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A few months ago, I was told that the 2-4-1 voucher expiry date was the “Book by” date – but today I was told that the outbound flight must be travelled by the expiry date.
Can anyone help?
Thanks.Same here. I was given the same contradictory information, too.
Expiry is the depart by date. This has always been the case for Virgin (and BA).
Depart by
Me too, I was also clearly told book by
Why is there any doubt? The terms for both the Reward and Reward+ cards state:-
“You can spend your reward for up to 24 months from the date it’s issued. That means you have to have booked your flights and taken the outbound flight within those 24 months. You can take the return journey afterwards.”
Why is there any doubt? The terms for both the Reward and Reward+ cards state:-
“You can spend your reward for up to 24 months from the date it’s issued. That means you have to have booked your flights and taken the outbound flight within those 24 months. You can take the return journey afterwards.”
Yes we know they are the written terms but as often in life practice is at variance from t &c s. There are numerous reports of in practice it being booking date both advised and put into effect when booking
I suspect there was a deliberate loosening of how the vouchers were applied during the pandemic as Virgin wanted the cash. Sadly CSAs are now overall becoming more strict with adhering to the T&Cs, but that doesn’t mean no exceptions whilst it remains a manual process.
The confusion probably stems from the old vouchers issued by MBNA before the cards became Virgin Money.
Previous vouchers were indeed “book by the expiry date” and you could then book any random flight, and pay £35 to change it later.
Now it is much more restrictive.Yes I would agree that recently the FC team seem to have become a little more restrictive, and ‘by the book’.
Not sure this is 100% the case as I have recently used a voucher earned by credit card which expired in 2022 for a flight in 2024. To my surprise though the expiry was 2022 the operator stated it was still active
I phoned Virgin on Friday 28th April to check if I had any vouchers still valid, (surprisingly still had 2) I then asked if they were fly by or book by, and was told book by.
The T&C may say 24 months after issue, but with the extensions added due to the pandemic my vouchers are currently passed the 24 month issue date. Could this be a reason why they say book by?If you are referring to the VM VS CC vouchers, the rule is book *and* fly outbound by date. Historically, it’s open to interpretation depending on who you get since voucher application is a manual process. Though most CSAs are pretty clued up these days.
Another data point – I called VS last night (Silver line) to make a voucher redemption booking for March 2024 (LHR-MLE UC x2 pax).
My voucher expiry date was Feb 2024 (i.e. before the flights I was booking onto) but the agent still happily applied it. They told me there was a change coming ‘literally in the next few days’ whereby this would no longer be possible and the expiry date would be strictly a ‘fly outbound by’ rather than ‘book by’ limit. They did say that the return could be after the voucher expiry date…
Is the expiry date the same date that the voucher appears in your FC account? I’ve got one dated 5/12/22 which I’m hoping to use at the end of November 2024.
Is the expiry date the same date that the voucher appears in your FC account? I’ve got one dated 5/12/22 which I’m hoping to use at the end of November 2024.
That sounds right. I had one earned 2/2/22 that the agent told me was expiring 2/2/24 and that is the one they used on the booking I mentioned. The weird thing is that my voucher earned in 2021 actually expires slightly after that (15/2/24) due to a covid extension apparently. My other voucher earned this year I was told expires 14/2/25 which also sounds right in terms of being exactly 2 years from date of earning.
Book by. Did it a couple of days ago – used two vouchers, travelling the year after expiry.
Book by. Did it a couple of days ago – used two vouchers, travelling the year after expiry.
Yes – that is the real world situation for now but not what the T&Cs say. As I mentioned in my post just before yours, I was told by a VS operator that this is going to change ‘very soon’. So people should not be complacent and if they have vouchers and travel plans that may not work under ‘travel by’ expiry then they need to book sooner rather than later to be on the safe side!
Interesting. I wonder whether that’s a rule similar to BA and Amex 2-4-1 rule. I hope not as I’ve got two more expiring in early 2024 which I want to use after that!
Rang Virgin this week and got a ‘no’ answer to my soon-to-expire voucher to travel in future months. Therefore I think Virgin has set the policy, or is it just down to the agent who handles this?
I rang 3 times last week and got a “no” each time. I now assume this is definitely the rule.
Everytime I have asked this question or used a VA companion voucher it has always been departure date.
2 years to use it.My partner had a voucher which expires October this year…. But was allowed to book a March 2024 flight.
I have it in writing from the VS twitter team (when they existed) that it’s “book by”
I have it in writing from the VS twitter team (when they existed) that it’s “book by”
I had similar with BA re rebooking a cancelled flight during covid. I had Twitter proof, a phone recording and an email of various members of their staff telling me I could rebook up to a year after the cancelled departure date. In the end it mattered not as they refused to let me.
I have it in writing from the VS twitter team (when they existed) that it’s “book by”
Virgin was correct in saying on your Twitter exchange that it is a ‘book by’ date, but they left off the rather crucial next part of the sentence from the terms, so it has no real value:-
“You can spend your reward for up to 24 months from the date it’s issued. That means you have to have booked your flights and taken the outbound flight within those 24 months. You can take the return journey afterwards.”
It would appear that during the pandemic, they were more flexible than the strict conditions, but now generally apply the T&Cs.
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