JamesM

Saved me a fortune in France a couple of times. We are all well aware of french parking!

withabix

Just correcting you there - no 3rd party liability cover is provided by Amex or other cards.

I've got a Gold Amex and an RBC WestJet World Elite MasterCard - both provide similar benefits.

Gozit

Thats what I was thinking. You always need separate 3PL insurance - otherwise you could theoretically just use your credit card instead of having "real" car insurance at home.

Anyways, this thread has made me more concrete in that I will never buy a plane ticket and willingly fly on Air Canada.

magnumpi

Why, when they put the safety of the passengers first and foremost. ?

Maybe more training on the ground regarding customer care would be beneficial

Snowy560

Yes a bit of empathy and sympathy would have gone a long way. The problem is if you fly within Canada to any extent you'll probably have to use AC at some point.

S

Aviator

So long as all you did was drive a rental car, which would by and far cost more than any insurance savings.

kimilseung

I was on an Korean Air flight from Manila to Seoul, it was two days late, once because of over booking, the next because of broken plane (we had already boarded and then all taken off). We were given nice hotel accommodation in Manila, but the airline chose not to offer any compensation. On landing in Seoul, a bunch of passengers demonstrated in the airport, it got TV coverage (probably had been planed ahead) The airline then decided to offer passengers several hundred dollars compensation. It was only by chance that I heard about this, a local Seoul citizen told me about seeing it on the news, he had no idea I had been on that flight. I understand that this will probably be of little value to your own scenario.

Snowy560

I still haven't got over it ... and I have to turn around and do the whole thing again tomorrow evening to get back to BC.

I'm seriously wondering if I can do it. But I can't stay in Halifax. I don't know anyone here and I live in Vancouver with an ageing cat, husband and daughters. My husband is also going to the UK on Saturday (mother's funeral) so I really have to get back.



S

scilly

I've flown into Halifax Airport a number of times in the last 16 years, and I can assure you, you really do not want to land there if the fog is so thick that the pilots cannot see.

Halifax is also allegedly one of the, if not the, foggiest airports in Canada. The old airport was always getting fogged in so about 20-25 years ago, they had experts work out what was the least foggy area in the vicinity, and built a new airport there.

Unfortunately, they cut down all the trees that were were the reason for the low fog, and so there is more fog than before. The airport is also almost 40 km from downtown Halifax ........... and much of that road can be hellishly foggy.

Been there, done that.


It's also a lot further from Montreal to Halifax than 3 hours drive ........... Dorval Airport in Montreal is just over 800 km from Halifax.


The airport I hate is Toronto ........ mainly because of the ground staff, and the airport's seeming incompetence to keep operating when rather small amounts of snow fall!

scilly

BTW .............

I am NOT trying to excuse AC for the non-help they give to Economy passengers on the ground. They're abysmal!

For future flights, consider WestJet .............. often cheaper, friendly flight crew (usually) who tell jokes, ground staff pretty good (usually).

My daughter prefers them for flights to and from Vancouver and Halifax .............. problem is, their flight times often don't fit what she wants/needs/

Atlantic Xpat

I think the OP was talking about driving from Moncton to Halifax rather than Montreal. (Moncton being the original divert point for the flight).

St John's is foggier than Halifax, but recently fitted improved Instrument Landing System (ILS) so aircraft can land in 600m visibility. I think St John's is only the 4th or 5th airport in Canada to have this CATIII ILS capability.

I've flown from St Johns to Halifax, for two attempted landings & then a divert to Deer Lake (which is back in Newfoundland!) to sit on the ground for 45minutes, refuel and try again. My most recent flight back from London was via Halifax and we had a tremendously bumpy final approach with a go-around before landing on a different runway.

It's Canada. We have a surfeit of weather. It's best to mentally plan for disruption!

Gozit

Not because of the safety issues. I agree the plane should not have attempted landing. But because of the customer service. My flight was delayed by Air Malta and as a result missed my connecting flight from Vienna-Toronto. They put us up in a nice hotel and flew us out the next morning no problem. It was still an inconvenience but we got some compensation.

Yes, that's why I said in theory.

Aviator

But it is not a 'theory' one could do that, but it would be idiotic as the rental would cost more than insurance savings.

JonboyE

Air Canada: we are not happy until you are not happy.

Oink

A handful of Xanax should help.