Our Experiences

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I have received the following response from Air Canada

I would suggest that you submit a claim through their website ASAP.

Should you wish to pursue legal action in the Israeli courts to claim damages we will try and find will find a legal firm in Israel who will act on a contingency arrangement.
Please email me and let me know your opinion.

Letter to Air Canada by A

Hi Bernhard,
We got off the plane at 2:10 and spent a good amount of time in the airport.
I put my name down on the hotel list at about 3pm, and I was the first one.
So we spent at least another half hour and maybe more waiting inside. While we were there they brought some water and pastries, although maybe not enough for everyone. We were outside by 4pm.
Best, A
Faculty of University of

This passenger has written as follows:
On Fri, Jun 29, 2018 at 9:50 AM, wrote:
Hi Bernhard.
The customer service agent who wrote me back told me that I am owed 3080 nis and asked for my bank account information to make the transfer. I'll try to update you when I see the transfer. Best, A

Thankyou letters from passengers

Hi Bernhard
I was one of the passengers on this flight. I am just writing to thank you for setting up this website.
I used the information to write a letter to Air Canada and they called me yesterday to let me know they are going to be paying me 3000 NIS. I would never have known that was an option without your input.
Hope you got home safely!
Regards R

Hello,
Just wanted to express my gratitude for your help in setting up the website and helping us all navigate our way to fair compensation. I just heard back from Air Canada and they have agree to pay us our ILS3080.
Thank you again! L

I've just received the message below from Air Canada. Many thanks for your role in facilitating this!
P G
Begin forwarded message:
From: Customer Care Date: July 8, 2018 at 10:22:09 AM EDT
Subject: Claim for compensation under Israeli Aviation Services Law and common law for cancelled flight Tel AC:00049xxxxxxx6
Thank you for your email. We sincerely apologize for the disruption to your flight from Tel Aviv to Toronto. We know that customers want to get to where they are going and it is easy to understand this was a disappointing experience.
In this instance, you are entitled to the Right to Compensation as outlined in the Aviation Service Law for the State of Israel. Specifically, you shall receive the equivalent of ILS3080 based on the length of the flight delay.
The compensation shall be paid by draft in the amount of $847.00USD to the home address that you have provided. Please allow up to three weeks for postal delivery of this draft. If you still have not received it after this time, please respond to this email so that I can look into it further for you.
Please note the goodwill discount promo code provided previously has been cancelled.
We are truly sorry for the negative impression you have been left with. Ms. Greenspan, we hope we will have the opportunity to welcome you back onboard in hopes of providing you with a more favorable experience in the future. Thank you for choosing to fly with Air Canada.
Sincerely, Jessica Rose Customer Relations

Letter to Air Canada by Mr. G and their "pathetic and indifferent" response

Your case number is: CAS-XXXXXXXXXXXX Dear Mr. G,

Thanks for writing to us about your recent travel to Toronto. I'm really sorry to learn your trip was delayed when AC85 on June 16, 2018 returned to the gate. I offer my sincere apologies to you and K. I regret the circumstances that required you to remain on board the aircraft while awaiting departure and certainly appreciate the degree of discomfort experienced. I know our customers are eager to get to their destination, and it’s inconvenient to have to wait.

Although safe travel must always be our first priority, it is our hope that when disruptions occur our staff will meet the needs of all affected customers in a professional manner. I am concerned to read your description of the handling of this situation. We strive to maintain a high level of customer service throughout our organization, and we are grateful when our customers make the effort to point out lapses in our service.

You should have received information regarding compensation for each of you in the form of a 25% promo code for a discount on future travel. Customers had 60 days after the flight to retrieve their Promotion Code at https://services.aircanada.com/flightdisruption/selfservice/promotioncode.

While a ticket provides a guarantee of transportation, the schedule itself is not guaranteed. We, respectfully, decline your request for reimbursement of lost wages The expense you incurred may be covered if you purchased travel insurance with a trip interruption component. You may also check with your credit card company.

