Guava

Thanks for posting the link. I reviewed the case and found that the couple's complaint to be valid. Because YQ is what is deemed "Carrier imposed surcharge" and not collected by the government or an outside agency, the voucher must be accepted. This is how other airlines operate too with their vouchers as far as I know, that the vouchers can't cover taxes but base fare + carrier surcharges are o.k. because they are really part of the fare.

If we allow AC's strict interpretation of what can or cannot be covered by one of those vouchers, then where can an average traveler expect to use a $600 voucher if a flight from Canada to China is way under that limit? The voucher itself then became a scam or misleading advertising or dealing with the public in bad faith, however you want to call it.

I don't know how else to describe this, such behavior is simply despicable. And here I thought I have seen a lot after almost 17 years on FT.

The bottom line is this is an unethical company who believes it can get away with a lot of things because most people won't complain or won't bother with the hassle. The best course of action here is to take AC to Court over the unreasonable restrictions on these vouchers designed to undermine their stated value. Since this can potentially affect a lot of people, hundred or thousands of travellers each year, AC should not be allowed to scam people with these quasi useless vouchers worth far less than the stated value. I believe this has potential as a class action lawsuit.