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When should you accept a British Airways ‘Future Travel Voucher’ instead of a cash refund?

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I want to take a look today at whether you should take a British Airways ‘Future Travel Voucher’ or a cash refund if you decide to cancel an upcoming flight.

Future Travel Vouchers are now more flexible.  Last week, British Airways announced that all Future Travel Vouchers would be extended by 12 months.  The new ‘travel by’ expiry date is 30th April 2023.

British Airways is also working through the backlog of Future Travel Vouchers for ‘all cash’ flight bookings (cash tickets with no payments for seat selection or other anciliaries) and converting them to eVouchers.

If you receive an eVoucher by email to replace your Future Travel Voucher, you can use it online without having to call BA to rebook.  This special page of ba.com explains how to spend an eVoucher.

What is a ‘Future Travel Voucher’?

Think of a ‘Future Travel Voucher’ as a frozen ticket – because that’s what it is.  Your voucher even has the same reference number as your old ticket.

Every component of your ticket – cash, Avios, companion or Lloyds vouchers, payment for seat selection etc – is ‘locked’ into the voucher.

When you want to rebook, you call BA and your ticket is unfrozen.  Irrespective of the original expiry date of any 241 or Lloyds voucher, it will still be valid.  Remember this, however:

  • you can change the destination of your trip, paying more Avios and cash if needed, or getting another voucher for the balance if you now need fewer
  • you cannot change the passenger names – don’t break up with your partner if you are requesting a Future Travel Voucher
  • you cannot change the type of ticket – you cannot use the cash element of an ‘Avios and cash’ ticket to book a pure cash ticket, for example, and you cannot ask for the cash part to be used towards a BA Holidays booking
  • you cannot add a 2-4-1 voucher to a Future Travel Voucher if there was not one there originally
  • all travel must be completed by 30th April 2023

Is it ever worth taking a Future Travel Voucher if I need to cancel a flight?

Sometimes ….

As regular HfP readers will know, British Airways is desperately keen for you to take a Future Travel Voucher rather than a cash refund.  Anyone who wants a cash refund needs to ring up to ask for one, as refund functionality has been removed from ba.com.

This is what I recommend:

Do you have a non-refundable cash flight booking which is still operating?

Take the Future Travel Voucher if you no longer wish to travel.  You have no other option.  However, wait until as late as possible in case British Airways decides to cancel the flight as cancellation allows you to request a full cash refund.

In recent weeks we have seen cases of British Airways ceasing to sell tickets for flights but not cancelling the service.  The cancellation does not take place until a couple of days before departure.  You may need to hold your nerve.

Do you have a non-refundable cash flight booking where the flight has been cancelled?

Contact British Airways and ask for your cash.  There is no benefit in taking the Future Travel Voucher.  Refunds for cancelled flights booked for cash can now be requested online here – there is no need to call.

Do you have an Avios flight booking which is still operating and with NO paid seat reservations and NO 2-4-1 voucher involved?

If you are willing to swallow the £35 cancellation fee per person, I would ring up British Airways and cancel your booking.  Personally I’d prefer the Avios and cash back in my account.

However, wait until the last minute in case the flight is cancelled by BA as cancellation allows you to avoid the £35 fee.

If you don’t want to pay £35, take the Future Travel Voucher but note its limitations (no changes to passenger names, no way to add a 2-4-1 etc).

Do you have an Avios flight booking which is still operating but where you paid for seat reservations?

This is trickier.  If you voluntarily cancel for a refund, you pay the £35 per person cancellation fee and you LOSE the seat reservation fee you paid even though your Avios and taxes are returned.

Instead, I would take the Future Travel Voucher because your voucher will include a separate credit for the seat reservation fees which can only be used against future seat reservations.

However, wait until the last minute in case the flight is cancelled as cancellation allows you to request a full cash refund.

Do you have an Avios flight booking which is still operating and which includes a BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher?

This is trickier.  If you voluntarily cancel for a refund, you pay the £35 per person cancellation fee.  Your Avios, taxes and 2-4-1 voucher are returned to you.  However, you need to consider whether you can re-use your 2-4-1 voucher before it expires.

There is no sign yet of BA making an additional, third, extension to expiring 2-4-1 vouchers but I consider it likely.

If you take the Future Travel Voucher, your 2-4-1 voucher is frozen and remains valid for flights completed by 30th April 2023 which gives you extra time to use it.  You will also save the £35 cancellation fee.  You cannot change the passenger names, however, which will be a problem for some people.

