Canadian: Air Passenger bill of rights [Merged]

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I wish they could find my wife's suitcase from her flight back from Calgary this morning........couldn't park in the parcade because of the travel bin on top of the van so I had to circle the area for an hour before they said," Yup, its lost". :

 

[Infanteer]

WestJet success story above aside, having flown quite a bit in the last few years I can honestly say that I haven't noticed a dramatic difference between WestJet and Air Canada - I've generally found that AC has had nicer planes due to (I think) recent upgrades to their regional fleets (they got a neat new computer system where you can select the movie).  I've found Westjet to be a bit more cramped, but AC is alot stingier on their weight restrictions and extra baggage (only one piece allowed now).  Both seem to be average airlines.

Going international is a different story.  My father lives in hotels in foreign countries for about one-third of the year.  He says that in general, Airlines and Hotels are the same.  You get the absolute best service in Asia (starting East and moving West).  Europe trails behind, with North America being at the bottom.  He says the best hotels he has ever stayed in were in Hong Kong and that the Best Airlines were Cathay Pacific, Singapore and Emirates.

I have a feeling the who thing is tied to this:

but this was merely the first act in a lengthy drama that would provide Mr. Osborne with an unwanted education on customer service in the age of the giant corporation and the outsourced call centre. The rise of global commerce, corporate cost-cutting and efficient yet depersonalized technology has created legions of angry consumers. Millions have called Better Business Bureaus, government consumer watchdog agencies or, in a new twist, posted entries on consumer complaint websites that serve as digital town halls.

All in all, my best flight was with British Airways, but that was because I shelled out for Business Class, so they could afford to treat me well.  Flying as a peon is a different story.  For the best "average Joe" flying, I rather like Coast Mountain Air in BC - the little airlines always seem to avoid the nastiness above that we see Air Canada getting hit with....

 

[NL_engineer]

Well I found this funny,

according to a study last month by J.D. Power, which found customer satisfaction with the airlines in North America has fallen to a three-year low. The report said Air Canada was one of only two airlines covered in the survey that improved, though that's not saying much — the carrier placed dead last in the 2006 survey and now ranks fifth out of nine airlines in its category.

Link

 

[kratz]

I read this article and thought of all the comments WRT Air Canada and West Jet. Instead of starting a new thread, I have shared it here:

from CBC.ca

Air Canada passenger gets bags back after 23 days
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 | 11:13 AM

An Edmonton woman's lost baggage was returned to her Tuesday after 23 days in limbo.

Lisa Hrabec last saw her luggage on Dec. 20, when she checked in for an Air Canada flight at the Edmonton International Airport.

The experience she had with Air Canada in trying to track her lost bags was extremely frustrating, she said.

"I'm never going to pack my favourite pieces in my luggage again, if I check baggage," she said. "But really what I've learned is — don't check baggage."

Hrabec was flying with her family to Puerto Rico by way of Toronto to board a cruise ship. She returned to Edmonton on Dec. 29, frustrated she spent hours on her vacation trying to track down her missing bags.

Calls to the airline's customer service line did not help, she said.

Hrabec also spoke with a customer service agent with Air Canada Vacations at least twice. He indicated the bags had been in St. Lucia and San Juan, but no one ever called her, or put this information into the airline's luggage tracking system, she said.

While Hrabec now has her bags, her mother and stepfather are still waiting for theirs.

They went on with cruise with Hrabec, and their bags also went missing.