onlineuniversalwork

The bottom line from my perspective? Air Canada only cares about your money, not in providing quality of service or your comfort.

DON’T FLY WITH THEM!!!

On top of that, one of my professors said that according to Quebec’s Civil Code, their clauses to limit their responsibility go against the law! And he told the entire class about one of his cases where an Air Canada baggage truck crashed into a small plane that was taking off! My parents-in-law missed their fcruise because an air canada pilot was drunk and the flight was canceled. And last week they lost my sister’s luggage! Never flying with them again and that’s a promise!!!!

Oh and I forgot, the lady named Lisa Hope from Air canada said they remove baggages when there are too many! OMG!

The motion, obtained by Montreal lawyer Owen Falquero of Merchant Law Group LLP, was filed on behalf of about seven plaintiffs across Canada. But the number of petitioners, if and when a class-action suit is launched, could balloon to thousands of people.

The motion was filed formally on behalf of Noella Neale of Port Coquitlam, B.C., a single mother whose 150,000 points were annulled by Aeroplan because she hadn’t made a contribution or a redemption in her account for one year, a period during which she had fallen ill.

Those points fell victim to Aeroplan’s rules, instituted in October of 2006, under which the company erases points in an account dormant for 12 months.

In a telephone interview, Neale said she was going to pay for her daughter’s trip to New Zealand — her graduation gift — until she tried to pay from her account and saw that it had been emptied.

Aeroplan spokeswoman JoAnne Hayes declined to comment on the issue because it is now before the courts.

In a statement, Aeroplan noted that “no class action has yet been filed. This motion is the first procedural step before any such action can be instituted.”

The company noted that “petitioners (are) seek(ing) court permission to sue Aeroplan on behalf of program members in Canada to obtain reinstatement of expired miles, reimbursement of any amounts already expended by Aeroplan members to reinstate their expired miles, $50 in compensatory damages and an undetermined amount in exemplary damages on behalf of each class member, all in relation to changes made to the Aeroplan program concerning accumulation and expiry of Aeroplan Miles as announced Oct. 16th, 2006.”

But Aeroplan stressed that it “is of the view that there are good grounds for opposing the motion for authorization and will vigorously defend any class action, should one be authorized by the court.”

Neale said: “I felt like they stole from me.”

“If the bank took my money like that, it would be theft. I earned those points. They belong to me, and (Aeroplan) has no right to take them away from me.”

– Canwest News Service

I said – this is bullshit and smells like a scam – a farce to extract $30 per user to pay for website repairs?? I not so politely said that was not the behaviour of Air Canada so he could issue me the code or get me a manager. He came back on line and asked for my travel requirements – didn’t know the airport IDs (yyz, sna, ywg), didn’t understand there were 4 airports in the LA area thereby creating numerous option – and told me the legs of travel weren’t available….. I set him straight – and I am still on hold.

The saga continues. The tech twinkie tells reservations that I can’t find the flights I want. Hello? Its a site error code. So the reservation gal is incapable of helping and just wants to charge me $ 30. So I ask to — again – speak to a supervisor… now I get the call centre supervisor – not tech support again – so no one will issue this elusive ‘code’ that saves me from spending $ 30 because their website is broken. Again — I am put on hold but this time I give up. There is no point. Unempowered talking heads execute thoughtless corporate policy and ineffective pass the buck corporate outsourcing deals make cross finger pointing a breeze — all without any care for logic or service…. and supervisors don’t work weekends in the summer.

One more loyal Aircanada customer leaves the fold.

I’ve flown WestJet within Canada and the US.

I’ve had bad experiences on all airlines. I’ve learned to deal with all of them. If you don’t fly much, it can be a hassle, but once you realize they’re all fallible, life becomes easier.

I’ve also had great experiences on Air Canada. Half the battle is knowing a flight is going to be cancelled. I had a flight to Prince George on the Sunday before Christmas that I knew was going to be cancelled due to all the weather warnings. Air Canada’s, WestJet’s, most airlines allowed travellers flying out on that day to change their flights to an early or later date. I chose later. I called AC Sunday morning, early, was on hold for maybe half an hour and changed my flight to Monday, free of charge.

Monday I made sure to get to the airport a bit early. It was a mess. Again, half the battle is knowing what line-up to get in. Ask questions, look at the departure board, if you think you’re going to be late, look for an agent. Be proactive.

Thankfully with all my travel, I was able to use the executive check-in line and bypass the mess at regular check-in. Also thanks to all the travel for work, I was able to bypass a lot of the executive check-in line when they were asking if people were elite/super-elite with the airlines.

When you take a road trip, you plan your route, look at road reports, make sure you have enough sundries. When you fly, you have to do the same thing.

Of course there will always be reports of “Air Canada Sucks”. It’s a national airline that travels to places WestJet wouldn’t dream about. I grew up and go home frequently in Northern BC. WestJet’s northern BC route is Prince George. It doesn’t fly to places like Fort St. John, Terrace, Prince Rupert. It stays on sexy routes like Calgary, Winnipeg, Ottawa.

So of course there’ll be more reports on Air Canada sucking. It’s not rocket science.

Of course there are staff that are bitchy. There are an equal amount of bitchy customers. Don’t get me started on armrest hogs and people who take the window seat who have to get up and use the bathroom a billion times on an hour long flight that you’re constantly having to get up for.

As for what the airline feeds you. Again, be prepared. They’re not your Mom. They’re responsible for getting you to and from a destination, not to feed you. I bring snacks, fruit, veggies on all flights regardless of meal servings. I’ll bring an empty water bottle and fill it up after I pass through security.

Sorry for the long comment. Just thought I’d throw in some thoughts from someone who has a trip to Winnipeg and Toronto within 2 weeks and my experiences of flying in general.

As a frequent flier, if WestJet had a customer rewards travel that would be beneficial, I’d consider flying it. But flying AC allows me priority airport security check-in, more baggage, priority airport check-in and lounges at most airports that I can grab breakfast, lunch, or drinks in, all complimentary.

Yes, I’ve had problems with AC. But if I’m going to complain about one airlines service, it’ll be in comparison to experiences on others.

I think most airlines should follow Air New Zealand’s lead. They have awesome customer service both at airport check-ins and on flights. Especially when there’s a lot of fog cancellations out of Sydney to Auckland and a mess at AKL with everyone trying to get back to North America somehow.

@Minjae
Wow, that is a truly awful experience. There must be something that can be done by all these people who are fed up with Air Canada.

@Raj
I agree with you both have a lot of problems with customer service. I think, however, the ratio of negative experiences for Air Canada passengers is higher relative to positive experiences. There are a few smaller airlines in Canada but they can’t really compete on the prices. Yeah too bad about Harmony – I think our population is so small and our land mass so large that it’s hard to operate a successful airline.