WilcoRoger

This would be bad, very bad. In my case e.g I have no intention to book anything with EZY in the future, so why should I take their voucher? Even worse - voucher for future flight is only usable, if the airline still exists in the future - which is certainly not a given in the current situation. If they go bust, you just lose every penny you handed over to the airline at one time in exchange for services you haven't received.

florens

Fully agreed.

Courmisch

Governments are giving backing loans to, or even lending to, airlines. It's understandable that they don't want that money to go toward refunds, but to keep the airlines afloat. And you should still be able to charge-back from the credit card company if the airline went bankrupt, I suppose.

What I wonder is how long the vouchers will last... My current Finnair vouchers are increasingly looking like they'll expire (early next year) before borders reopen.

Often1

Bailouts are fine. Their cost falls pro rata on taxpayers according to each nation's tax structure. That is not a reason for consumers to suffer individually or be required to make interest-free loans.

Better for the government to include in the bailout an amount sufficient for AY to meet its legal obligations.

Courmisch

Says a US resident.

As a Finnair customer with many euros of liability, I do see the point and share the concern.
But as a Finnish taxpayer however, I wonder why I should pay for Finnair customers, especially oversea ones. There's a difference between losing the money and having it converted to voucher (and FWIW, Finland has yet to join in on this proposal to EU).

And exceptional circumstances are, well, exceptional.

Often1

You have missed the point. US law requires all US carriers as well as non-US carriers for tickets to or from the US to refund for cancellations or substantial changes. This provision remains even though the US government is bailing out the US carriers. As a US resident, I am funding that bailout.

It does not bother me in the least that my US taxpayer dollars are helping out taxpayers in Finland and elsewhere in the world because there are US residents who are being helped out by the government of Finland and elsewhere. It may not balance out completely, but it likely comes close.

The same is true for you as a Finnish taxpayer. It may not balance out, but it comes close.

Governments who do not act to protect their own citizens are failing in their most basic duty.

WilcoRoger

What would you chargeback to the CC co? You booked a flight, it got cancelled, you got “paid” back with vouchers. From the CC point of view case closed. No way any CC co would see themselves liable in this situation.

ffay005

I wonder if it's that simple.

You bought a flight. It got cancelled. So you did not get what you paid for, and CC is responsible.

I doubt the conditions of carriage are written so that when you buy a flight, the airline can choose whether to fly or issue a voucher.

WilcoRoger

You accepted vouchers as compensation, so that’s that. Under current legislation you don’t have to accept vouchers. If this new proposal goes thru (god forbid) you have to accept them. The devil is of course in the details - as in can you decline vouchers and charge back?

All in all, horrible proposal, hope some countries have balls to veto it.

Often1

That has not been the experience of most people.

What matters is whether one requested a refund or agreed to accept vouchers. If the flight is cancelled or substantially changed and the customer requests a refund and one is not provided, a chargeback should be fairly easy to achieve and most have found that. If, on the other hand, the passenger agrees to accept a voucher, one should expect the dispute to be denied when the carrier responds.

WilcoRoger

What you write is correct today - should legislation change for the worse (as per the above proposal) then the airline will be in the dry by giving funny money vouchers in lieu of hard cash. I don't see the CC companies picking up the tab then.

Courmisch

Anyone has experience rescheduling a Finnair flight cancelled due to Covid-19 after the original departure time? Given how not eager to refund Finnair is, I don't suppose they refuse the reschedule? Then again??

ffay005

What do you mean? The flight operated, but you no-showed?

No experience, but I suppose they'd want you to contact them before the flight, especially now that the queues are so short.

Sorry, I misread your post! AY is actually one of the most eager airlines to refund even if it takes time...

Purjelentaja

Called Platline yesterday regarding my cancelled flight in late March - early April that I hadn't asked to be refunded, yet. I discussed of my options and they were ready to change the flight dates with no problem. Even refunding was not an issue for them, even though the flights were originally booked through OTA, but my credit card was charged directly by AY, not the OTA. No 10% bonus for vouchers, though, if I had opted for that as the original booking hadn't been made directly with them.

WilcoRoger

It is a bit confusing. It seems that even if ALL flights on a booking is cancelled, it doesn't automatically cancel the booking itself.
I learned this from chat, when she expressly asked if I want to cancel the booking, even though there was no flight on it anymore.
So it would seem that even if all flights are cancelled, you can still rebook (as also the above comment says)