aerobod

One thing I brought up a number of times before I retired from WestJet was the concept of "are we becoming a Canadian airline that flies internationally, or are we becoming an international airline that is Canadian?"

Although this seems like the same thing stated in two different ways, it is really two distinct approaches from an IT, marketing and finance perspective. In the first case it means principally working in CAD and using currency conversions for pricing, selling mainly to the Canadian market and accounting for operations as a single Canadian entity. In the second case it means having operations that are priced, marketed and accounted for in the local markets served. I believe "an international airline that is Canadian" is the way to go, even though it means a lot of hard changes. I'm glad to see that that evolution has begun.

Error 601

There is nothing more annoying to me that submitting expenses for the same trip in multiple currencies.

aerobod

I don't think I've ever managed a business trip to a foreign country where I haven't had expenses in the currency accepted there.

tcook052

Then why is there so much inconsistency? As has been mentioned others who've flown from the U.S. have not paid the same amount in USD as they did in CAD on the outbound but rather the USD amount that would convert to the bag fee in CAD they paid on the outbound.

Sunny Day

Westjet should then be charging 30 Mexican pesos for luggage on all originating flights from PVR or CUN using that analogy. They are claiming $30 CAD out of Canada means $30 USD out of USA, let's take that further to mean 30 Pesos from CUN, after all, it is the local currency, isn't it?

PHXflier

It has nothing to do with 30, but rather with that all US airlines charge US$30 for the first bag for flights departing from the US to elsewhere in North America, and Westjet is simply following suit. From CUN, the price for the first checked bag is also US$30. And Westjet tells us exactly what the deal is in https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/travel.../service-fees:

Baggage fees and country of origin

As of August 28th, 2018, your baggage fee will depend on the country you depart from, as per industry standards.

Guests departing from:

• Canada - 1st bag fee $30 CAD, 2nd bag fee $50 CAD
• United States, Latin America, Caribbean - 1st bag fee $30 USD, 2nd bag fee $50 USD ".

cedric

This seems pretty clear.
You're not departing from Canada if you're departing from a US airport.
It doesn't explain the inconsistencies that others have noted above. Perhaps their tickets were booked prior to the change and were grandfathered at the old rates.

aerobod

Error 601

Travel (airline, hotel and rental car) that will be charged to a Canadian dollar cost center is supposed to be booked in Canadian dollars, deviating from that is annoying unless you enjoy redacting your own credit card statements in Acrobat.

aerobod

Frequentlander

I could write pages and pages on how messed up the expense reimbursement system is in the majority of companies.

Sopwith

How about submitting in a single currency but having it bounced three months in a row because I travelled to three provinces and coded the GST "incorrectly" for two of them? And Ontario's HST has yet another code. Memo to head office: The reason we have accounting minions is to take care of that stuff while we professionals are busy making billable time!!!

(Sorry to stray off topic, but it hit a nerve. I'm no longer with that company.)

Error 601

No, not really. Our currency issues and policies about billing for customer approved travel are unlikely to interest you.

Error 601

That dynamic is just magical in California where every county except for Fresno and Butte have a county sales tax and every one is different.

tcook052

Yes, grandfathering of the previously lower checked bag fees but this still doesn't explain why I've heard from people who bought tickets recently (last month) and flew last week and paid the converted USD amount for checked bag fees on the inbound that approximated what they'd paid in CAD on the outbound.