Voucher Option
 

Aer Lingus now starting to offer a voucher option for people who want to cancel ticket.

Its offering 10% on top of the total fare paid including taxes

10% extra, but also when using a voucher EI does NOT change handling fees per passenger so you save a further €9 per flight per passenger

You are betting on EI surviving but you are making 10% + a further €9 per flight saving IF the voucher covers the total cost of the ticket, if there is any cash portion the €9 fee will be applied

Details

• If EI go bust the voucher has no value
• €9 handling fee per passenger is not charged using vouchers
• Voucher can be used to purchase multiple flights
• It may be possible to merge multiple vouchers (and this could save you money, see below)
• Cannot pay with a voucher and combine with pay with Avios
• Vouchers have no expiry (possibly 5 years, but normally 2099 is the indicated date)
• Lead passenger name must match that on the voucher
• If you mix and match voucher + cash the €9 per passenger per flight handling fee will reappear
• Issued in the currency of the point of origin, so if issued in USD, can only be used for flights sold in USD

Where did you find this? I see no information online.

I've had a lot of people book flights on Aer Lingus for my Wedding which has now been pushed back a year due to this. So this is probably their best bet since I doubt you can rebook a flight for July 2021 at this stage.

I received an email from Aer Lingus giving me the option to change without fee or get a voucher. This email was supposedly for travel booked before May 31. I was to fly out on May 27. I submitted the form on 3/19 but still have not got a confirming email with my voucher number and information. My reservation is gone from their system. Does anyone know when we get the voucher number? I can't call or email since they request you do not do that unless you have flights within the next 72 hours. Completely understand but I would have expected the voucher request to be automated.

Anyone able to advise what options I've got with a part pay with Avios tickets? Had booked a few days in Spain over Easter. Flights currently showing as cancelled. As yet not recieved any advise from EI. Will I get Evoucher cash equivalent plus 10%?

Curious about flight status & questions on refunds/vouchers
 

We have a flight from JFK to SNN (EI110) scheduled for two weeks from now (we booked it in December long before any virus was in the news). Like many others we are waiting for a decision whether they will cancel our flight. What we are seeing since last Wednesday is that this daily flight has not flown but it is not shown as cancelled on any of the flight tracker sites we've seen. If you go to the Aer Lingus website it shows no record of this flight for the three current days and if you look to book this flight in the coming weeks, it says "sold out". All of which seems odd. Do any of you have any knowledge of what is happening to this flight each night? Are they refunding the passengers or forcing them to accept a flight to Dublin or other? We don't want to fly at the height of a pandemic nor do we fly that often so there's a good chance we won't have a chance to fly to Ireland for a long time (or anywhere else Aer Lingus flies) so the voucher is not as attractive as a refund. If they try to make us take a flight to Dublin, does anyone know if the voucher has an expiration date? Thank you in advance for any information or advice. (apologies if this should be in its own thread)

Wait until it gets cancelled which it will be. Although keep an eye on it as some reports of airlines deliberately not cancelling in the systems even though flight does not go to try avoid EU 261 !!
Some airlines are communicating cancelled flights with only the options of a voucher or a date change. There is no mention of a refund.

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF A FLIGHT IS CANCELLED UNDER EU 261 YOU ARE ENTITLED TO A REFUND



Article 8

Right to reimbursement or re-routing

1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered the choice between:

(a) - reimbursement within seven days, by the means provided for in Article 7(3), of the full cost of the ticket at the price at which it was bought, for the part or parts of the journey not made, and for the part or parts already made if the flight is no longer serving any purpose in relation to the passenger's original travel plan, together with, when relevant,

- a return flight to the first point of departure, at the earliest opportunity;

(b) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at the earliest opportunity; or

(c) re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their final destination at a later date at the passenger's convenience, subject to availability of seats.

2. Paragraph 1(a) shall also apply to passengers whose flights form part of a package, except for the right to reimbursement where such right arises under Directive 90/314/EEC.

Facing a bit of a conundrum. Does anyone know if it’s possible to switch a USD voucher to euros or at least have them sell me a flight departing Dublin in USD. Is it possible any exceptions will be made due to the current circumstances?

Voucher is issued in the currency the original ticket was purchased

They cannot be changed, based on past history.

So
US->DUB->US will be USD
DUB-US-DUB will be EUR

Oh no this is not good. Do you think there is any way I could get it switched currency’s? The voucher hasn’t been issued yet if that helps. Am I waisting my time if I choose to call?

Thank you DELLAS, I hope you are correct. I will wait until within 72hours to call. But it is a concern when I read articles like this one...
(I'm not permitted to post URLs as I am a new member but the article was in the Irish Times, life-and-style/travel, and was titled "passengers and agents allege aer lingus is breaking law on refunds-1.4213285")
...which indicate that the airline may use some loophole to avoid refunding us. Does anyone know if the vouchers being offered have an expiration date?
Thank you.

Legally refund is only available if the flight is cancelled, if it flies EI has complied with its contractual agreement.

If you cannot travel due illness or due instruction from your government this should trigger travel insurance payout.

Vouchers have a 5 years life and 10% extra value is being issued so is a good deal

Thank you ROKNA, knowing the vouchers are good for five years is a HUGE help. Aer Lingus should mention that in their offer as it makes it far more attractive than other airlines who have much shorter time frames. I just read where DELLAS posted that JFK-SNN-JFK passengers may be accommodated on same day JFK-DUB-JKF flights -- I don't know if that is simply an option or if that will be in lieu of a refund offer. That posting also said they were cancelling flights similar to ours all the way up to the day before we fly -- so close to an official cancellation! Anyway, things tend to change on a daily basis but if nothing changes, I will tentatively plan to call them when we get to the 72-hour window and request a refund. If the plane is flying or DUB is a legal alternative, the voucher may be a viable alternative. Our trip insurance (Allianz) explicitly excludes pandemics but will compensate if any of us is quarantined by a physician or designated as too ill to fly by a physician. Obviously we would not wish for either of those scenarios.

5 years has been reported by others.

Any voucher i have bought myself (to dodge paying the 9 euro handling fee on flights) has come with 2099 as expiry

From completing the cancellation form to getting the vouchers, how long is it taking these days?

Their saying up to 28 days.