Holiday travel woes continue for those trying to get home

Justin Clark and his family were supposed to fly out of Ottawa on Christmas Day to his home in Tennessee but hours before the flight, he received this email from Air Canada saying it was cancelled.

“My stepdaughter, she’s going to have to miss her Christmas with her dad because her flight was supposed to be on the 27th and now we’re not going to make it back in time,” he said. “We tried to call and reschedule and they said the only possible flight was to upgrade to business class that would have cost us about $3,000 a person.”

The Christmastime travel headaches continuing for many this holiday season. Some Canadians are still stranded in Cancun, Mexico and have been for days now after Sunwing Airlines cancelled their flights. The company says it’s because of the severe winter weather.

At Toronto’s Pearson Airport, travellers are being warned of luggage delays with chilling temperatures breaking one of the baggage belts.

“What's happening right now with the luggage belts and the issues with getting people back home, it’s unprecedented, there's no way to plan for this sort of thing,” said Marty Firestone, president of Travel Secure. “My best advice is to save all receipts, document everything you do, and have that ready for the airline the insurance company or the Canadian transport agency if it gets to that point.”

Meanwhile, here in Ottawa, Clark chose not to upgrade to business class, but he was able to rebook his family a flight out on Thursday, hoping there won't be any further delays.

“It goes Ottawa to Toronto, Toronto to Detroit, Detroit to Nashville. Hopefully we make it home,” he said.