EDMONTON—With the possibility of a strike looming large, some WestJet travellers have to decide whether they’re going to sit tight or cut their potential losses.

The Air Line Pilots Association reported 91 per cent of its members voted in favour of strike action, which could happen as early as May 18.

Since then, WestJet has been responding to a slew of concerned customers on Twitter, and has promised refunds to travellers whose flights are affected by a labour dispute.

The pilots have agreed to keep flying over the May long weekend in good faith, but travellers who’ve booked flights that fall after that still feel like their plans are up in the air.

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Lesley Paull, owner and manager of Paull Travel in Edmonton, said that it all boils down to how desperate upcoming travellers are to get to where they need to go.

“If you absolutely have to, and it’s somebody’s wedding — and it’s your daughter — then you might want to cancel now and rebook,” Paull said. “If you’re just going for a weekend in Vancouver for holidays, you might want to wait.”

Since the vote results were announced, Paull said she’s received a lot of calls from customers asking about their options, which are to change or cancel their flights and incur a penalty, or to wait and see if a strike is announced, get the refund, and then rebook.

As it stands, Charmaine Lowe is still mulling over her own options. A 31-year-old project manager at Focus Communications in Edmonton, she and a friend have a trip to New York planned for June, well after the goodwill period offered by the pilots’ union.

“It’s all well and good that WestJet says they’re going to refund anyone affected,” Lowe said. “But what about your hotel, your Airbnb, or your travel insurance or car rental?”

According to her calculations, Lowe stands to lose $800 if her plans are cancelled by any labour action, including tickets to see one of her favourite bands, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.

“It’s sort of a waiting game,” she added. “There’s a lot of uncertainty about it, which sucks.”

For Lowe and her friend, the trip, which the two planned back in March, is too important to miss. She would rather risk a penalty and rebook early than wait to see what happens with negotiations.

“I don’t think either of us want to make a knee-jerk reaction, especially if they do come to a resolution, but I think our backup plan isn’t to wait it out,” she said. “Our plan is to take a cancellation fee and look for a different flight.”

In the meantime, she’s planning to book any subsequent flights on Air Canada, which announced Thursday that it was adding capacity on key transcontinental routes in response to the strike vote mandate from WestJet pilots.

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Paull, who has worked through strikes like this in the past, sympathizes with travellers who appear to be stuck between a financial rock and a hard place.

“It always comes down to the last minute,” she said.

With files from The Canadian Press

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