Cancelled AirNZ flight

[tanyagee]

good afternoon from Kamloops Canada. I am at wits end. Airnz cancelled our Kamloops- Vancouver leg home this morning ( air Canada ) and also their Vancouver- Auckland leg. I understand absolutely no one’s fault but I have not heard at all from them and this was 8 hrs ago. There are very few flights out of Kamloops, and all are sold next two days. Can we bus it to Vancouver and continue our journey? Otherwise we will be stuck here for days as another storm front is arriving in two days.I have tried to contac5 airnz to no avail.

 

[Ecco]

Try posting on the air nz flyer talk forum. They may be able to help. You generally just have to ring and wait until they answer. There are long wait times to get through.

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

I understand a flight akl-yvr diverted to sfo due to the weather. It may have flown back to akl from sfo to reduce knock-on effects.

As your ticket is with nz (ticket number starts with 086?) it will be up to Air NZ to rebook you.

For what it is worth they are pretty good at accepting reasonable re-routing when impacted by cancelled flights. But you will need them to confirm the changes to your ticket to avoid being treated as a no-show.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

Are you travelling in Business class or do you hold Star Alliance Gold status with an airline like Air Canada, United or Air New Zealand? If so to either, weather is considered a controllable delay when it comes to things like compensation! This is stated in the Star Alliance rulebook found here on pages 152 & 153. In particular they must provide things like hotel, meals, etc. until you finally get to your final destination.

Aside from this arguably niche rule, Canada has a more general rule called the Air Passenger Protection Regulations (APPR) which requires airlines to provide a number of things for passengers depending on the circumstance. At a minimum (and this would apply even if the delay was outside the airlines control like weather) they must offer you an option to rebook on the next available flight be it with them, Star Alliance or another airline like American or Qantas. If the delay was within their control (i.e. crew staffing) they must provide hotels, meals and provide compensation based on when you arrive at your final destination. For instance, if you arrive in New Zealand more than 9 hours after scheduled arrival they are on the hook for $1000 CAD compensation in addition to rebooking, meals and everything else.

Hope that helps. Stay safe out there!

-RooFlyer88

 

[tanyagee]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up ringing and after a 6 hr wait time was able to rebook for 5 days later with us catching a bus Kamloops- Vancouver. If we had remained in Kamloops it was going to be 7+ days till next available flight.
This has been one hell of an experience with Airnz. our outbound flight was also cancelled due to storm in Sydney and after a 15hr wait we finally were rerouted Sydney- Tokyo ( Haneada) Qantas and then Tokyo- Narita Air Canada with a 12 hr stopover in Tokyo. Because of the change in airports we had to clear customs in Tokyo, and since we were only double vaxed it was a rush to do a required PCR test Sydney which was not advised by the airnz representative.

 

[Mattg]

Sounds like a bit of a nightmare trip. Wishing you a safe journey home from here, and hope you had a good time skiing in Canada!