Air Canada has cancelled flights to San Juan until at least Christmas

[SensFan11]

Cancelling this cruise is not really an option for us either since I do not care to throw away 6 New Year cruise payments that are non-refundable and paid in full already. May have to start swimming up the St. Lawrence and make my way down the coast to the Caribbean, but one way or another, we intend to be on our New Year cruise out of San Juan.

 

One thing to consider if you're Canadian and have travel insurance is that you may be covered to cancel your cruise. Many policies have varying clauses that allow you to cancel if the Government of Canada issues an official advisory to 'Avoid all Travel' or 'Avoid non-essential travel' to a particular country.

 

Last time I looked the advice was to avoid Non Essential Travel to Puerto Rico.

[CrossBluePerchance]

We just posted this on another thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=54393546&posted=1#post54393546

 

Post #5949

 

We are currently in Bulgaria and have had zero notification from either Air Canada or Expedia for TD, (with whom we booked).

 

Tried to send an e-mail to AC - inoperative. Currently attempting to establish an online chat with Expedia....oops, they don't come online for another 90 minutes.

 

The only reason we did, (or would EVER), book with Air Canada is because there were no other options.

 

Air Canada's motto: "We're not happy until you're not happy".

[Russ Lomas]

One thing to consider if you're Canadian and have travel insurance is that you may be covered to cancel your cruise. Many policies have varying clauses that allow you to cancel if the Government of Canada issues an official advisory to 'Avoid all Travel' or 'Avoid non-essential travel' to a particular country.

 

Last time I looked the advice was to avoid Non Essential Travel to Puerto Rico.

Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, I did not take out travel insurance. This was to be a special Christmas gift and celebration for the family, so I had no intention of cancelling it. I am having a tougher year at work this year as well and our vacation weeks are dictated by the school year, so getting away at Christmas for some R&R is something I am looking forward to. I am sure when I finally arrive in San Juan and know that I have a hotel and a flight home, I will be happy that I am there. It just seems that this is one of those years for many vacationing in the Caribbean where there are a lot of issues. I always tell myself that this is just our vacation where people living on those affected islands have it a million times worst than us, so I need to keep things in perspective.

 

Thanks again for the suggestion, it is just not applicable to us, but hopefully your advice is helpful to others reading this thread.

[ckrobyn]

And now it is official

 

October 26, 2017

Due to the impact of Hurricane Maria on Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, Air Canada has suspended all flights to Puerto Rico until further notice.

A goodwill policy is in place so affected customers can change their bookings or obtain a refund. For cruise ship customers due to board or arrive by cruise ships in Puerto Rico, Air Canada is working to secure alternative routings to and from San Juan on U.S. carriers.

If your travel is affected, you may contact Air Canada Reservations (1-888-247-2262) to change your flight. If you purchased your ticket with AeroplanExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines. or Air Canada Vacations, please contact them directly.

[SensFan11]

And now it is official

 

October 26, 2017

Due to the impact of Hurricane Maria on Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, Air Canada has suspended all flights to Puerto Rico until further notice.

A goodwill policy is in place so affected customers can change their bookings or obtain a refund. For cruise ship customers due to board or arrive by cruise ships in Puerto Rico, Air Canada is working to secure alternative routings to and from San Juan on U.S. carriers.

If your travel is affected, you may contact Air Canada Reservations (1-888-247-2262) to change your flight. If you purchased your ticket with AeroplanExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines. or Air Canada Vacations, please contact them directly.

 

It's about time Air Canada acknowledged the cancellations as a fact, rather than try to spin the story that the flights were 'all sold out'. :mad:

[SensFan11]

Thanks for the comment. Unfortunately, I did not take out travel insurance. This was to be a special Christmas gift and celebration for the family, so I had no intention of cancelling it. I am having a tougher year at work this year as well and our vacation weeks are dictated by the school year, so getting away at Christmas for some R&R is something I am looking forward to. I am sure when I finally arrive in San Juan and know that I have a hotel and a flight home, I will be happy that I am there. It just seems that this is one of those years for many vacationing in the Caribbean where there are a lot of issues. I always tell myself that this is just our vacation where people living on those affected islands have it a million times worst than us, so I need to keep things in perspective.

 

Thanks again for the suggestion, it is just not applicable to us, but hopefully your advice is helpful to others reading this thread.

