Air Canada Reviews 

I had a very disappointing and stressful experience with Air Canada.

I booked a ticket from the USA to Delhi with a transit in Montreal. At the US airport, I was informed that a Canadian transit visa was required for my itinerary. I was not aware of this requirement at the time of booking, and it was not clearly highlighted during the booking process.

When I requested a solution at the airport, I asked if the visa could be arranged or if I could pay extra to resolve the issue, but I was informed that it would take several days. As a result, I was denied boarding.

The most frustrating part of the experience is that I was not offered any immediate assistance or alternative option, and later I faced significant difficulty in obtaining a refund. There appears to be no effective or responsive refund support system. The online refund process does not function properly, and customer support channels are not easily accessible.

Overall, this experience caused major inconvenience and financial loss. I strongly feel that important travel requirements such as transit visa rules should be clearly communicated at the time of booking to avoid situations like this.

I would advise passengers to carefully check all transit visa requirements before booking with this airline and to be aware of potential challenges in customer support and refund processing.

The worst bin on pavement for 2 1/2 hrs waiting for a pilot absolute joke will never fly with air Canada again. If the other pilot takes 2 hrs to get to the plane that seems like a huge problem

If possible, I would give 0 stars! One of the worst airlines I've flown with in the last 30 years. The experience is consistently bad. 20 years ago, I flew with my then-infant daughter: the airline could not provide us a cot, although we booked it. We were not able to sit together with my husband, and the lady at the check-in was giving me suggestions on how I could complain about the service she provided. 20 years later, we flew as a whole family (now with two adult children). Our flight was delayed 5 hours (the flight lenght is 7h) because of a technical problem with the aircraft. When I complained, I was told that we were not entitled to a refund! The service is a disgrace!

I needed to change my booking and it was a nightmare: first I waited for more than TWO hours on the phone, never being able to talk to somebody. The next day, I tried at the airport (Paris), to be told that it's exclusively over the phone. This time, the cmpany just hanged on me with a message that they are receiving too many calls. No snowstorm, no other major disruptions explaining the dysfunction. I will certainly avoid this low quality/no service company. Not worth the money!

As far as Canadian airlines go, AC is my preferred go to. Everyone whining and complaining about cancelled or delayed flights perhaps does not fly on the regular or as of late because whilst it doesn't make things better or fix the issue, it's more often than not, not an AC issue.
Booking is always super simple, prices are hit or miss but again, that's par for the course.
As for staff, whether it be on the phone, on the ground, in the air...I find them to be the best Canadian airline and far more accommodating and hospitable than other ones. Could things improve? Absolutely, like all businesses but overall, I typically fly with them as they usually offer the best options for me.

I am writing them on my cancel flight and they changed without my confirmation with no option.

Absolutely ridiculous.
Unable to speak to someone for days.
Hours waiting in queue, getting nowhere. Emailed, nothing. Facebook message, nothing. All I want to do is pay for preferred seats, online keeps rejecting payment, bank says its merchant side, so stuck in limbo with no way to get it arranged and no way to speak to a human.

They deserve minus 5 stars. Most useless and incompetent airline I have ever flown with. Flight cancelled due to a claimed issue, what a load of garbage.
5 hours later finally get a flight.
Then have to wait almost 2 hours to get bags from plan because apparently they had all come off despite 40 people waiting. Baggage person from air Canada was even more useless than the airline.
It’s also great that air Canada inform you 5 minutes prior to getting to the airport that the flight is cancelled. That way you get to sit an airport all day. Can not believe who useless and much of a joke. Disappointment to the rest of the country.

Please give immediate attention to my case, which has remained unresolved since October 2025.
Case Number: CAS-9706586-X7D1H7
The prolonged delay is deeply concerning. Most disappointing is that nobody responds to my emails—this raises serious questions about whether this is truly a customer-centric company. I expect a prompt update and resolution.

I purchased a flight ticket with insurance in case I needed to cancel. I cancelled the next day, but was told I couldn’t get a refund and the amount would only be issued as a credit. This was despite paying for insurance, which they later claimed was declined—even though the charge was taken from my bank account.

Now, as my credit is about to expire, I’m being charged multiple and increasing fees. The process feels unclear and unfair, and the lack of transparency is very frustrating.

Overall, a disappointing experience.

