Do you have a question? You’ll no doubt find the answer to it below. If not, please contact us - our agents will be happy to help.
One place you’re guaranteed to find our lowest prices is aircanada.com. When you complete your purchase on our website, you can change or cancel your booking with ease, request an upgrade, and even shop for your hotel or car rental - right from our homepage. You can even confirm the status of your flight or check in up to 24 hours before your flight.
If you prefer to purchase your ticket with the help of an Air Canada agent, contact us - we’re there to help.
Travel agents are another great source of personalized service. Be sure to ask what fare type you'll be travelling on, and any important conditions on changes or cancellations. In North America, Air Canada has a very simple fare structure, but important differences exist between each fare type.
If you're part of a group of 10 or more, you may be interested in our Meetings and Conventions or Group Travel services.
What additional charges can be added to my base fare?Like all other airlines, we’re required to collect taxes, fees and charges for a variety of purposes, including national security, infrastructure enhancement and airport maintenance. Other foreign taxes, fees and charges are collected on behalf of foreign governments. Airlines also collect surcharges in an effort to partially offset the volatility of and fluctuations in operating costs, such as the costs associated with the use of Canada's and other foreign countries' air navigational infrastructure and services, the costs associated with the price of fuel (including more expensive alternative fuel) and the costs associated with our environmental compliance obligations.
The amount you pay in taxes, fees, charges and surcharges on a ticket is based on your itinerary (e.g. the number of times you board a new flight and at what airport).
For example, on a typical ticket for an international itinerary, you can expect to pay:
We’re committed to being as transparent as possible about which taxes, fees, charges and surcharges are collected with your purchase. For this reason:
Your travel agent should also be able to explain taxes, fees, charges and surcharges to you.
Find out more about the taxes, fees, charges and surcharges that may be added to your ticket at time of purchase.
What happens if I buy a ticket and an emergency disrupts my travel?Air Canada will cancel any purchased ticket and provide a full refund without penalty up to 24 hours after purchase.
Beyond 24 hours of purchase, a non-refundable ticket offers no options if an unexpected medical emergency or other unforeseen circumstance forces you to cancel your trip or modify your travel plans. And we can’t make any exception to the fare rules.
The best advice is to prepare and plan for the unexpected. Many travellers consider the purchase of cancellation insurance as a good investment against such risks. Some payment cards also cover trip cancellations; check with your bank or service provider.
The time to make these decisions is when you purchase your ticket. The purchase of travel insurance is available via aircanada.com should you wish to protect your ticket's value.
Can I get a refund for the ticket I didn’t use?Ticket refundability depends on a variety of conditions, such as your itinerary as well as the fare type you purchased. Learn more about your fare options and our refund and cancellation policy.
Please note, no matter what type of fare you choose, Air Canada will cancel any purchased ticket and provide a full refund without penalty up to 24 hours after purchase.
How do I obtain proof for my insurer that I no longer hold a future travel credit?Many travel insurance providers require proof that you no longer hold a future travel credit for your booking before you can file a claim with them.
To cancel any future travel credit, please cancel your reservation and request a refund. All refunds will be calculated and processed based on the fare rules of your ticket, and a refund receipt will be issued. This receipt acts as proof that you no longer hold a future travel credit for your booking and can be submitted to your insurance company.
A reminder that refund requests must be made through the same source you booked your ticket through.
Under the Air Passenger Protection Regulations, if your flight was delayed by three hours or more, or was cancelled, due to an event that is within our control or is required for safety purposes, and you refuse the alternate travel arrangements offered because travelling no longer serves a purpose, we will refund the unused portion of your ticket. If you are not at your point of origin, we will refund your ticket and provide you with a confirmed reservation back to your point of origin.
We’re happy to help meet your medical or mobility needs at each step of your journey with our accessibility services. This includes:
So that we can make your travel experience as smooth as possible, we strongly recommend contacting the Air Canada Medical Assistance Desk at least 48 hours before departure, even when advance notice may not be required. We will, however, make a reasonable effort to accommodate requests made within 48 hours.
Here’s how you can reach the Air Canada Medical Assistance Desk:
Phone:
1-800-667-4732 (toll-free for Canada and the United States)
1-514-369-7039 (long distance charges apply)
Fax:
1-888-334-7717 (toll-free for Canada and the United States)
514-828-0027 (long distance charges apply)
Hours of operation (Eastern Time):
Monday to Friday: 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The wonder of flying is infectious to people of all ages, and to none more so than a young child.
