Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis has slammed an airline online after being ‘kicked out’ of first class while travelling recently, saying he wasn’t told until he got to the gate and was told that it was a ‘full flight’.
Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom in the hit franchise, took to social media to complain about the treatment he recently received while attempting to travel with Air Canada, having arrived to find his service was overbooked.
The 33-year-old tweeted: “Confirmed. @AirCanada is the worst airline in North America. And that’s saying something.”
In a string of conversations with other users on the thread, Lewis said overbooking was a ‘ludicrous practice’ that has been ‘inexplicably normalised’, fuming that he had received no explanation or apology from the airline.
When someone asked him for further detail about what had happened, Lewis replied: “Kicking me out of first class to back of plane is what it is but doing it at the gate. Literally tearing my ticket up. No explanation other than ‘full flight’. Said if I wanted to sort it I should go to customer service. I asked where that was. ‘Toronto.’ I’m in Orlando.”
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He later added: “Honestly never experienced anything like it. I’ve been bumped before. Comes with the territory. But at the gate, less than two minutes to boarding and without explanation or apology? Never. They even said if I wanna complain or get a refund I have to reach out to them!”
Another Twitter user pointed out that overbooking was ‘common practice’, but Lewis wrote back: “Ya I know. I’ve been bumped before. I think it’s a ludicrous policy that we’ve inexplicably normalised but it is what it is. That said, that’s not my issue... I wasn’t told til boarding, no apology, no ask if like to rebook, and if want a refund I have to call them.”
Air Canada even popped up in the comments, telling Lewis that it could try investigating what happened.
“Hi Matthew, we regret hearing this,” the airline’s official Twitter account said.
“Please send us a DM with further details of the issue, we’ll see if we can help from here."
Many users were divided on the matter, with some saying Lewis was a ‘spoilt brat’ - while others admitted they had experienced similar issues and could sympathise.
“You might have acted a nice guy role on Harry Potter movies but in real life you come across as a spoiled brat,” one commented.
“Not a huge fan of Air Canada at all but most airlines are experiencing post pandemic issues since everyone is trying to travel again. Patience is not your strong suit.”
Someone else said: “Ugh so sorry this happened to you! They are the worst. They refused to take my luggage in London, had to pay $500 cad to get it shipped to Toronto. Still won’t reply to my emails. Good luck, hope you make it!”
Another added: “I have yet to have an uneventful flight with AC. Been bumped more times than I can count due to "overbooking/overselling" and they will not help you, even if their error requires you to have to stay overnight somewhere. I'm sorry you had to deal with this.”
Speaking to CTV News Toronto, Lewis reiterated his belief that overbooking was not a system that worked.
“Air Canada customer service is s***e,” he said.
“And we as a society should not be okay with normalising the profiteering of overbooking flights and kicking people off flights.”
The actor said he was yet to speak to a representative from the airline about the matter.
UNILAD has reached out to Air Canada for comment.
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Topics: Harry Potter, Celebrity, World News, Travel
Jess Hardiman