I had an incredibly frustrating and disappointing experience with Air Canada. We arrived at the boarding gate literally as it was closing — not late by a long shot, but right at that final moment. The doors had just been shut, and instead of showing even the slightest bit of understanding or flexibility, the flight crew completely refused to reopen them.

What made the situation even more upsetting was that the staff member at the counter actually tried to help us. She spoke to the flight crew and pleaded on our behalf, even explaining that I am pregnant and had been rushing to the gate, completely out of breath trying to make it in time. Despite this, the air hostess flat-out refused, repeating that “the doors have been locked” as if that somehow made it impossible to reopen them seconds after closing.

It felt incredibly dismissive and rigid. There was no effort to help, no empathy, and no willingness to consider the situation — even given the circumstances. Policies are one thing, but basic customer service and human decency should still apply, especially when passengers are physically there and clearly trying their best to board.

What makes this even worse is that this isn’t my first negative experience with Air Canada. I’ve had many issues with them in the past, but I decided to give them another chance thinking things might be better this time. Unfortunately, that was a BIG mistake.

This experience left a very bad impression. Missing a flight over something that could have easily been resolved in seconds is unacceptable. I expected far better from a major airline. Based on this experience, I would not recommend Air Canada and will definitely think twice before ever flying with them again.

I spent 5+ HOURS on hold just trying to add my nexus card number to my boarding pass to help me get thru a US connection tomorrow (which I should have been able to do online)

After finally being told it was done, NO change. Last time I EVER connect thru the US on Air Canada again

Not safe!

The absolute worst experience ever. I bought a return airfare ticket to, and from my destination, the return portion of the flight was canceled due to weather. Air Canada said they would fly me out a week after my original scheduled departure date and then told me they could fly me out back home three days after my original departure date if I paid an additional $531.93 Canadian. Which is extortion by definition they should’ve honoured my original airfare, which I had already purchased prior to my departure for my trip and instead they charged me an additional amount of money to fly me home, which is wrong when I challenge them on this they simply said it was due to weather, which is incorrect. I understand about the flight cancellation due to weather, but what is extortion is when you’re like I’ll fly you home. Seven days later at your original airfare fee, but we can fly you home sooner if you want to pay more money that is extortion. Air Canada refuses to refund me my $531.93. I will never use their service services again nor will I recommend them to family or friends.

My wife and I flew to Tampa on April 11, 2026. The airplane was supposed to departure at 8 AM. It didn't. it did depart at 9 AM. We all the passengers were waiting for so long inside the aircraft. Once the pilot decided to start the flight, I noticed there were three sits empties next to me, no body was sitting there. My wife andI were sitting far away from each other due to a full flight according to the AC man in the counter. He told me I was supposed to buy a seat in order to be sitted with my wife together. He lie to me, he obviously didn't want to help us to be seat together,there was not such a full flight and I didn't have to buy a seat in order to be flighting together with my wife. What kind of business or customer service is this? I wouldn't recommend to my family and/or friends dealing with this kind of airline. Never again.

Air Canada was one of the worst travel experiences I’ve ever had. It started with a missing checked bag, which already made the trip extremely stressful and inconvenient. On top of that, I did not receive the seat I had booked in advance; instead, I was placed in a middle seat directly in front of the lavatory on an 8.5-hour flight, which was completely unacceptable and far below the standard I paid for. As if that were not enough, the flight was delayed and I missed my connecting flight, turning the whole journey into a chaotic and frustrating disaster.
This was not just a minor inconvenience — it was a complete failure in basic service, communication, and passenger care. Lost baggage, a downgraded seat, and a missed connection all in one trip made the experience seriously disappointing. I expected at least a basic level of reliability and responsibility, but instead received a chain of avoidable problems and no real service recovery.

Omg Anna was amazing! What a great experience.... thank you so much Anna xxx

They sold an impossible connection and then blamed the passenger for missing it. Absolute negligence and zero support for a stranded senior

Extremely disappointing experience with Air Canada – will not fly again

This was a 12-hour international flight from Tokyo to Montreal, and unfortunately, the experience was consistently below expectations.

To start, the flight was delayed by about 1.5 hours. While delays can happen and are not always the airline’s fault, the issues that followed were.

We boarded last intentionally to avoid waiting onboard unnecessarily, but after sitting for 15–20 minutes, we asked for water. We were told it would be brought shortly. Over an hour later, we still hadn’t received anything. The only water we ended up getting was a small bottle served with the meal about 1.5 hours into the flight — and that was the only water provided for quite some time.

