What to do in case your Air Canada flight is canceled throughout the strike

• Air Canada flight attendants initiated a strike, resulting in widespread flight cancellations and restricted rebooking choices.
• Affected passengers are eligible for full refunds however not extra compensation, as strikes are thought of outdoors the airline’s management underneath Canadian and U.S. rules.
• Travelers are suggested to think about different itineraries, specializing in steady routes and refundable connections, and to take care of thorough information of bills and communication with the airline.

If you are one of many hundreds of U.S. airline passengers affected by the Air Canada strike, sadly, you do not have a number of choices.

Air Canada’s flight attendants went on strike Saturday after their union’s negotiators reached an deadlock with airline administration over wages and compensation of their subsequent contract.

As a outcome, the airline needed to cancel most of its scheduled flights, and it warned about restricted rebooking choices in a press release.

“Customers whose flights are cancelled will be notified and they will be eligible for a full refund, which can be obtained online at www.aircanada.com or through the Air Canada mobile app. The company has made arrangements with other Canadian and foreign carriers to provide customers alternative travel options to the extent possible,” the assertion stated. “Customers will be notified of alternative travel options that are identified for them. However, given other carriers are already very full due to the summer travel peak, securing such capacity will take time and, in many cases, will not be immediately possible.”

Air Canada waiver

Air Canada is providing a waiver to permit passengers booked to journey between Aug. 15 and Aug. 18 the choice to vary their flights with out paying a payment or fare distinction.

The waiver permits passengers with bookings made earlier than Aug. 14 to maneuver their journey to a date between Aug. 21 and Sept. 12.

More particulars concerning the waiver can be found on Air Canada’s website.

According to AirAdvisor, a client airline refund web site, as many as 27,000 U.S. passengers per day might be affected whereas the strike goes on. There’s no set finish date for the motion, and in case your flight is canceled, you are not entitled to any extra compensation.

“Under Canada’s (Air Passenger Protection Regulation) rules, strikes are ‘outside airline control,’ so no cash compensation is owed,” AirAdvisor stated in a press release. “Airlines must still provide refunds for unused tickets within 30 days and rebook on partners where possible.”

The U.S. Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over Air Canada flights that depart from the U.S., has comparable rules.

“If your flight departs from the U.S., U.S. DOT rules require prompt refunds for cancellations but no mandatory compensation for delays, making travel insurance crucial,” a press release from AirAdvisor stated.

If you’ve gotten a flight booked on Air Canada within the close to future, it could be price reconsidering your itinerary.

“For U.S. travellers, the key now is to think strategically. Don’t just look for the fastest alternative route; look for the most stable one. This may mean flying via smaller, less congested hubs like Detroit or Minneapolis, where rerouting is easier, or securing refundable one-stop connections through partner airlines before seats vanish,” Anton Radchenko, AirAdvisor’s founder, stated in a press release. “Keep all receipts, track your communications with the airline, and, if possible, pay with a credit card that includes trip interruption coverage. Above all, treat this strike as a high-impact event that demands proactive planning, not reactive scrambling.”

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.