Air Canada took my money but no booking ??

[UP4014]

how long did it take? Because I disputed the funds on Monday and haven't heard anything

Who is you banker for this?

 

[wendlle]

Who is you banker for this?

NAB, it's so hard to talk to them. Their disputes team is only available until 5pm but I work until then. I haven't heard a single thing about the dispute I placed, the money is still on my card.

 

[wendlle]

True however IME once a dispute is raised any charge be it pre authorisation or actual is removed (set aside or escrow) and will/ should not impact the overall credit limit.

OK well some developments.
I called NAB again, can't talk to disputes, they are only there until 5pm and I work until that time. So I spoke with Customer Service who told me it is still a pre authorisation - finally some clarity on that! They said to call AC back and ask if they can see it now because it can take a few days for it to go thru.
So I call AC and he gets my CC number and tells me he can in fact see the charge, but its "just floating" where his exact words, he ducks off to speak to a supervisor comes back and tells me they can't push thru a chargeback or whatever the official term is and I just have to continue to wait until it goes away - he couldn't give me a time frame.

Meanwhile the flights are now $3K more expensive than they where when I tried to purchase them on Sunday. I asked if he can just keep the charge and give me the tickets but because I have no proof of what I was purchasing he can't do that.
So now I'm back at square one again, I can't use my CC and the flights are now out of my price range.

 

[UP4014]

NAB, it's so hard to talk to them. Their disputes team is only available until 5pm but I work until then. I haven't heard a single thing about the dispute I placed, the money is still on my card.

Wow thought they would be pretty good. I wondered if you were with some obscure credit Union.

 

[wendlle]

Wow thought they would be pretty good. I wondered if you were with some obscure credit Union.

to be fair the person I spoke to today was really good and gave me straight forward answers which I understood.
I am really annoyed at AC, the NAB guy emailed me a form and told me to ask AC to complete it so they can push thru getting the authorisation taken off my card, they refused saying I just have to wait.
I asked for an email address to send it anyway and was told they have none.

I mean if they can see my money isn't attached to anything why the heck can't they just reject the charge so I can move on.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

This isn't the first time I've had an error booking with AC. Normally I just take screenshots so that if the sucker does actually post, I've got the evidence to dispute the charge.

On your transaction statement or banking app - are you able to see your ticket number or PNR if the transaction shows as settled ?

You raise a good point! If for the statement shows a ticket number then in theory they could call up the airline, provide the ticket number and the agent could simply fetch the booking and give them all the pertinent details they need to have.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

This isn't the first time I've had an error booking with AC. Normally I just take screenshots so that if the sucker does actually post, I've got the evidence to dispute the charge.


You raise a good point! If for the statement shows a ticket number then in theory they could call up the airline, provide the ticket number and the agent could simply fetch the booking and give them all the pertinent details they need to have.

The agent can retrieve the booking with just name and flight/route. Even Lifemiles can find bookings that way

The issue here… as suspected in the beginning of this thread, is that this was a pending charge. Very little information comes with that.

 

[wendlle]

It's been 8 days since the charge.
AC still can't see anything and the bank still won't take it off. I'm becoming increasingly annoyed as the days go by.
Disputes can't do anything because it's a "pending charge" AC can't do anything because they have no record of anything and can't see a charge at all, the bank won't do anything because they say AC has to reject it, but they won't/can't because there is nothing on their end.

I just want to get the funds released from my card so I can make a darn booking!!

 

[MEL_Traveller]

It's been 8 days since the charge.
AC still can't see anything and the bank still won't take it off. I'm becoming increasingly annoyed as the days go by.
Disputes can't do anything because it's a "pending charge" AC can't do anything because they have no record of anything and can't see a charge at all, the bank won't do anything because they say AC has to reject it, but they won't/can't because there is nothing on their end.

I just want to get the funds released from my card so I can make a darn booking!!

In this case that pending charge may stay the maximum allowed period. You bank will be ab,e to tell you how long that is… 7, 14, 21 days etc.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

The agent can retrieve the booking with just name and flight/route. Even Lifemiles can find bookings that way

But what if the ticket has no name assigned to it? Just a ticket number and route?

 

[Nexus007]

Might not be related.

I was trying to purchase Aeroplan Miles when they are doing the 100% bonus point on Wednesday, 25 January 2023.

Payment went through (money taken out as pending on my ING debit card) but then received the email saying "Sorry, your transaction of Aeroplan points could not be completed.".

Money only went back into my account on Friday 3 Feb 2023 so altogether took 7 business days to get the funds released from my card.

And of course, I didn't manage to receive any Aeroplan points as well. Emailed them but they said sorry nothing can be done. Oh well. Just have to wait until next round

 

[MEL_Traveller]

But what if the ticket has no name assigned to it? Just a ticket number and route?

Good question. I wonder if that's even possible?

