Frill-free, low-budget Canadian airline JetsGo has shut down as it files for bankruptcy:
Transport Minister Jean Lapierre says there will be refunds from the federal government for passengers holding the worthless Jetsgo tickets.
But he says some customers who bought their tickets through a travel agency may get some of their money back from provincial travel insurance funds–or from credit card companies that offer insurance. People who bought tickets on the internet may be out of luck, says the minister.
Pardon my ignorance of federal economic policy, but why the heck is my government refunding these tickets? Aren’t ticketholders like any other creditor? I’m sorry about everyone’s trouble, but why is the government stepping in? Furthermore, why are they differentiating between the different modes of buying tickets? Surely only a minority of people procure their ticket through means other than travel agents and the Internet.
If you’re unlucky enough to be holding a JetsGo ticket, here’s some information on what you can do.
UPDATE: I posted this story at 10:39pm this morning. As several commenters have pointed out, there was an omission in the CBC story, which was updated at 12:05pm today. It now reads “Transport Minister Jean Lapierre says there will be no refunds from the federal government for passengers holding the worthless Jetsgo tickets.”
DarrenBarefoot.com 
“Transport Minister Jean Lapierre says there will be refunds”
I heard the opposite in the news this morning. That the federal government will not give people any money.
So which one is it?
I too heard that there will not be refunds – if that was a type-o by the CBC, they’ve since corrected it, as the site reads: “Transport Minister Jean Lapierre says there will be no refunds from the federal government for passengers holding the worthless Jetsgo tickets.”
I know BC has a contingency fund administered through most travel agencies from the days when charter companies would go bankrupt and leave people stranded somewhere… I’d be looking for my money back from that group – though who actually pays cash for flights these days? Seriously – does anyone *not* book tickets on a credit card?
The travel agents are pissed that their fund will be used, since the fund was actually created to protect against travel agency collapse, not “end service provider” collapse.
Gotta love Canadian travel.
Thankfully Westjet’s still around, otherwise we’d be back to the days of 800$ Air Canada flights.
If Airlines were charging $800 a flight they’d stay in business. Even Westjet is feeling the realities. Taking writedowns on early fleet retirement shows that not even their business model is immune to the hard reality that airlines are an immensely expensive business to operate.
When Canada 3000 went under we lost a vacation in Puerto Vallarta. We went to Cuba with Air Transat instead.
A month after we got back we got a 100% re-imbursement courtesy Visa. (If you pay by credit card you’re a part of a creditor with very big clout.)
A friend of mine paid cash for his Canada 3000 vacation and a year later got 40 cents on the dollar. And the poor bastard had to rent a minivan and drive all the way to Quebec and back with family in tow to salvage his Christmas vacation.
Lesson learned.
I read there will not be any refund (says the JetGo ticket holder) from the Federal government. It would seem odd if they did.
But if you purchased with a credit card, I know that Visa Canada will ChargeBack your purchase amount. I know since I called them.
And, I just read on FlightCentre’s web site:
“If you purchased your ticket through a major credit card, please call your credit card company before contacting Flight Centre.”
The Vancouver Sun says, “Transport Minister Jean Lapierre says there will be no refunds from the federal government for passengers holding the worthless Jetsgo tickets.” Must’ve been a typo on the CBC site.
Credit companies don’t pay merchants until about three months after the customer makes the purchase. If you purchased a ticket in that window, you have a very good chance of getting the credit card company to refund your money. Even if it’s been longer, you should still be able to make a claim about not receiving promised services.
As for why the travel industry association won’t pay people who bought tickets online, it’s because TICO mostly represents travel agents, not airlines. They don’t want to encourage people to buy direct. Thus, it’s always a good idea to pay by credit card and purchase travel insurance.
Apparently Jetsgo was taking reservations right up until officially filing for bankruptcy last night. You can’t tell me that the company didn’t know in advance it was going to fold. Doesn’t taking people’s money when there is no intention of delivering services qualify as fraud?
We had a flight booked for next week to Montreal with Jetsgo. Needless to say, I was pretty upset this morning when I heard the news. I’m fairly certain we’ll get our money back through MasterCard. Well, hopefully. Otherwise it’s going to be a very expensive trip, since I booked a flight with Westjet this afternoon to the tune of $200 more per person.
Unfortunately while we’d like to think of it as fraud, that’s typical of the way business operates: take as much as you can get while the gettin’s good.
You bet they knew. They probably knew 6 months ago.