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Perhaps I am miss reading the OP story but it sounds like, the OP was told her tickets had been changed and was not able to use them now. It is fairly simple, the OP paid for a flight from point A to point B. If the airline is saying the ticket can't be used then the OP should be getting her money back. The details about how someone hijacked and repurposed the ticket is interesting but that is the airlines problem to solve not the OP. Clearly the airlines does not have adequate safeguards in place.

They are not buying tickets, they are buying air travel. If they are denied boarding or the airline tells them the tickets are not good that is sufficient to dispute the charge.

I would phone the credit card company again and talk to a different agent. Tell them it is not a legitimate merchant and you want to dispute the charge as you did not receive the service you were charged for.

Skytrain is not going to be overly crowded heading out of downtown to the airport. Most traffic is heading into the core. Also being a Saturday it is going to lighter than a weekday. At the airport it is going to be busy. Many of the flights from Asia and Australia arrive early in the morning and a good number of those passengers are connecting onto the US. Add in the local and cruise traffic. It is busy but the lines tend to move quickly. You don't need to leave at 5AM. I would head out around 7 AM and then grab breakfast at the airport once your past security and US customs. If your in the US departures area there is a Starbucks and a sit down restaurant (named after the local hockey team) around gate E81 if you want a proper breakfast.

The way this works is when a travel agent (or some other entity that is kind of acting the same way like a cruise line) books a flight they are in control of the ticket until around a day or two before when control transfers to the airline. Under rare cases the airline will take over control earlier. So Air Canada is going to tell you to go talk to NCL. This is the published economy fare structure at Air Canada for flights to the US: https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/fare-options-and-fees/to-the-us.html#/ The special deal NCL and Air Canada negotiated is going to be based on these, there could be some special "NCL" specific conditions that we don't know about. If you are in Basic then you can't make changes. If your in Standard you can change it at the airport or in advance but it costs money. If your in a higher fare class the change may be free. If Air Canada reschedules your flight then that opens up the ability to make changes for free.

Yes, you can short check your bags to Vancouver and not have them tagged to fo onto LAX. If the flight from YVR to LAX is the not the last leg on your ticket you should expect all subsequent legs to be cancelled. The one tricky thing about short checking a bag is you may not be able to do it at an automated kiosk. You probably need a human to do it. The airlines are not doing a great job of training their front line people to deal with these "special cases". The check in agent may need to ask ask someone for some help if they don't regularly do it. Yes, your basically manipulating the fare rules. If you do it very infrequently and if asked by the airline you say, "well my plans changes" nothing will come of it. If your doing it regularly the airline concludes your regularly trying to game the system, then yes they may decide not to sell you any tickets in the future.

The Lufthansa business class within Europe is just a regular economy class seat with some upgrades. The Air Canada flight would be proper business class all the way. Also you want to consider your return flight. On your return you will want to make you connection in Europe or Canada. That avoids having to deal with bags at the connecting airport.

It is weird. For me it tends to be the flight from Vancouver to Victoria that from time to time does not post. I usually have to identify it as missing and then it shows. Every other flight for me usually shows up, sometimes it takes longer than other times.

The only thing I would add is frequently on air line reservations I have seen Terminal M show up and yes that is the Main terminal as others have stated. When you exist customs you can go upstairs in the terminal as posted above. Or you can head outside, walk past the line up of taxi and the line up of busses and access the street are escalators that will take you up to the skytrain. Most of the signage in the terminal I believe say something like "Train to City" . Either option will get you there.

If you book ahead of time and miss you sailing but arrive on the same day you go into the line up waiting for the next sailing with everyone else that just showed up that day. There way be a wait if it is busy. The reservation price can sometimes be a bit cheaper or more expensive that the terminal rate. Usually the difference is only +/- $15. If you miss your reservation and have a discount you will charged the difference. If you arrive early then it is the same thing. You can go on the earlier sailing if there is space and you pay the difference.

The flights they cancelled were mostly to the US or international so they would not end up with their aircraft standard in foreign airports should the pilots walk out. Most of the airlines have unions. They threaten to go on strike from time to time. Personally I have been a bit happier with Air Canada customer service as of late but they all have the same risk of strike.

If your staying downtown and want to buy low cost new I would suggest taking skytrain out to Metrotown Station. It is a large mostly higher end shopping center, however they have a Walmart and Real Canada Super Store. Both those stores will have lower cost (and lower quality goods non-brand name) product.

There are some exceptions, but most flights from the states or Canada are overnight. If you leave the 4th, you would be in London on the 5th. In North America when unions go on strike it is unusually until a new agreement is reached. If Europe it is not uncommon for unions to go out for just 24 hours our sometimes even for one or two hours. If it is a one day strike I would expect them to be back at work on the 5th.

Saskatoon and Calgary have similar conditions. Singapore Airlines recently stopped flying into Vancouver. They still fly into Seattle. You could do the same thing you plan to do in SFO in SEA.

