is this air canada thing or the air service has changed. i find air canada staff is not as friendly as it used to be.

I've noticed the complaints about AC in recent years, but I have never had a bad experience on this airline. Everyone has treated me with the utmost care and professionalism. I'll continue to fly Air Canada. read more

They used to be my first choice for all flights. After this weekend trip to San Francisco I vow never to use them unless I absolutely have to. This kind of bothers me as I have good friends who are pilots for the company and another who works in baggage. Arrived early for a flight back on the last day of our trip and there were empty seats on a flight two hours earlier. I'm ok with an upgrade fee, but they wanted $300 for me and my wife to save two hours. We refused to pay this much and spoke to someone on the phone in booking who advised we may get standby for free if there are available seats on the earlier flight. We waited and the lady at the counter said we could take the flight two hours earlier for $300 or wait. She said they would just fly the other plane with empty seats. We refused to pay, and I guarantee you the treatment we received from their unfriendly staff will cost them a lot more than the $300 they were trying to squeeze out of us. It was the worst example of customer service I can imagine and flipped an extremely loyal customer to one who will never fly and will never recommend them again. Check Westjet if you are booking in Canada before you make a payment through Air Canada, even if it is just to see if you can get a cheaper or more convenient flight. read more

I am writing this review as I sit on the floor of Toronto's Pearson International Airport. I am waiting on the final leg of a DC-Paris-DC trip (connecting in Toronto both ways), but there is no end in sight. This has been by far the worst flight experience I've ever had, and I strongly recommend against flying with Air Canada. Pros -Safety, inasmuch as our planes (thus far) have all taken off and landed without crashing. But I still have one flight to go. -I thought the in-flight entertainment options were great; I don't fly nonbudget airlines very frequently, so I don't have much basis for comparison, but I was very pleased with the large selection of on-demand movies and TV shows, which helped the long Toronto-Paris flights pass relatively quickly. Cons -Delays, delays, delays. I know, I get it, stuff happens. Weather happens. Mechanical issues happen. But the four flights I've taken on this trip have ALL been delayed significantly. The flight I am currently waiting on is currently "only" delayed by an hour, but I suspect it will be much longer than that when all is said and done, and the other flight delays ranged from 2 to 24 (!!) hours. I know that delays happen for a reason, but my two flights today have been in fine weather conditions. We had a 3 hour delay in Paris due to mechanical issues, and then weather in DC delaying our planes' arrival here in Toronto. AC has their fleet stretched so thin that they have zero flexibility in terms of swapping out/substituting planes, and as a result, the only reliable characteristic of their flights has been their lack of reliability. -No one knows anything. This goes for both the staff (who are clueless) and the passengers, who owe their cluelessness to the staff who can't--or don't--relay any information. Boarding and flight times will approach and pass without any updates or information. The flight I am waiting on right now has had NO updates over the PA--just a delay notification on "the board" 10 minutes before we were supposed to take off. We are supposed to be taking off at the "delayed" time in 5 minutes, and there has still been no substantial update. I suspect the flight may end up being cancelled outright. Anyone you might consider asking for more information will claim ignorance. This is especially frustrating since if they went ahead and "announced" the delays in a timely manner, passengers wouldn't feel the need to ask, they could then work on rebooking any missed connections and whatnot at that point, and they would make the process easier rather than simply kicking the frustration can farther down the road. Basically, with Air Canada, you can expect to show up, see that your flight is on time, and slowly watch the clock tick by as you realize that there's no way you'll actually be able to take off at the listed time, with no sense of when you will actually be leaving and when you will find out more. -Food iffy at best. Some of the meals I had were decent, but a fiesta chicken wrap almost reappeared in dramatic fashion during landing. My wife ordered the vegetarian meals ahead of time and these meals were given to hear separately from the standard meal service, but the meals provided were complete garbage--and then the standard meal service offered vegetarian options anyway (and better ones)! -Impatient, rude customer service With no more than two exceptions, dealing with Air Canada customer service this trip has made me feel like a member of a herd of cows being driven by a team of cowboys who all hate each other and the cows. In navigating our (ultimately) 24-hour delay in getting from Toronto to Paris, my wife and I were constantly told to do one thing, then scolded for doing just that by someone later in the process. For example: Get your baggage--no, your baggage isn't coming, why are you here? Go down this hall and go to this counter--no, wait in this line--why are you in this line? Go to the counter! You need me to rebook your flight to Paris? UGH! I know that it's not easy to work customer service in this industry. I know that these employees have to put up a tough front because they deal with so many frazzled, exhausted, frustrated and angry travelers. But maybe these travelers would be less frazzled, exhausted, frustrated and angry travelers if Air Canada was better at doing its job. Over the course of this trip, Air Canada has screwed up and underperformed at every opportunity. I will never fly with them again. read more