 

I'm sorry to hear that...we were locked into our travel dates too, but have been fortunately able to switch to a cruise out of Florida. I too hope others lurking here are able to take advantage of the stories and tips we all share.

 

It was seven years ago when, a few days before a Disney cruise with our kids that our toddler daughter developed infections in both ears; the doctor's orders were clear: do not to fly. At that time, I expected we were fully covered via our credit card, but it was only once I started investigating our claim that I learnt that our coverage had severe limitations and would only reimburse a small percentage of our expenses.

 

We ended up driving three days with two kids under the age of six to make it to Port Canaveral and board Disney Magic (something that certainly isn't an option for cruises out of San Juan LOL).

 

Since then, we've made travel insurance a priority when planning our trips and have an annual plan.

[bcjs]

I'd be happy to throw in a little insider information for you with respect to the airlines and San Juan.

 

I fly for JetBlue and we have a very large presence in San Juan. I've been in there since the storm and what I will say is that the island has a long road ahead of it. However, we are in the process of normalizing operations in San Juan as thankfully our terminal was quite free of major damage and is mostly back to normal other than the occasional power outages that seem to occur at random. We have direct flights to San Juan from JFK, EWR, FLL, MCO, and I think we just started doing DCA. With respect to Canada, and if you by chance live in Toronto, I know a lot of you use BUF as an alternate (from what I hear its cheaper in taxes than YYZ too). It seems that whenever I fly from BOS, JFK, and MCO to BUF, I have quite a few Canadian citizens aboard who either drive or use one of the few bus services that make the trip across the border. It should be a pretty easy connection from BUF to one of our hubs that serve SJU. Check the weather I only caution you however, We have a heavy focus of aircraft routing through the Northeast and delays can get crazy at times especially with the construction projects that is plaguing operations in JFK

 

If you are having airline troubles to SJU, I offer to you to take a look at us from BUF to one of our hubs that serve SJU. Flights to SJU lately have been very open. Now, I warn you to look carefully at return flights however as those have been packed lately. We do not overbook our aircraft at Jetblue and if the flight is oversold, its usually due to something out of the ordinary. Good luck.

 

Thank you so much for this information. Now I understand all the cancellations for AC and Westjet, since they fly in and out of a terminal that was damaged. I was booked with Westjet, then Air Canada and decided that after both airlines cancelled (I discovered this on my own just by checking my reservations) we have booked with JetBlue. We have flown out of Buffalo many times and find it quite enjoyable and very easy. Please keep us up to date if you hear anything else..

[Russ Lomas]

And now it is official

 

October 26, 2017

Due to the impact of Hurricane Maria on Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (SJU) in San Juan, Air Canada has suspended all flights to Puerto Rico until further notice.

A goodwill policy is in place so affected customers can change their bookings or obtain a refund. For cruise ship customers due to board or arrive by cruise ships in Puerto Rico, Air Canada is working to secure alternative routings to and from San Juan on U.S. carriers.

If your travel is affected, you may contact Air Canada Reservations (1-888-247-2262) to change your flight. If you purchased your ticket with AeroplanExternal site which may not meet accessibility guidelines. or Air Canada Vacations, please contact them directly.

 

On the phone right now and AC is apologizing saying I should have been contacted to be told what you are telling me here on CruiseCritic. Now I need to take a layover and get in much later to Toronto making work the next day and school for the kids a real hassle. The reason I booked 11 months in advance was to get a direct flight that arrived home at a good hour. 48 hours ago when I talked to Air Canada, they were still saying that my direct flight is fine.

[ckrobyn]

On the phone right now and AC is apologizing saying I should have been contacted to be told what you are telling me here on CruiseCritic. Now I need to take a layover and get in much later to Toronto making work the next day and school for the kids a real hassle. The reason I booked 11 months in advance was to get a direct flight that arrived home at a good hour. 48 hours ago when I talked to Air Canada, they were still saying that my direct flight is fine.

 

AC knew well over a week ago as they had started contacting customers. I didn't wait for their call and managed to get on an AA flight out of SJ. Agreed, the direct flight home was perfect, but now just getting home is what's important.....

 

I am pretty salty towards AC and the fact they were dishonest with so many of their customers.

