Air Canada to refund fares after Fort McMurray ‘price gouging’ outcry
Saturday, 09 May, 2016
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Air Canada said it will offer part refunds to passengers fleeing the Fort McMurray fire after accusations of major price gouging surfaced online.
Some passengers posted photos of air tickets on social media priced at $4,000.
However Air Canada said any ‘premium prices’ paid was purely down to automated revenue management systems.
In a statement posted on their website, Air Canada said: "It is not correct that we raised fares in response to this devastating situation. In some cases, customers booking last minute on May 3 and 4 on flights from Fort McMurray and Edmonton paid premium fares."
"This was a result of Air Canada’s computerized revenue management system, which automatically manages fares."
The company was unable to adjust fares manually, it said.
"In those instances we’re contacting customers who paid a premium to adjust the fare to the normally available, lowest advance fare and refund the difference," the airline said.
Air Canada said it adding more capacity to these routes and is waiving baggage and pet carriage fees.
Still, the carrier is continuing to get some serious criticism online for its policy, especially as rival Westjet was airlifting people out of the area for free.
The epic wildfire could burn for months, officials say.
The Alberta government said it would grow in size to more than 2,000 square kilometres fueled by gusty winds.
More than 80,000 people have left Fort McMurray since a mandatory evacuation was initiated.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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