The worst ever experience- I dropped of my mother at the airport to learn 12 hours after that her flight was cancel ed- I called the AC CS line and after 2 h waiting the customer service did not want to reveal any info without the ticket number, and while I was searching for it - the line was disconnected so I had to dial back and wait 2 more hours. I wish they just go out of business into bankruptcy, and let others who know how to treat customers fly. read more

Maya Nayar Dear Air Canada I had booked a round trip ticket to Toronto(Pearson Airport) and back to Newark EWR from 3/7 to 3/10 by Air Canada. We were contemplating booking by other airlines however my brother who is a Canadian citizen asked us to book with Air Canada based on his fantastic experience flying with you guys! His travels to China and India 6 times a year. Unfortunately on 10th March my son got delayed due to customs and just had about 10 mins to board. So he rushed to the gate# F66 that was printed on the Eticket and found to his dismay that they changed the gate to F62. Alas by the time he ran to F62 the gate closed and he was unable to board the flight. My son then went back to gate# F 66 and approached an Air Canada customer service agent for a ticked to the next available flight. This agent was extremely rude and discourteous and told him to get off the line because he was fumbling for his credit card to pay for the ticket. She also made a racist comment. My son is just 19 years old and this is his first trip out of the country alone. He was so distressed by this agents behavior that he was so traumatized even today a day after he arrived. He does not know her name but he said that she was a heavy set Caucasian woman. Please be careful when you deal with this woman. read more

I tried to get a seat assignment for my flight. I was informed by the AC representative that I have to pay $14.00 each way since it is an advance assignment. I was SHOCKED!!!! to hear this and his reason because my/our flight was so cheap so that's why I/we have to pay this and he added that this was in place since 2009! So it means to say that whatever amount that I saved from their cheap ticket that they have to get it somehow. So that's the catch!!! How I wish I can just cancel this flight without any penalty.It is so disgusting. I can really see what kind of company this AIR CANADA. NO customer service!!! read more

Can someone please explain to me why booking a ticket to Paris online without using points costs $720 but using my aeroplan points costs $800 ? The Aeroplan agent told me I could redeem my points for things like a toaster over or a dishwasher. Maybe they should put a photo of that on my credit card instead of an airplane ??? read more

I will never fly with this airlines ever again. I am an avid traveler and have flown on many airlines and Air Canada was by far one of the worst airline experiences I had. I flew from Hawaii to London and both on the way there and my return flight there were delays and on the way back to Honolulu they flew me to Muai instead of Oahu. The flight attendants were rude and they had no tv for a 7 hour flight. read more

I landed and aircanada gave my buddy's flights that already left and me that was leaving in 10 mins

super inefficient flight paths! wanted to fly to Russia, and instead of flying over the north pole they wasted time and fuel going around! truly disappointing. read more

Worst customer service I have ever seen. I got on a plane on June 2nd from Montreal for a connection in Newark to Lisbon. It was my first solo trip and I was already stressed to travel on my own. After waiting 1h after departure, the plane takes off. After 20 minutes of flight, the plane turns back and land back in Montreal. The flight is canceled. I spoke to 3 Air Canada employees and they all gave me a different reason why the flight was canceled. I had to wait hours in line to schedule another flight because they didn't have enough staff at the airport. I wrote a complaint to the company and they refused to refund me for the money I lost for food and hostel. They gave me a ridiculous discount on another flight and they even made it sound like it was a privilege . I scheduled another flight. At the Porto airport for my departure from Portugal, I had problems again because I had no flight confirmed for Montreal. Worst airline company and worst customer service experience. read more

