‘Shown how little they care:’ Sunwing flight set for Feb. 10 cancelled without notice

The travel nightmares caused by Sunwing’s cancellations are still going on, even for some who haven’t got on a plane yet.

Many stories of frustration have emerged from Saskatchewan residents after the vacation airline cancelled all of its service in the province until Feb. 3.

One family thought they were in the clear when they booked a vacation to Mexico back in August and were scheduled to leave on Feb. 10. Adrienne Stone, who was set to take off with her husband and three kids, said she found her flight information suddenly missing.

“I went onto the Sunwing app to check out my trip details, and my trip wasn’t there anymore,” said Stone.

Stone said she contacted the airline to find out what happened to her vacation only to be told that the flight had been cancelled. Stone said she asked to be booked on another flight, but Sunwing told her it wasn’t running any flights out of Saskatchewan.

The only option given to Stone and her family, she said, was a flight to their destination leaving from Vancouver or Edmonton. She said it would be left up to her family to make arrangements to get to the out-of-province airport, and they’d also be required to pay an additional $1,500 for the change in flights.

Stone said that seemed unfair, as the changes were not her fault.

“We’re not changing our trip due to our circumstances,” she said. “We’re not saying, ‘No, we can’t fly out of Saskatoon anymore.’ ”

After discussing the options with her husband, Stone said they decided not to pay the fee and requested a refund from Sunwing. Now, they will have to wait up to 30 days in order to get their money back due to backlogs.

Stone said she posted in a Facebook group to let others know they wouldn’t be able to go, because the group had helped her find the hotel. That’s when things got even more confusing.

“Somebody responded and said, ‘No, (Sunwing is) still booking this flight and this hotel.’ I’m like, ‘No, can’t be. It has to be for another day, has to be out of somewhere else, must’ve been mistaken.’ (So I) checked it out, and they were still booking the same flight, same hotel, same everything for the trip that we booked,” Stone said.

When she got back on the phone with Sunwing to see if their flights were cancelled by mistake, Stone said the company confirmed the flight was cancelled and said whoever else was booked on that flight would also have to ask for a refund.

Stone said it was a frustrating experience, but she also feels badly for those who had weddings or other events planned and had to either cancel or change all of those arrangements.

“We’ve used Sunwing quite a bit,” Stone said. “I’ve actually recommended them to a lot of people.”

After this latest experience, however, Stone said her family won’t be using the airline again.

“I will not book with Sunwing ever again, because they’ve shown how little they care about Saskatchewan people,” she said.

Luckily, Stone said, her family was able to book another vacation through another company, but she said she doesn’t want anyone else to have to deal with the same issues she went through.

650 CKOM has reached out to Sunwing for comment.