A Canadian couple faced a 72-hour home nightmare when their travel plans were disrupted after a Las Vegas vacation.
Andrew Korchacov, 44, and his wife, 42, flew from their home in British Columbia to Las Vegas on vacation with WestJet on Nov. 4.
The couple had carefully planned their return for the following Sunday, with a late night flight from Vegas to Vancouver and a second flight the next day to take them back to their hometown, Terrace.
Their goal was simple: to get home in time to go to work on Tuesday.
However, their plans fell apart while waiting to take off from Las Vegas airport when their flights were canceled two hours before takeoff.
Their expected 25-hour journey home had been rebooked by the airline, which had set up a 72-hour itinerary with multiple stops.
The Korchacovs were expected to first fly from Las Vegas to San Francisco before a second flight two hours later would take them back to Vancouver.
There they would remain on the ground in Vancouver for no less than 52 hours before flying to Calgary at 10 p.m. and 90 minutes.
The next morning would be the final leg of their journey to Terrace, which would add 47 hours to their original plan.
Andrew Korchacov and his wife had to spend more than $3,000 to get home after their flights were canceled and rebooked, adding 47 hours to their trip
The couple was on vacation to Las Vegas and hoped to be home in time for work on Tuesday
“I thought this was a mistake,” Korchacov told the newspaper National Post. ‘I can’t spend a week of my life flying. There’s no point.’
Korchacov tried to find answers at the airline’s help desk and joined a long line of other passengers doing the same, but he received rude customer service and no resolution.
“First of all, they were rude to me. They said, “Well, you rebooked your ticket. What do you want?” I said, “What do I want? I want to go home,” he told the outlet.
Desperate, he offered to spend even more money to try to rectify the situation and get home on time. Korchacov was sure that this could not be the fastest way home, and that there had to be another way.
“She said, ‘You get what you get, and if you cause any trouble, we’ll call security,’” he said. “She actually told me to ‘go away.'”
In a state of confusion and frustration, he had been unable to see the name tags of the person he was speaking to, saying, ‘My state of mind was so disturbed that I did not pay attention to the name tags, if there were any. . In retrospect, I should have done that.’
The couple ended up spending $3,050 on an Air Canada ticket “just to get home on Monday,” taking them from Las Vegas to Portland, then Vancouver and home to Terrace.
Korchacov tried to find answers at the airline’s helpdesk and joined a long line of other passengers doing the same, but he was met with rude customer service and no resolution
They finally arrived home at 4pm on Monday, 18 hours after their ordeal began, and were both expected at work the next morning.
‘I just did what I did to get home. If I had to walk, I would walk. If I had to drive, I would drive,” he told the outlet.
WestJet issued a statement to National Post saying: “We sincerely apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Korchacov for any inconvenience they experienced during the journey from Las Vegas to Terrace.
‘Sir. and Ms Korchacov’s flight was initially canceled due to maintenance required for safety.
“Unfortunately, Terrace’s availability was limited, both within our network and via alternative carriers, making relocation options extremely challenging.
‘Sir. and Ms. Korchacov were notified of the flight disruption via email and telephone and were advised that they would be eligible for hotel and meal vouchers if they accepted alternative travel arrangements with WestJet.”
However, Korchacov has not yet heard from the company and said he was “still waiting for an answer.”