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Canada’s federal government recently reached a $5.9 billion financial aid deal with Air Canada that will see customers who had their trips with the airline cancelled due to COVID-19 reimbursed.
Just last week, the government reached a second similar deal with Air Transat for $700 million, CBC reports.
There are also aid deals in the works with Sunwing and WestJet that would see customers refunded more than a year after flights worldwide ground to a halt due to the pandemic.
The deals will help the country’s Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents, better known by its French acronym FICAV, which has been overwhelmed with 35,000 claims totalling more than $100 million, CBC reports.
Travellers pay a small additional fee when they purchase travel tickets to get travel insurance through the fund, which is managed by Quebec’s Office of Consumer Protection. However, the fund is at $140 million, just $40 million more than the total claim amount, and rules dictate more than 60 per cent of the fund cannot be spent on the same event.
The stipulation has caused frustrating delays for travellers, who have been left in the lurch by airlines, insurance providers, credit card companies, and FICAV.
In December, travellers launched a class action lawsuit against FICAV that has gathered approximately 200 participants. A preliminary hearing is set with a Quebec Superior Court judge on May 11, CBC reports. The class action lawsuit is yet to be authorized and is being contested by the Office of Consumer Protection.
Christian Azzam, a lawyer with Donati Maisonneuve – one of the firms that filed the case, told CBC that what was happening with the credit card companies, insurance providers, and FICAV was unacceptable.
“It seems like everybody is waiting for someone to move. They are kind of buying time.”
The federal aid deals with the airlines should ease the number of claims FICAV is facing and give it some breathing room to reimburse customers who had tickets with airlines that do have federal aid deals.
Élisabeth Gosselin, a spokesperson for the Quebec’s justice minister, told CBC that the hope was the federal aid would be offered to the entire travel and tourism industry, including travel agents.
“We want the best possible compensation for Quebecers. If the FICAV dealt with the requests at this stage, consumers could only be partially reimbursed,” Gosselin wrote.
Did you have a flight cancelled due to COVID-19? Have you been reimbursed yet? Let us know in the comments section!
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9 thoughts onDeals Between Canada’s Federal Government and Airlines Will See Travellers Reimbursed
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In January of 2021 I purchased 2 one-way tickets with Air Canada through Flight Network to fly from YYZ to Rome for $ 385.81 each. Norwegian Cruise Lines cancelled our cruise from Rome to Florida in late June 2021. The cruise was to be in November, 2021. Air Canada and Flight Network refused a refund and instead told me our tickets were converted to OPEN tickets to be used by Nov. 2023. A few attempts to use these tickets have been met with unbelievably high fares unacceptable to us. Contacting Air Canada, I was told that our tickets were GHOST Tickets and that the FARE breakdown could not be established re: fare, taxes etc. Our tickets have an expiry for Nov. 19, 2023. We wonder, where will the Gov’t taxes, facility fees, our fare paid go when this date arrives if we cannot achieve a solution. Air Canada says we must deal with Flight Network. Flight Network assures us that our almost $ 800.00 is being held by Air Canada and Flight Network has nil assistance with call centers in India taking hours to contact and absolutely NO flights we want and at prices hundreds more than we have already paid. HELP Niagara Falls seniors 76 and 69
My family and I had to cancel our flights to Mexico in March 2019 when the covid lockdown took place and never got reimbursed. We got our tickets through price right for both WestJet and united airlines. $6000 worth
I have purchased 2 domestic CANADA flight Tickets with WESTJET August 2020, and the flight was canceled due to COVID restrictions. I purchased it with a Travel agency, and have communicated my request for refunds since Dec 2020 with them. It appears they, the Agency is using stalling techniques, as well. They argue that WESTJET banks these tickets for 24 months. We are not flying anywhere soon, due to lockdowns. It is like having money in the bank and they will take that, too! How do we proceed?
I have not been refunded yet for two sets of tickets – how will they be made to do this refund on a timely basis – these funds were paid out in February 2019 how will they be made responsible???
West Jet still owes me for my cancelled flight.. Is there going to be any action against them?
I have not; I paid Sunwing $3500 for my trip to Cubs and had travel insurance and cancelled my March 17 trip on March 16 the day before the Prime Minister grounded flights.
After months of trying to get through to someone ..They offered basically this; took my cash and offered Starwing bucks that had an expiry date of June 2021 and couldn’t be applied anywhere but with them.
I contacted Visa after getting nowhere with them and that answer in November about clawback from Visa and 3 months later their response was for me to try again with Sunwing which has gone nowhere..
I signed up for the first class actions and nothing went really anywhere with it.
I’m a single parent and a emergency nurse working through this pandemic. I want my cash back and I want the government to ground any bailout for these crooks until they pay myself and the thousands of others our money back.
I flew home to Nova Scotia on November 2nd 2020, my ticket was to Sydney NS, but due to covid-19 I was only able to fly to Halifax as they shutdown the airport in Sydney NS, when I made contact with Westjet I was told that I was not going to be reimbursed for that portion of the flight. I have not received any compensation for that flight.
I have not and coming from west will not recieve a full refund for a purchase that never happened because what they told me was
cancellation must have been completed 45days or prior to get refund, i didnt cancel the trip west jet did…this is robbery,