Do you have an Avios flight booking which has been cancelled? 

In this scenario, you should call BA and ask for your cash, Avios and any 2-4-1 voucher to be returned to you.  There is no cancellation fee to pay.

Alternatively, BA will move you to ANY future BA flight – even if there are no Avios seats available – to a city within 300 miles of your original destination.  The only catch is that the last date to travel is 365 days from the day you made the original booking.  If you booked your flight a year in advance, you can’t take advantage of this.

Alternatively, if your booking contained a 2-4-1 voucher which is nearing expiry, you may want to take the Future Travel Voucher as this keeps your 2-4-1 alive and you can rebook for flights completed by 30th April 2023.  There is no sign yet of BA making an additional, third, extension to expiring 2-4-1 vouchers although I think it is likely.

Hopefully this will help you decide what to do about your upcoming flights.

If you have any further questions about Future Travel Vouchers, take a look at this page of ba.com.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (158)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Nick burstin says:
    7 Feb7 February 08:36

    Yes GGL jokers get extended and logically the same should be true of upgrade vouchers. The latter are not hard to extend anyway.

  • TFC says:
    7 Feb7 February 08:39

    For BA holidays, I’ve had a few refunded when the travel guidance changed at the last minute to advise against ABE travel even if the flights are still operating – assuming it was fine to travel at the time of booking.

    • ChrisC says:
      7 Feb7 February 12:29

      BA Holidays operate under different legislation and rules than flight only bookings hence why BA Hols were able to refund you where ‘normal’ BA won’t when the flight hadn’t been cancelled

  • TFC says:
    7 Feb7 February 08:39

    ….and the same where quarantine was introduced at either end.

  • SammyJ says:
    7 Feb7 February 08:46

    A bit sneaky, but if you’re stuck with an Avios flight that you can’t use but won’t be cancelled, you can take advantage of the free amendments, move your flight to a different location (eg SAN instead of LAX, or MCO instead of MIA) that will be cancelled. Then when they cancel that you’re allowed either a full refund, or (handy if you booked during the 50% off Avios) a rebooking up to 365 days, which is around Oct, irrespective of Avios availability. Worst case they don’t cancel it, and you’re no worse off than before. They even gave me a part Avios refund as I changed the MIA flight from First to Club and moved from Peak to OffPeak.

    • Anna says:
      7 Feb7 February 08:59

      Hi SammyJ – do you know where on the BA website the details of this are? I have cancelled flights for DXB at Easter, OH can’t travel at any other time this year and ideally I’d like to move them to another destination on the outside chance we are allowed to travel by then (we’re also on track to get our first jabs in March). I know it’s unlikely but I’ll be gutted if the regulations aren’t extended after March 31st and we can’t get avios seats anywhere decent!

      • Andrew says:
        7 Feb7 February 09:34

        I don’t think that will be advertised as a thing to do on the BA website! But it’s a way to work the system to your advantage. Hasn’t the March dare been put back to May for vaccinations now?

        • Anna says:
          7 Feb7 February 12:42

          I meant a general change policy, not the sneaky bit!
          It depends who you listen to. Our local area is saying March and some government bods have said May for ALL adults, not just over 50s, which we just fall into. We’ll see where we are in 8 weeks anyway!

          • SammyJ says:
            8 Feb8 February 09:07

            Sorry for the delayed reply.
            It was the YouFirst people who told me about the free amendments, she said that under the current book with confidence, all amendments are free, even Avios bookings.
            Only hiccup I had was that my replacement return MCO flights were cancelled before the new tickets had been issued but they sorted it out with a bit of persuasion.

  • Zark says:
    7 Feb7 February 08:46

    BA have already cancelled my London to Charleston 2-4-1 Club flights for May/June ’21 (originally booked on 7/10/20 in 50% Avios sale).
    I would like to ask them to rebook same dates for May/June ’22 to Atlanta (Charleston permanently discontinued it seems).
    Flights for May/June ’22 won’t be bookable until the original cancelled dates have passed.
    If I wait until actual release in Jun/July ’21, will I still be able to reference the cancelled flights over a year after original booking, or will they have disappeared from my BA account?
    I realise that I will also need to find an agent who will permit the rebooking at over 355 days since original ticket issue date.
    Any advise welcome.

