Their return to Canada involved a lengthy detour, but an Alberta couple is back home after a trip to Las Vegas took a turn on the final night.
Lori-Ann Kenna and her husband Paul were in Las Vegas to celebrate her best friend’s wedding.
The couple was staying at an AirBnB, and planned to fly back to Edmonton Sunday.
“We went down to Fremont Street on Saturday night, our last night out before we left,” Kenna said.
They returned to their Airbnb at about 2 a.m. to find they had been robbed.
“They turned the whole place upside down, stole everything, literally everything,” Kenna said. The couple’s toothbrushes, phone chargers, and some clothes were stolen, along with condiments from the fridge and liquor, the couple said.
The thief or thieves also made off with their passports. The couple had planned to take a direct flight back to Edmonton with Swoop, but that plan quickly changed.
The low-cost airline told the couple they couldn’t fly across the border without a passport.
“They basically told us it’s not their fault and it’s not their problem that we don’t have our passports, and if we don’t have our passports then there’s nothing they can do,” Kenna said.
Kenna reached out to border officials and a Canadian Embassy.
“They both said that we are allowed to fly across the border without passports, but it’s [at the discretion of the airline],” Kenna said.
A CBSA statement obtained by CTV News said Canadians have the right of entry into Canada.
“Citizens do not require a passport, other acceptable forms of identification are a birth certificate or driver’s licence,” but said policies could differ between airlines, and each company should be contacted directly.
“Even though it may be heartbreaking, that’s still their rules,” Lesley Paull, an Edmonton travel agent who was not involved in the Kennas’ travel booking, said.
The couple flew from Las Vegas to Seattle, via San Francisco, before renting a vehicle and driving across the Canadian border to Vancouver, and finally flying from Vancouver to Edmonton.
“We had paid for a flight interruption and all that other stuff and we asked them to change it from Las Vegas to Edmonton to Abbotsford to Edmonton, so at least we weren’t out all that money,” Kenna said. “They told us it’s not their problem, that had we let them know 24 hours in advance then they might be able to do something, but chances are they wouldn’t bother doing anything for us.”
Paull said if the couple had booked flights on another carrier, they might have had more help.
“On a discount carrier, if you’re not on the flight you’re supposed to be on, everything is lost,” Paull said. “With another airline you can rebook and pay extra to travel at a later time.”
“Airlines are not responsible if you’ve lost a document to pay part of your trip from somewhere else. That’s the unfortunate part of losing a document.”
CTV News reached out to Swoop for comment, and a spokesperson released a statement in response.
In part, the company said agents “are required to deny boarding to those who do not present sufficient travel documentation to board their flight” and urged travellers to contact their embassy for support.
“Swoop understands that this has been an extremely frustrating finish to these travellers’ trip and for that we apologize. Our team will be reaching out to work directly with the travellers on bringing this unfortunate situation to a mutually agreeable close.”
Concerns over public information available on Airbnb
In retrospect, the couple realized how much information was available publicly related to their accommodations.
“The biggest thing is that we feel violated, that someone was potentially watching us and casing us, and just the intrusion,” Kenna said.
“They could have been watching us the entire week we had been there.”
Paull said as with most online bookings for accommodations outside of a hotel, there is a certain amount of information available publicly, but it’s what may or may not be inside the suite that could impact travellers the most.
“The thing is with most of them, most do not have a safe, so you do not have somewhere to put your passport,” Paull said. “In that case, if you’re doing that, you have to carry your passport with you.”
Paull advised any Canadian traveler who loses their passport while outside of the country to do what the Kenna’s did: contact the nearest Canadian government, and if possible go to a consulate.
“Contact them, and in a day or two they can send you a temporary passport that you can travel with,” Paull said.
Now that the couple is back home, they’re thanking people who stepped up to help – including the dealership that covered their hotel stay in Nisku while their car was re-keyed.
The couple said they lost about $2,000 getting back home despite having travel insurance.
With files from Sarah Plowman