The service overall was slow and inattentive. The food quality was poor and disappointing for such a long-haul flight. The seating was uncomfortable, making the 12-hour journey even harder.

The Wi-Fi was another major issue. We paid around $30 for it, yet the quality was extremely poor and unreliable. Compared to other airlines, the difference is significant — both in connectivity and overall value.

The entertainment system also felt outdated, with screens and content far below current standards.

Additionally, our itinerary from Bangkok to Montreal required a layover in Tokyo that involved switching between two airports located about 1.5 hours apart — entirely at our own expense. We had to pay roughly $75 for transportation. As travelers in transit without a local SIM card or reliable Wi-Fi, this created unnecessary stress and inconvenience.

Even on the outbound flight, the service was mediocre. The staff did not appear engaged or attentive.

We have flown with many airlines — easily over a dozen — and I can confidently say that Air Canada ranks at the bottom of that list.

As a Canadian, it’s disappointing to say this, but this will be the last time we choose to fly with Air Canada.

Air Canada cancelled our flights with no clear explanation and offered no meaningful support to resolve it.

We spent over 6 hours on the phone trying to get through, repeatedly being cut off after long wait times. When we did manage to speak to someone, we were told to contact our booking agent. The agent then confirmed they could not rebook and directed us back to Air Canada.

At one point, an Air Canada representative had actually taken control of the booking and started the rebooking process, but the call was disconnected — and since then we’ve been unable to get back through to complete it.

We are now stuck in a loop between the airline and the agent, with no resolution, and facing significantly higher costs to rebook ourselves.

This isn’t just poor customer service — it’s a complete failure to take responsibility when cancelling a customer’s flight. At a minimum, we expected to be re-routed onto suitable alternative flights, not left to sort this out alone.

Extremely frustrating experience.

My review today will mean this is the last time we fly air Canada.

We got through security no problem, droping our bags was a breeze, spent our time at the lounge with VIP access and had a beautiful time getting ready for our 24 hour travel day.

We then go to board our flight. "Eric" (staff member at the gate for AC33 taking off at 6:40pm on March 18th, 2026. We had taken out my mom's little purse our if her backpack just to get her passport and boarding pass out for boarding. We are going to put the tiny purse back into the bag where it belongs but Eric stopped us and said we had too many articles. I responded and said no problem, my mom just had this out of the bag because we needed identification for boarding. He said, sorry there is no repacking allowed you will have to check your bag. I said well she has medication in her bag so we can't do that but we will just put the passports away and you will see we are within reason. Especially since larger bags are going past us at this time. He said no again. I then suggested we check my bag instead because it didn't have medication and he said that it has to be her bag. I was wondering how this made sense, but anyway...then he then made my mom measure her backpack after he did allow us to put the purse back in which pretty much fit in the personal item section (75%). BUT we tried it earlier when we dropped our bags and it fit fine. She was just being rushed so it didn't slide right in after moving stuff around being at the lounge for a few hours before.

The other device she had was a medical CPAP. Eric said that that counts as a personal item for Air Canada which is incorrect based ony research and he also said we needed to exit the boarding line and board again because we weren't agreeing with him and so we could remove any medication.

Unfortunately the medication in my mom's bag was too big to fit anywhere else so we had no choice but to check it. She is now going on a 24 hours travel day without her medication thanks the Eric.

We were leary to book Air Canada for such a long flight but my mom ensured me that her previous flight the Australia was great with them and that long haul is usually better. We now know that that is incorrect and will not be using Air Canada again. Eric has put a woman at risk for health issues and has jeopardized her safety for a long period of time. My mom doesn't travel much so this was quite traumatic for her. I travel extensively and will make sure Air Canada is mentioned on my social media for jeopardizing someones health and safety.

Just a side note. This trip is for my sister's wedding. A mother is now ALSO on top of having her medication taken away, without her very expensive wedding dress ($800 worth) that could potentially get lost being checked. For a mother to experience that at her daughter's wedding would also be traumatic. The other staff standing around Eric were completely embarrassed and expressed that very clearly to us as well. We appreciated that at least. Thank you to the staff that were wonderful on this flight. Eric unfortunately has chosen authority over health and safety. I will be inquiring about our legal rights in this experience for the purpose of protecting passengers rights to health and safety.