This week’s Compensation Clinic is about a recent Air Canada Business Class flight I had, going from Vancouver via Seoul to Bangkok, which got rerouted several times.
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This particular trip was one of the few times I ever traveled on a paid ticket in recent years as it was an urgent, last-minute decision to go to Vancouver for 4 days, and the ticket was close to C$6000.
Air Canada isn’t exactly known for its premium service, but I was positively surprised with the experience of the Hong Kong – Vancouver sector.
Problems really just started on the return. First, the priority check-in counters at Vancouver Airport weren’t staffed adequately. Out of eight counters, only three were manned.
I was then informed that the departure time for Vancouver-Seoul was delayed by at least an hour, making my connection in Seoul illegal as it cut my connection time down to only 20 minutes. I was rebooked to Vancouver-Tokyo/NRT-Bangkok with the connection flight being in Japan Airlines, operation from a totally different terminal. Even though there is an intra-terminal connection in Narita it requires time.
Air Canada refused to rebook the entire itinerary on ONE airline (Japan Airlines) and so it ended up like this:
As my (lack of) luck would have it, there was no time to be had. First the crew didn’t show up on time for the flight causing a 30-minute delay in boarding, then a mechanical issue caused another 40-minute delay in parking on the tarmac to get it sorted.
I already foresaw that the connection in Tokyo will end up in a disaster, so I preregistered for the arrivals fast track in case I need to enter and stay overnight which is exactly what happened.
The delay in arrival and a 25+ minute taxiing in Narita made the connection impossible. I informed the Air Canada staff upon arrival that I want a voucher for the Hilton Narita, meals as well as my suitcase, and then fly the following afternoon. It made not much difference to me when I arrive in Bangkok and there were no other alternatives anyway. Also, I’m not one to object to a free stay in Japan even if it’s just a day.
Following the immigration process that was a breeze since I was prepared, Air Canada staff met me at the baggage claim and handed me my suitcase (which took only 20 minutes to retrieve, god bless Japan) as well as a makeshift voucher for the Hilton Narita:
The voucher also includes a dinner buffet at the Hilton as well as breakfast:
I had dinner at the hotel and took a quick trip to the Aeon Mall nearby for some shopping. The next day it was nice and sunny so I used the hotel shuttle to go up to Narita City, visit the temple and have some fresh Unagi before heading back to the hotel in the afternoon and then going to the airport.
Eventually, I arrived in Bangkok three calendar days after my departure in Vancouver. I, of course, complained by email to Air Canada, but they were less than interested, claiming that the compensation legislation doesn’t apply:
We are in receipt of your claim under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations for booking XXXXXX, flight AC63 YVR – ICN, on 2023/02/12. We are sorry for the disruption you experienced at arrival to your final destination.
In this instance, the compensation you are requesting does not apply because the disruption was caused by a safety-related issue.
This flight is delayed due to additional time needed to substitute the aircraft. Due to an unforeseen maintenance issue, the aircraft for your flight may have had to be changed, and the arrival of the replacement aircraft took longer than expected.As a goodwill gesture, I am pleased to provide you with a $100.00 CAD Air Canada eCoupon. Please find details of this offer below.
If you wish to learn more about flight disruptions and how entitlement to compensation is assessed under Canada’s Air Passenger Protection Regulations, please visit our website.
We thank you for your understanding and look forward to welcoming you on board again.
Sincerely,
Customer Relations
They conveniently left out that the new flight I was on was also delayed and caused this misconnection. After I filed another complaint, they sent the same nonsense reply and another $100 voucher. I decided to escalate the case to the CTA and will see later what the final outcome is.
Of course, I could always sue Air Canada in Small Claims Court in British Columbia, I will consider that once I hear from the regulator (which is really just a rubber stamp in Canada, they don’t regulate anything).
Conclusion
Following a flight delay and misconnect after a rather horrible service experience on my $6000 ticket, Air Canada is refusing to accept any responsibility and provides just $100 coupon for a future flight. This highlights that Air Canada is what I already said many times during the pandemic when they refused to compensate and refund passengers: A horrible airline with zero service standards and a total lack of accountability.
Many have sued Air Canada in the past to obtain refunds and compensation where it was due. I can only encourage others in this situation to do the same and I’ll follow that example as well as I fully expect that the CTA complaint won’t result in anything.