Are EU airlines required to refund airport taxes of unused flights back to the original payment method?

Upvote:-3

The airline always refuses to grant a refund and offers a voucher instead.

It's the same as if you cancel cable TV - they will never allow you to cancel and always offer you a discount or incentive instead.

This is legal because it's not a final answer. It's the opening gambit in a negotiation - if pressed they will yield to the legal requirement. It works because many people are lazy or courteous, and don't like to put up a fight for what they want. If this works for 30% of people, then they would be foolish and wasting money not to try it with everyone.

So yes - they are doing their job "correctly" (per their bosses) by telling you no.

And you are doing your job correctly by saying "Excuse me, but I insist! The law requires you to do this, now get to it!" And absolutely never consenting to a voucher. And then being the customer from hell until they give you your refund.

Unfortunately this is part and parcel with free speech and capitalism. You are free to criticize your government and they are free to push the law's absolute limits of tricking people who don't know their rights and stick up for themselves.

There might be a legal basis for challenging the voucher switcheroo on the basis that your agreement to accept a voucher is a contract, and a contract is only a contract if it has a quid pro quo - that each party experience a benefit from the deal. And you seem to have only worsened your position.

If I were the airline i would give you a voucher for 110% of face value, so I could say you bettered your position and thus it is a valid contract. Perhaps that is what they are doing by refunding taxes in a voucher but not in a refund.

Upvote:4

As far as I know, this is not codified at the EU level.

The principle usually goes like this:

  • the airline collected money for taxes you would owe if you took the flight
  • As soon as you didn’t take the flight, the taxes are no longer owed by you. So the airline holds your money.
  • Since it’s your money, you can request it to be refunded as real money. A voucher is not real money.

But the details are usually dependent on local legislation.

Also, in some cases there are provisions for the airline to withhold part of the money as admin or payment fees. They may also limit how they make the payment (refund to the original payment method, bank transfer, check…).

In France, for instance, https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F32396 tells us that:

  • only some of the taxes (QW and QX) are refundable
  • They should be paid back within 30 days after you ask for it
  • payment can be made by bank transfer, check or refund to the original payment card.
  • No fees are allowed if you apply via the Internet (a 20% fee is allowed if you apply by mail!) and the seller is French or EU-based targeting French people

This last rule makes it obvious that it’s specific to France and that rules may be different in other countries.

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