First, the Air Travel story, from my friend Cynical Publius on X. Full story, followed by X link for those who wish to follow it.
RE: Air Canada
So now that I’m back from my Norway cruise, there are a few travel-related stories I want to tell. Let’s start with this: IMO,
@AirCanada is by far the worst international carrier I have ever flown on. Avoid at all costs. I’ve flown them twice; the first time was a trip years ago to Berlin where we transferred in London. They lost our bags for TWO WHOLE WEEKS. Do you know that Tesco sells virtually no clothing that fits someone who is 6’5”? The bags instead went to Milan and they were waiting on our doorstep in D.C. when we got home. That was the first trip. Now let’s talk about the one I just took (my cruise line, Viking Ocean, booked Air Canada for us, not me—I should have said no).
I’m about to talk about Flight AC 866 on June 12, 2026, from Montreal to London. We flew into Montreal from our home U.S. airport on Air Canada’s domestic-style business class, which was just basically shoddy, rundown and depressing. As some of you know I just had major knee surgery and I had therefore requested wheelchair assistance for the transfer to the international flight. Nope, nobody there. To get to immigration was about a mile walk. I attribute the current post-op problems I am having to the fact that I had to make that walk. It was brutal, and while my knee had been recovering nicely until then, that walk set it back and I’m still suffering.
But we made it through the interminable immigration lines and boarded Flight 866 in Montreal en route to London. Or so we thought. Turns out, they had the wrong plane. By the “wrong plane,” I mean the WRONG PLANE. They had sold tickets for a differently configured aircraft than the one we were boarding. Guess what? It seems they didn’t even figure this out until PEOPLE ACTUALLY STARTED BOARDING.
Let me say that again. The fact that they had sold tickets to the wrong type airplane was not identified until people got on board and their seat did not exist. As a retired U.S. Army logistician I find this utterly incomprehensible. How do you make such a mistake? Chaos ensued. First, they stopped boarding with the plane about 25% full. (
@MrsDrPublius and I got onboard before they figured it out because we had bought business class tickets.) Then we just sat there on the plane as the minutes and hours ticked by and the pilots, ground staff and flight crew hurriedly rushed up and down the aisles looking worried. (At least we were seated. ~75% of the passengers were still in the terminal.) No one was telling us anything except that the flight was delayed because of some unspecified ticketing issues. Then they tried this crazy thing where they made everybody stay seated and write their name and the number of the seat they were sitting in on a piece of paper and hand it in.
I don’t know what they thought that would accomplish, but it was useless. It was the Keystone Kops, poutine style. Then they made us all get off the plane. Then they re-booked every single person’s boarding pass in the system. Laboriously. Painfully. I heard complaints that people were kicked off the flight because there was no seat for them. People who had booked business class were sent to economy because there were too few business class seats. The delay was causing mass missed connecting flights in London when/if we ever did arrive. This was one of those international Airbus jets with ~300 passengers. I honestly thought there might be a riot in the terminal. For a while it looked like we never would fly.
Almost 6 hours later, we took off and actually did make it to London, eventually. The next day they sent me a survey to let them know how they did. It was the worst survey I have ever written for any business in my entire life, and I separately demanded some sort of compensation for the incredible inconvenience their incompetence caused. It’s three weeks later, and they have yet to reply. So now I’m writing this post. You could have at least APOLOGIZED,
@AirCanada. Rarely do I use this platform to complain about some personal issue with a business, but you earned it. Maybe next time at least acknowledge to your customers that you screwed up? Grrrrr….
One more comment from Publius in the comments on the above post.
I forgot.
Also, their app never showed our checked bags getting onboard, it showed them still sitting in Montreal.
We were very relieved when we saw our bags on the carousel in London, but we spent the whole flight believing they were likely lost.
Why have an app that supposedly tracks checked bags when it does not work?
Later, Mr. Publius posted this:
Yeah, below is what
has to say when I make a claim following the procedure with which they told me to based on my below post. After I already went to them on email 3 weeks ago. I never do this, but please repost my original post below far and wide. These socialist dirtbags need to pay for their incompetence, for both me and the 300 other passengers they screwed over. The whole world needs to know how disreputable this company is to paying customers.
Next, this on what may be coming if we don’t nip it in the bud right now, while we have a chance.
I hope everyone will read Dave Ramsey’s comments about going cashless. It’s a two minute read. No one has explained it better. He brings up several situations I’d never considered.
I took this picture of my receipt in my beautiful town Kerrville Texas. I support this and I can see how this could affect our kids by having gaps in work ethic, financial literacy, and community connection.
Dave Ramsey repost:
HERE’S WHAT NO CASH ACTUALLY MEANS:
A cashless society means no cash. Zero. It doesn’t mean mostly cashless and you can still use a ‘wee bit of cash here & there’. Cashless means fully digital, fully traceable, fully controlled. I think those who support a cashless society aren’t fully aware of what they are asking for. A cashless society means:
- If you are struggling with your mortgage on a particular month, you can’t do an odd job to get you through.
- Your child can’t go & help the local farmer to earn a bit of summer cash.
- No more cash slipped into the hands of a child as a good luck charm or from their grandparent when going on holidays.
- No more money in birthday cards.
- No more piggy banks for your child to collect pocket money & to learn about the value of earning.
- No more cash for a rainy day fund or for that something special you have been putting $20 a week away for.
- No more little jobs on the side because your wages barely cover the bills or put food on the table.
- No more charity collections.
- No more selling bits & pieces from your home that you no longer want/need for a bit of cash in return.
- No more cash gifts from relatives or loved ones.
What a cashless society does guarantee:- Banks have full control of every single penny you own.
- Every transaction you make is recorded.
- All your movements & actions are traceable.
- Access to your money can be blocked at the click of a button when/if banks need ‘clarification’ from you which will take about 3 weeks, a thousand questions answered & five thousand passwords.
- You will have no choice but to declare & be taxed on every dollar in your possession.
- The government WILL decide what you can & cannot purchase.
- If your transactions are deemed in any way questionable, by those who create the questions, your money will be frozen, ‘for your own good’.
Forget about cash being dirty. Stop being so easily led. Cash has been around for a very, very, very long time & it gives you control over how you trade with the world. It gives you independence.
If you are a customer, pay with cash. If you are a shop owner, remove those ridiculous signs that ask people to pay by card. Cash is a legal tender, it is our right to pay with cash. Banks are making it increasingly difficult to lodge cash.
Please open your eyes. Please stop believing everything you are being told. Almost every single topic in today’s world is tainted with corruption & hidden agendas.
Pay with cash & please say no to a cashless society while you still have the choice.
I tend to use this phrase out of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when Professor Alastor Moody tells his students:
CONSTANT VIGILANCE Citizens need to have constant 24/7 Situational Awareness, or if you prefer “Head on a Swivel.” We cannot any longer simply ignore what is going on around us. Governments everywhere are imposing onerous laws and regulations on their people that, if allowed to continue, will result in total loss of Liberty for everyone but the Elites imposing the rules. No one, but NO ONE, can go through life paying attention to only their own little corner of the world. Here in America, we still elect our representatives from the lowest to the highest levels. Everyone needs to vote in every election, do their own research on candidates, and recognize when candidates are lying to us about what they really want for our country.
Wake Up and smell the approaching Tyranny, and do everything you can to stop it now, or you will be living in a vast open-air prison later.
Calling-all-RushBabes 
The elites can’t eliminate cash. How would they ever be able to pay their illegal nanny, house cleaner, yard guy, etc subpar wages under the table?