Sunwing cancellations force Regina couple to delay wedding… again

Planning a wedding is stressful enough in the best of times, but Sunwing cancelling Saskatchewan flights has added an extra layer of stress for a Regina man and his fiancée.

Rob Noble and his fiancée Lindsay were initially supposed to get married in Riviera Maya, Mexico back in February, but had to postpone the wedding due to COVID-19.

Now, they’re being forced to postpone once again because Sunwing cancelled their flight out of Regina. Making it more frustrating, Noble said, is the lack of communication.

“We had a clear setup for message alerts through the Sunwing app,” Noble said. “We didn’t get an alert through them. We got it through (a) Facebook post, and then we went to the website.”

Noble said they’re looking at rescheduling once more, but they noticed Sunwing’s prices are now higher than what they originally paid.

“We are not super confident with booking with Sunwing again, obviously,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of faith in Sunwing having enough staff in March.”

Although the couple will get a full refund for their flight, Noble said they’re still on the hook for the cost of the wedding itself. They paid the Grand Palladium Kantenah Resort & Spa in Riviera Maya directly for the wedding, he explained, and booked the flight and accommodations through Sunwing.

“When we had to reschedule the first time (due to) COVID, we (gave the resort) a 50% deposit. Because we rescheduled, they now have 100% of our money. We have to get married there,” Noble said.

Noble went on to say if they can’t make it to the resort to get married this winter, they’ll be out over $13,000.

The couple has been exploring other options to get there for the same date, like driving to Manitoba or Alberta to fly out of another airport. However, Noble wasn’t able to find any Sunwing flights from those airports before the cancellation.

“The other option we looked at was travelling with another airline, like maybe travelling with WestJet and keeping the same date,” he said.

But because they won’t get their money back from Sunwing for up to 30 days, that doesn’t seem possible.

“Especially when we’ve got … a mom and dad coming (with) two kids. (It would cost them) $8,000. For them to pay that again before getting a refund, that’s a big ask,” Noble added.

Despite the issues, the couple is still looking forward to getting married.

“We’re staying optimistic,” he said. “We love each other, and we’re going to make it work.”