Marine Atlantic has some busy days ahead as it starts the process of issuing refunds on all passenger and vehicle fares for travel starting this Friday and beyond.
Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday made good on an election promise to cut Marine Atlantic passenger rates in half. The changes come into effect for all travel booked for August the 1 and after. Meanwhile, commercial rates are being frozen.
Marine Atlantic’s Darrell Mercer says they’re adjusting their reservation system to reflect the new discount.
Once those adjustments are made, they’ll start issuing rebates reflecting the fare changes, and that’s expected to take some time.
Darrell Mercer (File photo)
He advises customers booking travel for August 1st and beyond that they may still see the old rate structure on their bill, but he’s urging patience as they make the appropriate changes and issue rebates.
“Some people that my be making a booking today, tomorrow, the next couple of days, they may see the old rate structure” says Mercer. ” What will happen is we will go through all of those reservations and provide refunds. It’s going to take a little bit of time, because when we looked at our passenger manifest for anybody with bookings for after August 1st, we’ve got about 110,000 passengers that we have to provide refunds to.”
Mercer says while all situations are different, he estimates that the reductions will amount to an average savings of about $300 to $400 dollars one way for a family of four on the Argentia run, and about $100 or $200 each way on the Port aux Basques run.
