Help extending a BA Amex 241 voucher [by turning it into an FTV]

[Geoggy]

Hi

Between my wife and I we have 3 241 BAPP vouchers expiring in 3 months, 5 months and 6 months respectively.

As I am CV I won’t be able to use them in time.

I have read about booking a domestic with them, then cancelling?

I’m not an expert on this stuff and am self taught due to this site.

Has anyone got 2 minutes to give me some Peter & Jane steps to do it with all 3 vouchers?

Thanks

[NorthernLass]

This is the kind of thing which needs a dedicated thread!

Book a cheap award flight, e.g. LHR-JER with the 241. Once you have your booking confirmed, use the link on the home page of ba.com (called something like “covid options”) which will give you the option to cancel the booking for a Future Travel Voucher. Follow the instructions and you will shortly get an email confirming the cancellation and voucher issue. Repeat with the other 241s.

Remember when you come to re-book that you have to call BA and the same passengers have to travel, so you may want to consider who the 2nd person on each booking is going to be. There have to be avios seats available on your new booking, but you don’t need to stick with the original destination. The emails are your vouchers, so keep them safe with your original confirmations so you can give BA the details when you call to rebook.

[Geoggy]

Thank you.

Do I do all 3 now or wait until they are about to expire? i.e. will it add time to the FTV or have they all got a set end date?

[Sean Mc]

Set date

[Aston100]

I wonder if they’ll extend ftv validity beyond September 23?

[NorthernLass]

I can’t see them extending the expiry date, however it’s likely that there will be people who genuinely can’t use them unless BA sorts its phone service out so there may be exceptions made on a case by case basis.

Has anyone redeemed a FTV by calling You First and booking an F seat?

[bungalow]

Can someone help me with this please.
My BA 241 expires next month, so I would like to change it to a FTV expiring Sept 2023.
I want the voucher for myself and the wife, so two names on, but My question is, do I need to book a return domestic then pay £70 in cancellation fees, or can I book a one way flight and cancel for £35? (and if I do this am I tied to a one way when I come to using it)?
I read in Robs article to book a return, but I have read a lot of posts in the forums of people saying you only need to book a one way to keep the 241 valid.

[tiriavpo]

No, you just book anything for the 2 of you single or return, but somewhere cheap to keep the amount of avios and cash as low as practical. You then ‘cancel’ it, by asking for it to be put into credit – in the form of a Future Travel Voucher (FTV). You can do all that online and ‘voucher’ it using this form: https://www.britishairways.com/travel/webforms/public/en_gb?eId=120001&wfpId=covidn

Ignore the bit about e-vouchers, that is for cash bookings.

The FTV preserves everything in credit (including the 241 voucher) – to use it you need to call, there needs to be avios availability and it has to be the same passengers.

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[MajaS]

You don’t need to book a return flight. Then when you wnat to book, you need to ring up. If you are desperate for flights that book up quickly, call at midnight when they get released, the US Executive Club. As I book flights during school holidays, that’s what I do! But I haven’t tried it lately because it’s been taking me more than an hour to get through to BA in the UK, hence didn’t think there was much chance of getting through to the US office in time for the midnight flight release window.

I also learnt something else – once you have your FTV with your companion voucher and booked your outbound flight on the phone, you can book your inbound flight paying full miles, then ring BA up the next day, ask them to link it to the outbound booking, and they will refund you half the miles to account for the companion voucher. That’s one way of getting around the having to call up with companion vouchers!

[NorthernLass]

@MajaS – re your 2nd paragraph, if your destination is the US or another route where BA gouges you on the taxes, you will find that you’re paying well over the odds for your cash element as they won’t recalculate the taxes/fees once you’ve made the booking, even though they will refund half the avios. There have been several HFP articles about all this over the last few years.

