British Airways evouchers for cancelled flights are arriving – and it’s a mess
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You will remember that British Airways has been allowing people to cancel forthcoming flights in return for a British Airways travel voucher for a number of weeks.
It has also been ‘encouraging’ people with cancelled flights to take a voucher instead of their legal right to a cash refund, but that is another story.
The vouchers have started to arrive. This is what they look like:
Can you see the problem?
You are not told how much your voucher is for.
When you cancel your booking for a voucher, you are not told how much you are getting back. Everyone assumed that the voucher would come with a note of how much it was for and a full breakdown of how it had been calculated.
It seems not.
The only way to find out how much your British Airways voucher is worth is to ring the overstretched call centres.
Even if you call, I imagine that the only thing they can tell you is the total. I doubt they can see the calculation to explain how they arrived at that number. You don’t know what fees you may or may not have been charged, and so you can’t tell whether those fees are correct.
There aren’t even full instructions for using the voucher.
We know that you need to ring the call centre to use it. It doesn’t explain:
whether the voucher is transferable (I honestly don’t know)
whether it can be used against multiple trips (it can – the references to ‘part payment’ in the email are misleading, to the extent that you do not need to spend more than your original trip cost in order to use it)
The voucher doesn’t even include the expiry date.
In a few months time, you may have lost track of the date you were originally meant to fly. It is also isn’t clear if you need to take outbound flight by the 12-month cut-off or complete your entire trip.
I know that the whole British Airways team is under a lot of pressure at the moment, but none of this stuff requires any great insight to put together.
If anything, it requires a certain sort of genius to send out a voucher which accidentally (?) misses out ALL of the relevant information on:
- what it is worth
- what deductions have been made
- when it expires, and
- who it can be used for
To be honest, given that ba.com actually has boxes where you input voucher codes, even the lack of online functionality is unacceptable.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)
As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!
In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.
You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:
Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
Barclaycard Avios Mastercard
5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review
There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:
British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review
British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review
You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review
Run your own business?
We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.
Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa
Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review
You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review
There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.
American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review
American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review
Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.
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