Terrible customer service. When I book trips for work whether it is for me or a co worker I always try to fly with another airline. Every time I have to phone Air Canada the wait times shock me. The fastest time I have had an agent pick up the phone to assist with my travel was 18 minutes. I have also noticed that the baggage check lines in the airport are by far the longest in the airport. read more

On June 28th, 2013 our family was scheduled to departed Comox Airport on AC flight 6584 headed to Vancouver at 0930 hours. This flight left Comox approximately 30 minutes late which left very little time to catch the Vancouver to Toronto connection flight AC1162 scheduled for 1100 hours. We managed to obtain a cart ride from airport staff to our connection gate and make this flight. Upon our arrival in Toronto we learned that the flight to Paris, AC 880, scheduled to depart at 2040 hours was delayed for 4 hours. Adding this time to our already long flight day. The delays were blamed on weather and late arrivals. The weather at every airport we attended was clear and calm; I would hate to see what happens with winter flight times if these are the delays you have during the middle of summer. Eventually we boarded AC 880 for Paris. The flight went well and without incident, of course the most important part of any flight. Unfortunately, upon our arrival we did not receive any of our 4 pieces of luggage. They took our information and we left with the clothes on our back. It took approximately two days before we received our luggage at the resort near Disneyland Paris. Obviously we incurred expenses during these two days in order to attempt to commence our vacation. We travelled throughout Europe and were scheduled to leave on July 20th, 2013 at 1025 hours on AC855 from London to Paris. The weather was clear and sunny; unfortunately there was another weather delay. The flight was delayed 6 full hours. After spending the additional 6 hours at Heathrow Airport we left for Vancouver. Unfortunately, due to the delay we missed our connecting flight, AC6585 to Comox. Flight attendant offered a 10% travel voucher for the delay. Upon our arrival we received our luggage, which all arrived in Vancouver as planned. We then attended the Air Canada customer service area, baggage and kids in tow. It was approximately 6 pm Vancouver time, 2 am London time. The AC service employee advised us that the last flight of the day was full and that they have scheduled us on the 8 am flight. When we asked where we were going to stay they advised that all of the hotels are full and there was nothing they could do for us. The customer service employee advised that we would have to find our own accommodation and offered a $10 meal ticket for each of us. I began to get upset with the attitude and lack of assistance and was then told that we could check back at 11 pm and they may have an opening at a Langley hotel. I advised her that this was not acceptable and this is when a second employee called the Fairmont Hotel located at the airport and was told that they had a suite for 4 that would cost $129.00. I was told that I would be responsible for cost. When I advised that this is not acceptable they began to question how we had paid for the trip and maybe it could be claimed back on the credit card for travel interruption. They advised that we could apply to Air Canada and they may or may not pay for the hotel night. I asked to speak to a supervisor. I spoke to a supervisor and explained the delay and dilemma. The supervisor made approximately 4 phone calls as we waited and finally approved the one night stay and provided us with 4 meal vouchers. The entire process took approximately 45 minutes. On the morning of July 21, 2013 we departed the Vancouver Airport in a timely manner and arrived at the scheduled time. Unfortunately we were missing one of our bags. Im not sure how luggage is lost on such a short flight. The bag was subsequently delivered to our house later the same day. I rarely complain about service and believe that I am a reasonable person with reasonable expectations. Delays happen, bags get lost, but I don't think that the The cost of the 4 flights was approximately $7000, booked though the Flight Centre, not a cheap flight and better service is expected. In the end Air Canada Air Canada paid us $300 for baggage delays and nothing further. Air Canada continues to disappoint. I will try to avoid travelling with them whenever possible. read more

Air Canada never has meal options for vegetarians and they try to make you feel like an idiot for asking for it. Both times I had to eat a piece of bread with butter and was starving the whole flight. read more

