What Air Canada (and other airlines) do that you should know.
We were coming to Canada because my father had a brain tumour and was dying. He was given 3 to 4 months and based on that we booked our Air Canada flights two months away, leaving mid-July (July 21st) and returning at the end of August (August 31st).
Two weeks after making the booking I was told that we should come earlier, that my father would be passing soon.
Before I booked anything else, I called Air Canada and I them that I had to come Canada earlier than planned. They advised me that nothing could be done with my ticket, I had bought a non-flexible ticket. No problem, I suspected that and didn’t expect a refund or rebooking. But I advised them that I wouldn’t use the first leg of my ticket (on July 21st). I could almost hear the Air Canada customer service rep shrug in indifference.
After comparing prices, I booked tickets with Air Transat one-way Malaga to Montreal for June 22nd. One-way tickets with Air Transat were very good ($550 Malaga to Montreal) compared to Air Canada which charged about $2,000 one-way Madrid to Montreal (which was even more than we had paid for the original return ticket!).
That worked nicely: the plan was that we’d fly to Canada on Air Transat June 22nd and return on the 2nd leg of the Air Canada ticket on August 31st. That was the plan.
What happened
We flew Air Transat to Canada, spent 2 months in Canada during which time my father died.
We prepared ourselves to fly back to Spain on our August 31st flight with Air Canada. The day before the flight, August 30th, I received an email from Air Canada to check-in online. Great! Except that the link didn’t work and when I entered the flight details nothing came up. I thought that was strange.
So the next day we decided to show up a bit earlier for our flight.
Showing up at the check-in counter, the agent entered our information. Nothing came up in her system. We tried several times. Then I told her: “We didn’t use the first part of the ticket. Could that have something to do with it?”.
That’s when I was told that if a passenger skips the first leg of a trip, that the rest of the ticket is cancelled. I told the agent that I had called Air Canada and told them at we wouldn’t be on the first leg of the flight and that I wasn’t told that I couldn’t fly back on the 2nd leg. ”How can Air Canada cancel the ticket that I paid for???” I asked. She just shrugged.
There was nothing to do, we had been bumped from our return flight to Spain. And the agent was useless: she said it was up to us to call Customer Service to book new tickets.
What I did
We sat down on a bench in the terminal and I called Air Canada Customer Service (514-393-3333 from Canada, 1‑888‑247‑2262 from overseas). I managed to get an agent within 5 minutes. I explained the whole story. She was great, she listened and understood it the first time. She told me that when someone misses the first leg of a flight, that the ticket is automatically cancelled. It’s a system thing, it’s just automatically cancelled*.
*Note: as I found out talking to the agent (and reading after the fact), this is standard procedure with all airlines: if you miss any portion of a ticket, the rest will be cancelled. It is a standard clause in the Terms and Conditions of an airline contract.
Air Canada has a “No Show Policy” page here.
Another example from Qatar Airlines, clause 3.7 in their Conditions of Carriage: “Please be advised that in the event you do not show up for any flight without advising us in advance, we will cancel your return or onward reservations. However, if you do advise us in advance, we will not cancel your subsequent flight reservations”.
Why do Airlines have a “No Show Policy”?
They state different reasons; 1) To prevent customers from tariff abuse, where customers may pay less for a round flight or multi-segment flight than they would a direct or one way flight, 2) “Revenue Protection” on empty seats (which essentially means they can resell the ticket you paid for), 3) “Capacity Scheduling” ie. ensuring seats are filled by intended passengers.
BS? Many consumer rights organizations say that the clause is just a reason used by the airlines to make more money. They cite (correctly) that airlines don’t “lose” any money by consumers not using a segment on a trip. A good summary here by The European Consumer Organization.
Continuing my conversation with the agent, she told me that we had special circumstances (“Bereavement” – the death of a family member) and that we could get a refund on our original ticket. I would have to put in a claim with Air Canada. She then booked us on a one-way flight back to Spain for the next day. In case people are curious: Our round-trip tickets Madrid – Toronto – Quebec City cost us $1,700 per person, a one-way ticket Quebec City – Toronto – Madrid cost $1,300 per person.
We booked a night at the airport hotel, then the next day flew back to Spain without incidence.
Filing a Claim with Air Canada
Back in Spain, I filled a Claim with Air Canada.
The process is easy: I went to the Air Canada Refund Request page. I entered the flight number of my original flight and my name. I got to a page where I could explain the situation – I filled that out. Finally, I was asked to send supporting documents of my dad’s death to another email ([email protected]).
That was September 25th.
On October 15, after not hearing back, I wrote them on the above email and asked for an update on the status.
On October 17th I received an automatic email saying that my refund had been processed. Within a few days my credit card had been credited with the full amount of my original ticket which had been cancelled by Air Canada.
Things Learned
The reason I’m writing this post is that most people may not be aware that their airline ticket will be cancelled if they miss a segment of their trip. I’ve flown all my life and I’ve never run into this situation. I didn’t know myself.
What you have to do if you know you will miss a segment of your ticket: call the airline and tell them, asking them what arrangements you can make with them. IF you can’t make arrangements (such as in my case where I was told that my ticket was non-flexible) ask them specifically if you can return on the 2nd leg of your flight. I didn’t know it would be an issue so I hadn’t asked the right question…but if you ask the right question they may tell you that they’ll hold the reservation for you. Again, that might depend on your ticket and the airline. Some airlines will be more accommodating.
Finally, find out if there are grounds to change or get a refund on a ticket. One reason, like ours, is when there is a death in the family. But you also have grounds for a refund if you (or family members) had a medical emergency that led to missing a flight segment.
Image credit at top of page: AviationA2Z
More reading on this subject:
What happens if I don’t show up for my flight?
What to Do If You Arrive Too Late for Your Flight: Avoiding the No-Show List
Say No to Airline No-Show Clauses
Related: When Iberia won’t pay your compensation claim
Leave a Reply