A Kamloops man is sharing his story after being stranded in Mexico during a wave of violence that disrupted travel plans, saying the ordeal to get home cost him and his partner thousands of dollars.

Jonathan McIntyre had been vacationing in Puerto Vallarta when the violence escalated, leaving thousands of travellers scrambling to find flights home. What was supposed to be a scheduled return turned into several extra days in Mexico — and a race to secure seats back to Canada.

“We were still trying to figure out how we were going to get home,” McIntyre said. “I was in the middle of talking with WestJet Vacations and WestJet Airlines on the phone, and we were getting absolutely nowhere.”

While McIntyre spent hours on hold and speaking with airline representatives, his partner, Jamie, searched online for available flights — toggling between departure cities and destinations including Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, knowing they could connect onward to Kelowna, where their vehicle was parked.

“She was searching constantly while I’m on the phone,” he said. “Eventually she just miraculously found a flight with two available seats leaving Puerto Vallarta the next day and landing in Vancouver.”

There was a catch: the flight was scheduled to land close to midnight.

“At that point, we were just thinking, ‘Let’s get home. Let’s get back on Canadian soil. We can deal with it from there,’” McIntyre said.

He says after securing the seats, attempts to get assistance or reimbursement clarity from the airline stalled.

“I completely got stonewalled,” he said. “So at that point, we were like, ‘OK, we’re on our own. We have to make this work.’”

The couple booked the flight to Vancouver, but delays meant they didn’t land until around 1:30 a.m. With a 6:30 a.m. connection to Kelowna, they faced a choice: spend hours waiting in the airport or pay for a hotel room near Vancouver International Airport.

“My partner said, ‘No, we’re going to be [awake] for so long, we need to get some sleep,’” McIntyre said. “So she booked us a hotel room. It was about $130. It was much appreciated to at least put our heads on a pillow for four hours.”

From Kelowna, they drove back to Kamloops.

The cost of the journey home, McIntyre says, was steep.

“We probably spent close to $3,200 to $3,300 to get home,” he said. “It’s more than what we would like. I’d like it to be zero — but it’s better than having to wait three or four more days.”

While WestJet did eventually cover several of the additional hotel nights in Puerto Vallarta, McIntyre says he is still left covering one night in Mexico, the Vancouver hotel, rebooked flights and lost wages.

“All in, we’re looking at about $4,800 to $5,000 out of pocket,” he said. “And that doesn’t include any pain and suffering or punitive damages. That’s strictly lost wages and additional travel costs.”

McIntyre has filed formal complaints with both WestJet and WestJet Vacations, calling it the first step in what could become a longer process.

“If they don’t respond to me within 30 days, the next step is to contact the Canadian Transportation Agency and see what they say,” he explained. “And try to get some resolution to this matter.”

He says he has also been reviewing passenger protection regulations and believes airlines need to better educate staff and travellers about their rights during disruptions.

“One of the things I do want WestJet to do is train their agents on what passenger rights are. That should be a bare minimum,” he said. “From what I got from their agents, I don’t think they’re aware — or they don’t acknowledge it.”

McIntyre says he’s even considering broader legal action.

“There were 26,000 people, according to the foreign affairs minister, stranded in Mexico because of this event,” he said. “Even if only half of them were stranded because of their airline, that’s still thousands of people. I think airlines need to be held accountable.”

For now, he says he’s relieved the stressful journey is over.

“It was exhausting,” he said. “But we’re home. That’s the important thing.”

Still, McIntyre hopes sharing his experience will encourage other travellers to understand their passenger rights — and to speak up if they believe those rights aren’t being respected.