Air Canada

✅ Trip Verified | Edmonton to Halifax via Toronto. What started out as a very pleasant experience as a nice young man in Edmonton moved us up to nicer seats that were together, quickly became a disaster of an experience. After boarding our flight in Toronto and sitting on the runway for over an hour we were told we must leave the plane as it isn’t safe to fly. We were then told we would have to wait another 2 and a half hours until our next flight, ruining our dinner and holiday plans for the evening. After being told we would be leaving at 530 for sure from Pearson I was again frustrated to find we weren’t even boarding until 530, and then got to sit yet again on the runway for over an hour while the flight crew figured everything out. This entire experience was very frustrating, a terrible way to start a holiday and was made worse by the lack of compensation for our time and frustration by Air Canada, no food vouchers, or drinks were offered and nothing more than an explanation every 45 minutes was given. I am extremely unimpressed and disappointed, as I continue to sit on the runway still waiting to take off at some undetermined time.

✅ Trip Verified | I understand that there can be delays. Air Canada is incompetent in effectively handling delays in particular for business travelers. There are a lot of negative reviews of Air Canada for everything from overall friendliness to food. I care about those things – but as a business traveler I care most about getting to my destination on time, and that delays are handled effectively and knowledgeably when there are disruptions so that I can still get to my destination as needed. I was flying from Pittsburgh to Shanghai via Toronto. My flight was delayed to Toronto, causing me to miss my flight to Shanghai. There were two other flights that could have gotten me to Shanghai in time for my meeting. Due to the incompetence of the Air Canada staff I missed both. In particular, there is no Business Class line at the re-ticketing counter. I waited for an hour and a half – missing both other flight options. I was behind domestic travelers with multiple rerouting options and coach fares. Even when I called over a “supervisor” and explained the situation I was told there was nothing she could do, she couldn’t get me to the front of the line, and I would just have to wait my turn. I was going for a board meeting, with my executive team flying in from all over the world for this meeting. All other travel and arrangements – for all of the other people – needed to be rearranged due to my travel issues. I am a frequent Air Canada traveler. I go to Asia at a minimum twice a year in Business Class. I fly every other week on an expensive (typically $500) ticket to my other office domestically. When I called "Customer Service" they were rude, told me there was no management escalation (no way I could talk to a supervisor), and showed absolutely no flexibility. My experience with customer service just added insult to injury. I am taking the time to write this review on as many review sites as I can. I don’t typically write reviews. In this case, however, I really want to warn other business travelers – in particular overseas business travelers – that they are not at all equipped to handle the inevitable travel disruptions and prioritize business class tickets. And that’s in addition to the relatively uncomfortable business class seats, poor customer service, and bad food.

✅ Trip Verified | Toronto to Las Vegas. I got to the gate and was told I can’t bring my carry on on board because the plane was full. I said I wouldn’t fly Air Canada again and the lady said I need to cooperative. After boarding the plane I notice that about 10% of the overhead compartments are available.

✅ Trip Verified | Toronto to Washington. Terrible customer service. No help with my bags, self-service to heave your bags onto electric line. I'm supposed to stand there waiting while they "go get someone" instead of go through security.

✅ Trip Verified | Toronto to New York La Guardia. First they changed the gate without announcing it last minute. A bunch of us missed the flight and it was our fault (they say). Second flight was cancelled due to weather which I understand. But the way the ground staff handled it was so unprofessional. Air Canada cancelled my flight 3 times. I was at Pearson international from Friday to Sunday sleeping on the hard floors cause they don’t reimburse for hotels if your a local, meaning anywhere in Canada. Onn the Sunday the manager happen to put me on a flight out. I got on the flight when I landed in La Guardia my bags were not on the plane it’s been 3 days now. The call centre in india can’t locate my bags and the Canadian # doesn’t work due to high call volumes. I’ve missed my international connection twice, with no bags. I will never ever fly or use Air Canada ever again.

