Are we obliged to accept a voucher instead of a refund for a cancelled flight?

A common question these days, and one that has affected thousands of people who had their vacations planned, is whether they can demand a refund for a flight cancelled due to the pandemic, or instead, are forced to accept a bonus for another flight in the future.

See also: The restaurant that only serves airplane food in Thailand.

Before exceptionality ruled our lives and the world was turned upside down, all the good simulated under the pretext of “new normality”, there was no doubt about it. It was logical that if, for any reason, a flight for which we had bought a ticket was cancelled, we were entitled to claim a refund.

This is what our good sense as consumers tells us, the overwhelming logic that if there is a reason outside of ourselves why we cannot benefit from a purchase, we have the right to claim that money. This is also stated in Regulation 261/2004 of the European Parliament, which explains that in case of flight cancellation, the company will offer passengers “a refund within seven days of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was purchased”, a refund that “shall be paid in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank transfer, check or, by agreement signed by the passenger, travel vouchers or other services”.

See also: Boeing 747-400 aircraft still use floppy disks to update their software.

Why have so many doubts arisen? For a while there was talk of the possibility that airlines would not be obliged to refund money for cancelled flights. Already at the end of March, the Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, assured that the European Union was studying alternatives, and even encouraged citizens to accept bonuses. “If you can reach an agreement with the company and accept the bonus is not a drama either,” he said, something that some consumer associations considered inadmissible.

In April, Spain officially requested a temporary derogation from the regulation that obliged airlines to return money from cancelled flights to those who request it. Fourteen other countries made the same request. The objective, according to Ábalos, was to “alleviate the liquidity situation” of the companies. According to airline associations such as IATA and AIRE, such firms faced the possible obligation to return up to 9,200 million euros, which could lead to more than one to bankruptcy.

The response from the EU was clear

Finally, on May 13 the European Commission decided not to accept the request for a temporary derogation from the law. Quite the contrary: Brussels sent a letter to each member state to insist on the need to ensure compliance with Regulation 261/2004. And that, in any case, the bonuses that the airlines offered as an alternative to money were more attractive, to encourage users to choose that option. Therefore, the answer to the question is no: no user is obliged to accept a bonus for another flight instead of a money refund.

The main problem was that up until that date, and even after, many airlines took advantage of the legislative disarray to offer bonuses as the only option to users with tickets for flights that were cancelled, which led to numerous complaints from Facua and other consumer rights organizations.

In May, a survey conducted in the United Kingdom revealed that 84% of Ryanair passengers had not yet received a cancellation refund, as well as 63% of easyJet customers and 23% of British Airways customers. In Spain the Ministry of Consumer Affairs announced that it would denounce 17 airlines for having offered bonuses to their customers without informing them of the option of reimbursement of money for the cancelled flights.

How to claim

What is clear is that the legislation remains as it was before the pandemic: passengers on cancelled flights are under no obligation to accept a voucher. They must be informed that they can receive the full amount of the ticket and, within no more than seven days, the ticket must be refunded in cash, by bank transfer or by check.

If the airline only offers us a voucher or has arranged a voucher without first offering a refund, we are entitled to claim it. The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) explains that first you have to file a claim with the company itself, within five years. If there is no response within one month, or if the response is unsatisfactory, the user can either complain to AESA or go to court.

On the other hand, if we request the refund of the money and after seven days the company does not pay it, “the claims for damages or, if applicable, interest for the delay in payment must be made directly before the Courts of Justice”. If more than one month has passed, then it is also possible to claim before AESA or resort to the courts.

By Jaime Quirós – Yahoo