A Vancouver woman has a warning after she says a travel insurance nightmare left her fighting for more than $12,000 in expenses.
Jennifer Strang was on what she calls the “trip of a lifetime” in Europe with her two children in July 2022 when an airline strike left them stranded and the next morning’s flight was cancelled.
She had booked the trip using RBC Avion Rewards points, so she called Avion to try to rebook, worried about keeping the other legs of her trip on schedule.
“I was on hold for, I’d say, five or six hours, with three phones going at the same time, because I knew I had to fly out at 8am the next morning,” Strang told CityNews.
After losing the connection and spending more time on hold, Strang says she finally got through to Avion’s travel insurance provider, Allianz.
“They were very helpful. The agent told me that in the event of an airline strike, you can make a legitimate claim. We went through the policy line by line.”
Strang says she was repeatedly reassured that the cover included flight disruption due to an airline strike and that she should rebook, keep her receipts and make a claim when she returned home.
“That’s when I thought, wow, somebody’s helping me. That’s why I got this card.”
After spending $12,000 on new flights and accommodation using her credit line, Strang says she did as she was told and submitted all her details, including the name of the Allianz agent and the call reference number.
After several appeals through Allianz and RBC, Strang says she was repeatedly told her claim was denied.
Refusing to give up, Strang says this began months of further back-and-forth over call recordings and transcripts as she fought to get a copy of the conversation she had with the Allianz agent.
“I took it all the way to an independent third party, outside of RBC and Allianz. They came back and said they did nothing wrong, they followed procedure.”
Strang says she was faced with mounting debt, left with $12,000 in expenses related to her original claim, plus another $2,000 in additional fees and interest accruing on her line of credit, so she threatened to take her fight public.
“You know what they did? They made me a ‘goodwill’ offer. They would convert 200,000 reward points into cash, which ended up being $400 or so – of MY points – and a $50 gift card. They didn’t really give me anything.
She declined the offer and says she was subsequently contacted by RBC and told there had been a meeting with Allianz where they had reviewed the internal voice recording of Strang’s original call and determined that she had been told she would be covered in her situation.
“That’s what I’ve been saying all along! I should not have been put through this wringer and everything”.
The “full and final release” offer covers $9,380.91 of the claim, but Strang says it is not good enough given all the personal time and expenses she has spent fighting her claim, so she has refused to sign it.
“Right now I’m easily $18,000 out of pocket and I’ve asked RBC for additional compensation for all the stress I shouldn’t have had to go through in the first place.”
Strang says RBC has indicated it will not go beyond this final offer.
“They make everything so glorious with this card and all the rewards, la di da di da. At the end of the day, they’re not there to help you.”
In a statement to CityNews, RBC declined to elaborate on the case.
“We value our client relationships and, as with any client matter, we carefully review the situation on a case-by-case basis. We always work with our clients and keep them informed, as we have done in this matter. While we cannot comment further due to client privacy, we can advise that we are continuing to communicate directly with our client to address their concerns”.
