WestJet Strike Looming

[KrisYYC]

Westjet pilots just served 72 hour strike notice.

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/notice-gi...ched-1.6398890

[ExtraSlow]

Be a good summer to drive everywhere I guess.

[bjstare]

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Westjet pilots just served 72 hour strike notice.

https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/notice-gi...ched-1.6398890

I'm on a WJ flight Thur afternoon to head home from work haha. Wonder if I should go home a day earlier, idk if cutting it close is cause for concern or not. Genuinely interested in opinions from guys who know about this stuff.

Logic tells me either they're operational, or they're striking, and since the strike notice is for after my flight takes place... nothing to worry about... right?

[KrisYYC]

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I'm on a WJ flight Thur afternoon to head home from work haha. Wonder if I should go home a day earlier, idk if cutting it close is cause for concern or not. Genuinely interested in opinions from guys who know about this stuff.

Logic tells me either they're operational, or they're striking, and since the strike notice is for after my flight takes place... nothing to worry about... right?

They legally can't strike or be locked out before. So I wouldn't worry too much.

[pheoxs]

Yeah, first strikes is Friday morning as they have to give 72 hour notice and they just gave that overnight. Thurs flights are perfectly safe.

I'm nervous as fuck though as we fly south tomorrow but the flight home next Wed is going to be fucked if they're striking.

[bjstare]

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They legally can't strike or be locked out before. So I wouldn't worry too much.

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Yeah, first strikes is Friday morning as they have to give 72 hour notice and they just gave that overnight. Thurs flights are perfectly safe.

That's what I figured. Was just wondering if there was any concern with them rebooking people onto earlier flights and dicking me around. I'm sure it'll be fine.

[taemo]

We are supposed to fly to Europe next Thursday, hopefully they will get this resolved before Friday or before our flight.
Is WJ obligated to book us for another flight if they are still on strike next week?

[S-FLY]

I have some pretty amazing seats for the Jays games this weekend, supposed to fly WJ Saturday morning.

[pheoxs]

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We are supposed to fly to Europe next Thursday, hopefully they will get this resolved before Friday or before our flight.
Is WJ obligated to book us for another flight if they are still on strike next week?

They're obligated to rebook you on a flight within 48 hours of your original flight or provide a full refund for your flight.

Both fuck up vacations though so you lose days or worse you get the flight refunded and screwed on all your other bookings. Definitely worth to check up on what travel insurance you have on your card.

[taemo]

^ill call WJ RBC WE travel insurance on friday, will keep monitoring the situation and the facebook passenger rights group
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/how-possi...port-1.6400586

[pheoxs]

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^ill call WJ RBC WE travel insurance on friday, will keep monitoring the situation and the facebook passenger rights group
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/how-possi...port-1.6400586

Keep us updated but I think a lot of people will be SOL. The federal passenger bill of rights lists strikes as an exclusion for airlines needing to provide additional compensation.

There's also some shitty workarounds they can do to screw passengers too. For example WJ can rebook you via a different airport so long as they provide transport to the other airport. So hypothetically they could rebook us on a Air Canada flight via Edmonton and then put us on a bus up there. Hopefully that doesn't happen though; this whole thing is a mess.

[Manhattan]

Anyone know if WJ is allowing early refunds at this point? Parents flying out to Europe next week for a cruise. I'd rather rebook their flights proactively now than wait for a possible resolution and 48 hr delays.

[Manhattan]

Sounds like WJ is obligated to cover all your damages on international flights...could end up a pretty hefty expense for them but I'm sure they'll deny it and wait for ppl to take them to court. Would be a real hassle though. I'd still rather proactively cancel and book something else if given the opportunity. Will give them a call tomorrow to see if possible to cancel. AC flights to europe aren't too crazy right now.

https://airpassengerrights.ca/en/blo...are-my-rights?

[taemo]

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Sounds like WJ is obligated to cover all your damages on international flights...could end up a pretty hefty expense for them but I'm sure they'll deny it and wait for ppl to take them to court. Would be a real hassle though. I'd still rather proactively cancel and book something else if given the opportunity. Will give them a call tomorrow to see if possible to cancel. AC flights to europe aren't too crazy right now.

https://airpassengerrights.ca/en/blo...are-my-rights?

I've been reading that and reviewing the WJ RBC WE insurance coverage, for now we are not going to make any changes on our trip and just wait and see if the strike will happen this Friday and if they will cancel our flight for next Thursday.
Good thing I reviewed and called RBC regarding the insurance coverage, because the card only has Trip Interruption coverage, strike will not be covered.
Will be buying a trip cancellation insurance tomorrow just to be on the safe side.

[Manhattan]

You can buy trip cancellation coverage as long as its before the trip begins? How does it work - like does it help pay for you to rebook or covers all the things you missed e.g. a cruise?

[taemo]

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You can buy trip cancellation coverage as long as its before the trip begins? How does it work - like does it help pay for you to rebook or covers all the things you missed e.g. a cruise?

Did your parents pay for the cruise already?
Trip cancellation will cover the cost of all pre-paid items before departure date such as paid flight, transportation, reservations and accommodations.

