Why are travel businesses offering credit vouchers instead of cash refunds?

fifeken

V1m_Fuego said:

The 2 reasons I will not accept a voucher;
1/ if the company goes under, a voucher is worthless

Fortunately ABTA have now clarified that's not the case.  One of their big cheeses has been on TV this morning saying the voucher will be linked with the original booking, and if the company goes bust then the ABTA/ATOL protection will kick in as it would have done on that original booking

Thomas1967

Yes, if your transaction is ABTA-protected, it's protected against the failure of the airline etc. (that's the point).

Governments would be right to say that refunds should be paid in the event of cancellation. Whether the airline actually has the cash to be able to do that is another matter. The reasons why airlines like easyJet are trying to persuade people to accept alternative flights or a voucher are (1) to minimise their losses (which will be colossal) and (2) to manage their cashflow. It would be ironic if so many members of the public insisted on their rights that the airline went bust.

Frankly, however, governments currently have bigger worries than whether Mr & Mrs J. Bloggs get a refund on their holiday to Tenerife.

Aylesbury_Duck

Thomas1967 said:

Yes, if your transaction is ABTA-protected, it's protected against the failure of the airline etc. (that's the point).

Governments would be right to say that refunds should be paid in the event of cancellation. Whether the airline actually has the cash to be able to do that is another matter. The reasons why airlines like easyJet are trying to persuade people to accept alternative flights or a voucher are (1) to minimise their losses (which will be colossal) and (2) to manage their cashflow. It would be ironic if so many members of the public insisted on their rights that the airline went bust.

Frankly, however, governments currently have bigger worries than whether Mr & Mrs J. Bloggs get a refund on their holiday to Tenerife.

It's toilet rolls all over again.  "As long as I get in first, it's ok."

You mis-spelled "thankfully".

43722

fifeken said:

Most flights discussed on here are discretionary spending, so no one should be hurting too much and can afford to wait or take a voucher, but would rather demand their rights with no though of the big picture or long term effects.

How would any of us know what is and what is not discretionary spending for another individual? People often choose specific breaks,at specific venues, at particular times. It has been shown here that people cannot reschedule easily. It is up to the Travel Industry,along with the government,to sort out any issues, but the right to a refund is absolute inmost cases as the law currently stands.

Nebulous2

Aylesbury_Duck said:

It's toilet rolls all over again.  "As long as I get in first, it's ok."

That comment is very judgmental.

There are people stuck in New Zealand who have bought several flights home, only to find them cancelled within days or hours to be offered another credit and no refund. Many of them have no funds left with thousands of pounds in worthless airline vouchers. I saw one person reported in Australia who had spent £20,000. Comparing that with panic-buying of toilet rolls is very unfair.

Westin

Nebulous2 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

It's toilet rolls all over again.  "As long as I get in first, it's ok."

That comment is very judgmental.

There are people stuck in New Zealand who have bought several flights home, only to find them cancelled within days or hours to be offered another credit and no refund. Many of them have no funds left with thousands of pounds in worthless airline vouchers. I saw one person reported in Australia who had spent £20,000. Comparing that with panic-buying of toilet rolls is very unfair.

I saw similar on reports from Thailand, Bali and South Africa.  What was happening however was rather than book direct with the airline people were still searching these online OTA sites and attempting to book with these as the fares presumably slightly cheaper.  The OTA then ring fencing the funds but not able to book the actual ticket.  No immediate confirmation of a booking just a disappointment email 24-48 hours later. Although people were not losing money they were using their available credit on cards. 

Aylesbury_Duck

Nebulous2 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

It's toilet rolls all over again.  "As long as I get in first, it's ok."

That comment is very judgmental.

There are people stuck in New Zealand who have bought several flights home, only to find them cancelled within days or hours to be offered another credit and no refund. Many of them have no funds left with thousands of pounds in worthless airline vouchers. I saw one person reported in Australia who had spent £20,000. Comparing that with panic-buying of toilet rolls is very unfair.

On reflection, you're right, and I do have sympathy with those people in very difficult circumstances.  I have much less sympathy for those being unrealistically demanding for much less values for holidays some time off, though.

Nebulous2

Westin said:

Nebulous2 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

It's toilet rolls all over again.  "As long as I get in first, it's ok."

That comment is very judgmental.

There are people stuck in New Zealand who have bought several flights home, only to find them cancelled within days or hours to be offered another credit and no refund. Many of them have no funds left with thousands of pounds in worthless airline vouchers. I saw one person reported in Australia who had spent £20,000. Comparing that with panic-buying of toilet rolls is very unfair.

I saw similar on reports from Thailand, Bali and South Africa.  What was happening however was rather than book direct with the airline people were still searching these online OTA sites and attempting to book with these as the fares presumably slightly cheaper.  The OTA then ring fencing the funds but not able to book the actual ticket.  No immediate confirmation of a booking just a disappointment email 24-48 hours later. Although people were not losing money they were using their available credit on cards. 

That's not what I saw in New Zealand. There were very few international flights and the prices were much higher than normal. People took the advice of the High Commission and booked them. The transit hubs such as Singapore were all closing with no or very little notice. All of that had a knock on effect of cancelling more flights - often ones that had just been booked.  Then the New Zealand government announced with only a few hours notice that travelling domestically to get to an international flight was not essential travel and therefore not allowed under lockdown. As all the remaining flights were in Auckland, people in the South Island had no way of connecting to their flight. That led to them cancelling as they weren't allowed to get there, and more vouchers. It took almost a week for that restriction to be lifted.

A lot of these people were backpackers, who had borrowed money from their parents to get home after a flight was cancelled, only to find that money was now gone as well. 

To put it in context, our return flights for two booked in October cost around £2000 total. Our return journey alone cost over £4000. We were fortunate it went ahead, but many people paid that amount of money to get home, only to 'lose' it as well.

fifeken

43722 said:

fifeken said:

Most flights discussed on here are discretionary spending, so no one should be hurting too much and can afford to wait or take a voucher, but would rather demand their rights with no though of the big picture or long term effects.

How would any of us know what is and what is not discretionary spending for another individual? People often choose specific breaks,at specific venues, at particular times. It has been shown here that people cannot reschedule easily. It is up to the Travel Industry,along with the government,to sort out any issues, but the right to a refund is absolute inmost cases as the law currently stands.

You need to refresh your understanding of discretionary spending.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/discretionary-spending

Browntoa

Norwegian air is a good example. Huge amounts of debt and little cash .

Same people who are " I must have my cash back now ! " Will be moaning next year when their same flights to the USA have gone up by 40% due to the failure of Norwegian air (and probably others)