A traveler is angry at Air Canada Aeroplan, because her Air India business class seat was broken on an award ticket, among other things. Is there merit to this complaint, or is the frustration misdirected?
Continue reading: I’m Struggling With This Air Canada Aeroplan Complaint…
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Just FYI Air India sent out a mail to everyone on 13th April (not just those booked on Tokyo Flights) that their operations were going to be shifted from Narita to Haneda.
Ridiculous complaint. She should be grateful that AC even offered her a 200 CAD voucher…
I rather lack sympathy here. I check my ticket with the other airline multiple times before departure, especially in the week or two leading up to the flight. And the seat is on Air India- but maybe she doesn’t want Air India compensation…
The schedule change happened to us recently. Booked an biz through aeroplan as an added segment on an intercontinental biz. A few days before departure my whole itinerary would appear not to be found on the Swiss system and even when trying on manage on Aeroplan it would error out.
Called Aeroplan and was told that there was a significant schedule change and apparently they had sent a notification 3 months prior. I am confident I never got the notification. However, was able to resolve with them over the phone and the Aeroplan team was very accomodating in rebooking the effected segment.
However, something is definitely broken with the Aeroplan notifications, but agree that it is always good to check with the operating airline as well.
The schedule change happened to us recently. Booked an biz through aeroplan as an added segment on an intercontinental biz. A few days before departure my whole itinerary would appear not to be found on the Swiss system and even when trying on manage on Aeroplan it would error out.
Called Aeroplan and was told that there was a significant schedule change and apparently they had sent a notification 3 months prior. I am confident I never got the notification. However, was able to resolve with them over the phone and the Aeroplan team was very accomodating in rebooking the effected segment.
However, something is definitely broken with the Aeroplan notifications, but agree that it is always good to check with the operating airline as well.
Had a schedule change with Aeroplan too, far out. United cancelled a flight to swap to a United Express carrier. No email or notification. I only realized after I opened Flighty and the flight was marked as cancelled. When I checked the United app, I had already been rebooked onto the new flight that left a few minutes later. No big deal but I was surprised they're was no communication from Aeroplan or UA.
Which airlines did she fly to earn the miles redeemed for this flight? Maybe they should also bear some of the blame.
I dont think she did her homework for anything. Air India is just terrible overall and also annoying to see it come up for aeroplan redemptions. Always check status. Have your info readily available to carrier in case of issues of flight changes and not with aeroplan. Aeroplan is just a ticketing agent. Her seat broken, she has to pick that up with Air India. However i doubt anything will happen with the way they treat customers(they dont care).
“I rarely tweet”
False.
Maybe she meant “My tweets are rarely confused misdirected complaints”.
If i was Air Canada i'd tell her to take a hike! Crazy bugger....entitiled, cause the seats broken? She's lucky she got a buggery seat!
I think you summarized it very well. And this is why one must "garden your reservations." Take up the complaint(s) with Air India since they are the ones operating the flight, though I don't think they will go anywhere.
Also, a $431 "emergency" transport from NRT to HND? First of all, is that price normal? And what constitutes "emergency" transport? Like police escort?
The closest I have had to something like this was a Qatar flight shifting from DXB to DWC. And then switching back to DXB. No notifications other than looking at the reservation occasionally on my American Airlines app.
While she sounds like an attention seeking nutcase, she does gave the right to be upset at the fact Aeroplan never sends schedule change updates.
It literally is a codeshare lol. The definition of a codeshare is this exact booking.
The issue is not with Air India as the contract was not between Air India and the customer. The booking and agreement was between the customer and Air Canada. Once a week on Mondays airlines "reconcile" their bookings and this is an issue Air Canada needs to resolve with it's customer, then they rectify with Air India afterwards.
Everyone judging her should take a chill pill. Almost everything she says/complains about is from ignorance, not because she's malicious or a crazy person.
Aeroplan partner rewards are simply another form of ticketing a flight. There was no "codeshare" with Air India/Air Canada. Therefore, her flight was the sole responsibility of Air India at that point. It was also her own fault for not checking HND vs NRT.
Seems to me she's just a very inexperienced traveler and didn't know that she should be asking Air India for recourse.
Air Canada owns aeroplan, and ultimately not provide the product she purchased (points or cash). Air Canada has the responsibility to make her whole, and they can seek damages from Air India. I’m not sure how this could be viewed any other way.
Customer service in Canada is often dictatorial and lousy. Prices are high. That is why Canada could benefit from being the 51st state but we shouldn't want those hateful and jealous people. Let France take them over.
How did she not expect a broken seat onboard Air India aircraft.
