcement. And it took them a couple of days to flush the cancellation of my pre-existing booking through the system.
This is a massive task for scheduling/revenue management, so it will take some time for them to implement it fully.