It could also lead to provincial (consumer protection laws) and federal regulation that make it clear the customers are entitled to the refunds, which will override any airline's contract of carriage terms/rules.

if scammers are allowed to continue scamming just because it's costly or lengthy to catch them, things will never change.


Air Canada is not making goodwill efforts to appease the angry customers. Air Canada is not coming clean and not explaining why it cannot refund. Instead of getting off their high horse and saying "sorry we don't have enough money to refund everyone but we will make up to you", they are are wrapping issue with a pile of BS about how they are doing customers a favour by giving them those restrictive travel vouchers. Perhaps the reason why they refuse to refund is different and aligns more with something like "maximizing shareholder value"


Air Canada is not showing good faith by maintaining restrictive rules on the travel vouchers, such as non-transferability, non-combinability and loss of residual value

Please holster the hyperbole as this isn't a case of online scammers stealing someone's money but a crisis unlike any other the airline industry has faced in decades, if ever. I've read many varying opinions on the legality of providing credits instead of refunds and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on the matter so until there's more clarity I'll reserve my rush to judgement. That is of course merely MHO as a poster.

actually, we are

True, but doesn't this teach them a lesson? You could argue otherwise that any corporation could do anything without penalty as it would 'hurt its business".
I joined the BA class action (regarding their inattention to the security of their website and stealing of millions of CC and other details) because I want them to invest in future IT needs, not for the $10 I might eventually collect.

I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a penalty. I guess I would just prefer that it be in the form of government regulation and fines as opposed to a lengthy and unruly process that was designed for the benefit of lawyers (which I used to be BTW).

Well, that's because the airlines hire lobbyists to represent their interests to the politicians. Somehow I doubt the airlines prefer government regulation and fines.

I don't know if this is the right place to post this but I got an email from AC today asking me if I want to cancel my booking for end of May.
Now if I ask for a refund I only get 70 dollars. If I ask for credit I get the full amount. This is for a future trip.
What I don't understand is why the non refundable charges include Air Transportation Charges, taxes and fees and charges and seat selection? They are not giving me the base fare nor are they refunding the HST.
So my choice is either get so little refund or keep the total amount for a future travel.

"Certain taxes are refundable in certain cases based on the following:"

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

I got one of those e-mails too for domestic May travel.

Part of the e-mail included:
"If you have a non refundable fare, you can still cancel your trip and receive 100% of the unused value of your ticket as a future travel credit. This credit is valid for travel before April 30, 2021. "

Yes that's what it said. I prefer a refund instead of the credit for future travel. I am sure as soon as this is over the airfares would sky rocket.

Even if airfare remains the same, you'll have to magically find a flight that costs the exact same amount of money. If it's cheaper, AC keeps the residual value. If it's more expensive, you're paying AC new money to use the 'credit' they issued you for the flight they didn't provide earlier.

Conceptually, I don't entirely disagree with what AC is doing - preserving cash to keep the airline alive - but at least give people a real gift card-like credit that is transferable, does not expire and can be used multiple times. Anything else is a kick in the pants.

I don't even understand their logic with any of this. They want cash.

There are 3 AC itineraries I want to book and 1 UA itinerary. UA has basically the same rules for booking new tickets as AC.

Except... I'm not willing to end up in a situation where I lose residual value. I'm quite happy to take a $5k AC gift card if all my flights need to be cancelled, and they can hold my cash. But I'm not willing to take a $2k and $3k AC credit that can only be used by the same passengers, and lose all residual value if I want to book a different cheaper flight.

Do they need cash or not? Because I've got a bunch burning a hole in my pocket that I'd spend if their terms were reasonable.

Yes, AC's policy at this point is a giant warning sign to hold off on booking any future travel unless it's a fully refundable fare.

That's what Westjet is doing and I would be OK with that. But the way AC and many other airlines set up restrictions on travel credit usage ensures most people will lose the entire or part of the voucher's dollar face value.

If they can't handle the IT modifications to remove the restrictions on the travel vouchers or create a travel "bank" � la Westjet, just issue e-gift cards instead.