A Timmins couple's annual trip to Peru was suddenly cut short this year due to a name transfer error. Elvira Castillo Larocque and her husband Viateur Larocque are struggling to understand why the change couldn't be implemented quickly.
Elvira Castillo Larocque has not yet recovered from what happened to her on January 2nd.
They prevent us from being happy. I don't know what happened on that call. “It’s overwhelming, everyone is against us,” she says before breaking into tears.
Like every winter for two decades, the resident of Timmins in northern Ontario was preparing to fly with her husband, Viateur Larocque, to her native Peru for a few weeks.
This year's trip is particularly close to her heart, she says, because it allows her to spend time with her 93-year-old mother.
It was Viateur Larocque who booked the tickets on FlightHub in November: a first Air Canada flight from Timmins to Toronto, followed by two Avianca flights with the Peruvian capital Lima as their destination.
The booking confirmation received immediately afterwards was nothing unusual for the couple. So everything was fine.
Open in full screen mode
Viateur Larocque emphasizes that his wife always reminds him to pay particular attention to the transcription of his name when making online transactions.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Jimmy Chabot
Until the twist of January 2nd.
When they arrived at the airport two hours before departure, an Air Canada employee told Elvira Castillo Larocque that the name on her ticket did not match the name on her identification documents, including her passport.
His ticket instead had Castillo, which is part of his last name, appended to his first name.
[L’agente d’Air Canada] asked me if I had a middle name and I said no. […] “She told me to call FlightHub because I didn’t buy my ticket with Air Canada,” explains Ms. Castillo Larocque.
Open in full screen mode
On the Air Canada boarding pass, Castillo happens to be his middle name, while on his passport, Castillo is his first last name.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Jimmy Chabot
Her husband followed the instructions and, after waiting about ten minutes, managed to get on the phone with a company representative.
He talked to us for an hour and a half and said, “Give me five minutes to try to change.” […] Two hours later the plane took off and we lost our entire trip.
Persistently, Mr. Larocque said he called FlightHub several times, trying in French and English to see if there might be another recourse.
The officers on the phone eventually told him that the case had been referred to a special team that would handle it within seven to 10 days of his call.
I'm so frustrated! […] “I couldn’t understand how the world could put honest people in such situations,” he admits.
It's amazing how much stress a person can experience from a situation like this, which is just a name placed in the wrong place.
He estimates that this mishap cost him more than $7,000 because, since he has still not received a refund promise, he has already purchased other tickets for Sunday's trip to Peru.
Whose responsibility?
In an email sent to Radio-Canada, an Air Canada spokesperson explains that Air Canada was unable to change the ticket because it was a ticket issued by another airline and we advised our customers to contact their travel agent to turn.
We could normally have made the correction on a ticket issued by Air Canada, writes Christophe Hennebelle, the company's vice president of communications.
In general, we advise all travelers to ensure that the name on their ticket matches the name on their travel documents, which is required by law for security reasons.
David Masanga, FlightHub's customer service manager, confirmed via email that the ticket was indeed issued by Avianca, which did not respond to our inquiries.
Open in full screen mode
The couple still uses third parties to book their airline tickets, as was the case with FlightHub.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Jimmy Chabot
Mr Masanga explains that FlightHub took the initiative to contact us after being contacted by Mr and Mrs Larocque [Avianca] on their part, even if the usual protocol is to refer the customers themselves to the carriers.
However, the airline rejected our request for a solution, writes Mr. Masanga.
If the customer had informed us two to three days before the flight, we could have initiated communication with Air Canada to find a solution. “Unfortunately, the last-minute contact did not give us enough time to properly contact the airline,” he continues.
The Larocque couple's booking history via FlightHub shows that Elvira Castillo Larocque's name has been listed in the same manner several times since 2016.
In situations involving a partnership between Avianca and Air Canada, it is at the discretion of both airlines to allow a name change, says David Masanga.
Open in full screen mode
Air Canada, which has declined to comment on the couple's itinerary, maintains its inability to make the change.
Photo: Radio-Canada
I can only emphasize that we were not able to make the correction ourselves as we were not the issuer of the ticket. Therefore, it was right to contact the travel agency to have the correction made. “I don’t know why that wasn’t possible,” writes Christophe Hennebelle.
But the issuer of the ticket is not relevant at all, notes the chairman of the passenger rights group Air Passenger Rights, Gábor Lukács.
This is only a matter between the air carriers and has no impact on the connection between passengers and the air carrier, he notes.
He believes Air Canada should have made the necessary changes to at least allow Elvira Castillo Larocque to travel to Toronto and sort out the rest of the situation with Avianca there.
When traveling abroad, foreign governments may deny entry to those with false documentation, and Air Canada may face hefty fines and additional fees for transporting those without proper documentation. , emphasizes Christophe Hennebelle in his email to Radio-Canada.
Passengers should be fully reimbursed for their airline tickets and all other related costs, says Lukács.
With information from Jimmy Chabot