My wife and I were recently affected by the travel chaos in Western Canada. We were slated to fly on a direct flight from Edmonton to Comox on Monday, December 19, but wound up getting home on the evening of December 21.
It wasn’t easy or smooth, but we managed to finagle our way on a series of flights that eventually got us home. I thought I’d share how I approached the situation by leveraging some travel tools, taking matters (mostly) into our own hands, and taking a few gambles.
I’d like to make it clear that our situation wasn’t nearly as awful as many others who were stuck on airplanes for hours on end, or who didn’t have tools and other resources at their disposal. Rather, I hope that sharing our approach to getting home during disrupted travel, and the lessons we learned from this experience, may prove useful to others who face similar circumstances.
December 19: Widespread Cancellations from a Winter Storm
After visiting with friends and family in Edmonton for a weekend, we were originally set to fly back to Comox on a direct flight with WestJet on Monday, December 19.
We decided to burn a companion voucher from a WestJet RBC World Elite Mastercard and some WestJet Dollars on direct flights rather than routing via Calgary or Vancouver, knowing that we’d be travelling during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.
As you know by now, an unprecedented winter storm that affected a wide swath of British Columbia halted those plans.
As we exited the Plaza Premium Lounge Edmonton and approached the gate to board, a staff member announced over the intercom that the flight was cancelled, and since it was due to bad weather, everyone had to fend for themselves for food and overnight accommodation.
The staff member also instructed passengers to keep an eye on their emails and WestJet apps, as they’d be automatically rebooked. Our luggage was to be dispensed in the carousels shortly thereafter, and we began to consider our options, as we clearly weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
I briefly passed by the WestJet customer service desk, only to find a massive queue and a surprisingly small number of staff members dealing with the barrage of affected travellers.
My first reaction was to get on hold with WestJet, as well as messaging the airline via Twitter and Facebook Messenger. Neither of us…
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