Many airlines try to fob off their passengers with vouchers in the event of flight cancellations in order to avoid having to pay out any money. However, this can only happen with the passenger's consent. The European Court of Justice had to deal with exactly such a case in the Tap Air Portugal case.

The Portuguese carrier doesn't make it easy for passengers who want to get their money back in the event of cancellations. You cannot order the repayment online, you can only get a voucher issued. But if you want to have “real money”, then you have to contact the call center. This is exactly where a “trap” lurks, but according to the European Court of Justice it is legally correct.

The complaining passenger wanted to fly from Fortaleza via Lisbon to Frankfurt am Main. The flight to Germany has been canceled since then. The person concerned could only apply for a voucher online. To get the ticket price refunded, he would have had to contact the service center. But he filled out a form online and was immediately issued a flight voucher.

A few weeks later, the German changed his mind and would rather have the money. Tap Air Portugal refused, pointing out that he had expressly agreed to the issuance of the voucher and, according to the conditions, a payout would no longer be possible. The passenger didn't want to let that happen and went to court with a lawyer.

The Frankfurt am Main regional court submitted the case to the European Court of Justice for a so-called preliminary decision. Reason: It concerns the interpretation of EU regulations and generally concerns a cross-border matter. The ECJ ruled that the passenger had the opportunity to choose whether he would receive a payment to his account or a voucher. He decided on the voucher and thereby gave his express consent. The European Supreme Court is of the opinion that the plaintiff was clearly and sufficiently informed about this. Tap Air Portugal therefore does not have to pay out the voucher.

The ECJ's legal opinion also means that passengers have to be careful when airlines give them "compulsory vouchers" or offer them the opportunity to have a voucher immediately, but first have to call a call center when they want to pay it out. Although the Air Passenger Rights Ordinance stipulates that cancellations must be reimbursed within seven days - in the form of money - vouchers are also possible with the consent of the affected passenger. The plaintiff was most likely not aware that he had given exactly this consent via the Internet when requesting the tap voucher. In any case, the ECJ confirmed this.