Ode To Air Canada's Ass

Last modified on January 20th, 2008

I hate Air Canada, really I do. They have screwed me over so many times and are at least partially responsible for how much I hate flying these days. The last time they gave it to me was last year coming back from Boston. I arrived 90 minutes before my flight and was told that due to weather they were going to delay us a while in the airport. Since I was hungry and needed a beer, I said no problem. So, they booked me on a flight two hours later and said it would be fine.



The funny thing is even though it was raining outside, every other airline appeared to be operating normally. After dinner and beers we eventually made it onto our plane and headed out for Toronto.

We landed at Pearson at around 10:00pm at night and were supported to board a plane to Vancouver. Only one problem, there were no planes to Vancouver – last one had left an hour earlier. So the Air Canada agent in Boston had booked us on another flight knowing we would miss our connection to Vancouver and be completely stranded in Toronto. There we were, at like 11pm at night, no plane ride home and no accommodation. I asked the Air Canada rep to help us with a hotel or at least give us a food voucher or something. No go. They didn’t give a shit at all. And that was the last time I flew Air Crapada.

Rebecca had a similar experience with them yesterday, although she still made it to Toronto. Thankfully her trip was paid for by the lovely people at CBC, otherwise I’m sure she would probably be a bit more upset.

I did a quick search for the keywords “Air Canada Sucks” in Google — it came back with 192,000 pages. Here are some of the winners:

Poor Kirsten:

Kirsten just got off the phone with them… apparently they called to say that the were cancelling her flight to Baltimore (she’s going to a conference) and rescheduling it… She wasn’t allowed to know why it was cancelled, and no compensation was offered to her for the short notice… and, of course, the woman she was dealing with was a complete bag – saying, “I can cancel the flight entirely, if you’d like.”

And they wonder why people are fleeing them and going to Westjet.

More about how much Air Canada sucks:

Air Canada sucks, part 457,996 in an ongoing series:

As if you needed more of it, here’s additional proof on why Air Canada are cock suckers.

Magically, while the airline is screwing us, they’re managing to not screw us this summer. While the ban is coming into effect on July 15, barely three weeks notice as it turns out, it won’t impact those who already have made reservations.

So Cathy can fly home with Boo on July 2 no problem. I’m curious to see if there’s going to be a racket on August 19. Yes, they’re saying you can fly with pets. Let’s see if the staff on the ground can get that straight in their heads. I have my concerns.

So the options now are:
1. Don’t fly with your pets.
2. Stick them in Air Canada Cargo, which is more expensive. I don’t have the exact figures, but I imagine it’s $50 per flight vs. something in excess of $200 per flight. On top of that, Cargo is not going to be remotely close to convenient for many passengers. Like us, for example.
3. Fly WestJet. That’s something I’d actually prefer, to be honest. They’re a much nicer airline. They do have three drawbacks, however. Not as many flights going back and forth from Newfoundland, which can mean challenges. They’re more expensive. And we don’t get aeromiles from them

And this dude, who actually compares Air Canada to Satan:

Back to YYC tomorrow. And after my experiences on these last two trips, I have made a vow: I’ll never travel Air Canada domestically again, and I’ll try my damndest never to user them for international travel.

They just do not deserve my business.

Here’s the setup. La Fille ™ et moi booked on the same return flight back to Cowtropolis, but being the cheapskates we are, we chose not to pay the $15 for seat selection. On a four hour fl.ight, I don’t care if I don’t get aisle. I just wanna snuggle with the right person is all.

Air Canada (aka Satan) makes it mighty hard for me to make that so.

12 hours before the flight, we are in theory allowed to choose from any seats not already chosen through that aformentioned $15 priority seating plan. The problem is that the website is not standards compliant, and neither Safari nor Firefox is able to render the page so that I have the option to change my seat assignment.

In addition to the “Your Browser Sucks” message (no, your Web page suckz) take a look at the spacer gifs (nbsps) in the menu tabs.

