They can and will deliver the service, on another flight, which is why they're giving you a flight voucher.
Why is this controversial? Seems fair enough to me.
I get the feeling people enjoy beating up on airlines because so many people pay the smallest amount possible, and then are shocked when they're not treated like first class passengers. People pay for McDonalds but expect fine dining.
The travel vouchers are essentially 0% interest loans that expire worthless if not used in 9 months. That is by far worse than cash. I don't even know why this is controversial. I paid for a service, they cancelled it and now I should get my money back and if they want that money, than they can get it in the future when the offer some other flight I want. I didn't pay them for a gift card that expires worthless in 9 months. Even gifts cards cannot pull that expiring shit anymore because it is so anti-consumer.
Because even though I probably agreed to a trade in the terms of purchase, a rescheduled flight isn’t a great solution; sometimes a rescheduled flight can mean the difference between a vacation and nothing. If I spend $5000 on a vacation (hotel and air) and I can’t fly there, I’m out $5000 for no fault of my own.
not fair. it's not a normal service. it's a transportation service. If I can't travel on date X, traveling on date Y may be useless.
One could argue it would be useful for another trip to a different location. Sure. But because airflights prices are so shady (prices changing every day, prices that are different if you have a VPN connected, etc etc), the voucher could make you choose for the worst price.
Why is this controversial? Seems fair enough to me.
I get the feeling people enjoy beating up on airlines because so many people pay the smallest amount possible, and then are shocked when they're not treated like first class passengers. People pay for McDonalds but expect fine dining.