An Indo-Canadian man who was denied compensation for canceled tickets to India because the travel agency tried to rip him off by using the travel vouchers received from Air Canada to pay for other people’s fares fought back to recover his $5200 he paid for the tickets. Air Canada gave Surinderpal Gill of Brampton, Ont., vouchers worth more than $5,200 in compensation for flights for a family trip to India that were cancelled in the early days of the pandemic. But he was angered to learn the travel agency he had trusted spent them on other customers' trips. 

TORONTO – An Indo-Canadian man who was denied compensation for canceled tickets to India because the travel agency tried to rip him off by using the travel vouchers received from Air Canada to pay for other people’s fares fought back to recover his $5200 he paid for the tickets.

Air Canada gave Surinderpal Gill of Brampton, Ont., vouchers worth more than $5,200 in compensation for flights for a family trip to India that were cancelled in the early days of the pandemic. 

But he was angered to learn the travel agency he had trusted spent them on other customers' trips. 

Last June, Air Canada sent All Link Travel, based in Toronto, three vouchers to compensate Gill for return flights that were cancelled as aviation ground to a halt amid the pandemic, reported CBC News. 

But instead of telling him, Gill says the travel agency repeatedly said there was no sign of the valuable travel documents. It then used those vouchers to pay for trips for other people. 

"I feel like I have been betrayed," he told CBC News’ Go Public, shaking his head in disbelief in his Brampton, Ont., home. "How can somebody use my money without my consent?"

Gill is one of thousands of Canadians who've battled for months over travel vouchers issued amid the pandemic. Many say the very travel agencies they used are compounding their problems getting vouchers or refunds from airlines. 

"The bane of our existence ... the infamous travel voucher," said Richard Smart, CEO and registrar of the Travel Industry Council of Ontario (TICO), which regulates travel agencies. "Complaints have gone through the roof over the last two and a half years."

The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) says it, too, has received thousands of such complaints — almost 9,000 since the pandemic was officially declared in March 2020.

But after Go Public got involved, the agency quickly repaid Gill.

Gill, his wife, two sons and five other family members were in India that March, and were desperate to find a way back to Toronto after their return flights were cancelled. 

He paid almost $11,000 for four tickets to get his immediate family on a flight organized by the federal government; almost triple the usual cost.

Gill was angered by his travel agency's use of his travel vouchers for other customers, and suggests an alternate way airline refunds should be administered.

"There were no more options," he said. "We had no choice."

When Air Canada received a government bailout in April 2021 and promised to compensate travellers whose flights had been cancelled, Gill waited a couple of months and then called his travel agency to find out when his vouchers were coming.

"They said they don't have any information," said Gill. 

He says he called several more times over the next few months and, each time, was told Air Canada hadn't emailed any vouchers for him.

Last December, Gill asked Air Canada directly. He was told All Link had had the vouchers since June. 

The airline sent him the same email it had sent All Link, which included a PIN, to log in and check the balance. That's when Gill learned the vouchers — worth $5,277 — had been almost completely drained.

"I was angry," he said. "This is misuse of money."

The agency claimed the vouchers had been used by mistake — three times. 

"I said … 'Don't make up that story,'" said Gill. "'It's not one coupon, it's three coupons. If it's a mistake, write me a cheque.'"

Gill says the Air Canada rep confirmed the vouchers had been used to purchase airline tickets for people with an entirely different family name. 

Vouchers can be used for other customers, said TICO's Smart, but only "if the original customer gives permission." 

All Link Travel declined an interview request. Instead, a representative — who would not provide his name and called Go Public using a blocked phone number — promised several times to send a statement, but never did. 

Gill says he's grateful to have his money back, but the experience was exhausting.

"Everything has worked out," he said. "At the same time, I still have the feeling that this should not have happened."

Courtesy CBC News