 

[wendlle]

In this case that pending charge may stay the maximum allowed period. You bank will be ab,e to tell you how long that is… 7, 14, 21 days etc.

No they can't tell me anything. Honestly NAB have told me first, 5 days, then 10 days now they say 30 days! They don't even know.

 

[wendlle]

Ok, finally an update.
The authorisation has finally left my card! It took the 10 days. But thank goodness it is gone. Only downfall is that the flights have more than doubled. So I am now looking for alternate ways home. Because coming straight from Vancouver is now out of my budget.
Trying via Honolulu but really don't want to deal with Jetstar after all their cancellations.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Ok, finally an update.
The authorisation has finally left my card! It took the 10 days. But thank goodness it is gone.

Good to hear!

Only downfall is that the flights have more than doubled. So I am now looking for alternate ways home. Because coming straight from Vancouver is now out of my budget.
Trying via Honolulu but really don't want to deal with Jetstar after all their cancellations.

When do you plan on flying out? Do you need a one-way or return ticket (if return please specify return date). Do you have points in frequent flyer programs like Virgin or Qantas? If so which ones? This information can help us suss out a recovery plan.

-RooFlyer88

 

[serfty]

Because coming straight from Vancouver is now out of my budget.

It can be cheaper to fly from Seattle.

 

[wendlle]

I have used points to get me over to LA, we have a trip planned which is the following.
Leave Sydney on Sep 2, arrive LAX Sep 2.
Spend 2-9 in Anaheim at Disneyland etc
Leave LAX Sep 9 for Vancouver.
Vancouver for 2 nights and then we have a 8 night cruise to Alaska.
Vancouver for 2-3 nights after cruise to explore the city.
Then we want to come home after that anytime between 23-27th of September.
I was thinking we could go to Hawaii on the way home and spend a few days there.
So we could leave Vancouver on the 22nd and go to Honolulu then fly home from there, but flights via Hawaiian Airlines are quite expensive and I'm terrified Jetstar will leave us stranded like so many others.
We could catch the train to Seattle from Vancouver but it's 4 hours and I'm not really into train travel TBH. But could be doable. Even a few nights in San Francisco before coming home might be nice.
My kids are 4 and 7. So I don't really like to do flights with stopovers unless we are planning on staying for a few days.

So basically I don't have my flights from LAX - Vancouver yet or anyway to get home.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I was thinking we could go to Hawaii on the way home and spend a few days there.
So we could leave Vancouver on the 22nd and go to Honolulu then fly home from there, but flights via Hawaiian Airlines are quite expensive and I'm terrified Jetstar will leave us stranded like so many others.
We could catch the train to Seattle from Vancouver but it's 4 hours and I'm not really into train travel TBH. But could be doable. Even a few nights in San Francisco before coming home might be nice.
My kids are 4 and 7. So I don't really like to do flights with stopovers unless we are planning on staying for a few days.

So basically I don't have my flights from LAX - Vancouver yet or anyway to get home.

Do you have a specific budget in mind? I'm seeing some decent flights out of Vancouver on Singapore and Fiji:



Is it sub-$1000 per passenger? No! But that's normal when you're booking a one-way long haul flight (i.e. that it would cost more than the cost of a return).

As for your idea of connecting in HNL for JQ service, whilst that sounds like you could save some money there, keep in mind that JQ nickels and dimes you for everything including baggage. So unless you've got carryon be prepared to fork out considerable sums on your "cheap" JQ fare ex-HNL. Whenever planning any travel consider the entirety of the cost, the ticket price is usually but a small portion of the overall cost of travel.

-RooFlyer88

 

[wendlle]

Do you have a specific budget in mind? I'm seeing some decent flights out of Vancouver on Singapore and Fiji:
View attachment 315963
View attachment 315964

Is it sub-$1000 per passenger? No! But that's normal when you're booking a one-way long haul flight (i.e. that it would cost more than the cost of a return).

As for your idea of connecting in HNL for JQ service, whilst that sounds like you could save some money there, keep in mind that JQ nickels and dimes you for everything including baggage. So unless you've got carryon be prepared to fork out considerable sums on your "cheap" JQ fare ex-HNL. Whenever planning any travel consider the entirety of the cost, the ticket price is usually but a small portion of the overall cost of travel.

-RooFlyer88

Thanks so much for the info, I really don't want to do a connecting flight where I'm not staying for a few days. I'll look into that Singapore one though.
Yes I'm aware of the Jetstar constant addons, I've factored in luggage and it's still a lot cheaper than Hawaiian or Qantas, it's more the reliability I'm concerned about.

 

[Matt_01]

@wendlle with the age of your kids I would be more inclined to spend more time in Vancouver or possibly visit Victoria. From Victoria you can catch a ferry to Seattle (about 3 hours). If picking between Seattle and San Francisco I would most like go to San Francisco. We have been to all these locations with our daughter.