Anyhow, a call to the help desk first forcfes me to listen to an ad for seat sales somewhere or other, then after a couple of menu options (no “0? to directly connect to an operator) I get put on hold for 30 minutes.

I know better than to argue with the only people that can change my seating situation, but does that stop me? At least I remain polite. Firm, yes, but polite.

Cutting to the chase, the best they can do is put us in two middle seats next to each other (B and E) and leave us to fight with neighbors to see if they wouldn’t mind switching.

It shouldn’t have to be this hard. Tomorrow AM I’ll see about trying to sweet talk our way into 1st class. In the meantime, Air Canada Sucks!. Big time.

Yes, it should be clear, Air Canada sucks the big one. I once used to really enjoy traveling with them, but I’ll pay a premium now just to not step on another one of their airplanes again.

15 responses to “Ode To Air Canada's Ass”

  1. Eva says:

    I am not a huge fan of Air Canada either. The only time I really end up flying with them is if I decide to fly to Boston. I think the last time I was on an AC flight was a trip to Paris for work. After having flown other carriers across the Atlantic, this flight just could not compare. The flight attendants were not the most friendly on earth (or in the skies). The service was not any better than if it were a domestic flight.

    Nowadays, when I do take an overseas flight, I avoid Air Canada except for those short single hops to places like Chicago or where ever I need to catch the big flight to where I’m going. Heck, I hate to say it but the flight I took from Chicago to Hong Kong with United was just a bit better than an Air Canada flight. *JUST* a bit better.

  2. James says:

    How original – another ‘I hate Air Canada rant’, while you’re at it, why don’t you complain about the weather or the goverment?
    This schtick is old.

  3. Duane Storey says:

    Let me guess – you work or know someone who works at Air Canada?

    I hate the government and the weather. I also hate troll-like comments.

  4. James says:

    How astute, but troll-like? I doubt it. I’m sure you’d be hard pressed to not know anyone who works for Big Red either.
    It’s funny, that given all your talents (no joking here – your resume and portfolio are impressive) you’d jump on the band-wagon of so many others in trashing AC.
    I’m sure there’s much better fare out there. Ciao.

  5. Eva says:

    In case you haven’t already stumbled across it:

    http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/air_can.htm

  6. Duane Storey says:

    So what, you’d rather not me write an article about my bad Air Canada experiences? I’m not doing it because everyone else is, I’m doing it because I think they have inferior service and recently gave my friend Rebecca problems at the airport. It’s not a band-wagon, it’s my personal experience. Considering I travel all the time with work, it’s a position I’m allowed to take, and have enough experience to say their service is terrible in comparison to many other airlines I’ve been on.

    I just don’t understand the point of a comment like yours. If you have something to contribute to the content of a blog post, either for or against my position, then do so and it will be intelligently debated or discussed. But I think it’s rather pointless to drop a comment just saying the content of a post sucks when you can simply go find something that pleases you elsewhere.

  7. James says:

    So be it – but not once did I say your article sucks, I merely questioned your choice to speak about something else more interesting. I believe it was you who compared my comments to that of a troll. How very tolerant of you, but that’s your perogative – seeing as it’s your Blog and all. So, enjoy your last word and good luck to you.

  8. Duane Storey says:

    To be honest James, I’ve been blogging a long time. And for whatever reason, there’s a small subset of the internet readership that somehow thinks that the sore purpose for someone like me is to entertain them via my blog. And while you may not find your comment offensive, I do, because it seems to put you into that category. Maybe that’s not you at all, but I just think it’s pointless to call to question the point of an entry on a personal blog. If it didn’t have some merit, I wouldn’t have written it. If you don’t like it, you could have just moved on without saying anything. If you had a counter opinion, by all means post it and give reasons why.

