Air Canada strike: How to claim your reimbursements (and the free €600)

Air Canada will obviously reimburse alternate flights that travelers had to book during the strike. This is absolutely not surprising: Flytrippers has been telling you for weeks that the law REQUIRES them to do that!!! What might be a bit surprising is that they seem to want to make it easy! And that they included other expenses (hotels and meals). They launched what they call a “goodwill policy.”

There is at least a portion of their policy that indeed shows goodwill. And from discussing with their team, they really seem to want to make things right with travelers to rebuild the trust relationship following the chaos of this strike.

But it’s always better to know your rights and take responsibility rather than relying on any airline, obviously. By the way, it’s pretty sad to see how, when discussing Air Canada’s policy, major media outlets don’t even mention that it’s not really goodwill to offer these basic reimbursements, but rather literally their legal obligation…

Here are the details of the reimbursements and simple monetary compensation for flights departing from Europe, including most importantly how to get them step by step!

Basics of reimbursements and compensation following the Air Canada strike

Before and during the Air Canada strike, we told you to decline the refund offered by the airline. Declining the refund gives you lots of rights.

(If you missed that, you’re also clearly missing out on so many other simple tips and tricks to save money; join 100,000+ savvy Canadian travelers and sign up for our free newsletter now!)

It’s important to understand that there are 2 very distinct things in terms of rights:

• What the law provides (which can be difficult to obtain even if you’re entitled to it)
• What Air Canada offers (under its goodwill policy)

So here’s how to go about getting your reimbursements:

• Make a claim for your expenses under Air Canada’s goodwill policy
• Make a separate claim for your European cash compensation (if denied by Air Canada)
• Make a separate claim for your expenses (if denied by Air Canada)

In short, their intentions seem good so far, so their process under the goodwill policy is clearly the first step to try. But for some expenses and compensations, it might not work. Depending on the result of that first claim, you’ll be able to decide if you want to go further and fight for your rights. 

I’ll give you the step-by-step process after the important basic explanations.

What the law provides

These are simple things that all travelers should know, which apply to almost all flight cancellations.

If your flight (any destination) was cancelled by Air Canada and the airline wouldn’t rebook you for free on another airline, you’re entitled to be reimbursed for the flight you had to buy. That’s the most obvious.

If your flight was international, you’re also entitled to a reimbursement for your expenses incurred for hotels, meals, and more. But also potentially for your losses, like your lost wages!!! But as the protections established in Canada by the Liberal government are weak, it’s not easy to actually get this (even if you’re entitled to it even during a strike, based on case law).

If a flight from your cancelled itinerary departed from almost anywhere in Europe (or also to Europe if a European partner airline is involved any way), you’re also entitled to 300 EUR or 600 EUR (depending on the length) in easy-to-get monetary compensation. This is an amount in cash to compensate for the inconvenience. It doesn’t reimburse specific expenses. It’s in addition to the reimbursement of specific expenses.

What Air Canada offers

Air Canada launched an “exceptional” policy to simplify claims.

They say they will reimburse replacement flights (or alternate transportation modes used) as well as “reasonable” expenses for hotels and meals. In some instances, they also mention “other out-of-pocket expenses” incurred during the disruption.

Their policy applies to all flights, including domestic flights. So it actually goes beyond their legal obligation for those specific flights (because of the weak protection in Canada, courtesy of the Liberal government). This portion, therefore, objectively shows goodwill.

However, their goodwill depends on how they define the concept of “reasonable expense.” To be continued. If they end up denying your claim, you have recourse because a tribunal’s interpretation of what’s reasonable may obviously be very different than Air Canada’s.

Also, I’d be very surprised if their policy reimburses other losses, like lost wages. You’re still entitled to it based on case law, though. But you’ll have to go about it differently to get that; you’ll need to fight.

Finally, their policy doesn’t explicitly include the 600 EUR compensation for flights departing from Europe. So for that, you’ll probably need to claim separately. That part is relatively easy. When I was lucky enough to get a European delay, I got the money effortlessly (although that wasn’t with Air Canada).

How to get reimbursements and compensation following the Air Canada strike

It’s quite fascinating how many questions we received that were all already explained in our guide about the strike. As mentioned, we are genuinely glad to help… if you put in at least some effort. If not… not so much, honestly.

What was indeed missing in our content was the clear step-by-step, actionable bullets. We have those in almost all our newer content to also help those who don’t know how to read well or who don’t want to read everything, but the strike guide was reused after being created for last summer’s strike.

So here are the very clear step-by-step instructions in a turnkey manner.

Air Canada’s goodwill policy

You can get a reimbursement for your flights, hotels, meals, and your “other expenses” incurred during the strike.

Here’s what to do:

• Go to the special page created by Air Canada
• Fill out the form
• ALSO request 600 EUR if your flight is eligible (cite EU 261)
• Screenshot your form and claim
• See the following sections if they deny certain expenses or EU 261 compensation

This should secure reimbursements for the vast majority of travelers, but probably not the EU 261 cash compensation. If you have reimbursements (or especially compensation) to claim for several passengers, it seems that you have to make separate claims.

Other recourse for European compensation

You can get 600 EUR in cash thanks to EU 261 if one of your flights from the cancelled itinerary departed from almost anywhere in Europe (EU, UK, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway) or if it was to those countries and a European partner airline was involved. All details were already in our guide once again. Don’t abandon if you’re denied.

Here’s what to do:

• Go to the Air Canada communications page
• Select “Flight Delay or Cancellation Claim”
• Fill out the form and cite EU 261 regulation
• Screenshot your standalone official complaint
• File a complaint online with the national body of the flight’s country

Air Canada will likely say that a strike voids the EU 261 regulation. That is not true. So follow the steps indicated. 

Other recourse for expenses and losses

You can get a reimbursement for expenses incurred, even if Air Canada initially denies them, but you have to fight a little more.

Here’s what to do:

• Try to contest their denial (by citing the specific laws mentioned for your situation in our guide about your rights)
• File an official complaint with the CTA (just for form’s sake; government incompetence means there’s a 3-year delay🤡)
• Sue Air Canada in small claims court (it’s the only way if you want it to go faster; more detailed article on this coming)

You’ll probably win. But many travelers don’t want to put in a much lower level of effort for many other things… so they probably don’t want to put in this amount of effort, as this one actually is very significant indeed.

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Summary

As we’ve been telling you for weeks, you obviously had the right to be rebooked for free on another airline during the Air Canada strike. If they didn’t do it, you’re entitled to a reimbursement for the alternative flight you booked. For international flights, you also had the right to a reimbursement for hotels and meals… and after all, Air Canada’s goodwill policy includes it even for domestic flights, even though they weren’t obligated to!

What would you like to know about the Air Canada strike reimbursements? Tell us in the comments below.

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Featured image: Air Canada plane (photo credit: David Syphers)