Air Canada has temporarily withdrawn its decision to charge a new seat selection fee to travelers who booked at the lowest fares.
Under the previous policy, customers on fares that did not offer free seat selection prior to check-in would be assigned a random seat at check-in, with the option to change that seat to another available seat on a random basis. free.
However, some Air Canada customers received notices earlier this month stating that the airline would soon charge passengers standard or base fares for changing their automatically assigned seats during check-in.
A Facebook account belonging to Ontario-based travel agent Kerry Berlinquette. shared an image from a notice he received on April 18.
“We are introducing a new seat assignment process for standard or basic fares,” the notice reads.
“When customers enter the check-in flow, our system will automatically assign a seat free of charge for those who have not purchased a seat in advance… If they wish to change their automatically assigned seat, they can easily do so for a fee.”
The notice, which said the change would take effect on April 24, sparked a wave of complaints from angry consumers on Facebook, X and Reddit.
“That sucks. It was bad enough having to fight for a seat 24 hours before the flight. Just another money grabber,” one Facebook user wrote in a comment on Berlinquette’s post.
“It’s frustrating when traditional airlines behave like budget airlines,” one Reddit user wrote on April 24. “They’ve eliminated free checked bags and now they’ve also eliminated the option to select free seats during check-in. What’s next?”
After some negative reactions, Air Canada issued a statement to airline industry news website Pax News clarifying the policy change.
“What has changed, and is consistent with our brand rates, is that after seats are assigned at check-in free of charge, customers who now wish to change to a different seat than the one we assigned them will have to pay the same fare. from Canada.
“This is the practice on other airlines, including some in Canada.”
However, on April 26, Air Canada had suspended the new fare. The flag carrier did not confirm whether consumer reaction had influenced the decision and declined to answer CTVNews.ca’s questions about why it had introduced the fee and how long the pause would last.
“We paused the rollout for operational reasons to ensure a smooth rollout for our customers and employees,” a spokesperson, who did not provide a name, wrote in an email to CTVNews.ca on Monday.
“We will communicate next steps at the appropriate time.”
Air Canada would not be the first Canadian airline to charge a fee for seat selection after check-in. However, airlines that charge a seat selection fee, such as Flair and Porter, tend to be low-cost airlines that offer more affordable base fares than Canada’s national airline.
One exception is WestJet, Canada’s second-largest airline after Air Canada, which also charges a fee for seat selection.