The only reason Air Canada gets 2 stars is because I arrived alive in Toronto. Arrived in Vancouver from Incheon Int'l Airport and was sent around through customs. I had to recheck my bags before heading onto the flight, and everything went somewhat smoothly, but the staff of Air Canada was rude, unsmiling, and miserable. Plane took off almost 30 minutes late, was freezing cold inside, and I had to pay for a blanket, what was that about? The highlight of this trip was them smashing the wheels off my luggage bag, so I had to drag it all through the airport once I landed. Maybe Korean Air has spoiled me, but I thought Air Canada was just mediocre and won't be running to book with them again. read more

I've been calling the Air Canada Service Center for 4 business days straight now. All I get is a recording telling me every 30 seconds about how my call is "very important" to them. I just hung up after 30 minutes on hold because the last 13 times I have called (no exaggeration) since Thursday I either gave up after 40 minutes or the line mysteriously disconcerted after 30+ minutes. I just called them again on the other line and was told that I could expect to wait between 35 and 52 minutes. Absolutely not worth dealing with these idiots. No doubt some VP is getting a big fat juicy bonus for all the money he's saving on customer service. read more

As a Canadian I ashamed to travel in Air Canada, every time I have traveled in Air Canada I had to come up with the new bad memory from the flight attendance behavior. Air Canada has the worst customer service they treat you very bad. Such as I had to come by Air Canada from Frankfort, Germany to Ottawa two days before, after I have got my seat, the flight attendant came to me with a new boarding pass and moved me from window seat to an aisle seat without any explanation. This moving happened 3 times with 3 new boarding passes. They moved me 2 times from aisle seat, I understand the difference between the business class and the economy class but I do not understand the difference priority between the economy class. The food was really so bad. i chose i star because the yelp wont allow without star to post the comment read more

Air Canada is the most user unfriendly airline I have ever flown. I booked my ticket over one month in advance. On the morning of my flight, I encountered a delay caused by an accident on the road and got to the airport an only an hour and a half early. By the time I got to the check in counter (first time--and last time--ever flying Air Canada) I was told I was 4 minutes late and the flight was now closed. The African American lady that waited on me acted like a total jerk to me. I was told I would now be placed on stand by. I then went through the long security line line and made my way to the gate. I spoke with numerous people at the gate, the boarding would commence in 45 minutes. I conveyed to them that I had a valid ticket and was told the flight was closed. No help was offered to me. I waited the full 45 minutes and was told I was out of luck and that I could be on stand by for the next flight. The next flight came and I was finally allowed to sit on the plane and go to Canada for business purposes (I am an executive who works in sales). The delay caused me to miss a super important meeting with many millions of dollars riding on the results. Needless to say, my lack of presence at this meeting caused negative results. Air Canada is awful. I will fly only American Airlines and Virgin from here on out. Air Candada is overly focused on the enforcement of internal policy and they are FAR from their claims as the best Airline in North America. In fact, they are the worst. I am a first and last time customer and I learned the hard way. I will also be banning travel on Air Candada for my more than 500 direct reports accross North America as a result. I do not feel this is a reliable airline that is committed to hassle free travel. In fact, I feel the opposite. I witnessed numerous people being turned away for similar reasons (they were no more than a couple minutes late for check in). Also, their on line check in system (which I attempted to use) did not work properly. To compound matters, their check in terminals did not work properly. When I approached their counter, my lateness was the result of these frustrations. There were also significant lines and non one to wait on me. Air Canada is an awful, customer unfriendly ariline. I wouldn't recommend them for serious business class use, personal use or any other use for that matter. I give them ZERO stars and have flown thousands of times with American, Virgin, even (United and Delta--both poor as well, though nowhere near as bad as Air Candad). If you are thinking of trying Air Canada, -------Don't! Think again!!! You can't count on Air Canada to take care of you. They could care less about a new customer. They are North America's WORST airline--bar none. read more

This is the worst company I have ever dealt with. I Booked a ticket which my family member canceled at my spouses request, and with out my permission. I called to get it reinstated and was told I have to pay $75 even though it was not me to cancel. So when I requested that be waived and explained what had happened, they refused. Over this I had to pay an additional $45 to rebook my seat. I decided to fly out the following weekend because the ticket was $100 cheaper then what I paid. Upon calling Air Canada I was told I still have to pay $75 and basically lose the extra $100 I paid for my previous booking. What a one sided policy entirely in favour of Air Canada. I will never use them again. read more