Although we try to meet or exceed our customers' expectations every day unfortunately, sometimes we fail to deliver the quality of service we aim for. I am genuinely sorry for the lapse in service.

Thanks for including Air Canada in your travel plans. I hope we will have the pleasure of welcoming you on board again soon.

Sincerely,
Pauline Maillet
Customer Relations
Air Canada
To serve you best, I kindly ask that you do not change the subject line if responding to this email.

------ Original Message ------
Sent: 2018/06/16 2:33 PM
Subject: This is unacceptable


I am very disappointed with the service my wife (who is 6-months pregnant) and I received from Air Canada.
We were on the airplane for almost 2 hours before they informed us there was a problem.
My pregnant wife was stressed, hungry, and upset.

The whole time we received no information as to how the situation would be handled. The staff was not treating us in a polite manner at all, it was the opposite - they were ignoring us and giving us a bad attitude. They finally said they would feed us, however all they have was bread and water.
Then they had us wait for a shuttle in the hot weather and the manager was not very helpful at all.
I had to speak to him repeatedly before we answered me. My wife and I lost money from work, had to schedule a babysitter to take care of my daughter, spent money as we arrived to the hotel due to the fact that there was nothing provided to us. There are a lot of costs that I am going to have to take on from the cancellation of this flight.

I am upset at the handling of your company with my pregnant wife and I. The stress she underwent and having to wait in the hot weather for no reason as they did not give any answers or help in any way.
I am requesting $2000 to cover the costs of my loss of work, last minute accommodations, meal costs, etc. I am a Star Alliance member and do not appreciate anything about this encounter my pregnant wife and I experienced.
I look forward to hearing from your company to hear how you will correct this great inconvenience.
Thank you, -G

Letter to Air Canada by Professor P.

Air Canada - Customer Relations
PO Box 64239,
RPO Thorncliffe - Calgary, AB
Canada T2K 6J7
Fax: 1-866-584-0380
To whom it may concern:

I want to describe in detail my recent experiences with Air Canada service from Tel Aviv to Washington-Dulles, to explain why I consider the offer of discounts on future Air Canada flights to be completely inadequate - even infuriating - as compensation.

I was scheduled to fly out of Tel Aviv on your flight 2085 at 11:45on June 16th. After a delay in the boarding time I spent over two hours on a hot plane while they tried to fix the hydraulic system until, finally, the flight was canceled. I had to retrieve my checked luggage and go through Customs and wait in a long line for passport control. When I finally found the counter we were told to go to for accommodations and food vouchers, I was told it was so late and hotels were so crowded that they had no idea where they could put me. So, I had to go back to my brother's house, where I'd been staying. Meanwhile, I received an email indicating that I’d been put on a 10am flight the next day.

I received no food vouchers, though Air Canada did provide help with luggage and transport, via BonTours. However, BonTours’ desk was not on the floor we were told to go to. When we found it on another floor, I was initially told that they were unable to contact any drivers. When they eventually did, I was told there would be a 20-30-minute wait.

I finally arrived at my brother's house in the early evening, I think around 5:30, after having spent over eight hours at the airport. During dinner, I received a further email rescheduling the flight for 11:40 on the 17th. My brother had to make a series of phone calls to rearrange my transport accordingly - for 7:40 am, since it was to be a shared ride. The following morning, however, the car spent 10 minutes waiting for the other passengers, who never showed up.

Back at Ben-Gurion Airport, I had to wait in a horribly slow-moving line to get a boarding pass and drop off my bag, but the agents were unable to issue a boarding pass for the connecting flight from Toronto to Washington-Dulles. Meanwhile, I received three further alerts changing the time of the flight - in one case to a time that had already passed! - and then back again to 11:40. However, the flight didn't actually take off until at least an hour later than that.