I lived in Saskatoon for 13 years flying for business every other month. Flying in/out of Saskatoon is not particularly "risky". Your just as likely to have a flight be canceled due to weather in Calgary as Saskatoon. I would not be worried about your bags missing a connection in Tokyo. Taipei, Tokyo-Narita and Seoul are all airports where international connections are common and you do not clear local customs or immigration unless your staying in the country. The US is not setup for international connections. You enter the US with your bags then exit the US again. There are so few people making international connections at US airports they don't go out of their way to make it smother. Personally i would chose flying from Saskatoon to Vancouver or Calgary then off to Narita or Taipei or Soul over going through the US especially if I had to overnight in the US. If I had the time I would rather add the extra night at the final destination before boarding the ship than an airport hotel somewhere in between. Singapore airlines has a fantastic reputation for inflight service. I have not been on Singapore but have been on EVA, Cathy Pacific, ANA and JAL. The Asian airlines generally have great in flight service. To answer your question is there are problem with flying from Calgary to San Francisco, picking up your bags. Overnighting and then catching a flight the next day. No. You will be charged some baggage fees on the Calgary to San Francisco flight if it is not on the same ticket as an overseas flight. But it can be done. Your will clear US customs in Calgary and arrive at a domestic gate in San Francisco. If your going to drive to Calgary, you may want to look into the WestJet flight from Calgary to Tokyo.

The risk you are taking do things is if your flight from Calgary to San Francisco is delayed or canceled for any reason the airline is not responsible for rebooking you to Singapore. Your on your own to buy a new ticket. If it is all on one ticket then the airline is covering any cost of rebooking you to your final destination even if it involved buying you a ticket on a different airline.

As others recommended, the airport value parking lot is a good option. Has very good lighting. Security is around all the time. There will be people coming and going all the time. The airport is open 24 H a day, with flights typically starting at 6 AM and running until around 2 AM the next day. The lot is also next to a skytrain station that is takes into downtown and cruise ship terminal.

From Canada Place ships have to sail under the Lions Gate Bridge. The tallest of the mega cruise ships will no long fit. The Port of Vancouver is looking at options for a second cruise ship terminal. That would be in Richmond or Delta. However selecting a site, doing the environmental impact assessment, and then building it will take years. There is a project in the works. Until that happens the largest of the ships will need to sail out of Seattle and call in Victoria.

You may want to look around. Nothing wrong with booking the outbound and return with different airlines on different tickets. For Vancouver to Boston, I believe JetBlue and Air Canada have the non-stops flights. WestJet may also. The other airlines will all be connections somewhere.

Only thing I would add ... If the Y is fully booked I have frequently stayed at the Days Inn in downtown Vancouver on Pender. Short walk to the cruise terminal. Unlike the Y this is 100+ year old hotel that has been refurbished, very much like many of the smaller hotels you find in European cities. Clean, safe, good neighborhood, low cost but the rooms are small. If you looking for a modern mid-market hotel that is reasonably priced that would be in Richmond near the airport. Many of these will offer shuttles from/to the airport. Most of these are going to be brands you recognise across North America. Local Canadian brands would be Sandman and Coast Hotels and they would be on par with a Holiday Inn. The more unique ones . River Rock Hotel & Casino sometimes has good rates. It is next to skytrain that will take you to within bocks of the cruise ship terminal. Abercorn Inn is another independent in that area that is on par with a Holiday Inn. From Richmond to the cruise ship terminal you can take public transit (skytrain) or uber, lyft or a taxi.

Going to the cruise ship terminal uber/lyft all sound reasonable. A taxi is also a reasonable option. The cost difference will be minor. The cruise ship terminal is located in a multi-level pier. There are two lower levels of parking, then the cruise ship terminal, then at street level a convention center and the entry to the Pan Pacific hotel. Some floors with offices and then the hotel tower on top of all of that. There is a lot going on in that building. There is a ramp that takes you down to the cruise ship terminal level and the parking levels. The driver will be able to head down their and get you fairly close to where you enter the terminal. Coming back I would just grab a taxi. If the lineup is to long at the cruise terminal level I would grab the elevator up to street level and get a taxi there or arranger to be picked up by uber/lift there.

Assuming your off the ship first thing in the morning. I would feel safe doing a flight that leaves around noon. Many of the flights from Asia arrive in Vancouver in the early morning. To provide domestic connections, there are usually a number of domestic flights that leaving just before or just after noon. I would comfortable with one of those. Traffic out of downtown Vancouver can be a pain during rush hour. If your comfortable with your bags, I would take the train (skytrain). The Canada line goes from waterfront station near the cruise ship terminal to the airport.

The people in Miami that answer the phones at NCL don't deal with the customs clearance issues at the port. That is handled by the staff in the pursers office on the ship. It not unusual for the call center to response to a question like this by saying "We will need to contact the ship and get back to you". In this case Miami is likely wrong. The boarding process at the ship is also supervised by the ship purser. It has been a few years since I have been on an NCL cruise to Turkey. Back then and I believe today you still don't need a visa as a Canadian on a cruise that is passing through Turkey. In my case I had a business meeting in Paris that was moved that I could not get out of and needed to cut short my vacation/cruise getting off in Istanbul. After boarding the ship in Rome went to the purser desk and advised them of the change in plan. They asked me to hand in my passport to the purser office the night before we arrived in Turkey with the fee for the Visa. They presented my passport to the authorities when clearing the ship into Turkey and I picked it back up from the purser office the following morning with the Visa added. Turkey will issue visas to Canadian at the point of entry (airport/port). So, if you require one you don't need to have one ahead of time. In you case, it sounds like you will not need one.

I would do the same. NCL messed up they should cover the associated costs. As an aside I frequently fly on WestJet. Both AA and WestJet run on the Sabre airline reservation system. For some destinations WestJet is very particular about the names on the ticket matching the ID and if not an exact match they at the gate they will change the name on the ticket to match. AA likely could have done the same. If there people are empowered to or are trained to is a different question. Either way it is NCLs fault they created the problem in the first place.

This will depend on who does this and what airline. I believe in the US some airports have their people do this instead of the airlines. Here in Canada this is typically done by airline staff. It is not uncommon for airlines to have strict rules that staff are not allowed to accept tips of any kind.