If your flight gets cancelled, don’t accept a refund from Air Canada: expert

Adrian Ghobrial reports on what is legally required from Air Canada when it comes to handling cancelled flights if a strike is called.

One passenger rights expert says if your Air Canada flight has been cancelled, don’t accept a refund.

“A refund can be one way for an airline to wash their hands of their obligation to rebook you on another flight,” said Gabor Lukacs, president of Air Passenger Rights.

Air Canada has begun cancelling flights ahead of a planned strike by roughly 10,000 flight attendants this weekend.

If you already have a ticket booked and paid for with Air Canada, then Lukacs says that the Canadian Transportation Agency’s regulations are clear: Air Canada is supposed to foot the bill for a new ticket on another airline.

In the event of a strike, which is classified as outside of an airline’s control, large airlines such as Air Canada are still required to book customers a new “reservation for the next available flight that is operated by any carrier,” according to Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations.

“Any carrier means any airline, including, but not limited to, the airlines competitors,” said Lukacs, who adds that the airline must put you on the next available flight towards your final destination, no matter the cost.

“Customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and they will be eligible for a full refund,” Air Canada said this week in a press release on their website.

Air Canada’s offer of a reimbursement could leave customers out of pocket hundreds, or even thousands of dollars. Lukacs believes the airline is trying to avoid having to rebook customers on a pricier flight with a competitor.

Ticket prices heading into the weekend have been steadily climbing. The cheapest roundtrip ticket departing Toronto on Aug. 15 and returning from Vancouver on Aug. 22 is being offered by Flair Airlines for roughly $1,300.

The same roundtrip ticket leaving Toronto on Sept. 5 and returning from Vancouver on Sept. 12 is going for as little as $273.

It all comes down to supply and demand, which in turn influences strategic pricing by airlines.

“What we are seeing is the combined effect of last-minute ticket prices, which always seem to be higher, and a sudden, substantial increase in demand,” Lukacs said.

The consumer advocate goes on to share that if your flight has been cancelled, and Air Canada is trying to rebook you on an Air Canada Jazz flight next Friday, but there’s a more expensive WestJet flight that gets you home two days earlier, then the airline is duty-bound to book you on the WestJet flight.

Lukacs, who has represented air passenger rights for more than a decade in Canada, says that if the airline refuses, a customer can go and buy a ticket from a competing airline and then send the bill to Air Canada.