Air Canada Changes its Voucher Policy for Flights Cancelled due to COVID-19

Dismissing the demand by customers whose flights were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic to give any cash refunds, Air Canada has further modified its travel credit policy.

Canada’s largest domestic carrier on Friday said customers can either roll the flight’s value and additional 65 per cent into air miles points or receive a travel voucher with no expiry date.  The customer had to use that full amount when re-booking or else will lose the difference. These changes are retroactive to March 1 and replace an industry-wide policy, under which a two-year voucher was the only option for customers whose travel plans were disrupted by travel restrictions due to Coronavirus pandemic.

Air Canada’s refusal to offer refunds to customers whose flights were cancelled is backed by the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), the federal regulator. It said passenger-protection laws and airline-refund policies did not envision the near-complete shutdown of air travel due to government imposed border closures and flight restrictions.

“Air Canada’s policies accord with the practice of the industry in Canada, which has been reviewed and deemed acceptable by the CTA,” said Peter Fitzpatrick, an Air Canada spokesman.