Dream Vacation Ruined by Fight For Passenger Rights
A delayed flight and missed connection are bound to spoil anyone’s vacation. Toss in a case of late luggage and an ongoing compensation battle with Air Canada and you’ve summed up the disastrous trip of two Nova Scotia couples.
CBC News reports that Samantha Chaulk, Steve Healy, and another couple booked an exciting trip to Las Vegas through Air Canada Vacations, but nothing went as planned. Their flight from Halifax was delayed, so they missed their connecting flight out of Toronto. They were then rebooked to a Calgary flight even though an earlier flight direct to Las Vegas was available.
Halifax passenger rights advocate, Gabor Lukacs, says Air Canada’s refusal to rebook the couple to this flight is inexcusable. He asserts that airlines are supposed to put passengers on the next available flight.
But Air Canada claimed that it couldn’t give the couple the available business class seats because their original tickets were for economy. Chaulk and Healy’s suggestion that the airline upgrade two other passengers and give them the economy seats was denied.
Now, after returning from a less than ideal trip, the two couples are left grappling with claims to both their credit card company and to Air Canada.
But neither offer robust travel coverage; Air Canada has already warned of its limited trip interruption coverage. A separate travel insurance policy may have offered both couples a little more peace of mind as their trip unravelled.
So far the airline has just issued flight vouchers to the couples and promises to address their claims. The couples are still steeped in the claims process and waiting to see how Air Canada will respond.
Image Courtesy of Adobe Stock