Two families who exchanged their house in Quebec and Belgium end their holidays on a bitter note, when they may have to pay several thousand additional dollars to go home.
“Our flight is on Sunday, I work on Monday and my daughter has volleyball selections on Tuesday. We also have a dog and a cat that we keep and we are supposed to have our windows change on Monday also ”, explains the resident of Quebec François Robert, live from Huy, in Belgium, with his spouse, their children and his mother.
“We are in total nothingness. All we can do is wait for them to cancel our flight, ”he adds, visibly worried.
Although they are trying to enjoy their last days in Quebec, Aurélie Dubois and her loved ones also live the stress of seeing their return flight for Belgium canceled.
“We are trying to enjoy our vacation normally, but it’s stressful. We cross our fingers so that our flight is not canceled, but we have no certainty, ”underlines the one who is traveling in Quebec in the company of her husband, their three children and her brother and her partner.
More than $ 17,000
Although Air Canada said that passenger tickets not transferable to another flight will be reimbursed, the two families could nevertheless have to pay an exorbitant amount to go home.
Thursday, for example, the only alternative available to François Robert to return to the scheduled date cost more than $ 17,000 for six tickets between Brussels and Quebec.
“It was really at that time that it started to be more stressful, to the point of having it misery to sleep last night. My margin of credit is limited, and I would not even be able to pass the transaction on my card, ”he explains.
“We don’t want the return to cost more than the entire trip,” adds Aurélie Dubois.
Air Canada, it’s over
For his part, the spouse of François Robert, Geneviève Beaucage, is sorry to note that very little aid is provided to him by the carrier.
“We are trying to be proactive and find solutions, but all that we are told is to wait for the Air Canada directives. Meanwhile, flights are filling up and prices continue to increase. ”
“This is not our first trip, but it was the first time that we reserved with Air Canada and it will probably be the last. No one is immune to a strike, but we would like to at least be accompanied a minimum. It ends a little our fishing trip, ”concludes Geneviève Beaucage.
