Decision No. 42-C-A-2023

[1] The applicants purchased round-trip tickets for a direct flight with the respondent from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Cancun, Mexico, departing on December 6, 2019, and returning on December 20, 2019.

[2] The applicants state that the respondent cancelled their direct flight from Vancouver to Cancun before the scheduled departure date and that the respondent rebooked them on an overnight flight with a connection in Mexico City, with an arrival to Cancun at 12:15 pm the following day. They state that they contacted the respondent to cancel their reservation because the alternate travel arrangements offered were not acceptable to them. They also indicate that the respondent agreed to refund their tickets, but has failed to do so.

[3] The applicants seek a refund of their tickets in the amount of USD 399.82.

[4] The respondent did not file an answer to the application. Accordingly, the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) accepts the applicants’ claim as undisputed.

[5] In this decision, the role of the Agency is to decide whether the respondent properly applied the terms and conditions that were applicable to the tickets that the applicants purchased, as set out in its Tariff.

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

[7] The respondent’s Tariff provides that in the event of a schedule irregularity, including the cancellation of a passenger’s flight, the respondent must offer to rebook the passenger on a replacement flight to the same ticketed destination. If the alternate transportation proposed by the respondent is not to the passenger’s satisfaction, the respondent must provide the passenger with a refund for the unused portion of their ticket by either issuing a credit in the form of an e-wallet or a refund to the original form of payment, at the passenger’s option, within 20 business days of the passenger’s request for a refund.

[8] Upon receiving notification that their direct, outbound flight had been cancelled and that they had been rebooked on an overnight flight with a connection, the applicants emailed the respondent to advise that the alternate transportation was unacceptable and that they wanted to cancel their reservation. The respondent emailed them, offering changes to their reservation or a refund. The applicants state that the respondent agreed to refund their tickets, opened a case for them and requested their banking details, which were provided on September 29, 2019.

[9] As the applicants still have not been refunded, the Agency finds that the respondent did not properly apply the terms and conditions set out in its Tariff by not refunding the applicants the price that they paid for their tickets.

Order

[10] The Agency orders the respondent to refund the applicants, to the original form of payment used to purchase their tickets, the equivalent amount in Canadian dollars to the amount of USD 399.82, calculated at the Bank of Canada’s historical exchange rate in effect on the date that the applicants purchased their tickets, as soon as possible and no later than May 16, 2023.