But if your child hasn’t quite caught the wonder of travel yet, there are a things you can do to make the flight as stress-free and entertaining as possible. For starters, it’s a good idea to arrive at the airport early, and make sure you bring your child's favourite food and a small quiet toy or blanket. And, of course, a good dose of patience and a smile will always go a long way.
You can also find a wealth of useful information and travel tips by going to our Children and Travel page.
How do you take care of young children who are travelling alone?We offer an Unaccompanied Minor (UM) service for children age 8 and up who are travelling alone. The service is available on non-stop flights only.
When you purchase this service, we’ll make sure your child is accompanied by our staff in the airport and that they are looked after on board by our in-flight crew. At destination, our airport staff will ask the person meeting your child for proof of identification in the form of a photo ID.
It is imperative that the unaccompanied minor service be requested at the time you complete your child’s reservation, so we can get all the information we need and make the necessary arrangements. Kindly note that the UM service cannot be arranged on the day of departure at the airport.
Our unaccompanied minor service is highly personalized. Accordingly, a fee applies each way per child.
Do you offer special fares in case of a death or imminent death in the family?Air Canada offers reduced bereavement fares if you need to travel because of an imminent death or a death in your immediate family.
You’ll be asked to submit appropriate documentation. This is simply to help us make sure that those benefitting from bereavement fares are the ones for whom it was intended. While we apologize for this extra step, it’s necessary to maintain the integrity of this important program.
Don't wait until the last minute to check your travel documents. Do this well in advance of your travel dates in case some of the documentation requires preparation and lead-time.
One key thing to remember is that your name on your travel documents must perfectly match your name on your ticket. (That's a legal requirement, not an airline rule.) Out of concern for security and because of heavy government fines, we will refuse boarding to passengers who are deemed to have improper documentation.
What is ‘code sharing’ and how does it affect me?Code sharing refers to a practice through which a flight operated by one airline is jointly marketed as a flight by one or more other airlines. Through our codeshare partnerships, we place our designator code (AC) on flights operated by our codeshare partners, which allows us to provide you with worldwide services through an extensive network of convenient flight connections.
Your Air Canada itinerary receipt or your travel agent will tell you if any portion of your trip is on a non-Air Canada airline.
Airlines, including Air Canada, codeshare because it's a way to share resources and offer more frequent service. The effect of code sharing on our customers is minimal because we only codeshare with high-quality airline partners. But, we do believe it's important for customers to know which airline they will actually be travelling on, and that's why we will tell you at the time of ticket purchase if any part of your trip is actually on another airline.
Learn more about code sharing and what it means to you, the customer.
What’s the difference between a direct flight and a connecting flight?In the aviation industry, a direct flight is any flight between two places that carries a single flight number, but which may include one or more stops where customers don’t have to change planes.
Customers travelling on connecting flights need to change from one plane or airline to another at an intermediate point, called the connecting point, en route to their destination.
How do I choose my own seat?There are a few ways to choose your seat ahead of your flight:
1. When booking a new flight
Select your seat from the seat map when you reach the Seat Selection screen.
2. After booking
From the My Bookings tab on the homepage, retrieve your booking and then look for the Change Seats link.
If you’re booking through an Air Canada reservations agent or your travel agent, you can also take advantage of advance seat selection. If you don’t choose advance seat selection, then you can select the best seat available by checking 24 hours in advance on aircanada.com or at check-in time at the airport.
You can also select your seat when you check in for your flight online, on your mobile device, or at an airport check-in kiosk.
Remember that advance seat selection comes included with some fares, whereas a fee will appy for others. Learn more about advance seat selection.
Looking for more space and convenience?
You may want to choose a Preferred Seat.
Are check-in times really important?Yes, they’re critical to the on-time departure and, more importantly, the on-time arrival of your flight.
Online check-in is simply the best way to check in for your flight, and You can check in and print your boarding pass as early as 24 hours before your flight.
You can also check in at one of our airport kiosks up to 12 hours in advance, and print your own baggage tags at airports across Canada, in the U.S. and at London Heathrow.
Customers sometimes question the need to arrive so early for check-in and boarding. The fact is there's a lot that goes into making sure a flight leaves on time. For our part, we need to have an aircraft and crew ready to leave at the scheduled departure time. When you respect the check-in times, you're giving us a tremendous advantage in terms of getting every checked bag on the plane and issuing all the boarding passes - without a last minute rush. That's something we really appreciate.
