BonBon payday: Transat rewards begin landing in advisors’ bank accounts

Travel advisors received a direct deposit from Transat this week related to rewards they had accumulated through the BonBon program.

Valérie Desgagné on Wednesday (Sept. 16) publicly thanked the company in the Travel Professionals Group, a private Facebook group for the trade. 

In a message to PAX, originally written in French, the owner of Voyages & Croisières Aquamonde explained that several members of her team successively confirmed that they had received their money.

“My employees were writing to me one by one to share the good news. As the hours went by, the direct deposits were showing up in their accounts,” she said.

Desgagné noted that payments were received by members of her team who bank with different financial institutions, including Desjardins, CIBC and TD Bank.

“My team was really very happy,” she continued, explaining that she wanted to highlight the positive development and the work done by Transat.

Situations vary by case

Desgagné’s post generated numerous reactions. Several advisors said they had also received a deposit, with some noting that the amount matched what they had expected.

Others, however, said they had not yet received anything or had received an amount lower than the balance they believed they were owed.

READ MORE: BonBon backlash: Transat responds as advisor demands answers about restitution process

Some also raised questions about whether group bookings or balances appearing on their previous statements had been taken into account.

The comments therefore suggest that situations vary from case to case.

Transat: No comment for now

PAX asked Transat for clarification. Julie Sareault, Transat’s commercial director, confirmed that she had forwarded our questions to the company’s legal department.

“For now, Transat has no comment to make,” she said, adding that she would get back to PAX.

A long-running saga

The BonBon program allowed travel advisors to accumulate rewards on their Transat bookings. Paid in dollars, the rewards were loaded onto Visa BonBon TruCash cards.

READ MORE: Transat reports progress on BonBon restitution; 2,000+ claims received

For several months, however, numerous members reported blocked cards, declined transactions, delays and an inability to access the funds they had accumulated.

As PAX reported, advisors also expressed frustration over monthly fees being deducted and receiving T4 slips for income they could not access.

Transat had attempted to relaunch the program by sending new cards to its 5,800 active members.

BonBon was ultimately suspended until further notice following the end of the partnership between Digital Commerce Bank (DCBank) and TruCash.

A process to return the funds was subsequently launched. Transat said it had received more than 2,000 requests and was working with Deloitte to determine the amounts owed.

More recently, the company announced that it had launched legal proceedings after its investigations uncovered “serious irregularities” involving the BonBon program.

At the time, Transat said it intended to defend affected members and fully determine what had happened.

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