Great News Everybody!

I see this gem this morning - the latest in a long line of stupid Air Canada announcements:

Introducing On My Way, Air Canada's newest ˆš†-la-carte fare option, providing travel assistance service to protect you against unexpected travel expenditures -- including any that apply to your air ticket investment -- and offers you a smooth, stress-free travel experience when unplanned disruptions affect your travel plans.

On My Way service gives you access to specially trained Air Canada customer service agents who will assist to get you on your way more quickly and smoothly by:

Rebooking the first available flight on Air Canada, Jazz or another airline
Arranging complimentary hotel accommodation, car rental or other ground transportation and meals

This "service enhancement" is offered for $25 for flights under 1,000 km and $35 for flights over 1,000 km. So now you have to pay, up front, to ensure customer service if Air Canada screws up your flight (which is a pretty good bet actually). Why do I need to pay for "rebooking the first available flight"? If my flight is cancelled and I haven't paid do I not get to be rebooked? What happens if I don't pay for this "service"?

This is so insane I can hardly believe it. The majority of these services are being currently offered by Air Canada "for free". Even ultra-low cost Ryanair or Easyjet don't make you pay "extra" for customer service. Think about it - Air Canada has such a dismal record of customer service in the past, the way they decide to fix it is making you pay more for the pleasure to be rebooked on another flight when yours is cancelled.

What others are saying:

Montreal Gazette: Air Canada happy to go extra mile - for a fee

Toronto Star: It was bound to happen eventually: Air Canada now wants you to pay extra for better customer service.

FlyerTalk: AC are framing the product as being all about peace of mind, but the message it actually sends is: when things go wrong, we're not going to lift a finger to help you unless you've paid us extra in advance.

Just when you thought Air Canada couldn't get any less savvy when it comes to PR... imagine the scenario. Your flight is cancelled due to weather or a mechanical issue. All of the flyers with status (Elite/Super Elite) go off to call their customer service representatives, the people who paid "protection money" up front get to call theirs (no guarantee this will help even if you paid the $) and the rest of the poor slobs get what? No service? Service after everyone else has been helped? A pat on the back and a bus ticket to Moose Jaw?

Just checked. Air Canada still sucks.