I fly a lot to different places by myself. To Winnipeg, Vancouver and some other places. Many of you probably know about the incident with West Jets VIP program (also known as Unaccompanied Minors program.) A very young kid went on a flight from, I think it was Edmonton to Toronto and stopped in Winnipeg. This part is very strange because if you are under 12 and travelling alone you can't make any stops. Anyway, no flight attendant was helping her and she was about to get of in Winnipeg if it hadn't been for a kind stranger who was sitting next to her. West Jet got lots of questions about this and how this could have happened so they shut down their VIP program for an investigation. So then I didn't really know what to do to go to Vancouver every month, but what'd you know, Air Canada now has an Unaccompanied Minors program as well.
Now here's where my story comes in. First of all I'll say this, I don't really know why I'm like this but I really don't like Air Canada. Maybe on the verge of even saying that I hate it, but that might be a bit harsh, they're only an airline. I guess I've just become used to the great customer service and over-happy flight attendants on West Jet. But I was forced to take Air Canada for my trips out to Winnipeg and Vancouver. And I said this before but they are known for their bad customer service, at least within the airline industry they are.
When I got to the Edmonton airport to take my yearly flight to Winnipeg I was forced to stand in the Air Canada line, except for, you really don't know where to stand. After being shouted at ad told that I was Air Canada Jazz not Air Canada (what's the difference?) a couple times to move over to other lines we finally made it to the right counter. Now before we go on, at West Jet, you have to wear a very official looking necklace that says VIP and holds all my information. At Air Canada though I soon found out that I'd be flying as an UM, and I don't know about you, but I'd much rather be a VIP than an UM. It sounds like I'm more of a thought than an, um, person. The rest of the trip went a little bit bumpier but I got to the ground safe.
Now I come to probably the worst customer service I have ever experienced and may be the worst I will ever experience. This time I was flying on Air Canada Tango (how many are there?) and this time the plane was humongous compared to the tiny Air Canada Jazz plane. Whenever I've been on Air Canada Jazz or West Jet by myself I've always come up to the gate when they call Pre-Boarding, like I'm supposed to. So when they called Pre-Boarding on Air Canada Tango I went up to the gate. When I told them that I was an UM they immediately said that I'd have to wait until the end. When I asked why they said that I should have come up to the gate long before Pre-Boarding. When I tried to explain that I had always come up at Pre-Boarding she just said that this was how it was always done. Keep some consistency please! So finally when everyone had gone I came up to the gate and asked them one more thing. If they could actually take me to my seat because on Air Canada Jazz they just waved me through even though I had no clue where it even was! At this she totally didn't believe me! She said, as if she knew what had happened to me before, no, that couldn't have happened. It was absolutely crazy!
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't go on Air Canada. Well, unless you have to because you're an, um, UM.
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