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How to Claim Compensation for Air Canada Flight Disruptions (step-by-step)

2 minRead
By JasonMay 18, 2022

Delayed three hours or cancelled? Here’s how to claim from Air Canada, and please be kind to the gate agents.

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Has your flight been delayed three hours or more? or even cancelled?

You’re in the right place.

Because In this post, I’m going to show you how to request compensation for your disrupted flight.

Let’s dive right in.

Step 1: Open Air Canada’s customer relations page

Go to https://aircanada.com/customerrelations

Step 2: Choose “Flight Delay or Cancellation Claim”

Click “Flight Delay or Cancellation Claim“, then another button will appear at the bottom to start the claim process.

Screenshot of airline customer service page showing Flight Delay or Cancellation claim form options
Most airlines provide self-service tools to check flight delay and cancellation compensation eligibility.

Step 3: Fill in your details and flight information

Fill in your personal information and flight information.

All information above can be found on your boarding pass and itinerary receipt. Attaching my sample boarding pass down below

Passenger information form with fields for title, name, address, contact details, and frequent flyer numberDelayed or Cancelled Flight information form with fields for airline, flight number, flight date, departure airport, arrival airport, booking reference, and ticket numberAir Canada boarding pass for flight AC1853 from Toronto to Las Vegas, showing 13-digit ticket number and TSA PreCheck information.
Passenger information form with fields for title, name, address, contact details, and frequent flyer number

Step 4: Submit and save your case number

Click submit and a confirmation screen will appear.

You’ll also receive an email with a case number.

Air Canada feedback submission confirmation page with thank you message and file number assignmentAir Canada claim confirmation email for Air Passenger Protection Regulations on flight 103, dated 2022-03-04
Air Canada feedback submission confirmation page with thank you message and file number assignment

Note that it take up to 30 days until you hear back, but in my case, it took me about 7 business days.

Additional Step

If you’ve paid your ticket with a credit card that offers flight delay insurance coverage, you may be eligible to claim expenses incurred during the delay.

It’s worth exploring this option to help offset any unexpected costs.

Click here for more info on claiming expenses using flight delay insurance from credit card.

Claim Result

9 days after submitting the claim, I received a response saying the delay was due to a maintenance issue, and therefore compensation does not apply 🤔

However, they did offer me a $300 AC eCoupon as a gesture of goodwill.

I can’t help but wonder if this was influenced by my status as a 50k elite member.

Air Canada compensation letter displayed on MacBook screen, showing apology for flight AC103 delay and $300 CAD eCoupon offer
Air Canada's response to a flight delay claim with compensation eCoupon.

It’s disheartening to hear that Air Canada often cites maintenance or safety issues as reasons for flight disruptions, thus avoiding compensation for passengers.

Unfortunately, as passengers, we’re often left in the dark about the validity of these claims.

This lack of transparency underscores the importance of advocating for passenger rights and holding airlines accountable for their actions.

Conclusion

Although filing this form does not guarantee you a compensation as your flight could’ve been disrupted by things that are out of Air Canada’s control (extreme weather conditions, mechanical issues etc), it’s still worth the attempt.

I know it’s still frustrating to have your trip plans ruined, but please don’t vent at gate agents or flight attendants.

It’s not their fault!

Anyway, let me know if the claim has worked for you in the comment section down below!

Resources: https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/legal/conditions-carriage-tariffs.html

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