When buying her tickets for a stay in Florida last fall, Michèle Cossette did not expect to have to turn to a plan B a few days before her departure. If the Laval resident considers herself “lucky in her bad luck”, this is not the case for all the travelers who opted for Lynx Air.
Upon learning Thursday evening that the Calgary low-cost carrier will have ceased operations next Monday, Mr.me Cossette wondered if she was going to be able to leave. The date of his departure to Tampa coincides with the time when the airline will be shut down for good.
“I received the email from Lynx around 9 p.m. and I immediately started doing research,” she says, in a telephone interview with The Press. I tried to watch [les aéroports] of Plattsburgh and Burlington. We were lucky, we finally found a flight with Delta Air Lines at a reasonable price. I consider myself lucky in my misfortune. »
This change of plan, however, comes with an additional bill for Mme Cossette: Each ticket purchased from Delta costs $230 more compared to $340 from Lynx. There will also be a stopover on the way out and back, which was not initially planned.
The options were not numerous, says Mme Cossette. On the Air Canada side, each ticket was $1,200, she said. In this context, she considers herself “blessed by the gods”. Especially since Desjardins Group, his credit card issuer, confirmed to him on Friday that he would be reimbursed for his tickets purchased from Lynx.
“I tell myself that not everyone was able to find an alternative solution,” says the sixty-year-old. Especially with spring break coming up. »
This was my first time using a low cost carrier. It’s the last. Next time, we’ll pay a little more and opt for established carriers.
Michèle Cossette, Lynx Air customer
Lynx offers few options to its customers. The carrier suggests that those who purchased a ticket for a flight after February 25 contact their credit card company (see capsule) for a refund. For its clients already traveling and whose return is planned after the end of the activities, Lynx makes the same suggestion in order to recover their money for the remaining portion of their trip.
Lose your vacation
Despite its limited footprint in the Canadian market, the Lynx debacle is disrupting the plans of many travelers. On Friday, all of the company’s flights scheduled at Montreal-Trudeau airport were canceled. It was the carrier who made this decision, Aéroports de Montréal said by email.
Some of his clients will have to change their vacation plans. This is the case of Aline Gervais, who was supposed to fly to St. John’s in Newfoundland next August. The plane, the accommodation… Everything planned will fall through.
“We looked with other carriers for the same dates, but the prices are around $1,200 while we paid around $250 for the ticket,” explains M.me Gervais. That’s a big difference. Fortunately, we can get reimbursed for accommodation. I tell myself that it must be even worse for those who are leaving soon. We don’t lose money. The disappointment is losing our vacation. »
Other readers also contacted The Press explaining that they were able to book tickets with other airlines without changing the dates of their stay abroad. Either way, it came with an extra bill of a few hundred dollars. On Friday, Air Canada indicated its intention to “cap its fares”, in addition to adding 6,000 seats in “certain markets operated by Lynx” in order to offer affected customers “affordable options”. It remains to be seen whether this will be enough to offer interesting alternative options.
Read “Lynx no longer paid airports”
How to get reimbursed
If you purchased your ticket through a travel agency, you can turn to the Compensation Fund for Clients of Travel Agents (FICAV). Otherwise, any purchase made by credit card should allow aggrieved Quebec consumers to request a refund from their credit card issuer under the Consumer Protection Act. However, you will have to be patient. “You must make a request to terminate the contract with the merchant,” explains Sylvie De Bellefeuille, lawyer at Option consommateurs. My understanding is that Lynx will not do this. At that point, you have 50 days to file a chargeback request with the credit card issuer. » Generally, this request must be made in writing, but some issuers may agree to a refund over the telephone.