    • Geoff says:
      7 Feb7 February 09:30

      If the original flights have been cancelled, you can get a complete refund without the £35pp cancellation fee – or you can elect to have a FTV. An will not mean that you get the new flights for the same as you paid in the sale – they will be at whatever rate they are available for at the time – with you adding the extra avios as required. Either way, you cannot book more than 355 days out.

      • kitten says:
        7 Feb7 February 16:44

        Cgoosing AA flights to still get to Charleston would be a much better experience than using Atlanta. You have this right under EU261 and there’s some chance BA should willingly do it due the Transatlantic agreement though you may have to compromise and connect to Charleston. BA chooses rerouting airline within reasonableness but AA is their logical likely choice.

        If all else fails you’d get your money back for replacement ticket in an MCOL or for less stress if you paid by UK credit card you can ask your card to pay even a higher cost of your choice of replacement ticket under Section 75 but you have to try via BA first. This would preserve your cashflow.

        • kitten says:
          7 Feb7 February 16:50

          I think you should insist on the date you want even over 12months from date of issue. Plenty of people especially Americans only get two particular weeks of vacation each year and it’s not your fault BA lost you that year’s opportunity by cancelling. I would politely persist as issuing a new ticket is not at all impossible.

          Otherwise how are all those frozen FTV tickets now able tp be flown to 2023 gonna be ticketed ? so we know the 12 months is just a minor admin issue that is being overcome when it suits

  • Laura says:
    7 Feb7 February 09:11

    Hi, does the extension date of evoucher as also include compensation evouchers (as a result of severely delayed flight) received in September 2020?
    Thanks

    • Anna says:
      7 Feb7 February 09:22

      I didn’t know you could get compensation in vouchers! I got delay compensation in 2019 from BA and it was paid into my bank account (after going to CEDR), I wouldn’t have agreed to a voucher. When is it valid to? I would imagine there are different rules governing these though.

      • ChrisC says:
        7 Feb7 February 11:30

        Airlines can offer the compo as a voucher (and will often add on extra value as an incentive) but it’s the passengers choice whether to take it or not. It’s written into EU261 so it’s all above board (BA also offered avios for a while as well)

        But these compo vouchers are not the same as those being issued for flights so have different rules.

        Laura needs to check the expiry date and revert back here so we can advise based on that info.

    • AJA says:
      7 Feb7 February 10:58

      I don’t think so. If it did apply you should receive an email informing you of the extended validity. I got an email the other day telling me of the extension.

      A way around it may be to book a cheap cash flight reducing the price by using the compensation evoucher. Then cancel that new booking in exchange for a FTV valid until April 2023.

      • AJA says:
        7 Feb7 February 10:59

        My email informing me of the extended validity was for a FTV I received last September.

  • Darren says:
    7 Feb7 February 09:19

    Hi, I have a frozen booking, avios, 241 that was made in feb 2020 for travel feb 2021. The original freeze period was march 2022. Do you know if the extension will retro apply to mine or just bookings going forward? I am finding it difficult to find 2 x club world to Dubai. Many thanks, Darren.

    • Anna says:
      7 Feb7 February 09:23

      All FTV vouchers are extended to April 2023 according to everything that’s been said so far.

  • pauline says:
    7 Feb7 February 09:26

    Hi, I have flights in June to Singapore (booked originally with a 2 4 1 355 days before last June) . As the 2 4 1 would have expired I took a FTV and rebooked last October for this June which is unlikely to happen. As my dream hotel on an island off Singapore is to be shut until 3/4 quarter this year I will not want to travel anyway. If the flight is cancelled can I ask BA to rebook me to any date or is it linked to the rebooking date? If the flight is not cancelled and I choose to cancel I assume I just get another FTV? Thanks

    • AJA says:
      7 Feb7 February 11:04

      Is the current booking on a different PNR to the original booking? If so I would argue the 365 days starts from last Oct. If not then the best thing to do is wait for BA to cancel. If they don’t then take the FTV.

      • pauline says:
        7 Feb7 February 11:46

        Its the same PNR unfortunately

        • pauline says:
          7 Feb7 February 12:00

          The ticket number is different though – does that help?

          • AJA says:
            7 Feb7 February 14:14

            I don’t know for certain but you may be in luck as that sounds like a new ticket being issued rather than just moving the original ticketed reservation. I would wait for BA to cancel and then try your luck.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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