Refund from Westjet? Not for everyone

Update on October 22, 2020
On the Westjet media page, it still omits mentioning Basic Fares are included:

While on newswire, it seems to be updated and highlighted in bold to show Basic Fares are included:

Posted on October 21, 2020.

Westjet has released a media update touting that it has become the first national carrier in Canada to voluntarily provide refunds to original form of payment. However, it is to be noted that it wont happen overnight as it can take anywhere between six to nine months and it appears not everyone will qualify.

Lets take a deep dive.
First of all, they are saying, don’t call us, we will call you. Thats very reassuring for someone whose funds are tied up since perhaps Q3 or even Q2 of 2019 depending on when you booked.
So, one has to wait, and wait and wait until perhaps some other ruling comes out and over rides this decision like it happened once before when the pandemic started.
Westjet – this is not very re-assuring to your “WestJetters”.

Secondly, by waiting this long, the window of opportunity to initiate a chargeback on your Credit Card for “Services not rendered” closes as its usually 120 days. Then, depending on which province you are in, your other recourse is a Statutory chargeback which is not as easy as picking up the phone to initiate.

Thirdly, it appears not all are eligible. It doesnt explicitly say so in the media release, the the article in thestar.com suggests that “basic fares” will not be refunded as it states “it has never offered the ability to refund the original form of payment for basic fares”.
But, thats besides the point. Thats true only when the “Westjetter” cancelled, not the airline.

Fourthly, if you heeded the call of our Prime Minister to avoid travel when the pandemic was beginning, and decided to fore-go travel and cancelled, you are out of luck. It explicitly states that “The refunds won’t apply to those who cancelled their own flights”.
Again, this is not on the Westjet website but in the article in thestar.com.

And finally, it does not seem to apply to Wesjet Vacations, where “Westjetters” would presumably have paid higher amounts compared to just flights.

In the media release, these facts are cleverly disguised by saying “Eligible guests will be contacted by WestJet.”
They also say “in line with its regulatory tariff and booking conditions that were in place pre-COVID.” This isnt refunding all “Westjetters” impacted by cancellations due to COVID.

Now to make it more complicated, Westjet seems to be back-pedalling already less than 24hours later with the following tweet:

This is getting interesting as the Canadian airlines eye a bailout and appear to adhere to calls from the politicians to refund the passengers.

I am sure things will evolve over the next few days and I will update this post or post a new one as things develop.

Meanwhile, stay safe, stay healthy and as always, at CanadaPointsGuy.com we advocate safe and responsible travels during this time.

Written by Dominic Fernandes aka CanadaPointsGuy.

Image courtesy of Photo by Michelle Spollen on Unsplash