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British Airways to give a six month extension on upcoming BA Amex 241 companion vouchers

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British Airways has done a big favour to British Airways American Express cardholders whose membership years end in July, August or September.

As part of the current coronavirus compensation deal, all British Airways American Express 241 companion vouchers issued by 30th June 2020 were to be issued with an additional six months validity.

This has now been extended to 30th September.

This means that all newly issued 241 vouchers, triggered by 30th September 2020, will be valid for 2.5 years (or 1.5 years if generated on the free BA Amex card).

BA Premium Plus American Express card BAPP

Official confirmation should arrive from British Airways during the day today.

I have written before about how this extension creates a situation where it may be advisable to trigger your next 2-4-1 voucher early.

Here are the new dates you need to bear in mind for a BA Premium Plus cardholder:

A 2-4-1 voucher issued on 20th September 2020 will expire on 20th March 2023 (30 months)

A 2-4-1 voucher issued on 20th October 2020 will expire on 20th October 2022 (24 months)

Anyone who triggers their next voucher in October, November or December 2020 or January / February 2021 will be worse off than someone who triggers their next voucher in late September 2020.

There could be real benefits in triggering your voucher early to get the extra six months.  If you have kids and your card year ends in November, for example, triggering your voucher in September 2020 would cover you for Christmas 2022 and February half term 2023.  If you don’t trigger your voucher until October or November 2020 it won’t – it will expire in October 2022 or November 2022 respectively.

British Airways BA American Express Amex credit cards

What does this mean for me?

If your next British Airways Premium Plus American Express card year ends between October and February, you may want to think about pushing forward spending so that you trigger the voucher before 30th September.

This will maximise the life of the voucher by giving you 30 months to use it.

(Remember that the expiry date is the date by which you must take your outbound flight and not the deadline to book.)

More information

If you want to learn more about how to use your voucher now you have the extension, this Head for Points artice is the definitive guide on everything you need to know about the British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher.

You can also learn more about how the British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher works in this ‘Avios Redemption University’ article.


Want to earn more points from credit cards? – December 2021 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our November 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the top current deals:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

Nectar American Express

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

American Express Platinum card Amex

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers.

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

Amex Platinum Business American Express

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express card

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

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback on your spending:

Barclaycard Select Cashback Credit Card

1% cashback and no annual fee Read our full review

Comments (25)

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

  • David says:

    Is there any further news about Lloyds Upgrade vouchers due to expire in the next few months? Last time I checked with Avios they were only extending vouchers due to expire in the current or following month, but that was several months ago and the policy may have changed. Thanks.

  • Steve says:

    I have a voucher that has been used for an August flight that will likely be cancelled (either by me or by them). When that’s redeposited will it come with an additional 6 months expiration?

  • Graham Walsh says:

    I had £500 to spend before 1st Jan 2021 to trigger my next voucher. Will do so before end of September. Shame my bloody Wimbledon refund had hit. £700 now. Think I’ll top up my water bill. They seem to only want payment every 6 months. This should clear the back log.

  • Hunter says:

    All very well extending by 6 months for vouchers being issued now. However I had flight cancelled in April, having used a 241 that only had a couple of months to run. So getting that back with the 6 month extension doesn’t really help.

  • YKW says:

    Hello, slightly OT but I have a redemption flight for which I used points + cash, Can I cancel for a refund?

  • flyforfun says:

    OMG! I am £130 short of triggering my voucher by the end of the month! My anniversary date is Oct, so it made sense to bring forward spend for June 30, but now I may as well park the card in my draw until September now. I have 2 vouchers on my account already that I can see at least one probably going to waste so may as well extend the reach of this 3rd one.

    Thanks Rob for the heads up!

    • B says:

      Exactly the same here, but have had no confirmation from BA. So trusting this is accurate. 🤞

      • John Rothenberg says:

        Has this now been confirmed and where can I see this?
        Thanks.

  • PeteFT says:

    Thanks for the heads up. i need to spend £5 to trigger the 241, and was hoping BA would extend. Will now wait until end of Seprember

  • Fred S says:

    Have a BAPP which has a renewal date at the start of September 2020. When does the annual fee get charged? Having already earned the 241 voucher during the current year, do you think if I managed to spend 10K(!!!) between renewal date start of Sept and 30th Sept the new voucher earnt would get the 6 month extension?

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.