We recently flew for PVO to YYJ and due to a variety of issues, cancelled flights, mehanicals, on the United Airlines leg we had to fly a dog legged route home. During this experience we dealt with about 15 United agents and about 10 Air Canada ones. The differnece was quite prononced. THe United agents where discourteous and not (surprizingly) knowledgable about non-routine stuff. As soon as they got out of the usual routine duties they were lost. Didnt know how to change flights or collect FIMs. AC agents were knowledgable and more courteous. Nice change. read more

I have to pay $400 more to redeem my $800 credit for flight Cancellation, Rebook and Transfer Name. Dictated Policy. The end of the day. CANCELLATION AND NO SHOW ARE THE SAME. read more

I am truly disappointed in Air Canada's lack of customer service. We booked a connection flight from Toronto to London, ON. When we arrived in Toronto, we found out that our connection flight to London, ON had been cancelled. After waiting over an hour to receive our bags, we booked a rental car and drove to London, ON. We are now dealing with a rental car return. Our return flight was scheduled with two connections (London to Ottawa, Ottawa to Toronto) before reaching Toronto. We figured since we now have to return a car, we would cancel the two connection flights and drive to Toronto for a direct flight home. Air Canada refused to refund the connection flight tickets, and on top of that would charge us a $700 fee to cancel the connection flights when we already had a direct flight set up from Toronto. Very disappointed in their customer service and will not be flying with nor recommending anyone to Air Canada again. read more

I tried to change my flight to Japan so that I did not take the final flight from Tokyo to Osaka since I decided I wanted to take the train. One of their agents said I could cancel this flight and put a note on my file. I consulted with my traveling companion and when we called back the agent said "Oh, no, that's wrong," and wanted to charge us $500/person. Why? I had taken a Premium Economy upgrade which they are now charging four times as much for. So even though the fare had dropped they wanted to charge us each $500 to not take one flight. And this was doing us a favor since they also should have charged us a $250 change fee, they said, this even though my ticket clearly states that the change fee before the day of flight is $100. The MBAs who are running this airline should go back to school and study how to be sensible human beings. I will not fly Air Canada in the future if I can possibly avoid it. read more

Today I checked in using the booking reference provided on my ticket. Paid for my bag, got the boarding pass which I wanted to be sent to my cell phone. Since I never received that message I called your customer service phone number. Anthony PM from Montreal was assisting me. I never in my life had to deal with such a rude person. He told me that he can not help me since I did not have Air Canada booking number. I told him that I used the booking reference provided on my ticket on your website he told me that is not possible. I begged him to find I way to help me providing all information from my ticket he declined asking only for Air Canada ref number. I asked to talk to his supervisor he replied that that is not possible.Finally my daughter logged in with the same reference number that I was given him found my reservation and my boarding pass. I will post this complaint on all social media sites. Air Canada should not treat its customer like this. read more

outstanding customer service by the staff in every interaction, exceeded my expectation,