  9. James says:

    To what end? Okay, here’s where I come clean – I’ve worked for AC for fourteen years – most of them good, others not so. This is the point where your readers groan and roll their eyes. It becomes frustrating to hear repeated slights at a company who must always be everything to everyone all the time. No one expects as much from AC than any other transportation company. Yes, there are some problems from time to time, baggage didn’t arrive on time, meals were cold, agents were unruly. Not exclusive to AC, but this is the general consensus. But, as is the trend, one bad story evokes memories of another by another and this is the band-wagon I spoke of. Some anecdotes are accurate, others inflated. No one mentions when things go as planned, when you arrive on time, after a hot meal with your bags SAFELY. Dare I refer to the physics of flight – that should be everyones first concern. Not all stories are poor and this airline isn’t that bad, but that is the perception. I may be biased, but I’ve also flown extensively around the world, and save for a few others, I wouldn’t trust my safe arrival to anyone else. So there is my opinion, soon to be dissected by others who lost a bag or had a cold meal, despite all the previous uneventful experiences they have had.

  10. Duane Storey says:

    And I think you posting your counter opinion is the best way to get people to give them another chance, and far more productive than simply saying a post is part of a bandwagon.

    I agree that many airlines are not safe, and I try not to fly them as well. Air Canada has a major disadvantage in that they are burdened by debt and union contracts, so it’s hard to compete with younger, more nimble airlines like West Jet.

  11. Flyer says:

    Well, my cousin from Calgary came threw Montreal enroute to France and booked British Airways Business class..

    The night BEFORE the winter storm, his flight got canceled cause their aircraft went “bust”.
    After several calls to BA, and the reps they sent to his hotel,with conflicting information, he finally made it on his BA flight to London 2 days late, NO compensation was offered for the storm delays, other passengers where left behind in Montreal that paid lower economy fares, and No assistance was offered to my cousin regardless that he paid British Airways close to 7000$!

    He swore next time to fly Air Canada… as did others i heard in the Lobby of the hotel as the bus left them behind in Montreal standing by for a flight out to LHR.(they were not eligible to even book with another airline )

    My point is , the grass ISN’Talways greener on the other side..

  12. I think the real issue is – why does Air Canada seem to have so many more complaints about them compared to other airlines?

    I realize that AC flies more people and therefore you will have more stories but AC seems to have a disproportionate number of complaints.

    Just my opinion.

  13. Teddy says:

    James,

    Being the author of the “AC = Satan” bit, do allow me to jump on.

    AC didn’t used to be all bad. But even back in the day, I chose Wardair whenever I could. Paradoxically, those were in the days of regulated air service. I say paradoxically because both Wardair and Canadian Pacific were head and shoulders above anything that AC did in terms of customer service, comfort, and flight experience.

    Deregulation came, and CAI bought ought first CP, and then Wardair, and things starting turning to shit.

    Funny though, I knew Max, and had the pleasure of flying to his fishing camp from the YK float base once or twice. I know that if dereg had come about a few years earlier, he would have still been around, and would have set the standard to which AC would continue to be compared.

    OTOH, we are now able to fly across the country for $250, albeit with no frills. Which is fine. It’s just that Westjet seems to do it with so much more elan. And I’ve never had my luggage lost by WJ.

    I like to think the spirit of Max Ward lives on with them.

    Anyhow, to your point James: it’s easy to bash AC for a reason. They do not commit the same resources to customer service as Westjet. And so, for a few bucks more if required, I will travel with the latter whenever I can.

  14. Kelly says:

    I end up flying quite a bit since both my husband’s and my family are in different provinces. I’ve flown Air Canada many, many times, and usually end up frustrated and ready to exhibit some air rage (though I guess I can’t really blame them for weather delays… there’s no way an airline so befuddled could possibly exert control over weather patterns, right?). It’s extremely rare that I’ve ever had a smooth flying experience. (Though, I flew to Vancouver on Westjet once… that was nice.)

    And then… then I flew Continental to Newark and back. You know that saying, you don’t know what you have ’til it’s gone? I never realized how much I should appreciate AC (and the lovely Moncton airport) until I had to fly Continental out of Newark. Air Canada might still suck, but everything’s relative.

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