A newlywed Sundre couple is uncertain whether they'll be able to reschedule their honeymoon after Hurricane Irma recently cut their first one to the Dominican Republic drastically short.
Josh and Carlee Hengen, who work at Home Hardware, have been attempting to reschedule their once-in-a-lifetime trip, but said Air Canada Vacations has not been particularly forthcoming nor accommodating in working with them considering the circumstances.
Originally booking the flight more than six months ago for Sept. 4-11, the couple clearly had no way of knowing what would happen and was concerned when Hurricane Irma started making headlines, said Carlee.
"We phoned in to see if our trip was cancelled as it was quite obvious that hurricane Irma was headed for us. We were told that no watches or warnings had been issued, and so we made no plans to change our honeymoon," wrote Josh in a letter to the airline.
But shortly following their arrival, before they'd even had a chance to fully unpack let alone take in all of the sights, the newlyweds were informed they would be evacuated, said Carlee.
"We were put up for a night in a hotel on an island," from where they ended up back on the mainland the following day to supposedly be sent to a safer area that inadvertently turned out to be in the hurricane's projected path. So they were again evacuated the next morning, she said, expressing dismay over a lack of adequate communication from the airline.
"It was kind of hectic."
The return trip home was not much of an improvement either. After being sent back to the airport in the Dominican Republic, the newlyweds found themselves waiting several hours for tickets, only to then be informed they weren't even on that flight, resulting in a further four-hour wait before they were finally on a plane heading back to Toronto, where they arrived in the middle of the night without a connecting flight, she said.
"We thought someone would be waiting there to get us a hotel, or direct us to a connecting flight back to Calgary, but there was nothing," wrote Josh.
Fortunately, the next morning, they were able to catch a flight back to Calgary, where family was able to pick them up for the drive home, said Carlee.
The young couple, who were wed on Sept. 3, had picked a resort in the Dominican Republic because the destination seemed like a pleasant place to relax near the ocean on their honeymoon, she said, adding the resort was ó for the brief time they spent there ó amazing.
The all-inclusive trip, booked through Expedia, cost about $3,800, but the airline has not been particularly willing to negotiate, either by fully or partially refunding or even rescheduling the trip, she said.
While they would like to try rebooking and going for take two, Carlee said that would depend on how their attempts to appeal to the airline pan out. Although they understand the hurricane is a natural disaster beyond the airline's control, Carlee said they'd met another couple who did get a refund in the same situation.
There is a hurricane policy that allows passengers to rebook a trip within a certain period of time, but "we were told we could not do that," she said.
Grateful not to have been hurt or lose anything during the evacuation, the couple is nevertheless confused and frustrated by the fallout that has left them wondering whether they will even get to make up for their cancelled honeymoon.
"How can Air Canada Vacations treat one of their customers one way, with a full refund and an easy process, and then make the next couple, who went through the exact same thing and are also on their honeymoon, go a completely different way? This seems ludicrous to me," wrote Josh.
As of last week, the couple remained hopeful the situation could be resolved positively.