This review is on Air Canada at the Pearson International Airport gate 11 in Toronto Canada. This was my first time flying with Air Canada. First impressions are lasting ones and this experience has left a negative impression of this airline. My flight was for August 1st flying into Reagan National airport in Washington DC. My flight time was for 8:55pm, I arrived at the airport at 6pm thinking that was plenty of time. I was not able to use the kiosk to check in and had to get in the line to do this with one of the attendance in check in. This is where the issues start; I stood in line for over a 1 1/2. I got in line at 6:18pm and did not get out until after 7:45pm, mind you this is just to check in and check a bag not even going through security or customs. The line was not supper long for it to take this long of a time, So after standing in line for over an hour and finally making it to the front we were then greeted to a very rude check in attendant who instead of saying I need to leave to go on break, she rudely told me I'm not ready then proceeded to leave while I was standing in front of her desk. She then said rudely someone else will service you and I ask to speak to the supervisor. She then proceeded to walk away I ask for her name she rudely told me you don't need that, I ask again for her supervisor. I kept asking what the supervisor looked like or name and was not provided with it. She then walked off. Here is the kicker the gentleman sitting across from her MR. MENDEL instead of diffusing the situation he added fuel to the FIRE. The first thing out of his mouth was, "what people shouldn't go on break". Now after standing in line this long having customers moved in front of you the last thing you want to hear is a sarcastic remark. So I again asked for the supervisor and was told she is around you can wait to the side, I asked again for a name or what she looked like so I would know When I see her. I was again not given any response. MR.MENDEL then rudely asks if I wanted to wait for the supervisor or check my bag I told him I wanted to do BOTH. MR. MENDEL was very rude was not helpful at all may need to be retrained in customer service. Mr. Mendel then ask why I didn't use the kiosk , which I explained if I was able to I would have . After I expressed that he was being extremely rude and unlike his coworker he is wearing his name time tag. He expressed that he did not care and that I could say his name all day long. This made me believe that he did not care if I complained about his service. MR. MENDEL Could have changed this situation around but instead chose not to. I finally tracked down the supervisor with no help from either attendant. She was very pleasant and the only highlight of this experience. I let her know my concerns and she said she would have conversations with them. After dealing with that situation I get to my gate waiting to board. At 8:50pm the attendant announces that the flight is now delayed until 11:30pm with no other explanation, mind you we are supposed to board at 8:55pm. We did not board the plane until after midnight; I did not get home until after 2am on a flight that was supposed to have me home at 10:18pm. Sorry for the long post but I felt that this matter needed to be addressed. This has been by far my worst traveling experience; I hope that Air Canada can rectify these issues. read more

This is the worst customer service on an airline with the worst policies. I had to call over eight times to be on the phone for multiple hours just to get our seats together and it's still not done. Every agent gave me a different answer for the same question. I was redirected multiple times, placed on hold for crazy wait times and phone disconnected from landline several times. My wife and I are traveling over seas with our toddler and infant lap seat child. I asked for us to be placed together in bassinet aisle. Apparently that's premium seating and they would rather have the policy of charging an additional $300 for me and my son to sit next to my wife carrying the baby on the bassinet aisle. Apparently they prefer to separate families and cause double the disruption for other passengers by splitting us up so more people can be surrounded by kids. We have travelled several times overseas on other airlines and have never encountered any of these issues or policies. And on top of it, agents are totally rude on the phone. They care about money, not customer care. Very disappointing. read more

on July 31, 2012 I was treated the worst imaginable by Air Canada at the Toronto airport. They grounded planes, left thousands of passengers stranded for at least 24 hours. There was no communication and long lines that did not move. I stood in line for 8 hours to try to get rebooked to continue my short vacation in Newfoundland. I ended up booking a reservation on West Jet to get out of Toronto, thus incurring $700 more for my travel, no thanks to Air Canada. Then, returning home yesterday, Air Canada left St. John's, Newfoundland an hour late (this was supposed to be a 6 AM flight) with no explanation to passengers, causing us to miss our connection on a direct flight from Toronto to San Diego. Our travel time was increased from a 12-hour day to a 20 hour day, no thanks to Air Canada. I do not recommend anyone to fly Air Canada. They are the worst airline company I have ever experienced and need to get their act together! read more

Never fly Air Canada. This airline is a logistical nightmare. We missed a connection home to the U.S. in YYZ due to 3 "minor" maintenance delays out of YVR. We got stuck in Toronto overnight, and were given a 1-night hotel voucher. The airline could not get us another flight home to RDU for 3 additional days. I was able to get us to a different airport 2 and 1/2 hours from our final destination the next day and rent a car home after some persistence and creativity. We were told by the airline twice to retrieve our bags in YYZ so we could take them through customs, and were told twice by baggage services in YYZ we could not retrieve our bags. We were assured, however, the bags would be on our new flight to CLT. We arrived in CLT; our bags did not. There was no one from Air Canada at the airport to help us - the ticket desk was closed when our flight arrived, and so was baggage services (we arrived at 6:00 p.m. on a Saturday at a major hub). We were told to go to United Airlines for assistance, a member of Star Alliance and a sister airline, but 3 different UA employees told us they could not help because they do not have access to AC's baggage system. All we could get is an 800 number and an unhelpful person on the line after a hold. Our bags finally arrived in CLT, not RDU, two days later. I've been able to determine they are currently now in IAD for some reason. I assume they might make it back to us eventually. Dealing with Air Canada was a constant frustrating experience filled with miscommunication and misinformation from the airline. When they invite you to share your experience with them, you'll get an email saying you'll get a response in 15 business days for general commentary, 30 business days for baggage concerns, and up to 5 weeks for baggage tracing. Apparently, this airline cannot do anything in a timely fashion. read more