[Freddy]

Do all FTV have a expiry of September 2023. I have two vouchers due to expire September and October this year which I may want to extend

[bungalow]

Thanks all for the advice, very helpful

[tiriavpo]

Freddy wrote:

Do all FTV have a expiry of September 2023. I have two vouchers due to expire September and October this year which I may want to extend

Yes – at the moment, and all travel has to be complete by 30 sep 23, unlike normal 241 rules where only the outbound has to be flown before the expiry date.

What happens to unused FTVs at the end of the period is the subject of much conjecture, but reward/avios FTVs can always be cancelled, just like a reward flight can be, albeit you would then have to pay the cancellation fee. SO if the world is still in turmoil in Sep 23 there is presumably a chance that the FTVs get extended again. If not, use it or cancel it.

[Cranzle]

tiriavpo wrote:

No, you just book anything for the 2 of you single or return, but somewhere cheap to keep the amount of avios and cash as low as practical. You then ‘cancel’ it, by asking for it to be put into credit – in the form of a Future Travel Voucher (FTV). You can do all that online and ‘voucher’ it using this form: https://www.britishairways.com/travel/webforms/public/en_gb?eId=120001&wfpId=covidn

Ignore the bit about e-vouchers, that is for cash bookings.

The FTV preserves everything in credit (including the 241 voucher) – to use it you need to call, there needs to be avios availability and it has to be the same passengers.

In typical BA fashion, the option(s) you are presented with doesn’t state Future Travel Voucher. It’s misleading. I just bit the bullet on the assumption that is what would happen.

[Rob]

It’s technically impossible to issue an eVoucher if your booking contains Avios – you’ll get an FTV.

[Aerotec]

NorthernLass wrote:

Has anyone redeemed a FTV by calling You First and booking an F seat?

Yes I managed to rebook a cancelled flight from last year for dates this year. I have then called again to change dates. Call was answered pretty quickly with YouFirst. They are also happy to look at any non F queries when I have been on the phone with them so bundle up all your flight queries in to one call!

I had to make a call to the regular phone number and after 3 days of disconnects it then got answered one day in 6 mins. So seems to be a case of keep trying!

[Aerotec]

MajaS wrote:

I also learnt something else – once you have your FTV with your companion voucher and booked your outbound flight on the phone, you can book your inbound flight paying full miles, then ring BA up the next day, ask them to link it to the outbound booking, and they will refund you half the miles to account for the companion voucher. That’s one way of getting around the having to call up with companion vouchers!

That’s very useful info, thanks!

[roger]

Do you really need to wait for 24 hour cooling off period or can you cancel the booking just after booking?
Also do you received FTV straightaway or does it take few days after cancellation?

• This reply was modified 54 years, 4 months ago by .

[Geoggy]

Another question.

Am I ok to book economy for the flight I’m going to cancel or does it need to be in the same travel class I intend to use the FTV for?

[NorthernLass]

Don’t need to wait 24 hours to cancel.
Don’t need to book the same class that you intend to eventually redeem for.

[MattB]

roger wrote:

Do you really need to wait for 24 hour cooling off period or can you cancel the booking just after booking?
Also do you received FTV straightaway or does it take few days after cancellation?

I booked, cancelled for FTV and rang up to rebook all within an hour. (Yes i did get through to be BA that quickly but this was months ago).

[NorthernLass]

That’s good to know @Aerotec. I have 2 FTVS with 241s wrapped in them which I’m going to need to redeem in the next few months so I may well just build the trips around what’s available in F and call You First to make the booking!

[Tracy]

Is this still working? I have a 241 expiring in May 22 that I would like to use in March 2023. Thanks

[NorthernLass]

Tracy wrote:

Is this still working? I have a 241 expiring in May 22 that I would like to use in March 2023. Thanks

Seems to be – anyway you can check by using the Covid-19 link on the front page of ba.com and doing a dummy cancellation.

[Tracy]

How do I do this on the BA website? Thanks

NorthernLass wrote:

Tracy wrote:

Is this still working? I have a 241 expiring in May 22 that I would like to use in March 2023. Thanks

Seems to be – anyway you can check by using the Covid-19 link on the front page of ba.com and doing a dummy cancellation.