Mr Lee

Anybody book a flight with WestJet to Manchester this summer?

I booked a trip for my son, his mum and me, Toronto - Halifax - Manchester then the COVID19 malarkey kicked off. Of course, insurance won't cover flights booked after March 5th (I booked on March 6th). Now it seems that flight no longer exists. The only option that we are offered is a cancellation of the flight with the cost of them being 'banked' for a future WestJet flight within the next two years.

This will obviously be problematic if: 1 - WestJet are no longer doing this route; 2 - WestJet go under.

I'm curious to see if anybody is in the same boat or has any ideas on how to get a refund.

Siouxie

https://airpassengerrights.ca/en/cov...o-get-a-refund

There are links and other info on that page that will help

You could also contact your Credit Card company and claim for a charge back for non completion of contract / services not rendered..

https://otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/statement-vouchers

Mr Lee

Thanks for that!

The bummer there is that it says to wait until your trip is a week or less in the future. If they go bust or even re-instate the flights but a 14 day quarantine period is in place on either side, then we're screwed. Just have to sit tight, I suppose. Damn!

beckiwoo

I will just add that some credit card companies are pushing back with the chargebacks and either refusing to initiate and/or informing customers if they lose the dispute, they will lose the travel voucher as well (not true and not legal either)

The group is very useful though

scrubbedexpat091

It just boils down to money, neither Westjet or Air Canada has the cash available to refund 100% of passengers, so they are making it very difficult in an effort to conserve cash. I'd be surprised if either airline can get through this without some financial help from the government.

Hopefully you will manage to be able to get a refund for your flights at some point, if the airline does go bust, credit card companies generally will refund at that point.

beckiwoo

They all have plenty of money! AC has just laid off a load of their workforce for example. They are worth billions of $$$
If they get a bailout from the government they are also going to keep passengers money - so effectively 'double dipping' - The vouchers are worth nothing and have an expiry on them, cannot be transferred and in the case of Air Transat - cannot be used for promotional fares. Effectively my trip to the UK next year (If I am lucky) to visit my mother will be double what I paid in February

Passengers should not be expected to give the airlines an interest free loan to keep them afloat.

Zoe Bell

Just curious in what you are basing “ they have lots of money”
I suspect a closer look at any airlines financials would not show this

beckiwoo

Their annual reports for a start.
Regardless or whether they have available funds or not they still have $$$ in assets - why do they need to keep passengers money?

I can see there is going to a bunch of people backing up the airlines on here so I am bailing out now so I can enjoy my Sunday
Good look to the OP in getting your refund. Keep checking the APR website and if you have FB, the forum on there - a lot of good information and links

Tangram

We booked our flights with AC for Fredericton to Manchester last year. We have since received notification that we are no longer flying to Manchester but to London, with no onward flight from there. Not much use to us. We have also been informed that we cannot have a refund but only vouchers when the time comes closer, maybe.

Mr Lee

When are you supposed to be flying?

Surely there is a contractual issue here. You paid for a service (a flight to Manchester) which is no longer being offered. Maybe they'll re-instate that route later on but neither you or I are currently being offered what we paid for.

I checked my confirmation number on the WestJet website and they also have our flights listed as Gatwick flights, NOT Manchester.

Mr Lee

I think both WestJet and Air Canada reported record profits last year but I'm guessing that money isn't saved for a rainy day... Someone I know who worked for WestJet until taking early retirement last month told me "It's like they're having a 9/11 every three days".

scrubbedexpat091

Not a good time to be a Westjet employee, more layoffs and outsourcing all domestic airports except Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto (although at YVR and YEG they already outsourced ramp well before COVID).

Apparently they only have 4,500 employees on payroll now, down from 14,500 before COVID.

"WestJet, which went private after Toronto-based Onex Corp. bought the publicly traded company, had employed 14,000 workers just before the pandemic struck in March, but now has a payroll of only 4,500."

https://globalnews.ca/news/7103359/w...id-19-airline/