Former Lancastrian

Good grief you honestly believe that IRCC and CBSA officers are not intelligent enough to make a decision like that.

crofty82

Can’t tell if that’s your dry Lancashire humour or if you’re genuinely irked for the question being posed.

Either way, it was a genuine question because the scenario didn’t seem to have been accounted for on the link above, which is understandable as governments have bigger fish to fry right now.

Former Lancastrian

Every scenario cannot be planned for. Although it is a genuine question and before writing it what did you think the answer would be? I am sure there will be more WHAT IF questions and it will be a case of there is either a solution or one will be found.
What if a UK citizen is currently in the USA and all flights are suspended until the end of April. Supposed to fly back to UK on 26 March as passport expires on 31 March. Earliest flight he can get is 2 May will they need to apply for a new passport?
Not all scenarios have answers yet.

crofty82

Very true.

And as my Prestonian grandmother would have said, “That’s me told.”

Revin Kevin

This isn't good - from West Jet's web site in regard to it's Corona-virus cancellation policy; https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/travel...es#coronavirus

"Changes or cancellations more than 24 hours from purchase, will be returned as a Travel Bank credit, valid for 24 months from date of issue. We are not processing refunds to original form of payment at this time. We will update this information when it is available."

We have nearly £5000 worth of flights booked in May and if they are cancelled I would very much like my money thank you!

I don't know where we stand on this legally?

beckiwoo

There has been a lot of complaints about this and I watched a CBC Marketplace episode regarding trying to get a refund

if the airline cancels your flight then you are entitled to a full refund but you have to push for it.

Revin Kevin

So it's best to let them cancel if that what it comes to and we are then due a full refund - bit naughty of them not making that clear but I suppose they need all the cash flow they can get just at the moment!

beckiwoo

Yes and no. Yes wait for the airline to cancel your flights. No, chances are you wont get a refund, instead you will be offered credit towards a flight within 12-24 months. However, I would go down the route that as a passenger you have rights and if the airline have cancelled you are entitled to a full refund - this is the route I am going down if and when my flight gets cancelled in May

This is the CBC Marketplace episode about the COVID-19 and flights (you need to skip towards the end around 15.35 minutes) to see what they are saying about flights. Also as this show is based in Canada and if you are watching from outside you may need to use a VPN

Revin Kevin

Thanks I will check that out, no doubt the airline will try some act of god or force majeure clause in it's terms!
A question I have is who is on all these flights that are still operating to and from Canada? On my dog walk early this morning KLM KL678 from Calgary to Amsterdam passed over my location in East Yorkshire like it does daily, if this flight and many like it are operating why has West Jet shut down? Just now out of curiosity I find I could book a BA flight for later this morning to Toronto!

Stumpylegs

A lot of it is a business decision, flights are largely empty as its basically Canadians flying back home, little else - flying a plane with no one on it as they have all cancelled/changed their flights is more expensive than refunding 10 people were still flying. It's protecting the bank roll in the hope the company weathers the storm.

Revin Kevin

Yeah and I heard some of it may be to do with protecting slots as they are use it or lose it things apparently

scrubbedexpat091

Passenger airlines also carry a lot of cargo and mail on wide-body flights and some routes can still bring in enough cargo revenue to justify flying and any revenue stream they can get is needed at the moment.

American Airlines in the US has been operating some cargo only flights as well with some of their passenger planes, just the pilots, the plane and a belly of cargo.

sharkus

https://www.westjet.com/en-ca/about-us/covid-leaves

WestJet today announced that 6,900 WestJetters will be leaving the organization, with 90 per cent of those leaving voluntarily. The airline had approximately 14,000 employees before this announcement.

scrubbedexpat091

It does't appear airlines in Canada are obligated to provide a refund.

"The Canadian Transportation Agency says airlines are not required to refund passengers for flights cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other reasons outside an airline's control. "

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/cov...fund-1.5510895

CanadaJimmy

Well that needs to be fixed, that's ridiculous.