British Airways customers still in possession of vouchers issued in place of unflown tickets due to COVID-19 will be pleased to know that the validity of their vouchers has been extended by another year.
Rather than expiring on September 30, 2023, the vouchers, which were taken in lieu of cash refunds, can now be used for travel completed before September 30, 2024.
This is the third time BA has extended the expiry date of the vouchers.
BA’s ‘Book with Confidence’ voucher system benefited the airline by preventing a flood of outgoing cash in refunds. Its parent company, IAG, thus avoided bankruptcy, but is said to still carry the liability of €600 million (R12,17bn) in unused vouchers across its members, British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, LEVEL and Vueling.
BA has said 700 000 vouchers were used last year and it was sending reminders to customers who hold outstanding ones.
Talking to the BBC in March, aviation consultant and former IAG employee, Robert Boyle, said given that there were so many vouchers yet to be redeemed, he had to question how many of the vouchers would ever be used.
The rate of voucher use might increase as the expiry date approached, he said, but pointed out that even if 80% of the unused vouchers were used before the deadline, leaving 20% unused, those unused vouchers would release €280m (R5,69 billion) into the group’s profit.
The vouchers only retain the cash value customers paid for their ticket, plus any extras and baggage they paid for. Ticket prices across the board are higher in general than in 2019, 2020 and 2021 so it’s possible the vouchers might not cover the desired flights.
Industry statistics suggest a large proportion of vouchers typically go unspent. The following steps should be taken by customers to avoid losing out.
As the vouchers were originally issued by email, customers who have lost track of cancelled journeys or what they may be able to claim should make sure to search all their email folders. In addition, an online tool is available to customers where they can check if they hold vouchers and see how much their voucher is worth.
