Air Canada Overbooking Policy

[Aegypticus]

I thought there was a thread on Air Canada being forced to change its domestic overbooking compensation scheme, but I was unable to find it.

Anyways, I got a text from my friend who is moving from Quebec City to Minneapolis. He and his wife are flying Air Canada with a connection through Pearson in Toronto. He just texted me this morning saying that they got bumped and are delayed 8 hours. By way of compensation, they got 20 bucks each and a voucher for some cheap fast food.

This seems like it just can't be right. Air Canada was recently ordered to up their compensation for bumping people on domestic flights from 100 bucks to something more reasonable. How can their policy be so crappy for international flights?

I feel bad for my friend. He's traveling with 2 cats and his mom was preparing a big welcome home, Thanksgiving-in-the-summer feast for them, which he's now going to miss. I might be wrong, but it feels like AC is giving him the shaft on top of it all.

[Northendzone]

i thought in the past you could say no, and hold out for more inducements?

[Bigtime]

Hmm, that doesn't sound right.

Last August I was flying back from YEG to YYC and they overbooked our flight, they made an announcement asking for volunteers to wait for the next flight and I believe they were offering at least a $100 voucher per passenger.

[Devils'Advocate]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...d-flights.html

Compensation is supposed to START at $200. Per passenger.

[Canehdianman]

Reminds me of the time my entire extended family (21 of us) each took $600 cash from Air Canada to stay in Hawaii an extra 2 days.

They must have been extremely overbooked because they started off offering $300 a person, and then upped it to $600.

We called the place we had been staying at and asked if we could book for another 2 days, they said sure.

Was a fantastic extended vacation!

[Aegypticus]

Thanks all. I'll pass the info along. I thought 20 bucks sounded ludicrously low.

[billybob123]

It depends on why they were removed from the flight - if their flight from Quebec City was late, that could be the reason. So they technically wouldn't be "bumped" as much as removed due to delays.

The airlines play this annoying game with reasoning behind delays. Your friends may be SOL - and there's little they can do.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

Reminds me of the time my entire extended family (21 of us) each took $600 cash from Air Canada to stay in Hawaii an extra 2 days.

They must have been extremely overbooked because they started off offering $300 a person, and then upped it to $600.

We called the place we had been staying at and asked if we could book for another 2 days, they said sure.

Was a fantastic extended vacation!

That would have been covered by US federal law as the the flight originated in the US. Pretty solid system in the US actually:

* If you are bumped involuntarily and the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to get you to your final destination (including later connections) within one hour of your original scheduled arrival time, there is no compensation.

* If the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to arrive at your destination between one and two hours after your original arrival time (between one and four hours on international flights), the airline must pay you an amount equal to 200% of your one-way fare to your final destination that day, with a $650 maximum.

* If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (400% of your one-way fare, $1300 maximum).

* If your ticket does not show a fare (for example, a frequent-flyer award ticket or a ticket issued by a consolidator), your denied boarding compensation is based on the lowest cash, check or credit card payment charged for a ticket in the same class of service (e.g., coach, first class) on that flight.

* You always get to keep your original ticket and use it on another flight. If you choose to make your own arrangements, you can request an "involuntary refund" for the ticket for the flight you were bumped from. The denied boarding compensation is essentially a payment for your inconvenience.

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/publi...tm#overbooking

[Acey]

I get the feeling they were not bumped due to overbooking, but rather due to mech failure, flow control, weather, etc.

[mrkajz44]

Originally Posted by Acey

I get the feeling they were not bumped due to overbooking, but rather due to mech failure, flow control, weather, etc.

Yeah, that happened to us once where the plane had a mechanical issue and we had to fly out the next day. Compensation? $10/person for the Calgary Airport.

That seemed reasonable for being late a full day...

[redforever]

Due to mechanical failure last August, my flight was cancelled from Regina to Calgary. This was the second last flight of the day and the last flight was already booked.

I had heard horror stories about Air Canada but the way they treated all of us took me completely by surprise.

All of us were put up in the hotel or motel of our choice. We were given taxi vouchers to get there and back, as well as a dinner and breakfast voucher. We were also given our choice of flight to return to Calgary the next day.

We were given no monetary compensation but mechanical failure is beyond their control and I don't know if it even applies under those circumstances.

[flamesfever]

I recall years ago, in getting set to fly from Calgary to Toronto with AC, the plane we were supposed to fly on experienced mechanical problems, and the airline had to switch to a smaller plane. So they asked for volunteers to wait for another flight. I decided to volunteer, and was flown to Toronto the following morning first class (from economy), and received a $100. voucher when I landed in Toronto.

[Peanut]

Yeah if they're asking for volunteers, they need to compensate at least $200 now. But if you are late checking in, and no seat is assigned to you on your ticket... I think you're SOL. That happened to me flying back from Europe once. I was issued a ticket with no seat assigned for my connection in Frankfurt. Then I basically had to sit around with 20 other people in the same boat hoping a seat would become available. I ultimately made it on the flight but the compensation was $0 either way.