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Master thread COVID-19/Coronavirus; travel waivers, route changes, AC impacts

Old Jan 27, 2020, 3:42 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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 dont 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.
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Master thread COVID-19/Coronavirus; travel waivers, route changes, AC impacts

Old Mar 19, 2020, 2:20 pm
  #901  
 
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 5
Is AirCan refunding??

I have an nonrefundable fare, booked the trip last year. Been trying to get Air Can all week to refund my tickets with newest wave of border restrictions and entry restrictions against foreigners at my destination. My scheduled trip starts 3/20 through 4/4 and now I see with the latest route suspensions posted as of 3/18 which affects our destination and return. If I flew on 3/20, the destination country had closed entry to only natives and turning back all non-citizens/residents.

Does anyone know if Air Canada will refund my fare? I've been trying to DM and tweet them the last few days to no avail but now they have effectively suspended my return segment.
NRMR is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 2:24 pm
  #902  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: AC E50K (*G), Westjet Gold
Posts: 788
Does anyone know what kind of Credit AC is offering exactly?

I have a booking that I did via AC, but includes travel on AC, OS, OU, and LX. AC is offering me a full credit (from standard fare), but that's all it says.

I see AC has ACCredits, ecoupons, and electronic travel vouchers - Which would I get? Can I use the credit to book travel via AC's website that includes other *A carriers, or is it like an AC discount code that is super restrictive to AC flights only?
nave888 is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 2:55 pm
  #903  
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: 16,618
Originally Posted by Polytonic
Oh, are all calls still recorded? I don't recall that message being played when I called in, but I also spent ~2hrs. on hold, so ...

Refund has yet to show (to be fair, I'm guessing they're getting slammed) and PNR still appearing on AC website though.
They at least keep records of calls and modifications to PNRs, so there should be a record, whether the full call is recorded or not (and I don't think anything has changed on that front).

But if you want the most comfort, if you can't do it on the website, all you can do is contact AC again, either by phone, or you could try Twitter DM.

Originally Posted by NRMR
I have an nonrefundable fare, booked the trip last year. Been trying to get Air Can all week to refund my tickets with newest wave of border restrictions and entry restrictions against foreigners at my destination. My scheduled trip starts 3/20 through 4/4 and now I see with the latest route suspensions posted as of 3/18 which affects our destination and return. If I flew on 3/20, the destination country had closed entry to only natives and turning back all non-citizens/residents.

Does anyone know if Air Canada will refund my fare? I've been trying to DM and tweet them the last few days to no avail but now they have effectively suspended my return segment.
As mentioned in the wiki and detailed in the announcement linked there, flights cancelled on or after March 19th (today) get a 24-month credit, not a refund. Flights cancelled yesterday or earlier would be under old rules.

If your flight was cancelled yesterday or earlier, you should be able to get a refund. If cancelled today, credit.

P.S. Nobody calls it "Air Can". "Air Canada" or "AC"

Originally Posted by nave888
Does anyone know what kind of Credit AC is offering exactly?

I have a booking that I did via AC, but includes travel on AC, OS, OU, and LX. AC is offering me a full credit (from standard fare), but that's all it says.

I see AC has ACCredits, ecoupons, and electronic travel vouchers - Which would I get? Can I use the credit to book travel via AC's website that includes other *A carriers, or is it like an AC discount code that is super restrictive to AC flights only?
The credit is like cash you can use to book a new flight, doesn't really matter what it is.

Only thing is it's heads AC wins, tails you lose when it comes to fare difference. If the new fare is higher, you pay. If it's less, you forfeit the difference.

You would probably have to phone in to use it as the credit is associated with the ticket that you booked previously.
Adam Smith is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 3:39 pm
  #904  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Earth. Residency:HKG formerly:YYZ
Programs: CX, DL, Nexus/GE, APEC
Posts: 10,659
Air Can

Adam Smith:

"Air Can" is used within the Hong Kong community in HK and Vancouver/Toronto as the method of short forming everything in the name of HK efficiency.
tentseller is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 4:40 pm
  #905  
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: 16,618
Originally Posted by tentseller
Adam Smith:

"Air Can" is used within the Hong Kong community in HK and Vancouver/Toronto as the method of short forming everything in the name of HK efficiency.
Fair enough. I'll amend my statement to: "Nobody on FlyerTalk calls it Air Can", and I've never heard anyone use it in the real world either, although I don't know many people in the HK community in YTO or YVR
Adam Smith is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 6:55 pm
  #906  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: YYZ
Programs: UA 1K; BA Silver; Marriott Gold Elite; Hilton Gold
Posts: 29
Does anybody else have a flight booked on a route that is now suspended, but whose booking still has the original itinerary and is not showing that the flights have been cancelled? For context, my flights are YYZ-LAS in mid-April.
alifesjourneys is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 7:10 pm
  #907  
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: 16,618
Originally Posted by alifesjourneys
Does anybody else have a flight booked on a route that is now suspended, but whose booking still has the original itinerary and is not showing that the flights have been cancelled? For context, my flights are YYZ-LAS in mid-April.
This is quite common. Please read back a couple page of this thread for more.
Adam Smith is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 7:22 pm
  #908  
 
