There is an article yesterday about Air Canada beginning to charge a $25 fee for extra storm service. This is a plain and simple cash grab. Think about it.
What times of the year are you liable to get caught in a storm….winter. So anyone paying for this extra service in the summer is throwing their money away. They claim “The service, which must be ordered when tickets are first purchased, also provides for the rebooking of flights.” Air Canada is obligated to put you on another flight anyway and unless that means they will book me on another airline again it is money thrown away.
Considering if the storm is at your departure point, you are not going to ask them to put you in a hotel, you are going to go home. If it is at your destination, they are going to fly to somewhere near by and then deal with you there. Unless of course they trap you on the tarmac.
I went onto Air Canada’s website and took a look at some of the cost of flying. A trip on Air Canada Jazz from Toronto Ontario to Victoria BC was $269 before all the taxes and surcharges. If I needed to change that ticket later it was going to cost me $60. I am paying a 22% surcharge to change my ticket. Can you imagine if you bought a TV, watched to exchange it because it didn’t fit and were told there was a 22% surcharge. And for what? What do I get for $60? I get someone doing their fucking job and typing on a computer.
If you are flying international it gets worse. To fly from Toronto to Beijing costs $975. But that ticket is set in stone. I know from first hand experience how expensive that can be to try and change it. The next step up, the flexible ticket is $2680! That is a 275% increase to have a ticket that you can change! That ticket is still in economy class. You don’t get anything special for it, you just get to change it if you need to. Of course you could pay the cancellation insurance for a mere $60.
What happens if there’s a long delay – the kind where you’re on a plane for hours or wind up sleeping at the airport?
In the case of delays caused by Air Canada which are expected to last longer than 4 hours, we will offer a voucher for use at an airport restaurant or at our On Board Café. We will also communicate with you at regular intervals to provide an update on the flight status with the latest, most accurate information available. In the case of an unplanned overnight stay caused by Air Canada, we will provide out-of-town customers with meal vouchers, hotel accommodation and transportation to and from the airport.
So you already get this “Special service” without paying for it. All of this clearly illustrates how badly Canada needs a passenger bill of rights