Air Canada to charge $30 fee for phone bookings starting Oct. 15

Air Canada will charge a non-refundable $30 fee, plus taxes, for flight reservations made by phone starting October 15.

The airline says the fee is to encourage travellers to use digital options rather than rely on phone agents for routine transactions.

"Depending on the circumstances, the Contact Centre booking fee may apply," Air Canada said. "The fee is not refundable if the flight booking is canceled either."

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Passengers calling about delays, cancellations or other active disruptions are exempt from the fee.

Exemptions also include customers who need specialized care, specific assistance or accessibility support, but the airline's website does not outline who determines the exemptions and how they are verified.

Air Canada charges no fee for bookings or changes made on its website or app.

On social media, passengers expressed frustration with the airline's website and app glitches.

"I really hope they exercise good judgment for these fees. I would rather book online but half the time the changes I want to make don’t work online," one Reddit user said.

Another comment was "They need to be able to apply judgment and waive the fee when AC's IT forces people to call in because the site/app don't work as they should."

Several commenters said some multi-city and complex itineraries cannot be booked online.

One passenger on Reddit said, "The problem I have with this is that sometimes the route you want to book, or the options you want, are only available by calling in. I feel like this should only apply for cases where you could have booked online but didn’t."

Others said they were unaware of all available flight options. "I am just now learning there are more options than what appears on the website. How do you find out about these in the first place?" one Reddit user asked.

Passengers noted that booking a bassinet or a lap infant on partner-airline itineraries may require a phone call.

There was also talk about how Air Canada handles passenger compensation, with some commenters saying compensation vouchers don’t always work online.

They worried they could be charged $30 to redeem them by phone, and it is unclear whether the disruption exemption would cover those calls.

Another Reddit user said, "The companion pass is one I couldn’t get to work w/o phone agent."

Air Canada charges dozens of separate optional, administrative, and third-party fees on top of the base airfare.

These include fees for first and second checked bags per direction, depending on the destination, with additional fees for overweight bags or oversized carry-ons.

Traveling with a pet costs $50 for cabin transport or $105 for baggage or cargo-hold transport.

Choosing a standard seat in advance costs $15 to $150 per segment, depending on the route and fare type.

Change fees are $100 to $120 per direction plus applicable taxes and fare differences, depending on the ticket type, while Basic fares are completely non-changeable and non-refundable.

Government and airport surcharges include government-mandated security fees costing $7.12 to $9.46 each way domestically, which can be higher for transborder or international flights.

Airport improvement fees can be up to $46, and airlines add a carrier surcharge.

The new phone booking fee takes effect October 15.

With files from TheTravel