✅ Trip Verified | Seoul to Minneapolis via Toronto. Once we arrived at the Toronto Airport, the staff there were so unorganized. They had really bad attitudes & when we asked for directions, the first thing this woman did was questioned us why we were there & told us to go back to the direction where we came from. Coming back from my international destination, when everyone was seated in the plane, it was announced that there were “technical” issues & we would have to sit in the plane for 45 minutes. Well, that turned to an hour & half. Even worst was dealing with flight attendants for 13 hours. Our landing was postponed for an hour due to technical issues and the weather condition. Majority of travelers' flights were canceled upon arrival, and the people at Toronto Pearson (Terminal 1) were helpless. There was no one directing people to where they needed to go for assistance. The lines started to get long at Gate 15 at departures but there was absolutely no one to direct people where to line up or answer questions. We waited at the phone line for 1.5 hour just to wait another hour to speak with a representative. Getting impatient, I ended up at the hotel line for 2 hours just to find out it was to book a hotel when we just wanted to rebook our cancelled flight. Once we got to the Air Canada counter, the lady didn’t even care to look anything up on her computer & just told us to call this number that didn’t even work because it had “reach capacity.” Basically, the only help most of the 300+ travelers got were from other travelers. Also, this worker came onto the intercom to announce to us that they are doing their best to help us. Following that announcement came some short responses from frustrated travelers. We spent the night at the airport and they closed Gate 15 down & turned people away. When I asked about the hotel vouchers, the man questioned me & my intentions instead of help, there was no one floating around to help travelers with cancelled flights.

✅ Trip Verified | Montreal to New York LGA. Ridiculous transfer flight manipulation. Made me miss my flight because of 2 hour delay sitting in plane for de-icing and waiting for other customers on a transfer flight to board. But why didn’t they wait for us? Seriously looking at their bottom line and not caring for the customer at all. They cancelled at least half a dozen flights from Toronto to NYC because of freezing rain but there was absolutely no urgency to fly folks out in the morning so those flying at night got stuck with completely booked flights. I actually had a nonstop flight booked but 7 minutes later they kicked me out of my spot for no reason. Worst airline I’ve flown on.

✅ Trip Verified | St John's to Sydney via Toronto / Vancouver. I was travelling for several hours. In Toronto crew suggested I ask for 3-4 seats together when I got to Vancouver as the flight was not full. In Vancouver I was given 3 seats in a row but just my luck it was 3 seats where you could not raise the arm rests. There was however in the back row 2-4-2 which were empty. The crew had put their bags in the row with 4 seats. When requested to find a place to sleep I was told to look around the plane. The crew used the seats to put their bags and sit during the flight to do crosswords. The service was below average, staff looked tired and 'service' was not on top of their list. They need to either retire, do short flights or retrain with some of the Asian airlines. Food was terrible. I was ticketed as an international flight from Toronto to Sydney but was expected to pay for food and 3.50 for cheap headphones that would cost them 20 cents. Air Canada needs to have a good look at themselves. They bring Star Alliance down.

✅ Trip Verified | Vancouver to Wellington via Sydney. I booked the ticket for my mother to travel Wellington, New Zealand from Vancouver, Canada. I booked in mid-February to travel in April beginning. My mother is old and has limited English. So i want her to travel hassle free for her vacation. The reason I choose air Canada 1) Price wise i can save about 150$ compared to the next cheap flight 2) I don't want to transit at Auckland because she needs to take a bus between international arrival and local departure at Auckland. 3) Air Canada's transit at Sydney only 3 hours and she can clear the bags at Wellington. My mother is Canadian and she doesn't require an ETA or transit visa to Australia if she has less than 8 hours transit. Exactly two days before the travel, we have received an email from Air Canada with a subject of itinerary change. No information inside the email except the itinerary. As per the new itinerary, transit at Sydney become 10 hours from just 3.5 hours. Same day evening we called the Air Canada to seek the reason. The person came to the phone didn't tell the reason. He just says the transit changed. Then we request for accommodation but he refused. Finally, we request the food voucher as a compensation for their possible mistake. He said they can provide that at the airport. ultimately its a useless conversation for us.( Nothing provided at the airport at the end.) Then only we realized my mother required an ETA or transit visa to Australia. Transit visa is free but it could take up to 5 days to get it. So we apply for ETA and luckily we received almost immediately. As per there website, this could take up to 12 hours sometime. We were not happy about Air Canada's behavior. So on the same day, we file a complaint with Air Canada and asked them to reply immediately since the next day my mother was flying. It is now almost 5 days and my mother in New Zealand for 3 days. But no reply from Air Canada until now. Money wise we are not losing anything but this was making us nervous. Unnecessary stress. Especially my mother. 150$ is lots of money. But I think next time I won't worry about even 500$.

✅ Trip Verified | Toronto to Laguardia. Had an extremely positive experience with Air Canada and their staff. After high winds left us grounded for 8 hours, they accommodated my Party of 4 and helped us all get on another flight together as soon as possible. Due to late arrival at our destination they allowed us to change our flight back to Toronto by a day and had a great conversation with Air Canada staff over phone! Thanks Air Canada!! Cant wait to fly to Spain with you in July!