Decision No. 135-C-A-2023

[1] The applicants purchased one-way tickets, via Expedia, to travel from Mexico City, Mexico, to Toronto, Ontario, with the respondent on March 29, 2020.

[2] The applicants state that they attempted to change their flight to an earlier date, due to the worsening COVID-19 situation and recommendation from the Canadian government to return to Canada, but were unsuccessful. The applicants purchased new tickets with the respondent from Mexico City to Toronto on March 23, 2020, and travelled on that flight.

[3] According to the applicants, they contacted the respondent to request a refund of their March 29 tickets and were directed to make their request to Expedia. The applicants state that they received from Expedia a credit to be used within a year from the original date of travel. However, the applicants seek a refund of the cost of the March 29 tickets, or a credit without any limitations.

[4] In this decision, the role of the Agency is to decide whether the respondent properly applied the terms and conditions applicable to the tickets the applicants purchased, as set out in the respondent’s Tariff. The Tariff is a legal document that contains terms, conditions and other rules that apply to the passenger’s ticket.

[5] If the Agency finds that the respondent failed to properly apply its Tariff, it may direct the respondent to take the corrective measures that the Agency considers appropriate or to pay compensation for any expense incurred by a person adversely affected by the respondent’s failure.

Refund

[6] The applicants filed a copy of their March 29 itinerary, which indicates that their tickets were non-refundable. The itinerary also states that the applicants’ reservation was fully cancelled.

[7] According to the Tariff, a passenger is entitled to a refund when there is a flight cancellation initiated by the respondent. When a passenger voluntarily cancels their flight, the Tariff sets out how a voluntary refund may be calculated; however, in this case, the evidence demonstrates that the applicants purchased non-refundable tickets.

[8] The applicants did not file evidence that the respondent cancelled the March 29 flight. Accordingly, the Agency finds that the applicants did not demonstrate that the respondent failed to apply its Tariff when it did not provide them with a refund for their March 29 tickets.

[9] The Agency, therefore, dismisses the application.