A Vancouver man says a relaxing European holiday with his girlfriend was ruined after the couple's bags were lost following a cancelled flight.
The travellers were originally booked on an Air Canada flight from Vancouver International Airport (YVR) on Aug. 28 that stopped in at Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport (YYZ) before heading to Lisbon, Portugal.
A couple of days before they were scheduled to leave, however, the outbound flight was cancelled and the pair were re-booked on a Vancouver to Boston flight and then on one from Boston to Lisbon. Before they boarded their outbound flight, there was a significant delay at YVR and they arrived in Boston after their second flight had already left.
Robert Meca tells Vancouver Is Awesome that the couple was re-booked onto a Delta flight and were told that their luggage would be moved to the new plane.
"Of course, it didn’t arrive," he explains. "I was told I could put a report in online or by phone."
After unsuccessfully trying to submit an online report "countless times," the exasperated traveller went back to the Lisbon airport five days later but they informed him it was too late to make a report and that he had to make one with the airline, which he "been trying to do the entire time."
Vancouver traveller hopes to receive Air Canada flight delay compensation
Since the numbers he had to call were North American, Meca's mother began calling every day for her son while he was away. At one point, she spent 10 hours trying to reach someone.
"She has been hung up on, put on hold for hours then disconnected or told there’s nothing they can do," he says. "Air Canada is telling me it’s Delta’s fault and Delta is saying they have no record of our luggage.
"I really don’t know what to do. The airlines are pointing fingers at each other and no one will own up for our lost luggage and I can’t put a report in."
While his bags have Air Canada tags, airline representatives told Meca to reach out to Delta. But when they got back to Vancouver on Sept. 19, an Air Canada agent was able to put in a report of the lost luggage.
"This has caused me a lot of stress on a supposed to be relaxing vacation. My mom has also been stressed out and even put off work to help us. I’ve wasted a lot of time and so has she," he explains. "I had to go out of the way to buy new clothes and all my necessities when I had just bought everything I needed before I left.
"When boarding the plane, the agent told my girlfriend there was no room for her carry-on and that it had to be checked underneath. They lost that as well which had all of her makeup, blow dryer, etcetera and so the whole trip she had none of that, which made her upset and also not feel good about herself while we were out."
Meca adds that he will "never fly Air Canada again" and feels the airline avoided taking responsibility. He hopes he will get compensation for the lost baggage as well as the clothing he had to purchase while he was in Europe.
V.I.A. has reached out to Air Canada for comment.