A name changing intellectual's wisdom would have been handy for her. "Visualise yourself flying Qsuites or Air France or JAL or something of that kind! ;)"
@ Trevor Dow -- I understand it can be confusing, but it's not a codeshare. A codeshare is when one airline markets the flight of another airline with its own flight number (hence the "code" is being "shared"). In this case, the airlines share a mutual alliance, they have a loyalty collaboration, and they have an interline agreement, but this flight wasn't booked as part of any codeshare agreement. Not that it actually matters...
Sad, for what she paid to get from one airport to the other, she might have gotten a decent seat on a better airline.
To the overzealous USA "patriot": you must not fly USA airlines enough if you think their customer service is somehow better. There is no reason to feel superior, son.
@ SDF -- It can be viewed a different way because that's simply not how the airline industry works.
For example, the European Union dictates the compensation airlines have to pay in the event of delays or cancelations. If you are eligible, you need to request that from the operating airline, and not the airline that sold you the ticket. That's just one (concrete) example...
She has a contract with AC to get her in from Tokyo to whatever her final destination mat be in Air India business class, which is exactly what they delivered
Here's how she earned the miles: https://youtu.be/zZn0njzFL68?si=qAvCa4ncfmTE2yPp&t=169
Seems to be a normal Air Canada problem they are pathetic about sending out sked changes.
Air Canada did the ticketing they are responsible for notifying the passenger of a skeg change.
I have a low level of sympathy for Ms. Mittal, but I do have a little.
We all know that not all airlines have the same level of attention to service, quality, consistency and safety. In this case, it seems like the root cause of the issues here is Air India - not Aeroplan. Air India changed the departure and Air India is responsible for their faulty equipment. While, I am sure Ms. Mittal chose the route based on convenience and award availability, Air India’s unreliability is well known. Having played the points game for more than 25 years now, there are simply some airlines that I will not touch no matter how attractive the award and routing maybe. Air India is on that list. I think the lesson here is to have a critical think about who you are flying.
With respect to being notified of a significant change, clearly that should have been communicated, no excuses. That said, this underscores the need to pay attention and expect changes. Schedules, layover times, equipment and routing changes are all common in air travel, regardless of the airline. That is just reality. While we can rightfully blame the airlines, that does not solve anything when you are stressed out and sitting in a broken seat on a 10 hour flight.
Like many things in life, you need to be your own agent and advocate.
Which credit card did she use to buy those tickets? I think they should also be held to account. I also vote to include the restaurant where she ate lunch that afternoon in the list of guilty parties.
"Ben roasts randos who mention him in misguided complaints on X" seems to be a new series at OMAAT.
She should also blame the government at the location she booked the ticket. Maybe global warming too?
I agree with Keith below. Having flown Air India many times for work, their mantra should be ‘expect the unexpected’ (and not in a good way).
One tip that maybe helpful…. When I make an award booking, I always obtain the booking reference for the partner airline (this may be different than the booking reference you get when you book the award and sometimes you have to call the booking airline to get this - hello BA). Then I download the App for the partner airline and upload the booking reference. This increases your chances of being updated on changes directly from the airline you are flying and not having to rely on a third party. This also makes it easier to change seats, order meals, etc.
One tip that maybe helpful…. When I make an award booking, I always obtain the booking reference for the partner airline (this may be different than the booking reference you get when you book the award and sometimes you have to call the booking airline to get this - hello BA). Then I download the App for the partner airline and upload the booking reference. This increases your chances of being updated on changes directly from the airline you are flying and not having to rely on a third party. This also makes it easier to change seats, order meals, etc.
@ Levi -- Lol, in fairness, I also often bring light to legitimate complaints that people have, and have covered lots of those in recent weeks (like the Oman Air baggage issue on a Mileage Plan award). I just call 'em as I see 'em.
I lol’ed at the $400 dollar cost from NRT to HND. Maybe she took a helicopter or police escort. The story loses credit based on this.
I booked 87.5k aeroplan J award from HKG to DEL to YYZ with Air India in June and I was expecting a uniquely bad experience. But luckily Air India had a schedule change and now aeroplan rerouted me through ICN and opened up award space between ICN to YYZ for my accommodation. Score…
Was this really a codeshare, or just an award booked Tokyo to Delhi? Would be odd for AC to sell a codeshare flight that never touched Canada.
Also, perhaps the lesson for AC and all of *A is to evict AI until they can provide a decent level of service and planes not held together by duct tape.
A Narita joke: Narita is 2hr from everywhere, including Tokyo.
Pairing up with Japan Taxi price, 400 USD don't seem too large.
Not a good move. The NH lounge is already packed to the brim with other *A passengers.
If you really want to have a perspective to respond, read the airlines "Contract of Carriage" which we all agree to, or they will not sell us a ticket. I haven't read them in detail for each airline I travel, but I assume it's in favor of the airline. Therefore, I make sure I take personal responsibility for curating the reservation. Checking regularly, and frequently the closer time comes to travel. Equipment insufficiency happens, believe it or not they didn't pick your name to get the crappy seat. Let's all take responsibility for making the best of life as it happens.
