superlarry

Hi flyertalk, your expertise is appreciated. .

Booked a trip on WestJet two months ago for next week to go to Calgary but not going to go because of the bitter cold weather forecast ruining the planned trip. Booked using Chase points. Any reason I should actually cancel it? Seems nonrefundable. Or is it worth leaving it booked to see if for some strange reason they cancel the flight or something happens where I would get a refund?

mia

I have moved your question to the WestJet forum. Even though you redeemed Chase points for this ticket it is not a "reward" ticket. Expedia bought it for you with a card.

I am not familiar with WestJet policies, but many "non-refundable" airline tickets have residual value if you cancel. You cannot get a refund, but might be able to apply the value to another ticket. Someone here will help you find the terms for your specific fare.

Often1

In addition, if the flight is cancelled or there is a substantial delay, you are due a full refund. Thus, no reason to cancel earlier than the fare rules require.

superlarry

Thanks for your responses @Often1 and @mia, and my apologies for posting in the wrong section.

I'm interpreting your responses to be conflicting answers.

I had suggested doing nothing and waiting to see if there was a cancel or substantial delay but that would be at the time of the flight. Not sure what fare rules would be applied here. Is there some reason I would have to cancel? I can't find anything suggesting WestJet offers any credit for cancelling but I could be wrong

ricktoronto

Be careful as no-shows are not the same as cancellations and unless you have a very flexible full fare ticket not showing up will likely make it valueless. Many tickets with some sort of change fee say no-shows make the ticket worth zilch, both directions.

The concept proposed here is that a substantial enough change can make you eligible to complain to WS that you cannot travel due to the change (and have no desire to take some alternative) and often, you can get a full refund because they have not met their side of the contract.

But if they don't change, then you have to cancel vs. not show up at all and perhaps some value, net of change fees, goes into your "travel bank" (not the same as WS dollars which you earn), to use later. Also in theory taxes paid are due since you did not pay them to WS as much as "through" WS. I'd not bet the farm on seeing those again.

If you bought a basic economy ticket either show up as scheduled or forget it. It's worth zero and cannot be changed nor cancelled.

FlyerJ

+1

If there’s been any schedule change since you first booked, you may be able to cancel and get a refund on that basis alone. Check what was first booked versus what you have now. Sometimes they’ll allow cancellations or full date changes with only a nominal change in flight time.

If not, find out what kind of fare you have. If it’s a “Basic” fare, you’re out of luck. If it’s any other fare, you should be able to cancel and get the balance (minus a change fee) held as a credit with WestJet for up to a year.

You’ll need to go through Chase (rather than WestJet) to pursue either option. Since you didn’t book directly with WestJet, they can’t touch the file anytime prior to the first flight segment.

superlarry

The times are still showing the same. The flight is in 3 days. It's the basic fare. So still thinking it might be best to hope for a last minute flight schedule change that makes it possible for me to argue for a refund/credit as opposed to just cancelling now and getting what I think will be a maximum possible nothing burger.

Jono

It might be worthwhile also checking if there are any travel advisories issued for your flight or destination due to weather or other conditions on your ticketed day of travel - they might allow you then to change your flight without penalty:
https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/travel-info/advisories

superlarry

Thanks. No weather advisories showing yet. But check out the forecast for Calgary. I guess it's normal this time of year to have a deep freeze like this.
-16 high on Tuesday. That's Fahrenheit too.

Frequentlander

May I be so bold as to ask what your expectations were for Calgary in January?

superlarry

Knew it would be cold, but looks to be turning out to be the worst week of the month and the worst week of the winter so far. I didn't do the research and that's why my $400 of chase points are going down the tubes. I mean high of -10F or less 4 days in a row, I don't think that's an average day in the winter in Calgary, but it definitely does seem to happen.

"January is the coldest month, with an average high-temperature of -0.9°C (30.4°F) and an average low-temperature of -13.2°C (8.2°F)."
Average high of 30F, not -12F.

Anyways, lesson learned.

ricktoronto

Could be a Chinook while she's there.

Error 601

Honestly, if the roads aren't too treacherous the bitter cold can be the best time to visit Calgary and area. It is the only time the touristy areas of Banff aren't a sea of selfie sticks and idiots trying to feed mini donuts to grizzly bears.

superlarry

TLDR: I received full refund for 2+ hour delay.

Kept my flight rather than cancelling. On the day of I noticed it was delayed. Delay showed over an hour. Called. De-Icing - Big surprise. Delay then showed over two hours. Called Chase. An hour of Chase dealing with WestJet to get some vouchers, which once obtained apparently take 30 minutes to input and refund points. Had it all approved for full refund. I was almost 1.5hr into phone call when I had to board a plane and the call dropped. No call back even though I gave my phone number for call back. After my flight I called again. At this point delay showing 4 hours. Took another hour with Chase but I got a full refund.

Frequentlander

Now go and buy a lottery ticket.