The holiday season hasn’t officially started yet, but it’s already chaos in several airports around the world. Faced with delays in security checks, delayed or canceled flights and lost luggage, an informed traveler is worth two. Here is a short guide to arriving at your destination despite the turbulence (and avoiding the worst in the event of the unexpected).
Prepare before departure
Choose flights wisely
For travelers thinking of buying plane tickets soon, layovers should be avoided as much as possible, according to Jacob Charbonneau, co-founder of the late flight compensation service. And if they are essential, it is better to plan much more time between the two flights than in normal times. “It’s a mess in Montreal right now, but also in several international airports. Better to wait eight hours there than to miss your connection. »
Airports are also less busy during the week and at night.
Provide insurance
The Office de la protection du consommateur (OPC), for its part, strongly recommends buying travel insurance that covers the costs of cancellation or delay.
The provincial organization also suggests doing business exclusively with Quebec travel agencies: this choice allows consumers to access the services of the Compensation Fund for Customers of Travel Agents (FICAV). If you miss a cruise ship due to a late flight, for example, this fund will reimburse you. Foreign websites that offer discounted rooms and flights do not offer such protection. Generally, purchases made on these platforms are non-refundable, and remedies are almost non-existent.
Also, to avoid paying twice for the same service, it’s a good idea to check whether your credit cards or group insurance offer you such protection.
Know the contents of your suitcase
The ideal is to travel without checked baggage when possible. And since weight and dimension rules vary from carrier to carrier, check in advance that yours are compliant.
If your baggage arrives late at its destination, compensation can be up to $2,400, an amount based on unforeseen purchases you had to make in the absence of personal effects. You must therefore keep your receipts carefully. “On the other hand, we have 21 days to make the request, so if we go on vacation for two or three weeks and it happened at the start, it is important to make the request very quickly,” advises Jacob Charbonneau.
And if your suitcases have been misplaced, you need to know the contents to make a claim. Travelers who need to check baggage on their next trip should therefore take photos of the inside of their suitcases to simplify the procedure. Moreover, if you have taken out insurance, it would be well advised to draw up an inventory of the valuables that were in your luggage before your departure.
Be prepared for the worst
Anticipate deadlines
Aéroports de Montréal (ADM) recommends arriving three hours in advance, both for domestic and international flights.
For travelers who plan to go to the airport by car, ADM reminds that it is preferable to reserve a parking space. And if someone drops you off, it’s wise to minimize the time spent at the landing stage: the security guards patrolling the area often have a short fuse given the current circumstances.
For its part, the 747 bus line leaves from the Montreal coach station, on Berri Street, and makes a dozen stops downtown, to the Lionel-Groulx station, after which it goes to the airport. Much of the journey is on reserved lanes. The pass costs $10 and the STM indicates that it must be purchased before boarding the bus, otherwise the driver will demand exact change.
Plan for delays
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) oversees customs operations. She reminds to indicate her state of health in the ArriveCAN application upon arrival; it can also be done within the previous 72 hours. At the Toronto or Vancouver airport, the application also allows you to pre-fill your customs and immigration declaration before landing. This is the fastest way to enter Canada, according to the CBSA.
The federal agency also posts in real time on its website an estimate of waiting times at security and customs at the country’s airports. The more important of the two is the waiting time at security before departure.
Sometimes planes take off even though people who should be on board are stuck in safety.
If a passenger misses their flight because of such delays, they are not entitled to compensation because they are deemed responsible for anticipating the delays, notes Jacob Charbonneau. The co-founder of the Late Flight service therefore suggests checking in online in advance – and doing the same for your luggage – to limit the wait once there.
Act in case of unforeseen events
Know your rights
If your flight is canceled or delayed by more than three hours through the fault of the carrier, it has the obligation to bring us to our destination, recalls Jacob Charbonneau.
It can do this on board its own wings or with the help of a partner company (another member of the Star Alliance network, for example, in the case of Air Canada). “On the other hand, if we don’t ask for it, although the companies are required to do so, they are not going to offer on a silver platter to go through it,” he specifies. It is therefore up to the customer to call their agency or the air carrier to negotiate an alternative solution as quickly as possible.
Moreover, there are minimum standards to be met, even when the delays are not attributable to the carriers. You can have access to a hotel room, transportation to get there, meals, free telecommunications, and so on. It is therefore very useful to find out about our rights before any problems arise.
Get refunds
Canadian air carriers are not yet required by law to reimburse their customers in the event of cancellation. This situation will soon be a thing of the past, but only from September 8, under an update of the regulations on the protection of air passengers.
It remains possible to claim compensation for a canceled flight and the parts of the trip that were missed due to these problems, notes the OPC. But this process can be long and tedious, because the rules governing the aviation sector are complex.
The nationality of the companies with which you do business vary the possible remedies and the protections to which you are entitled. For trips to Europe, for example, it could be more advantageous to assert European regulations, which are generally stricter with regard to carriers than the Canadian ones.
Avoid the plane?
Travelers who like to see the country may want to travel by coach this summer. For medium or short distance journeys, it is more comfortable, and about as fast. Unfortunately, the pandemic has taken its toll there too: about half of the companies that were active in North America in 2019 have since ceased operations.
Notice to holidaymakers discouraged by the situation: it is said that cycle tourism is booming these days…