Air Canada updates goodwill policy, will reimburse for hotels & meals

Air Canada has updated its goodwill policy to reimburse customers who incurred out-of-pocket expenses for hotels, meals and other things during the strike.

This updated “exceptional policy” applies to customers whose original travel was disrupted between August 15 and 23, 2025 inclusive and builds on the flexible rebooking policy implemented earlier this week to cover transportion costs.

“Today, we are taking another step forward, delivering with our policies to make things right. This updated plan includes reimbursement for reasonable accommodation, meals, necessary transportation and other costs,” said Mark Nasr, executive vice president and chief operations officer at Air Canada, in a statement.

Special travel expense policy

Customers who experienced cancellations and delays between August 15–23 and incurred reasonable expenses for hotel stays, meals, ground transportation, or other costs are eligible for reimbursement for their travelling party, says Air Canada.

Claims must be supported with receipts and submitted through the airline’s customer relations portal.

Air Canada says it will work to address claims “as quickly as possible.” However, due to the anticipated volume, it may require up to four to six weeks.

The policy, which the airline says is “above legal obligations,” covers “reasonable accommodations, meals, transportation and other costs.”

Travel advisors take note: a previous version of the portal stated that customers who booked through a travel agent were not eligible to complete a reimbursement form.

Air Canada, on Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 20), confirmed with PAX that this was an error, clarifying that clients who booked with advisors are, in fact, allowed to submit a refund request.

The portal has since been updated to reflect the correct information. The airline is advising users to clear their browser cache so a fresh version of the web page shows.

Flexible rebooking continues

Earlier this week, Air Canada implemented a disruption policy to cover transport expenses which customers may have incurred to get to their destination during the shutdown.

If customers had a flight scheduled to depart between August 15-23, 2025 that was cancelled, and made alternate arrangements themselves because Air Canada was unable to rebook them, the airline will cover these transportation expenses.

Some additional details include:

• Customers who received an email from Air Canada stating that the airline was unable to rebook, or were offered alternative flight options that depart more than five days from their original departure
• Customers who purchased a flight on an alternate carrier in the same or lower cabin to your original flight
• Customers can also claim for alternate transportation options to get them between their original origin and destination (bus, ferry, car etc.)
• Customers must have booked the most reasonable and economical option(s) with their alternative travel, and ensuring that they reach your destination as soon as possible

Additional information for the exceptional expense and transport policies can be found here. 

Almost all flights back on schedule

The update comes as Air Canada restores its operations ahead of schedule following the end of the flight attendants strike.

Most of the airline's domestic and international routes were operating again by Thursday (Aug. 21), after resuming Tuesday.

According to an online dashboard tracking the airline's service resumption, 98 per cent of domestic flights were expected to operate over the next 24 hours, along with 99 per cent of U.S. flights.

The airline’s international flights have also nearly caught up, with 94 per cent of planned flights expected to fly.

"Air Canada's 40,000 coworkers, with their exceptional commitment and expertise, have allowed us to restore operations ahead of plan. We now expect to be operating very close to our normal schedule tomorrow. We deeply apologize to all customers whose travel plans were disrupted, and we're committed to making things right for all customers — particularly those who were stranded during their trip," said Nasr. 

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