Booking Flights that Never Take Off

This post was inspired from reading an article from CBC: Airlines lure Canadians to buy tickets for flights that will never take off. I wanted to share my thoughts on this matter as it can afftect a lot of people. 

Flights Being Cancelled

The article is fairly long, but here is a quick summary of the point I would like to discuss today. Basically, passengers are complaining that Canadian airlines are selling tickets for scheduled flights, but the flights never actually take off. So when the flight gets cancelled, the passenger has little option to reschedule, so they end up being stuck with a flight voucher, instead of a cash refund. And there is little chance that the passenger will ever be able to use the flight voucher.

Quick Thoughts

Let’s just get this point out of the way. As much as we want to travel, just like everyone else, we just want to make it clear that at Pointshogger, we will be following whatever rules and guidelines the government lays out. So if they are telling Canadians no unnecessary travel, then we will be grounded for the time being. That means that passengers are booking at their own risk. So booking an unnecessary trip is definitely not something that we endorse at this point in time.

Thoughts

That being said, I understand that there are difficult decisions to make if someone has a necessary flight to book. If there is somewhere that someone needs to be and the flight never takes off, it can be a problem. So what happens when that person cannot be where they need to be?

For necessary trips, maybe alternative means of transportation should have been arranged in the first place (if possible) to ensure that you do actually make it to your destination rather than depending on a flight to go ahead. If a flight is the only option possible, you might want to call the airline ahead of time to find out how full the plane is. There is a higher chance the flight will be cancelled of it’s not full enough. It can still be cancelled even if it’s full. I hope airlines are not trying to scam people by overbooking a flight and then cancelling it regardless just to keep their money. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.

In terms of people making unnecessary trips, especially taking a vacation at this time, I think there is little argument that can be made. Airlines have made their rules clear about not offering refunds for cancelled flights, only vouchers. So it really is booking at their own risk.

Whether people agree with the government restrictions or not, we did want to share this news with our readers so that you are prepared to book a trip at your own risk.

What are your thoughts on this matter? Please let us know in the comment section below.