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| - While I understand that airline companies don't have supernatural power to influence all aspects of travel, Air Canada found a way to screw up every variable that they DO have control over. During what was supposed to be a short 2-hour trip from Toronto to Chicago, Air Canada demonstrated a severe lack of professionalism and ability to implement response systems for the inevitable, chaotic circumstances that occur frequently in their industry.
When I arrived at Toronto Pearson airport at 8:00 a.m. (1.5 hours prior to my flight to Chicago), snow was falling and I anticipated a potentially long day of travel. I used the self-service kiosk to print my boarding pass and pay my checked bag fee. I then proceeded to the counter to drop off my bag. However, when presenting my bag, the agent informed me that I had missed the cut-off by two minutes. TWO MINUTES. She said the flight had closed, and company policy prohibited that she let me on. She then informed me that I would have to see a ticket agent to re-schedule for a flight later in the day, and reassured me that there were open seats for several planes to Chicago.
I got in the queue for the ticket agent, relieved to see that there were only 3 customers ahead of me. However, I endured TWO HOURS in line before I was able to speak to an agent. Due to snowfall and winter conditions, many people had to change flights, yet Air Canada was completely unprepared and understaffed in this situation. When I got to the desk, the agent informed me that their archaic technology (5+ years old) really hindered the process of re-assigning flights, and that it may have been faster for me to use my own laptop and find flights via their website!
During the 2 hours I waited in line, the "open seats for several planes" had been sold. I asked to be put on standby, and the agent responded, "We don't do standby flights to Chicago." Huh? I asked her to check again, and after 1 minute, she confirmed that she COULD do standby flights. (WTF.) To add insult to injury, the ticket agent charged me $75 for the flight change and before I even had a chance to grumble, she said, "We don't have sympathy for charging this fee because you should have arrived on time for your first flight." Are you kidding me?
Luckily, I was able to board the plane for Chicago. Given how unbelievably inconvenient and stupid my trip had been so far, I was hardly surprised when I found that my bag had been lost during transit. I was connecting to a flight to New York (through another airline), and had intended to grab my bag and re-check it before boarding my next plane. I discussed my concerns at the Air Canada desk in Chicago, then in NYC, and was told the bag could be forwarded to my final destination (thankfully, their American agents seemed less hostile, but as it turns out, equally incompetent).
After arriving in NYC, I contacted their baggage hotline (a call center in India) and was informed that they had NO claim on file for a lost bag. (Even though the process of filing the claim at their NYC desk had taken approximately 30 minutes.) During the next few days, I repeatedly checked in with the call center with varying success in terms of locating my bag (exceptionally long holds, unhelpful/nebulous responses by their baggage agents, etc.). Finally, the bag arrived at LaGuardia Airport and I made the trek to pick it up myself.
Today (a week later), I checked my bank account and saw that Air Canada incorrectly charged my account for the fees associated with travel (my receipts don't match the charges on my account). I've put in yet another claim with the company, which I'm informed could take "up to 3 weeks to process."
Avoid this company unless you want to be locked in a hostage situation with no hope of resolving issues on flight changes, lost baggage, and incorrect bank charges.
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