You have repeated this in the comment section. I have flown Air Canada extensively over the last 8 years and have never, personally, had a schedule change that hasn't been sent to me by email AND text. Perhaps individual experiences are not indicative of everyone's experience and should not be generalized to Air Canada "never" sending schedule changes
“Seems to me she's just a very inexperienced traveler…”
Clearly, that’s the case.
However, before publicly bitching about the wrong “responsible” party, she would serve herself better to ask questions before screaming about it, displaying her ignorance, and embarrassing herself.
You can rearrange her PNR to LMFAO. Don't know why I saw that maybe it was in response to the sad state of the seat on the AI flight.
You are insane. And a clown. You are an insane clown. That is meant in the nice way.
Did she not check in online? Or just wasn’t paying attention?
If the flight was cancelled she would have her miles reinstated, so why wouldn’t AC be responsible in some way for partial comp? I think the true answer is AC should deal with AI to get her some miles back for the seat. No comp for schedule change.
Why aeroplan? Legally it’s entirely the responsibility of air India if they were the operating and marketing carrier. Award tickets are always booked under the operating carrier so she must refer to AI
Hi Ben in Singapore our lemon laws are based on who you purchased from i.e. the logo on the receipt. This is ensure money collectors source reliably and not pass the buck. Also this I can related with this lady. Legally AI also have no legal contract with her. While u say this is how the industry works that does not mean it’s right
The contract here is with AI not the ticketing carrier. The operating carrier is always liable to inform the customer. If you have another airline’s ticket and the flight is operated and marketed by AI, the contract / conditions of carriage / Montreal convention apply to the operating carrier.
In fact EC261 applies to the marketing carrier now following a ruling by the European court of justice. So if your flight is operated by United from EWR -FRA and marketed by LH and had a 5 hr tech delay, LH is liable to pay €600. That’s even the case of it’s a domestic - international connection marketed by an EU carrier.
Untrue. If it’s operated and marketed by AI it’s entirely there liability. AC isn’t responsible for a broken seat on air India. legally the contract is with air India.
She didn’t have any contract with air Canada if the flight was operated and marketed by air India.
To be clear, if an email from an airline ends up in the spam folder then the caselaw is that it is the airline's responsibility since their prior bad acts (spamming people) resulted in a lowered domain reputation. If there is an affirmative duty to notify then there is also an affirmative duty to ensure delivery of said notification.
I assumed she is an inexperience traveler unfamiliar with how the industry works, but then how would she even know this website exists?
Maybe someone told her about it?
Considering the move happened as 31.03.2025 sending a mail out to everyone on 13.04.2025 seems a little bit too late.
Anyone who uses money or miles to book with Air India should have their head examined. I just used Aeroplan miles to book a flight on Air Mauritius to Mauritius, which also flies to India. Fly any other airline other than Air India, that's the advice that one can consistently give every single year.
With the depreciating Yen, 400USD+ seems overstretched. Maybe half the price, yes.
I had a pretty solid experience flying them a few months ago. I think they're definitely trying to improve but consistency isn't guaranteed for now.
Much as I follow the rationale here, I don't think that this would be universally true. Court systems vary in things like their 'business friendliness' or ability/willingness to engage with the way IT systems work.
People who are insisting that airlines are not legally responsible for the services provided on the tickets they sell come across as having a lack of understanding of basic contract law.
When it comes to selling a ticket containing one or more flights, there are three roles that a carrier can play: PLATE the ticket, MARKET one or more segments, and OPERATE one or more segments.
When it's a 057-plated ticket for one-way travel CDG-VLC on AF1420 which is operated by Air France, there's clearly no doubt as to who can be pursued in respect of any issues arising.
Let's now say there's a 006-plated ticket for travel on a Delta-marketed, Delta-operated flight from the USA to CDG connecting to DL8354 (the DL code for the AF1420 to VLC).
It's true that the 261 rules stipulate that AF is liable provide compensation for any issues relating to delays or cancellations of that flight. But can anyone guess WHY the regulations would need to stipulate that the carrier plating the ticket isn't responsible for compensating passengers for delays and cancellations caused by the operating carrier? I think that the explanation is very simple: in many/most jurisdictions, there's NO CONTRACT if no consideration has been exchanged between the parties, so the stipulation is a way of exceptionally holding the operating carrier responsible through the civil courts.
If a customer has paid money to a large construction firm in exchange for renovating their house and the firm then subcontracts the building work to a small local company, they aren't normally able to sue the subcontractors for damage caused by their negligence - the consumer's claim needs to go straight to the large firm, and that firm would then have the right to pursue the subcontractors in a separate legal case, because, unlike the end customer, it has had a contract with the subcontractors and paid them to undertake work to a decent standard. Can anyone explain whether the above logic can't/shouldn't/doesn't apply to airlines subcontracting transport services to their codeshare partners?
