Tag Archives: airline refunds

AC Refunds, Lower Your Cell Bill Today & Netparcel Sure Works!

AC refunds are here: As predicted, Air Canada will now fully reimburse your non-refundable flights in order to get the federal government bailout this week. Any tickets bought since February 1st, 2020 where you cancelled the flight because of the pandemic, or the flight was cancelled by Air Canada, are eligible. Just go to aircanada.com and follow the big link section at the top of the home page. You have until June 12th to do so. They are also offering a voucher, but that will not make you a free agent – take the money back on your credit card! Westjet will follow soon if and when they agree to their bailout plan.

Cell rates: In response to Shaw entering the cell carrier market with their almost unlimited $25 plan if you are a Shaw customer, most other cell carriers have now dropped their rates. If you’re a free agent, make the call and simply tell them that you’re shopping around for a reduced monthly plan. If you’re not a free agent and locked in a contract – bad idea – and you’ll need to keep overpaying. If you deal with the big 3 of Rodgers, Telus or Bell you’ll likely also be out of luck. The main carriers (unlike their secondary providers) have a majority of customers and business clients that are not price sensitive).

My call was to FIDO (the secondary outlet of Rogers) and my plan went up 20 fold in data (2gig per month), added unlimited Canada-wide calling and free, full North America wide texting. and went from $45 down to $35! A $120 savings (23%) a year for a five-minute hassle-free call! PS: With Rodgers buying Shaw, the rate drops will likely stop in a year when the government approves the sale – and they will. Until then, enjoy the lower rates because of the competition in the industry!

Netparcel.com update: Wow! We talked about this Canada Post parcel alternative a few weeks ago and a bunch of people have already tried it. I hadn’t when we talked about it – but did use it for the first time last week. It was a 28 pound parcel Edmonton to Kelowna. The site is super easy: Do the quote, set up an account, and a bunch of courier offers pop up. Mine was $18 from UPS. Enter the details and print the label I print my labels on normal paper and then tape it onto the parcel. The site, based on your postal code, then pulls up the closest 10 drop off depots or stores for you. Even with my Canpar Courier national book sellers association rates it was almost half the price!

(Note that it’ll be a different courier and different rate each time, even for the same parcel size and weight. This is dynamic pricing so you’ll get a different rate from different couriers depending on whether they want the business that day or that hour, how busy they are, where you’re shipping from and to, etc., based on supply and demand!!)

Updates: Bailouts, Cell Plans & Weed

Airline bailouts? After almost a year of mulling over any additional aid to the airlines, it appears there may be help for stranded passengers. The Federal Transportation minister (as we talked about a couple of months ago) stated that “it’s complicated” to get passengers a real refund and not just an IOU credit. Now it appears Ottawa has signaled that any financial aid would be contingent on airlines issuing actual refunds to passengers with cancelled flights. That’s great news – if Ottawa doesn’t change their mind again.

Update from February 8th: This was a Facebook Westjet ad today. Most common comment: Most looking forward to getting my money back/refunded!

Cell phone update: In November I suggested holding off on the $10 Shaw cell promotion. Their hickups hadn’t been ironed out and my prediction was that the offer was only temporary. Yup, turns out it was very temporary: Shaw cell plans are now $25 AND you need to be a Shaw customer with one of their high-end internet plans in order to get that rate. It went from a great deal to being OK if you factor in the amount of your internet costs. And if you ever move to Telus, your $25 deal is gone, too.

More weird vending machines: If you thought it was strange to have Bitcoin vending machines, here’s a new one: Colorado just rolled out their first two weed vending machines. With billions of dollars in sales, I guess it somehow makes sense. From edibles to various types of pot, insert your credit card 24-hours a day, make your selection and you’re good to go…and maybe hit the munchies vending machine as well…

Buying Airline Tickets For Flight That’ll Never Fly

On a scale of 1 to 10, how choked would you be if you ordered and pre-paid something you really wanted and were later told it wouldn’t be available?

OK, how choked would you be if you couldn’t get it AND wouldn’t get a refund – just a credit for something else – sometime later – maybe?

That’s what it’s like when you take the chance of purchasing an airline ticket these days. You’re purchasing a specific flight on a specific day for a reason. But the odds are high that your flight will be cancelled. To add insult to injury, the airlines probably knew your flight would never take off even before you bought your ticket. There isn’t a person named Susan at Westjet in Calgary deciding that, or a Marcel at Air Canada in Montreal. It’s all done by computer projections. But while their system has long decided the flight will be cancelled – they still keep selling tickets for a flight that won’t take off. Between the two airlines, according to a CBC story, there were 39,000 flight cancellations in November alone. (12,000 Westjet and 27,000 Air Canada).

When that happens, you’ll be issued a credit instead of a refund. With both airlines you may be able to apply for a refund – but it’s hit and miss, and may take some time – if at all. According to CTV, Air Canada has quietly allowed some customers to apply for refunds. And according to Westjet’s website, stranded passengers can apply, but it may be six to nine months to work through the eligibility requirements. If you took the chance of booking through Sunwing, it’s travel vouchers only, good for two years.

A McGill University lecturer called it “bait and switch” and “deceptive” in a CBC story. All the Minister of Transport could come up with is “the situation is complicated.” No it’s not. You paid, they didn’t deliver – you get your money back to try again another time if you so choose. That wouldn’t be any different for any other retailers.

I had two flights I should have taken since November. I didn’t, and had to make the long drives, instead. I can’t trust either airlines, and I would have been out hundreds of extra dollars with a non-refundable hotel and car rental, in addition to the airfare. No way – no chance.

Before you play Russian roulette with buying any tickets, you should call your credit card company and ask if they will refund you if you dispute the charges for a cancelled flight within the 60-days required by law. And you should really get that in writing. You also need to spend some time on the airline website to get their exact credit or refund rules for your specific flight and print it out. You may also want to book through a travel agent who will know the refund rules if you make it clear in writing that it must be a refundable ticked not an IOU refund. Fourth, you’ll have to pay a lot extra for any car rental or hotel at your destination. You certainly can’t take the chance you won’t actually get there to use them. Lastly, if you have them, try to book your flight on mileage or airline points. Call your credit card issuer to first confirm that a cancelled flight will get your points refunded where you won’t be out anything.

If you don’t, just remember that you will have a credit voucher to use. But when you do want to fly again, it’ll have to be with that airline. If the other airline has a great seat sale, it won’t matter because you’ll be stuck with the other airline’s voucher and paying whatever they’re charging.