Decision No. 136-C-A-2023

[1] The applicants purchased round-trip tickets through FlightHub to travel with the respondent from Montréal, Quebec, to Cancun, Mexico, departing on June 24, 2020, and returning on July 6, 2020.

[2] On June 8, 2020, FlightHub informed the applicants that their reservation was cancelled and provided them with a travel credit in the amount of CAD 2,541.68. The credit was for travel with the respondent. The applicants state that the respondent did not reinstate flights from Canada and that, therefore, the credit they received is impossible to use. They seek a refund to their original form of payment in the amount of CAD 2,970.77, which represents the amount paid for their tickets (CAD 2,541.68) and the amount paid for travel insurance (CAD 429.09).

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

[4] 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.

[5] The Agency does not have the authority to order the respondent to provide a refund for prepaid travel insurance. Accordingly, the Agency will not consider this aspect of the applicants’ claim.

[6] The respondent’s Tariff provides that if the carrier cancels a flight for reasons within its control, the carrier will offer a refund equal to the fare and charges paid. The refund will be made, at the passenger’s option, in the form of a credit to an e-wallet to be used for the purchase of future travel with the respondent, or to the original form of payment used to purchase the tickets.

[7] The respondent did not file an answer to the application and, therefore, did not submit any information regarding whether the flight cancellation was outside its control. Accordingly, the applicants’ claim is undisputed. The applicants did not indicate whether they were offered the option of a refund to the original form of payment when the flight was cancelled. The Agency, therefore, finds that the respondent failed to properly apply its Tariff when it did not provide the applicants with a refund to the original form of payment used to purchase their tickets.

Order

[8] The Agency orders the respondent to provide the applicants with a refund in the amount of CAD 2,541.68 as soon as possible and not later than October 13, 2023.