[Ontario Cruiser]

Just phoned Air Canada and they said FLIGHT JANUARY 13th is still scheduled but they would rerout us and get us there. So here's hoping.

Will check when we get back from th Brillance TA. We are supposed to fly to Barcelona on November 7th. Who knows what will happen with this one. At least we have cruiseline air.

Maybe we should stop travelling Ontario Cruiser

[Russ Lomas]

AC knew well over a week ago as they had started contacting customers. I didn't wait for their call and managed to get on an AA flight out of SJ. Agreed, the direct flight home was perfect, but now just getting home is what's important.....

 

I am pretty salty towards AC and the fact they were dishonest with so many of their customers.

Just finished my one hour fifteen minute call with AC. We were supposed to fly direct back to Toronto from San Juan on the 7th of January. We paid double for this flight because it left at a good time and was a direct flight, and we need to be at work and school the next morning after a 2 hour ride home from the airport. Family of ours is booked on the same flight currently too whom we are cruising with.

 

AC booked us on a flight leaving San Juan on United an hour earlier than our direct flight, added a layover in Chicago, then fly us back into Toronto on AC two hours and 15 minutes later than we were supposed to arrive. Not the end of the world, but still upsetting since we paid double for the direct flight to arrive home earlier, and that is not happening now. At least we arrive home on time for school and work the next day. When I asked about compensation because I originally paid double to get the direct flight, I was told I have to email AC and then it would be up to 30 days before I get a reply from that department.

 

Before confirming the flight change and hanging up, I checked one more time and it let me access my original flight online and move my seats around on the flight. When I told the rep this, she thought it was strange I could do that on a cancelled flight. She checked and it turns out my direct flight is NOT CANCELLED - YET. It may be, but it is still on, so that is why they have not contacted me yet.

 

She was gracious enough to hold six seats on the flights with a layover for us in case our direct flight is cancelled and still keep us on the direct flight for now. I asked her to do the same for the other 4 in the other family traveling with us and was told that there are not 4 more seats on the United flight out of San Juan, so they would have to overnight in NYC and fly to Toronto the next day. They will not be happy with that when they find out.

 

Hopefully the direct flight still operates. I was told to keep checking back every two weeks.

 

Hope this info is helpful to others out there.

[ckrobyn]

Just finished my one hour fifteen minute call with AC. We were supposed to fly direct back to Toronto from San Juan on the 7th of January. We paid double for this flight because it left at a good time and was a direct flight, and we need to be at work and school the next morning after a 2 hour ride home from the airport. Family of ours is booked on the same flight currently too whom we are cruising with.

 

 

 

AC booked us on a flight leaving San Juan on United an hour earlier than our direct flight, added a layover in Chicago, then fly us back into Toronto on AC two hours and 15 minutes later than we were supposed to arrive. Not the end of the world, but still upsetting since we paid double for the direct flight to arrive home earlier, and that is not happening now. At least we arrive home on time for school and work the next day. When I asked about compensation because I originally paid double to get the direct flight, I was told I have to email AC and then it would be up to 30 days before I get a reply from that department.

 

 

 

Before confirming the flight change and hanging up, I checked one more time and it let me access my original flight online and move my seats around on the flight. When I told the rep this, she thought it was strange I could do that on a cancelled flight. She checked and it turns out my direct flight is NOT CANCELLED - YET. It may be, but it is still on, so that is why they have not contacted me yet.

 

 

 

She was gracious enough to hold six seats on the flights with a layover for us in case our direct flight is cancelled and still keep us on the direct flight for now. I asked her to do the same for the other 4 in the other family traveling with us and was told that there are not 4 more seats on the United flight out of San Juan, so they would have to overnight in NYC and fly to Toronto the next day. They will not be happy with that when they find out.

 

 

 

Hopefully the direct flight still operates. I was told to keep checking back every two weeks.

 

 

 

Hope this info is helpful to others out there.

 

 

 

I wish I could be optimistic, but my spidey sense says Air Canada won’t be flying to San Juan anytime soon.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[TOcruising]

Spoke with Air Canada this afternoon and was told flights are only cancelled to/from SJU until mid December so we should check back late November or would be contacted if they decide to cancel our flights for Dec 30 & Jan 7. We’re giving it a few days before making any changes, but considering a stop over in FL for night before cruise in case hotels are still not operating by then... or dare I say cancel?!