Travel, Airlines - Air Canada trouble using airline points with Air Canada

Using Previous Canadian points

Air Canada

From: Jeanette Rogers Email User

Date: Sunday, February 11, 2001 12:20 PM

_____________________ In June 2000, I booked 2 return flights to Fort Lauderdale using points,leaving Toronto Jan 6th 2001. At that time the return flight to Toronto on Feb 5th 2001 was booked in Business class for anyone travelling on points. I asked about the Miami flight but was told the same thing.

The flight they booked us on was going to Montreal,we had to go through customs and fly to Toronto. Over the course of the months I kept calling back, as they told me to do and each time I was assured more seats would be opened up, until the very end in Dec. when I was told if I wanted to pay for a first class ticket, we could get seats, other than that there wasn't a chance of getting on any flight direct to Toronto, travelling on points.

But I continued right up to the end, I even wrote to the President of the Areoplan division. I said in my letter to call my Travel Agent as I was on a cruise,if he could do anything. I had a message on my return to call them. Nice!

I believe people travelling on awards and are previous Canadian customers are treated as second class citizens. The service on the plane, both coming and going was awful, the flight coming back to Montreal was late departing by more than 2 hours.

Our luggage was not tagged through to Toronto, and only due to a quick porter in Montreal, was it noticed and the lady pushing my husband's wheelchair was able to issue baggage tags herself. We literally ran to make the flight and were the last to board.

The food was bad on all portions of our flights. Thank God for the hot dog we had in the airport before getting on our return flight, They ran out of chicken when they got to us, only beef left, my husband doesn't eat red meat and I don't eat a huge piece of meat 2 1/2 inches thick, with blood running out all over the white stuff & vegetables on the tray.

When we got on the flight to Toronto we were starved and what did they serve, you got it potato chips. When we got to Toronto we were unable to get porters, the employee pushing the wheelchair took care of the bags on wheels, while I piled 2 cases on my husband's lap & I pushed the wheelchair to get to the Limo.

Customer Service you Say !!!!! What an awful way to end an otherwise great vacation, it is very disheartening that you dread the vacation to end because you have to get on a A/C flight, I used to enjoy the flights on Canadian, I guess they spoiled us for any future travel.

I stopped flying Air Chaos, as soon as Nordair started flying to Montreal from Toronto and than Canadian,I travelled a lot while I was working,the odd time I was forced to file Air Canada, I always said "never again". Now here I am with 112,000 points and 44,000 for my husband, which I will probably never use unless something can be done about this high handed airline.

I saved these points to use when I retired to be able to travel. To give them a monopoly over air travel is the dumbest thing the government has done and they have done a lot of dumb things.

Mr Milton, you had better come down out of your ivory tower, you may have integrated the 2 airlines but your other objective of "top-notch customer service to customers" hasn't even started, at least for former Canadian customers.

I found any telephone call I made to Air Canada was met with disrespect unless I was lucky enough to get a Canadian employee. I can only say "Thank God" I have retired.

A disillusioned Canadian & former Traveller.