Flown to Different City Due to Overbooking - Denied Transportation Expenses
I was on an Air Canada flight to Haneda, Tokyo that was overbooked. I was bumped to a later flight (about a 4-hour delay) and instead flown to Narita. For anyone not familiar with Tokyo airports, Narita is located in a completely different city and prefecture and is actually quite far from Tokyo. One must take an express train or highway bus to get to Tokyo where I live, hence the Haneda ticket purchase.
I requested only reimbursement for that additional transportation expense, incurred only because Air Canada overbooked the flight, and yet they are denying even that most basic of claims. I am not requesting expenses for the delay, or for the bags that arrived 2 days later because naturally they didn't make it on the other flight - only for the extra expenses incurred as a result of being flown to a different city for which the ticket was purchased.
Do I have no recourse here? Below are my exchanges with Air Canada on this matter:
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FROM AIR CANADA --> ME
Thank you for contacting us regarding the expense(s) you submitted.
After careful review, we regret that we are unable to consider reimbursing your out-of-pocket expense(s). The expense submitted was incurred at your destination.
Many factors can influence the departure and arrival times of our flights. Because people travel for many reasons, a departure delay may be a mere inconvenience for some, while for others it may result in the loss of things like travel arrangements. Regardless, the principle remains the same. Loss of enjoyment, expenses at destination or at point of embarkation are beyond compensation due by Air Canada.
If you have purchased travel insurance, we recommend contacting your insurance company to review your claim. If you experienced a flight disruption, the insurance company will accept a copy of the itinerary you received upon booking and any itinerary updates received thereafter, along with copies of any flight delay/cancellation notifications you received. Additionally, some credit cards offer insurance coverage as one of their perks, so we recommend checking with your credit card issuer to explore this option further.
We understand that this may not be the outcome you were hoping for, and we sincerely appreciate your understanding and patience throughout this process.
Thank you for choosing Air Canada. We value your continued loyalty and look forward to serving you again in the future.
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FROM ME --> AIR CANADA
This rationale is not applicable to this case.
You wrote, "a departure delay may be a mere inconvenience for some, while for others it may result in the loss of things like travel arrangements. Regardless, the principle remains the same. Loss of enjoyment, expenses at destination or at point of embarkation are beyond compensation due by Air Canada."
I am NOT claiming the expenses due to a departure delay, though obviously I experienced such a delay. I am claiming the expenses because Air Canada flew me into a different airport in a different city for which I purchased the ticket. As a direct result, I incurred damages in the form of additional transportation expenses in order to reach my actual destination.
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FROM AIR CANADA --> ME
Thank you for your follow-up e-mail. We very much regret your dissatisfaction with our response.
Although there is little I can add to our initial explanation, we would like to assure you that your concerns have been reviewed appropriately.
While we wish to assure you that we value your patronage, we are unable to offer further consideration to this matter. Our previous correspondence has provided our explanations and the continual exchange of emails will not alter our position.
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FROM ME --> AIR CANADA
Is the review team familiar with the geography of the Kanto region in Japan? My destination ticket was Haneda airport, which is located in Tokyo. Air Canada flew me in Narita Airport, which is located in a different city in a different prefecture. To reach Tokyo from Narita, one must take a high-speed train or highway bus. In this instance I had to use the train, and it is for this expense that I am seeking reimbursement.
To draw a Canadian parallel, it is as though I purchased a ticket to Toronto, but instead was flown to Montreal. Montreal is a different city in a different province, and one would be necessarily assume additional transportation expenses to reach the actual destination for which the ticket was purchased.