Early check-in also gives you the time you need to pass through the various security screening points en route to your gate. These security processes and procedures are a fact of life in today's airports and they often take time. In the case of flights to the United States, you may also need to go through U.S. immigration and customs formalities before boarding.
What can I expect to eat or drink on my flight?It depends on where you're going, the length of your flight, and the cabin you’ve chosen to travel in.
Take a minute to see what meals and beverages are typically served in all of our cabins, from Economy to Business Class. You can also learn more about our policy regarding customers with allergies, as well as our NutriCuisine products.
What happens if my flight is delayed?Our prime objective is to let you know as early as possible if there's a schedule change or delay, so please make sure to provide us with accurate contact information at time of booking. We can't contact you if we don't have the right telephone or email information.
The best way to stay on top of the latest arrival and departure information for your flight is to sign up to receive an automatic email or SMS text message on your cell phone with one of our Flight Notification services. Real-time flight information is also available on our Flight Status page, or by calling our automated flight information system at 1-888-422-7533.
Passengers hate to arrive at the airport only to find that their flight has been delayed, and we hate to have to tell them. But, if you've already arrived at the airport, we'll do our best to let you know what's going on at regular intervals and keep you updated about the status of your flight. In the case of last-minute cancellations, we'll help you rebook on the next Air Canada flight with available seats, or cancel the ticket and refund you if you prefer.
Please refer to our General Terms and Conditions of Carriage for more information.
What happens if there's a long delay – the kind where I could be on a plane for hours or wind up sleeping at the airport?
In the case of delays caused by Air Canada, which are expected to last longer than 2 hours, we’ll offer a voucher for use at an airport restaurant or for our Air Canada Bistro service. We’ll also communicate with you at regular intervals to provide an update on the flight status with the latest, most accurate information available. In the case of an unplanned overnight stay caused by Air Canada, we’ll provide out-of-town customers with meal vouchers, transportation to and from the airport as well as hotel accommodations (subject to availability).
Without a doubt, long delays are one of the worst airline experiences, and we do everything we can to avoid them. But, they do happen.
We can't control the weather, power outages, acts of God, riots, traffic congestion, airport construction or security-related situations. In these cases, we won't provide compensation, but we’ll do our best to get you on your way as quickly as possible.
But when it's our fault, we'll take full responsibility for the situation. If the delay continues for a matter of hours, we’ll do our best to see that you get something to eat and drink. We’ll look after out-of-town customers who are trapped at the airport overnight and find them hotel accommodations (subject to availability).
Please refer to our General Terms and Conditions of Carriage for more information.
Checked baggage allowances are fully outlined on our Checked Baggage page.
Please note that we can’t check your bag for delivery to another airline to carry it to your destination unless you can show a single ticket for travel on both Air Canada and the other airline.
What should I do if my bag was lost or damaged?If your bag was damaged
If you notice that your baggage has been damaged, it’s important to report it to an Air Canada baggage service agent within 24 hours for domestic travel and 7 days for international travel. Here’s what you need to know.
If you can’t locate your bag
If you've arrived on an Air Canada, Air Canada Express or Air Canada Rouge flight and you can’t locate your checked bag, it’s important that you notify an agent at the Air Canada or Air Canada Express baggage service counter immediately upon arrival at the airport. This will help accelerate baggage tracing.
If you arrived on a flight operated by another airline, you’ll need to notify a representative from that airline.
About travelling with valuable items
Because bags do sometimes get misplaced, the following items should always be stored in your carry-on bag:
It makes good sense to store these items in your carry-on baggage for your own protection and convenience, and because these items are excluded from our liability.
Identifying your bags
One of the best ways to protect against misplaced bags is to clearly identify them by attaching identification tags to the outside of your bags and placing this handy Baggage ID card inside them.
Regulations and liability
You should know that there are existing regulations and legislation which govern airline liability on domestic and international flights. The Warsaw Convention, for example, is an international convention that regulates liability for international carriage of persons, luggage or goods performed by aircraft.
Like most international airlines, we settle claims for lost or damaged baggage in accordance with these regulations. The Warsaw/Montreal Convention's international rules for liability are listed in the 'Insurance and Baggage Liability Limitations' section of the Delayed or Damaged Baggage page.
You may want to consider purchasing additional liability insurance if the standard liability limits don't meet your needs.