For anyone struggling with reading comprehension, I should reiterate that I am not defending the actions of the person in question and/or saying that the airline is at fault. I'm only raising a general legal point.
How can she not have a contract with Air Canada when they have received miles and money from her and issued her a ticket?
AC can try to argue they've only been acting as a travel agent on behalf of AI, but I suspect they'd struggle to convince any court of the value of such an argument considering they've presumably issued the ticket on their own ticket stock and subject to the terms defined within their frequent flyer programme, over which AI has little/no control.
The fact that this was an Air India redemption is warning enough about what to expect.
I have a bit of sympathy here while I would never book air India and expect something passable…I think the ticket being issued on AC stock does create a bit of an issue regarding who to throw a complaint at depending on how air India would handle it. Case in point - recently booked an Etihad flight using Aeroplan. 2 sectors, got downgraded on the 1st sector. Etihad refused to rebook me since ticket was AC stock. Gave me a voucher but then refused to honor it because it was AC stock and directed me to AC. Complained to AC and they came back with reach out to Etihad…who then says they can’t help because it’s not their ticket. I guess my point is if the operating carrier hides behind the ticket number then where else could you go but the ticketing carrier to complain?
There's a very sound reason why Ben gave this the time of day. That is, to tell anyone who may not have thought of it as an issue, that if you book an award ticket, for most things you need to talk to the operating airline, not the FF plan you used to book the flight.
@Ben
She booked Air India... what does she expect?
*On another note Air Canada has a glitch, most people wont care about since most don't travel here*
Astana, Kazakhstan is show on Air Canada Aeroplan as the old code (TSE), and of course can NEVER find any flights available, since the airport is actually using the new code (NQZ) which represents the "old" city name Nur Sultan. It needs to be fixed!!!! Please help!
EY had to rebook as it’s their flight. Unfortunately third rate third party call centres don’t have any experience. The issuing carrier is liable for any refund
Oh I know they should have - this was at the airport by the way not the call center, they informed me of the downgrade at bag drop after I had already checked in online but claimed they would not rebook me as it was on Air Canada stock and I should take it up with Air Canada.... They should have I know as the ticket is within their control at that point but they hid behind the AC stock. I guess thats what im saying, should have vs. what happens is highly dependent on the partner carrier
I totally agree with you Ben .. it is the responsibility of the traveler to recheck the flight timetable before few days and at the travel date as well .. Another thing i always do when i redeem ticket on partner airline .. i call the operating airline and try to get the reservation code as per the operating airline NOT the issuing ticket airline to be sure that every thing is fine .
Don't all rush at once, there seemed to be lots of you who are certain that the operating carrier is always responsible no matter what, so you surely must have an idea as to why that's the case.
Regarding not notified for schedule changes -- I think that's BS. I've booked Air India reward tickets via Aeroplan & received an update on every change -- including by a few minutes. This seems more of an inbox / spam / negligence issue. If not notifications, almost everyone checks 24 hours before for an international flight.
As per broken seats, and what not. She booked Air India business class. Duh! Sympathies.
I have a current Aeroplan booking for a combination of Air Canada and Swiss travel. I recently noticed flight schedules changes with my flight (which are next month) for the segment operated by Air Canada after checking my reservation online. I only found out about the schedule change through checking my reservation in my Aeroplan account. However, I received no notification from Aeroplan. Double checked my email spam folders.
When I called aeroplan to change my flight, the agent would not believe that Aeroplan never sent me an update about the schedule change. The agent also said that because a certain amount of time had changed since the schedule change, and I hadn't contacted aeroplan earlier, I was forced to keep the change.
It was only after I pointed out that Aeroplan had rebooked me on a flight with a 16 min connection did Aeroplan try to help rebook flights.
Now I check my aeroplan reservations once a week because I don't count on Aeroplan to notify me if there is a schedule change.
So you want a "premium experience" but you don't check your booking in the days before travelling long-haul? At least to choose/change your seat or review meal options maybe?
I guarantee that 100% of people with the name "Devika Mittal" know that Air India is trash.
As I reported earlier I had a Q Suite booked MLE DOH SEA on QR ticketed AA on points. QR SWITCHED to old CX 777, changed seat assignments for wife properly and forgot to update MY ticked # but wife's ok on same PNR. Forced to purchase economy full price emergency ticket.
Outcome was both airlines denied responsibility and still owed $3300 by QR
Good luck trying to get compensation
A bad idea to purchase travel on QR with AA points as QR has rubbish customer service (and AA wasn't any better).