Then, at Toronto, I waited in another line for a boarding pass for your flight #7374, scheduled to take off over four hours later. I was told that I couldn't go on either of two earlier flights to Dulles - one of them, the United flight I'd originally been scheduled on - since I had to arrive with my checked bag, which had been sent straight through from Tel Aviv. But there were several further delays of that flight, so that it took off only at 11:07. Meanwhile, I discovered that no seat assignment had been put on my boarding pass, so that I had to take the very last seat, which didn't recline. Since I have serious back and neck problems, the flight was extremely uncomfortable.

When the flight finally arrived in DC, at 12:15 on the 18th, my checked bag was nowhere to be found. Nor was any Air Canada baggage agent or office available to file a claim! I had to go to the United desk, which got no answer when they tried to call your agents at the airport and even ran up to the Air Canada counter, finding that it was closed until 4 am. Why didn't Air Canada have anyone available to help people from the flight they had delayed?

The United agents were quite helpful, but they had to wait endlessly on hold before they were able to contact your delayed baggage service by phone. By the time that I had finally filed a claim - delayed further by the difficulty of understanding your agent, who spoke with a barely intelligible Indian accent, running his words together until I made him repeat everything - the ride home that I'd scheduled and re-scheduled with SuperShuttle was long gone, and there were no SuperShuttle agents or vans in the airport. So, I had to take a cab, at over twice the price. I arrived home after 3 am.

Today is the 19th, and having heard nothing about my missing bag, I tried to track it using the website and file reference number that your Indian agent gave me. The website address was wrong, so I used the links on your website instead - only to receive a message: "No matching records found" -- this despite the fact that I'd double-checked the file reference number to confirm that it was correct. So, I phoned the number for lost luggage, where another Indian agent - someone understandable, this time - was able to track my bag. She said it should arrive at some unspecified time today and that I'd be phoned beforehand. Several hours later, I went down to my building’s lobby and found that it had been delivered to the front desk without any notification to me.

I have thus far received two offers of "compensation" from Air Canada: (1) on the plane, a form to fill out to get 15% off an Air Canada flight within the next 13 months, in response to the cancelled flight; although I don't expect to travel anywhere within that limited time period, and (2) via email, another offer of a 15% discount, in response to the missing luggage. However, with so many foul-ups, I'd hesitate to fly Air Canada again at all without some other form of compensation for the ordeal I suffered through this time.

In any case, these "offers" really amount to inducements to spend more money on Air Canada flights - which hardly amounts to "compensation" for the really awful experience I've described. They effectively add insult to injury. Unless you can offer serious compensation, the best I can do is to circulate this account more widely, e.g. via Expedia, through which I booked the flights in question, along with Facebook and TripAdvisor.

But first I should see what alternatives you can provide.
Sincerely,
Professor P. Department of
University of

Request for advice from S

Comment from passenger who was moved to the 3:pm flight

My name is Be and I was in seat XXA.
Is this website/email address a part of Air Canada or run by a noble passenger?
In addition to being on the canceled flight I was unable to board it the second time around and instead placed on the 3pm flight even though according to witnesses/friends aboard the second attempt at leaving on the 17th nobody was in my seat. They communicated this to me via text message.

I was met by resistance by the gate agents who insisted that the flight was full even.
Is there any information I should provide in addition to this?
Thanks, B

Letter by Passenger N

-----Original Message-----
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2018 11:23 AM
Subject: Compensation for cancelled flight
Hi,
My name is N and my travel partner J and I were on the flight to Toronto from Tel Aviv that got cancelled.
We were the last people to get a bus and get to the hotel room provided after a full day at the airport filled with uncertainty. We are now in Toronto waiting on our flight to our final destination of Memphis, TN which has already been delayed 2 hours and likely to be more with no explanation.

I am emailing to see what compensation we are entitled to for these cancellations and delays. I don't plan on bothering Air Canada or using their airline again considering the delays I have encountered that seem to be within the airline’s control. Overall the most disappointing aspect of the entire process has been the uncertainty and lack of communication on what adjustments have been made to our travel plans.
Please let me know if there is anything else that I need to do.

Please continue to write your experiences