“My option now is to refund. I said I don’t want a refund. FlightHub said it’s calling Air Canada, but Air Canada doesn’t have flights.”
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Lalaine Canillo just wants to go home. Originally from the Philippines, the Montreal woman has worked as a nanny for a family on the city’s far west side for nearly two years. He has not seen his three daughters, ages 7, 8 and 13, or returned to his village since he arrived here in January 2019, after working for two years in Hong Kong.
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Canillo’s husband died in an accident in January 2020, after which his mother-in-law was taking care of the children; but she has also passed away. Now Canillo’s children are being cared for by their aunt and uncle, until she can bring them here.
In July, he booked a return trip to the Philippines through FlightHub, an online booking service. The flight was on Air Canada. He was to leave on November 30 and return on February 3.
“On October 31, FlightHub sent me an email saying that my itinerary had changed,” Canillo said Friday. “I kept calling FlightHub to find out what the changes are. At first, they didn’t give me any answer. Then they told me that my flight was canceled, that the airline made the cancellation. Now they can’t find me any flight to change my reservation.
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“How many times did I try to call them. It’s been (almost) a month of this. My option now is to refund. I said, ‘I don’t want a refund, I just want to go home.’ FlightHub said it is calling Air Canada, but Air Canada does not have flights. “
On Thursday, Canillo called Air Canada and was told to stop by FlightHub. You can see flights to Manila on the Air Canada website on roughly the same dates, but not at the same price. She’s not picky, he says.
“I’ll take whatever seats they can give me. I want to go home. This is their fault. This was booked months ago and my kids are waiting for me. My three children have been through hell this year. … I saved money, I worked hard for this. I don’t care if it’s the day before or two days later. Just bring me to the Philippines. “
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In an email sent to the Gazette, Air Canada spokeswoman Pascale Déry said: “We are sorry to hear about the issue with the customer’s travel plans. However, Air Canada does not fly to the Philippines. We only operate the Montreal-Vancouver and Vancouver-Hong Kong segments. The last segment, Hong Kong to Manila, is operated by another airline (Cathay Pacific Airways), and this is the part of the trip that was subject to a schedule change / cancellation. … The client must contact the agency (FlightHub) for help because it is the agency that controls and has access to the reservation “.
A spokesman for FlightHub in Montreal, Gaspare Borsellino, said that while a third-party airline may be handling the final leg of the trip, “(Air Canada is) the validating airline. The airline always transfers responsibility to us, which is fine; it makes sense. We will do the field work, but we have to work within what are their availabilities. It’s not like we can book that third segment through Philippine Airlines. “
Borsellino said FlightHub would continue to try to find a suitable replacement flight with Air Canada availabilities, but that if it doesn’t work out, a refund may be the only solution.
On Friday afternoon, Canillo received an offer from FlightHub for a ticket from Montreal to Hong Kong.
“I asked why only in Hong Kong” she said. “I will not stay in Hong Kong. What about Hong Kong – Philippines? “
FlightHub again offered a refund.
“I said, ‘I’m not going to accept that,'” he recounted. “‘Send me to the Philippines.’ “
Reference-montrealgazette.com