Right now we have spent about $5400 for our upcoming trip for flights, trains and reservations, paid about 330$ for the insurance and if trip gets cancelled then I can submit a claim to get our $5400 back.

I booked through here
https://sales.allianz-assistance.ca/...ntents/OurPlan
Will be calling them tomorrow too to confirm that strike is covered by the policy, also have 10 days grace period to cancel the policy if deemed no longer required

[Manhattan]

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Did your parents pay for the cruise already?
Trip cancellation will cover the cost of all pre-paid items before departure date such as paid flight, transportation, reservations and accommodations.

Right now we have spent about $5400 for our upcoming trip for flights, trains and reservations, paid about 330$ for the insurance and if trip gets cancelled then I can submit a claim to get our $5400 back.

I booked through here
https://sales.allianz-assistance.ca/...ntents/OurPlan
Will be calling them tomorrow too to confirm that strike is covered by the policy, also have 10 days grace period to cancel the policy if deemed no longer required

Ya cruise and a few hotels are fully paid and not refundable. Its about the same cost as your trip ~$5 to 6K on those pre-paid items. Booked with CIBC Aventura Visa. Their insurance only covers max up to $1500/pp so it wouldn't fully cover their trip. Gonna need to call later to see if there's more options for buying additional insurance.

I'd definitely read the fine print to make sure labour actions are covered on top of hearing it from the agents. Always get it in writing cuz agents will tell you anything to make a sale. Keep us posted on how it goes on your side.

[taemo]

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Ya cruise and a few hotels are fully paid and not refundable. Its about the same cost as your trip ~$5 to 6K on those pre-paid items. Booked with CIBC Aventura Visa. Their insurance only covers max up to $1500/pp so it wouldn't fully cover their trip. Gonna need to call later to see if there's more options for buying additional insurance.

I'd definitely read the fine print to make sure labour actions are covered on top of hearing it from the agents. Always get it in writing cuz agents will tell you anything to make a sale. Keep us posted on how it goes on your side.

Called them twice, both ladies told me that if WestJet goes on strike and cancels our flight, then we are covered by the travel cancellation insurance.
Which is why also the Air Passenger Rights group also suggests not to change/cancel your booking until WestJet does it for you.

This clause on the insurance document got me worried as I bought the insurance last night but flights and reservations were purchased couple of months ago, but the lady assured me that we are still covered. I have this audio recorded and also have a case #

Are you eligible for coverage?
To be eligible for any insurance coverage you must:
• be a Canadian citizen or be a permanent or temporary resident of Canada;
• have had your application for coverage accepted and the entire required premium paid within 5 days of booking
your travel arrangements; and
• be travelling no longer than the maximum number of days allowed under your government health insurance
plan for travel outside of your province or territory of residence.
NOTE: You must meet all of the above eligibility requirements to be insured under this policy.

Also thinking about it, it might not be worth putting your WestJet flights on the insurance quote since if WestJet cancels the flight and refunds you the money then the Trip Cancellation insurance doesn't need to cover that cost.

[Manhattan]

Thinking about it some more I'd much rather cancel WJ flight preemptively if they allow and rebook same flights on AC for slightly more. On top of the hassle it would be to potentially miss the first 48 hrs of the trip or the whole trip (you really have no options here it's up to WJ to decide your fate), it'll probably be a nightmare trying to claim the insurance afterwards. My guess is knowing the delay/cancellation was caused by WJ strike the insurance provider will make you submit the claim to WJ first. Only when WJ refuses to pay the claim would you be able to claim thru the additional purchased insurance. I can already see the drawn out headache and hours on the phone now. Would pay more on AC now to avoid that mess.

Flights that are Part of an International Itinerary
If your itinerary includes at least one international segment, then WestJet is liable for damages incurred by you as a result of delay. This means that, in addition to offering you a choice between Option 1 and Option 2, WestJet must also compensate you, after the fact, for:

- reasonable expenses incurred for meals, ground transportation, accommodation, telecommunications, etc.
- lost wages
- any other loss you may have incurred as a result of the delay

My parents are also taking the cruise with another couple living in Europe now so it disrupts their joint plans even if trip claims go thru successfully.

[taemo]

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Thinking about it some more I'd much rather cancel WJ flight preemptively if they allow and rebook same flights on AC for slightly more. On top of the hassle it would be to potentially miss the first 48 hrs of the trip or the whole trip (you really have no options here it's up to WJ to decide your fate), it'll probably be a nightmare trying to claim the insurance afterwards. My guess is knowing the delay/cancellation was caused by WJ strike the insurance provider will make you submit the claim to WJ first. Only when WJ refuses to pay the claim would you be able to claim thru the additional purchased insurance. I can already see the drawn out headache and hours on the phone now. Would pay more on AC now to avoid that mess.

My parents are also taking the cruise with another couple living in Europe now so it disrupts their joint plans even if trip claims go thru successfully.

That makes sense for your situation, I just checked ours and there are no other airlines that offers same direct multi-trip flights that we booked with WJ.
So if WJ has no choice but to cancel our flights, then at least we will get most of our money back for the other pre-paid reservations.