At the beginning of the corona pandemic, numerous airlines deliberately delayed refunds and, if necessary, compensation for canceled flights. Some providers tried to fob off their customers with vouchers and even brazenly claimed that there was no other option and that the EU Commission had set it that way. An outright lie that has brought complaints from consumer protection organizations to one or the other provider. 

Some airlines, including Wizz Air, have long been using the method of first crediting a customer account with refund claims. There is also a bonus of 20 percent, which can be quite attractive at first glance. But only if you intend to book again with Wizz Air. The reimbursement of the credit from the customer account - minus the 20 percent bonus - can be extremely complicated and especially lengthy. The low-cost airline does not make it easy for customers, because the corresponding form is very well hidden. Then you sometimes have to wait for weeks and, if necessary, apply pressure several times by e-mail and/or telephone. 

Other airlines also offer such “wallets”. The advantages for the providers are obvious, because in the case of reimbursement claims, the money is booked more or less automatically, many providers offer a small bonus and the “real money” therefore remains in the company coffers. They also claim that they have complied with the statutory reimbursement obligation within seven days, because after all, they can be used to pay for tickets or additional services. With Wizz Air, however, it is not really real money, because the credit can only be used if you are booked as a passenger yourself. In other words: it is not possible to give away tickets to friends and/or relatives. This can be very annoying, especially on family and/or group trips whose flights have been significantly postponed or even canceled by Wizz Air. 

The Lufthansa Group does not yet have such a tool, but they are considering introducing it at least for the network carriers. The fact that the logins to the “Lufthansa ID” were standardized some time ago is quite fitting. It is still said that when the “wallet” is introduced, refunds could be credited to passengers “on request” and, for example, more miles or a financial bonus could be offered as a goodie. The topic "on request" must be viewed critically, because perfidiously one refers to market studies that allegedly showed that customers would also like a digital wallet that can only be used to pay for airlines in the Lufthansa Group on the Internet . 

So it cannot be ruled out that refunds from Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Lufthansa and Brussels Airlines will be booked to a customer account in the future and if travelers then want “real money”, it could be as complicated as with providers who have introduced this for some time become. The purpose of such "wallets" is primarily to circumvent the rule that refunds must be made within seven days, but customers do not have to be fobbed off with vouchers. Strictly speaking, there is hardly any difference between a digital wallet and a voucher that can only be redeemed at the airline itself.  

Lufthansa Group passengers should therefore keep an eye on upcoming developments. If, in the event of flight cancellations or significant delays, you do not want automatic "payment" to a customer account, because it is nothing more than a digital voucher form, then you as the affected passenger should take action quickly and the airline clearly and firmly inform you Request payment to a bank account or chargeback to the original form of payment. This applies to all providers who have created such "wallet solutions". These only offer advantages to people who frequently fly with the respective carrier, otherwise only the airline benefits, as they do not give out money already paid by the customer.