Stranded Air Canada customers facing sky-high prices on other airlines

Stranded passengers making alternative travel arrangements. CTV's Allison Hurst reports.

Kelsey Horner, her mom and sister are on a dream vacation to Greece.

“My mom just turned 50; she’s never been to Europe,” said Horner. “We’ve been saving for a long time to be able to do it.”

She says they found out about the strike while on a ferry back to Athens from Mykonos and promptly began trying to get more information about their flights. The next morning, they found out their flights had been cancelled and Air Canada said it “couldn’t find another flight for us to go on.”

In the scramble Horner began searching for other flights with different airlines.

“I’m watching the website crash and then come back on, and the prices increase by $500. And I’m watching it crash again and then it’s coming back up and the prices increase again,” she told CTV News from their holiday rental in Athens.

“I think it’s disgusting the other airlines are now gouging customers who are just trying to get home.”

Rami Rizk is in a similar situation. He and his extended family are stuck in Nice, France. They were there for a wedding when the strike action started and their flights were cancelled.

“Right now, we’re kind of in limbo. Still haven’t been able to get ahold of anybody. We’ve tried every number,” he told CTV News from his hotel in Nice.

They’ve also been looking for alternatives, but prices are sky-high.

“The average ticket is around $6,000 per person so that’d be $12,000 for just my family,” said Rizk.

Don’t accept refund, advocate says

Airline passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs says customers need to first refuse to accept the refund.

“Once you have gotten your ticket on a different airline and you have come home to Canada, your next step is sending Air Canada the bill,” he explained.

He suggested sending it directly to Air Canada’s chief legal officers with a letter of demand showing the original flight.

“If Air Canada doesn’t pay within 30 days, on the 31st date I would serve Air Canada with small claims court papers.”

Horner says she “panicked” and booked another flight for Monday, August 25th and it’s non-refundable. The sisters and their mom are staying at a rental from one of her students who has kindly allowed them to extend their stay but it’s still an added cost.

“I didn’t plan to add another $8,000 to my trip,” she said. “I think it’s really disappointing and sad to see how Air Canada has been handling this.”

Though flights are starting to take off again after the airline and the union representing its flight attendants reached a tentative deal, Air Canada has warned of more cancellations in the coming days, adding that they won’t be fully operational for up to 10 days.