A voucher is not money.

Airlines convert refunds into vouchers at scale because most passengers accept — and acceptance is the only thing that makes it stick.

Read this first

Do not spend it — not even part of it

Redeeming the voucher, even partially, is what airlines point to as acceptance, and it can convert a refund you were owed into credit you agreed to. Leave it untouched, state in writing that you did not and do not accept a voucher in place of the refund, and require the money to the original payment method. If the refund flow steered you toward the voucher by default, screenshot what the choice looked like — a regulator will want to see it.

What you are owed

Money, to the original payment method

Where a refund right has been triggered — a cancellation you did not accept re-routing for, or in the US a cancelled or significantly changed flight you declined — the entitlement is money back the way you paid. A voucher discharges nothing unless you accepted it as settlement.

The full amount, on the refund's terms

The refund is the fare you paid, not the voucher's face value, however generous the top-up looks. Bonus value on credit you did not ask for is their offer, and offers can be declined.

Anything the disruption itself owed

Where EC261/UK261 applies, compensation for the underlying cancellation or delay is separate from the refund, and neither a voucher nor the refund extinguishes it. Claim them as distinct items.

How they will refuse, and what answers it

“You accepted the voucher.”

Acceptance requires a real choice, knowingly made. A voucher issued automatically, or presented as the only visible option, was not accepted — describe exactly what was shown to you and state that the money remains owed.

“The voucher is worth more than the refund.”

It is worth more of their currency, redeemable only with them, on their conditions and their expiry date. The entitlement is money. You may prefer the voucher; they may not prefer it for you.

“Cash refunds take twelve weeks; the voucher is instant.”

Refund rules generally require prompt payment, and the speed of the voucher is an argument about their systems, not about your rights. Note the timescale they stated, hold them to it, and say what happens the day after it expires.

Gather this before you write

The message offering the voucher, with its timestamp
Screenshots of how the refund and voucher options were presented, if the flow pushed one
Your written refusal of the voucher and demand for the refund
The original booking, the amount paid, and the payment method
The cancellation or disruption notice that triggered the refund right

Now make them answer.

Tell us what happened in your own words. We write the claim, set the deadlines, and email each escalation on the day it is due — and we will not demand money the rules do not owe, because a claim that overreaches gets a one-line refusal.