I seem to have ongoing bad luck with Air Canada. It isn't always their fault: I've been stranded overnight at Pearson Airport several times in the past couple of years because of bad weather. That I can live with. It's the attitude of the airline and their employees that pisses me off.
The latest issue: we were on vacation, staying with friends in CT, when my wife Peggy found out her mother was quickly declining (she fought breast cancer for more than six years). I called Air Canada to change her flight to come home on the same flight just one day early, and they wanted $1,000, plus the change fee, of course, to do that.
Change fees I understand (well, sort of; $100 seems like a lot for a simple 2-minute conversation and database change) but the whole "we'll refund your current ticket and then sell you a new ticket at last-minute prices" thing doesn't make sense to me. I paid for a service: flying my family from point A to point B. If there are empty seats on the plane, why can't they simply change the flight from one date to another? I've also run into this when, at the last moment, a staff member got sick and couldn't attend a conference so we wanted to send someone else instead. Again, just a database change, right? Nope, it's the "refund old, buy new" policy again.
Maybe one day airlines will see their customers as people they appreciate doing business with rather than as bags of money.
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Doug, I feel your pain but I have found that the US airlines are a lot better on it.
Two DevCons ago, I was in Vegas while my mother in law was in hospital, with a hip problem. Needless to say, it wasn't going well (she has recovered but she has Alzheimer's - so it was very touch and go). I had flown down on United. I called them and said I need to change my flight to get back on the Saturday. My understanding was always that if you don't stay a certain length, they get you. but in this case, the change fee was $200 but I was back home within 12 hours.
For that piece of mind, $200 was well worth it - but $1000 for one day? Unbelievable.
And you never know who has the attitude - my sister-in-law works for AC as a flight attendant (she used to fly for CP and then Canadian) and the stories aren't just between customers and employees but also between employees.
Definitely sucks.
I think this explains the whole thing:
http://www.unclejoes.com/if_airlines_sold_paint.htm
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