Air Canada is revising its cancellation policy amid mounting customer frustration, offering travellers the option of a voucher with no expiration date or Aeroplan points if the airline cancels their flight due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The airline says the new policy – the previous one capped travel vouchers at 24 months, with no Aeroplan option – applies to non-refundable tickets issued up to the end of June, with an original travel date between March 1 and June 30.
Air Canada’s fresh tack comes as consumer advocates and thousands of passengers continue to demand their money back for services they paid for but have not received.
Three petitions with more than 89,000 signatures are calling for full refunds to be implemented before financial aid is handed out to airlines, two of which were presented to the House of Commons over the past 11 days.
Air Canada said it has refunded nearly $1 billion to customers since Jan. 1, largely to travellers who paid for refundable tickets.
“While the world is making great progress against COVID-19, we know we must remain vigilant, which includes being flexible,” chief commercial officer Lucie Guillemette said in a release Friday.
The loyalty points option allows customers to convert their booking into Aeroplan miles “and get an additional 65 percent bonus miles,” she said.
None of Canada’s major airlines touts policies offering to return cash to passengers for the hundreds of thousands of flight cancellations since mid-March, opting instead for vouchers – typically with a timeline of two years.
Pressed on the issue Thursday at his daily media conference, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the government needs to have “some very careful discussions with airlines” as well as Canadians to maintain a balance where travellers are “treated fairly” and the sector stays intact.
Airlines have been sending repatriation flights and offering customers vouchers, but typically they advertise no refund policies for cancelled routes.
WestJet’s website highlights future travel credit for cancelled flights, but says: “We are not processing refunds to original form of payment at this time.”
The disclaimer comes despite the company’s tariff – the contract between airline and passenger – which states that “the unused portion of the passenger’s ticket(s) will be refunded” in the same form as it was purchased, “should the alternate transportation proposed by the carrier not meet the passenger’s satisfaction.”
Summer schedule
Due to COVID-19, Air Canada has had to drastically reduce its schedule for summer 2020, offering 97 destinations – down from 220 last year.
Within Canada, the schedule will increase from 34 routes in May to 58 routes in June, with more routes added in August and September.
The carrier has also updated its schedule until the end of July with resumption of some services to the US, Caribbean, South American, European and Pacific markets.
As part of the new schedule, in accordance with provisions for air travel to the US for Canadians, Air Canada will resume service to the US on May 22, with six destinations being offered by May 25, including New York-LaGuardia, Washington-Dulles, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago. This is a reduction from 53 US destinations served last year. There are tentative plans to resume more cross border service as of June 22, pending regulatory changes and demand. For information on travel to the US see https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-1596?language=en_US
Internationally, Air Canada will continue to operate from its major hubs to key global destinations in June. This includes service from Toronto to Frankfurt, London, Zurich, Tokyo and Tel Aviv; from Montreal to Frankfurt, London, Paris and Brussels; and from Vancouver to London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Seoul.
International services will expand further starting in June and early July, including: Montreal to Athens, Rome, Geneva; Toronto to Munich, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Rome and Athens; Calgary to Frankfurt; and, subject to government approval, Vancouver to Shanghai