The airline offered a voucher instead of compensation: can you refuse it?

What the rule says

Article 7(3) is short: compensation is paid in cash, by electronic bank transfer, bank orders or bank cheques or, with the signed agreement of the passenger, in travel vouchers and other services. The retained UK Regulation uses the same words. A voucher is therefore an offer, never a way of paying you without your consent.

The same money-first rule governs a ticket refund: under Article 8(1)(a) the refund is due within seven days by the Article 7(3) means — money, unless you sign for a voucher.

If you have not accepted

Decline in writing and ask for payment. Keep it short:

• quote the airline’s reference and the flight;
• say that you do not accept the voucher and require payment of the compensation under Article 7(3) of Regulation 261/2004 (or UK261), with the amount for the distance;
• give your bank details and a 14-day deadline, after which you will refer the case to the ADR scheme or the enforcement body.

A voucher worth more than the cash amount is sometimes a fair trade — the choice is yours, but only you can make it.

If you already accepted

Look at what you signed or clicked. If you agreed in writing that the voucher settles your compensation, the airline will treat the matter as closed. Two points can reopen it:

• Article 15(1): the airline’s obligations cannot be limited or waived by a clause in the contract of carriage;
• Article 15(2): a passenger who was not correctly informed of their rights and for that reason accepted compensation lower than the Regulation provides can still take proceedings before the competent courts or bodies for the difference.

If the voucher was simply e-mailed to you and you never agreed to it as compensation, nothing was settled. If you have already used it, say so in your claim: the airline may argue you accepted it, and the question becomes whether you were told you could have money instead.

A partial amount is the same question

An offer of part of the amount — €200 instead of €400, say — is an offer too. The amount can lawfully be halved only where the airline re-routed you and you arrived within two, three or four hours of the scheduled time depending on the distance (Article 7(2)). Otherwise the difference is still owed, and the escalation bodies can order it in money: AESA in Spain, for instance, orders compensation and refunds in money unless the passenger signed for a voucher.

Where the case goes if the airline insists

Treat a maintained voucher offer like a refusal: the airline’s position is final, so the ADR scheme for your airline and departure country can take the case, and the court remains open. The rejected-claim check names the body and the date it opens for your flight.