Air Canada refund

Chasmac17

I am due to travel to Canada on 19th May booked with Air Canada. My booking consists of a connecting BA flight from Glasgow to Heathrow, then an onward flight to Calgary. On the same booking I have a "return" flight from Vancouver to Brisbane. BA cancelled my connecting flight weeks ago and Air Canada suspended the direct London Calgary route on 24th March and the Vancouver Brisbane route on 29th March. All I have been offered so far is an email changing my first AC flight to Calgary via Vancouver on a different flight number but nothing on the connecting  flight down from Glasgow nor the Vancouver Brisbane flight. My booking  is now not available to view online.

I rang AC Customer Services requesting a full refund under EC261/2004 as the airlines had cancelled the flights. The agent was clearly reading from a script  and stated that, as the tickets were non-refundable, I was only able to claim a voucher. I pointed out that this did not apply as I hadn't cancelled the flights, the airline did when they suspended the routes, and that the airline should have offered a full refund as per the regulation but she would not process the refund.

The voucher offer is not an option as their terms and conditions contains the following bullet point

"When booking a new flight with the remaining value of your ticket, any fare difference will apply if the new flight is more expensive. If the new flight is less expensive, any residual value resulting from a lower fare will be lost."

So heads they win and tails I lose.

I paid the bill with a TSB credit card and I am wondering how to proceed.

Should I pursue this further with Air Canada, claim a Section 75 refund from TSB or claim via my travel insurance policy?

Is ther anyone else in the same position?

Alan_Bowen

If you search for any comment regarding Canadian airlines, you will find they are all following the instructions from the Canadian government that it is perfectly acceptable to issue vouchers and that's what they are all doing. If you had booked the flights through BA you would've got a refund but despite the law in the UK being clear, nothing at present is getting any movement from Canadian airlines. You could try making a claim against the card issuer of the credit/debit card you used, but many are reporting they are being refused, or you could consider, and I use that word very advisedly at present, legal action but you will be waiting a year to get a hearing date if the airline defends the claim.

TheDaddy64

I am in the same position. We had flights booked with a company called Mytrip, flying with Air Canada who cancelled our October flights 2 months ago. Since then we have only had bi-monthly emails from Mytrip stating that they were still waiting for AC to respond with refund/vouchers.
I messaged AC via their Facebook account and received and email stating "even though it was non-refundable ticket, they would issue a future travel credit" 
I've tried travel insurance but they you can only claim if the airline goes bust and the debit card insurance wasn't much help either as it depends on Mytrip's T&C's.
I'll try the EC261/2004 (thanks for the tip) but AC's customer service leaves a lot to be desired so basically they're holding onto our money without providing the service we paid for.
Time for Social Media/Forums to vent more anger!

Caz3121

I would not spend any more time with Air Canada as you did not book with them directly. You will need to deal with MyTrip who will be the ones that will receive any refund, will then deduct their fees then return the remainder to you. 

mattyprice4004

Yes, exactly as above - you paid another company, so you need to deal with them.

2 months isn't very long with this situation, some have been waiting 6 months or more.

Butts

Caz3121 said:

I would not spend any more time with Air Canada as you did not book with them directly. You will need to deal with MyTrip who will be the ones that will receive any refund, will then deduct their fees then return the remainder to you. 

Or pursue a chargeback which if successful will result in no deduction of any fees.
My trip are legally responsible for refunding you irrespective of whether they have received the money back from Air Canada.

Butts

mattyprice4004 said:

Yes, exactly as above - you paid another company, so you need to deal with them.

2 months isn't very long with this situation, some have been waiting 6 months or more.

Lord alone knows why with the legal remedies open to most of them.

Butts

TheDaddy64 said:

I am in the same position. We had flights booked with a company called Mytrip, flying with Air Canada who cancelled our October flights 2 months ago. Since then we have only had bi-monthly emails from Mytrip stating that they were still waiting for AC to respond with refund/vouchers.
I messaged AC via their Facebook account and received and email stating "even though it was non-refundable ticket, they would issue a future travel credit" 
I've tried travel insurance but they you can only claim if the airline goes bust and the debit card insurance wasn't much help either as it depends on Mytrip's T&C's.
I'll try the EC261/2004 (thanks for the tip) but AC's customer service leaves a lot to be desired so basically they're holding onto our money without providing the service we paid for.
Time for Social Media/Forums to vent more anger!

Forget social media, go for a chargeback.