Travel experts share advice for passengers on vacation as Air Transat strike looms

An Air Transat Airbus A330 approaches for landing in Lisbon just before sunrise, Monday, July 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

With Air Transat cancelling flights and bringing people back from vacation early ahead of a strike deadline, travel experts say there are some best practices for passengers to avoid getting stuck abroad.

Barry Choi, who runs the Money We Have personal finance and travel website, said he recommends continuously monitoring for updates from the airline about the strike through their website or other channels.

“Anytime there's a strike like this or any stoppage in work, things are fluid. Air Transat has already said they're going to send some more flights in advance of the strike, but that's only if you want to return home early,” Choi said.

He added that consumer rights regulations don't "necessarily cover strikes," but the airline is responsible for ensuring passengers get back.

“But what happens if the strike lasts two weeks? Are you going to be able to stay abroad for multiple days, multiple weeks and just wait, or do you need to find your own way back?”

If a passenger ends up staying longer than intended because of a strike, Choi recommends saving receipts for hotel stays and meals along with any documents and emails saying their flight was cancelled or delayed so they can make a claim at a later date.

After the Air Canada strike ended in August, he said the company told consumers that if they got stranded, they could submit expenses for meals, accommodation and such for reimbursement.

"I am doubtful that Air Transat will reimburse people. It's one of those situations where you don't know what's going to happen until after the fact," Choi said.

One option to give travellers peace of mind that they won’t be stranded is to book a fully refundable flight as a backup, he said, noting that he was in a similar situation when he was in Europe during the Air Canada strike.

“The longer you wait, the more expensive these flights are going to get, just because obviously there's gonna be more people trying to get back ... The good thing is Air Transat is a bit of a smaller airline, so there won't be as much demand getting back,” Choi said.

Choi said he also recommends having travel insurance and being aware of what is covered under the policy, whether it be through their credit card or a standalone insurance policy. However he said strikes are not always covered by insurance.

"Generally speaking, credit card policies aren't as generous as standalone policies, but you could still get like $100 to $200 a night. You might get meals included, so it can at least offset some of your potential additional costs,” Choi said.

Overall, he said travel insurance is relatively inexpensive and straightforward to acquire.

“If you can't afford travel insurance, you can't afford to travel. It's crazy not to travel with travel insurance these days, especially after what we've seen with COVID-19 and everything else over the years,” Choi said.

Richard Vanderlubbe, president of travel agency tripcentral.ca, said booking trips as a package can help mitigate some of the risks related to an airline strike. He said packages that include flights, accommodations and transfers place a greater obligation on the supplier to provide relief flights or early repatriation, along with the ability to re-book new dates without a penalty.

“When it's all rolled up into one thing, you're not at risk the same way as if you buy the flights separate from a cruise or a tour or a non-refundable hotel or whatever other arrangements you have,” he said.

Vanderlubbe noted that under these circumstances, travel agents can help by doing a lot of the legwork for clients, such as waiting on the phone to speak to the airline.

“And then our people end up being on hold for hours waiting in a queue to speak because there's just a flood of calls all at once,” he said, adding that if you book directly from the airline you are waiting with everyone else.

Air Transat announced a fresh round of flight cancellations Tuesday afternoon as the clock ticked down on a Wednesday morning strike deadline from pilots near the peak of the holiday travel period.

Travel company Transat A.T. Inc., which owns the Montreal-based leisure airline, said it had cancelled a dozen flights so far on Tuesday, plus another half-dozen scheduled for the next day.

The cancelled trips included sun destinations in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Peru and Spain as well as London and Paris. All 18 flights were slated to either take off or land in Toronto or Montreal.

Air Transat said it had arranged seven extra flights Monday and Tuesday to ferry some passengers back early from their vacations.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2025.

Daniel Johnson, The Canadian Press