Trip Advice

I would wait until you are about 2 weeks ahead of your scheduled flight departure date. There's a very good chance your flights will be canceled by the airline (in fact, there's a good chance it's already been canceled - most international flights on most airlines have already been canceled). Then call them and ask for what you want - a full refund, or reschedule to the date you want.

Your best chance of getting what you want (and just getting through to them, for that matter) is to wait until it's close to your scheduled flight date. Don't call now, that just needlessly ties up the phone lines and agents, who need to be utilized by folks with more urgent needs.

Thanks David. I've been checking my flight every day for updates and so far it is still scheduled. Hoping they cancel it so that I can get the full refund.

I've been scrambling to book a flight home for a family member (home for her is Thailand). So I'm keenly aware of how dramatically and how quickly things have changed. I've watched one large international airline after another cut its schedule, some shrinking down to almost nothing, a handful shutting down entirely. I don't think any airline is still flying a large number of longhaul international flights - some are trying to maintain a skeleton schedule. Also, many (most?) countries have taken steps to close their borders entirely, even to just transiting passengers, some with lesser restrictions.

I have not been following Air Canada but I know United cut most of their international flights last week; Air Canada is probably doing something similar. And things tighten up with almost every passing day (we've had to rebook our family member twice, as her first flights collapsed or her transit city banned all transit passengers....we're keeping our fingers crossed hoping things don't continue to collapse in the next 24 hours before she boards her flight).

The international air travel system is now just a tiny shell of what it was compared to 2 weeks ago. You simply can't get around easily any more - most flights are gone and countries ban foreigners. I would be surprised if your flights were not canceled before your scheduled departure. Just keep tracking what's happening, stay ahead of it and you should be OK. Good luck.

The flight may still be listed on your itinerary, but it's probably not flying. Look up the same flight for any day this week and it will probably have a big red "cancelled" on the webpage somewhere. So, as David said, just sit tight. If the flight is cancelled by the airline, you can apply for a refund but you'll have to be closer to the date.

Not to worry, emo-x-nerd, United has already canceled a key link. According to the "Domestic and International Schedule Reductions" page on United's "Hub" Website, "We will suspend all flying to Canada effective April 1." And Air Canada's "Operating schedule" says they will serve France with only one daily flight, between Montreal and Paris, beginning April 1. All of this is of course subject to change.

According to Air Canada's Web site, if they cancel your flight you can apply for a refund of your seat selection charge. If you cancel, you can apply the value to a future seat selection. These are recent policies. Historically, Air Canada's seat selection charges were among the most non-refundable of the non-refundable charges levied by the airline; even in the event of an involuntary flight change, you had to beg for a seat assignment equivalent to the one you'd already paid for. I suspect you'll still have to beg.

So I am a bit confused—-the flights were booked with United but some legs are on Air Canada? So does United’s cancellation/refund policy apply to the flight refund, and air Canada’s only to the seat selection fees?

Assuming that is the case, I can tell you a family member’s experience. She and her husband were scheduled to fly to Paris tomorrow, with a return from Paris in 10 days, all on United, in First class. Around $8000 in costs, and they booked last August. They waited to cancel the flight in hopes United would cancel it instead, and they did. So my sister-in-law called United (only 15 minutes on hold) and requested a refund for the canceled flights. The agent was very nice, put her on hold twice to contact higher-ups, but the end result was the same as they state on the website for flights the passenger cancels: They cannot get a straight refund now. They get a credit voucher in the full amount for a future flight, which must be within one year of the date the original tickets were booked and paid for. For them this is August 13. If they choose not to go, they can get a full refund on August 14.

She asked for written confirmation of that and was told that it is one the website, which it is, although nowhere does it say that applies to flights the airline cancels as well as to passenger cancellations. Or maybe I am just not reading it correctly. But the agent was firm about that being their only option—-a refund delayed until August. My SIL (who is not the least bit shy) asked. “How do I know you will still be in business then?” And the agent said not to worry about that.

This trip was to be a spring break trip with their daughter’s family—-two grandkids, Barcelona and Paris. They paid for the other family’s tickets too, but in Economy not First. They were booked on Delta, and flying Friday. SIL called Delta (on hold a very short time) and got a full refund, no waiting.

I did a search as Bets suggested and as of this week, United flights operated by Air Canada from LAX to Paris were still in effect. But as Cognac said, I suspect the schedule reductions starting April 1st will most likely cancel the flight. I hope I could get the refund should they cancel the flight, but if I didn't get my money back for the seat selection I'd be okay with that since it was a fraction of the ticket cost.

Lola, thank you for sharing that experience. It definitely didn't sound pleasant and it makes me think that I now may be stuck going in October. It wouldn't be so bad but with this pandemic causing a global economy crisis, I don't think it is wise to travel this year.