So it's not perfect (when you find an airline that is please let me know) but when it comes to airlines it seems to be the people that make all the difference. Air Canada has many employees who are stepping up day after day and putting in an extra effort to try and make magic happen under trying circumstances. I met two of them this morning at YVR after missing a connecting flight from Honolulu through Vancouver to Calgary and on to Saskatoon. Air Canada YVR ground staff Natalie and Rosa hunkered down for a good 15-20 minutes to get me on a delayed flight to Edmonton and on to Saskatoon after finding everything was oversold to Calgary. But why would I be a fan of an airline that leaves me at the airport? Because a little over 200 USD for a flight from Honolulu to Saskatoon is an amazing price. For all the reviews you read that Air Canada is kind of expensive, keep checking. They come up with some great deals when you least expect it and if a combination of tight connection, YVR gate crew showing up at the 11th hour, immigration (YVR is the best Canadian international gateway in my opinion) and Air Canada trying to get their ping pong Vancouver to Calgary flight off the ground on time leaves you without a plane to catch then see if you can find Natalie and Rosa. Now I need to go use my free food voucher. read more

I flew from LAX to YYZ. Air Canada has the worst customer service. I have flown many airlines and Air Canada is by far the worst for customer service. I flew Air Canada on a red eye flight with my son who had recently turned 3 years old. The flight attendant was extremely rude. My son was grumpy and tired and wouldn't go to sleep in his own seat and I finally got him to go to sleep on my lap. The flight attendant actually came by and rudely said "He needs to be in his own seat". At first I was shocked at how rudely she said it, but I complied and put him in his own seat and of course he woke up and started crying, and then spent a long time trying to console him. Since it was a red eye all the passengers were falling asleep and finally after a lot of crying I was able to get him to go to sleep again in my lap. I had been travelling with him ever since he was born and was familiar with how to have my child in my lap when he was allowed to fly for free on my lap. I had him in the exact same way in my lap, had the seat belt on, and he was sleeping soundly. I also took the opportunity to go to sleep too. To my dismay, the flight attendant came by again and woke me up and demanded that I put my child in his own seat. I was groggy and looked around and all the other passengers were sleeping and some in positions which clearly they weren't wearing their seat belt. I asked her if it was ok if he stayed in my lap because he would wake up and most likely cry. She simply stated "no it's policy for him to be in his own seat" and demanded that I put him in his own seat and she actually called me a bad parent. She literally stood there waiting for me to put him in his own seat. I again complied and put him in his own seat and of course he woke up again and started crying and again it took me a long time to console him. She didn't care about that, she just simply walked away. I have never experienced such horrible customer service before, I used to fly all the time when he was under 2 and he would fall asleep in the exact same position I had him in, just this time he was only a little bit bigger. She had absolutely no compassion at all and was extremely rude. read more

My mom needed to fly to China due to an imminent death, So we called customer service at Air Canada and he didn't address our concerns what so ever. Which was extremely disappointing, because she needed to fly the day after. We were quoted 2600 at first, which was ridiculous even after telling them we needed the bereavement fares, so we called again and asked again for bereavement fares specifically and turns out after 1 hour of explaining it is about 100 dollars in discount. This time we were told it was the last seat available on that day and this person quoted us 1600 to go into China, and not to the destination we want because bereavement fares are only for Air Canada so it was 2000 in total...after this we called a flight agency the next day my mom knew and was quoted 1600 total ... wow Air Canada get your customer services more training or awareness. They're the worst, I suggest people to use anything else other than Air Canada. My mom's father was dying which caused her to wanting a ticket within the next day to hopefully see him one last time. My father and I was not able to go because of how expensive your flights were quoted and somehow it was a different quote every time we called ( within 10) minute of each call. It wasted our time and in the end only mom was able to go. I will never fly with Air Canada again. Thanks for that. read more