Join Date: Nov 2019
Programs: United
Posts: 20
Priceline

so I have a flight from SFO-HKG via YVR that was scheduled for mid-April that I'd like to move to July. Not about to be quarantined for 14 days there with a wristband tracking my movements. Not even Big Brother China is doing that. Booked via Priceline. However, Priceline in its usual incompetency does not have any form to fill out for flight changes, only for flight cancellation requests. Furthermore, they won't even speak to me either via chat or by phone unless its within 72 hours of the flight date. Any ideas on how I can get some service on this now rather than later? I guess I could cancel the flight and rebook, but I'm not sure if AC will penalize me for it since this was a non-refundable ticket and the Priceline form doesn't seem to have an option that says something along the lines of "only cancel the flight if I won't get penalized".

The flight was already changed from its original booking of late February. This was done before March 4. From what I can tell, I should be able to change it again for free. Not clear if it can be cancelled for a full refund.
ProfessorPlum168 is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 7:26 pm
  #909  
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: 16,618
Originally Posted by ProfessorPlum168
so I have a flight from SFO-HKG via YVR that was scheduled for mid-April that I'd like to move to July. Not about to be quarantined for 14 days there with a wristband tracking my movements. Not even Big Brother China is doing that. Booked via Priceline. However, Priceline in it's usual incompetency does not have any form to fill out for flight changes, only for flight cancellation requests. Furthermore, they won't even speak to me either via chat or by phone unless its within 72 hours of the flight date. Any ideas on how I can get some service on this now rather than later? I guess I could cancel the flight and rebook, but I'm not sure if AC will penalize me for it since this was a non-refundable ticket and the Priceline form doesn't seem to have an option that says something along the lines of "only cancel the flight if I won't get penalized".
If you haven't started travel, AC will not want to take control of the ticket, and you will need to deal with Priceline. That's really it.

Under normal circumstances, you might be able to HUCA until you found an agent who was willing to break the rules and touch your ticket, but with hold times the way they are, that's not advisable unless you have SE status.
Adam Smith is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 7:35 pm
  #910  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: YEG
Posts: 3,925
ProfessorPlum168 I know you want to deal with sooner rather than later, but do yourself and everyone else a favour and wait. Your trip isnt for almost a month. Call in a week or two from now. Youll save yourself time on hold, and you wont tie up the lines for those who need to get through ASAP.
YEG USER is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 7:36 pm
  #911  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Vancouver
Programs: AC SE100K 1MM, FB Platinum, Bonvoy Platinum Elite, IHG Gold Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,583
Originally Posted by YEG USER
ProfessorPlum168 I know you want to deal with sooner rather than later, but do yourself and everyone else a favour and wait. Your trip isnt for almost a month. Call in a week or two from now. Youll save yourself time on hold, and you wont tie up the lines for those who need to get through ASAP.
I've been waiting also - I think for travel in April that's a good plan.
EdmFlyBoi is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 7:40 pm
  #912  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: YEG
Posts: 3,925
Originally Posted by EdmFlyBoi
I've been waiting also - I think for travel in April that's a good plan.
Ive got travel at the end of March that Im not even going to bother call in in for yet. Changed flights, now with a forced overnight and system wont let me change online.
YEG USER is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 8:04 pm
  #913  
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,946
Just got email from AC informing flight cancellation on return portion of my international segment for end of March out of YYZ (inbound to YYZ was earlier this month in Z, return end of month in P).

Total fare was $4.6k.

AC has offered two options for $2k on return segment: 1. accept refund back into credit card or 2. keep as open credit and rebook within 24 months. Going for refund back to AMEX.

Last edited by tcook052; Apr 2, 2020 at 9:23 pm Reason: remove image
mileageking is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 8:17 pm
  #914  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Glen Abbey
Posts: 639
Refund = good idea.

I worked SARS and we had SARS 1 and then, unexpectedly, SARS 2, so who knows how long the current issue will last. It certainly may go past your opportunity to get a refund without much of a hassle. The Spanish Flu in 1918 also has two phases...
hazcaddy is offline  
Old Mar 19, 2020, 8:36 pm
  #915  
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: MEX
Programs: AC E75K
Posts: 4,171
Originally Posted by mileageking
Just got email from AC informing flight cancellation on return portion of my international segment for end of March out of YYZ (inbound to YYZ was earlier this month in Z, return end of month in P).

Total fare was $4.6k.

AC has offered two options for $2k on return segment: 1. accept refund back into credit card or 2. keep as open credit and rebook within 24 months. Going for refund back to AMEX.
Why is the credit for the full amount if you've already flown the first half?

Last edited by tcook052; Apr 2, 2020 at 9:23 pm Reason: edit quote
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