"Thanks Air Canada": Trip to Miami includes damaged luggage and delays

Submitted | Primestock Photography/Shutterstock

A passenger who recently flew via Air Canada shares a familiar tale of her luggage being damaged during a flight.

Daily Hive reached out to Carly Chadwick, who posted a story on Instagram highlighting the damage to her luggage with the caption, “Lol Thanks Air Canada.”

Chadwick has found some of the reactions to her story hilarious.

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Poor luggage… (Carly Chadwick)

Chadwick is a realtor from Vancouver, BC. She has lived in Vancouver for about five years and had travelled to Miami for Art Basel.

Her bag was dropped in Miami, and Chadwick didn’t see it again until she got to the YVR luggage carousel. Rimowa is the maker of Chadwick’s bag, and Rimowa products aren’t cheap. Thankfully, nothing inside was damaged, as far as Chadwick can tell.

Carly Chadwick

“I think that’s because the shell of the baggage, although severely damaged, is also quite strong. So YAY Rimowa!”

Chadwick brought the damaged bag to the attention of employees at the airport.

Carly Chadwick

“They looked even more surprised than I did. They made a report and told me to call or submit a claim to Air Canada within seven days.”

She submitted a claim online, which garnered this response:

Carly Chadwick

We asked Air Canada how someone may be compensated in a situation like this, but the airline informed us that it varies on a case-by-case basis.

The damaged bag wasn’t the only concern, though.

“The flight from MIA to YYZ was delayed 90 mins. We paid for lay flat business class seats on both the MIA-YYZ leg and the YYZ-YVR leg. Due to the first leg being delayed, we missed our second leg.”

Chadwick says that Air Canada put them onto a flight two hours later, a 737 without lie-flat seats. Chadwick said she inquired who to talk to to get the fare difference back.

“They gave us an email and said to send them an email and see what they say. You would think we would be reimbursed for the difference, but no mention of that by Air Canada, even though the price difference is significant.”

Chadwick says that when they were booking, the options were US$380 American Airlines Economy MIA-DFW-YVR, CND$800 economy Air Canada MIA-YYZ-YVR, or $1400 business and $2500 lay flats for the same route. A significant difference, indeed.

Chadwick also states this isn’t the only time she has had a not-so-great experience with Air Canada, but she added that she’d had bad experiences with many airlines.

“I once was flying home to see my parents for Christmas, and my flight was cancelled last minute, I ended up eating sushi at Minami for Christmas.”

Thanks to the comments she has been receiving in response to her story on Instagram — like “honestly it looks like art don’t toss it” — Chadwick can have a bit of a laugh about the experience.