Air Canada has to be the worst airline I've ever experienced. I recently had to change a flight to different date and paid the required $428 in changing fees, I checked in ahead of time and reserved my seat hours before the flight. When I got to the gate we were told the flight had been overbooked by 2 passengers. I ended up being bumped off the flight and missing work as a result. When I went to a customer service agent she informed me that they do not handle this type of customer concern. They gave me a card and told me to call a number, which I did and waited 30 minutes to talk to another customer relations agent. The agent told me there was nothing they could do about it and that Air Canada regularly overbooks flights with no guarantee of actually getting on the flight and NO COMPENSATION for the ticket purchased. This is absolute thievery and they have no regard for their customers well-being. I tried asking the customer service agent to please transfer me to someone who could better assist me and he actually HUNG UP on me without giving me any information on how to resolve my issue. It is absurd the amount of money Air Canada is stealing from their own customers who choose to fly with them and the disregard they have for working class people and their money. I highly recommend flying with any other airline before choosing Air Canada. read more

I will never fly Air Canada again. I live in the U.S. and frequently fly home to Canada to see my family. On my most recent flight back to the U.S. from Toronto, we gate checked our bags with an AC employee at the door of the plane. This employee stole our baggage rather than putting it on the plane. It was found 3 days later and turned in to the AC lost baggage department. The AC lost baggage employee found some identifying information inside the suitcase and called me. The employee who had stolen the bag (and my wife's as well) had removed all identifying tags from the exterior of the bag and had put a luggage tag on it to send it to Bermuda. I live in Oregon. I called Air Canada help line and spoke with them several times. They did everything they could not to pay the claim and never have. I only lost about $300 worth of belongings, but they stonewalled me to the point that it wasn't worth it to try to pursue it any longer. I am not upset that my luggage was stolen. Anyone can have a bad employee. I am upset that Air Canada wouldn't make it right . They also could have easily found the employee responsible with the information that I had. They chose not to and I imagine that that man is still stealing other people's luggage at the Toronto airport. I am telling everyone I know not to fly Air Canada. read more

My husband is a hands on person and had struggled with finding a career that he would love. His educational background is an OSSD. We came across a job posting for a station attendant, permanent full time position. He was so excited about the career opportunity (I have never seen him have so much passion to pursue a career)... I mean its Air Canada. The company represents the Nation and is a well known company worldwide. He applied for the job and got it. When it came to pay it was minimum wage at $11.35 per hour (40hrs/wk). WHAT THEY FAILED TO TELL US is that he would be making about $900.00 per week but WOULD ONLY BRING HOME about $500.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Half of his pay was going to union (which he wasn't even covered yet because he was in a 6 month probation as a new hire), taxes and Air Canada Life Insurance. I have seen him come home drenched in sweat from lifting heavy bags and loading them into our proud nations airplanes. He is so heart broken that he has finally found a career that he loves and feels passionate about but the pay is horrible. I know people in local retail that make more then $500.00 per pay. That's $250.00 per week!!!! from Air Canada! I must admit I am horribly disappointed in the company that they pride themselves so much on being awarded for all kinds of things but behind closed doors they are underpaying the employees that make them seem ideal. I have heard that the company has a high turn over rate and that if your looking for a career to support a family..... DONT CHOOSE AIR CANADA! You literally start from the bottom! If things don't change by March 2015 my husband will be forced to look for a more financially supporting career which he is depressed and scared about because he though that Air Canada would be THE ONE! p.s there is apparently a 2% wage increase per year but it will take you about 14 year before you make a little less the $15.00/hr o and don't forget those fees that they will deduct!......LOOKING FOR A JOB? CHECK OUT ALL DETAILS BEFORE CHOOSING AIR CANADA! read more