Your British Airways eVoucher or Future Travel Voucher is extended to 30th September 2023

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British Airways has amended its rules on eVouchers and Future Travel Vouchers.

If you received an eVoucher or Future Travel Voucher for a cancelled flight, or if you voluntarily chose to cancel, your voucher is now valid until 30th September 2023.

This represents a five month extension on the previous deadline of 30th April 2023, and indeed a 17 month extension to the original deadline of 30th April 2022.

British Airways eVoucher Future Travel Voucher extended to 30th September 2023

Remember that 30th September 2023 is the day by which your travel must be completed. It is NOT a ‘book by’ deadline.

What is the difference between a Future Travel Voucher and eVoucher?

Initially, all British Airways refunds which were not paid in cash were issued as a Future Travel Voucher.

The FTV is, literally, your ticket in a frozen state. The voucher number is the same as your old ticket number.

When you come to rebook, you need to call British Airways. They will reopen your old ticket and make any necessary changes.

The problem with the FTV is that it is inflexible:

you cannot change the passenger names

you cannot change the ticket type (eg an Avios ticket cannot be turned into a cash ticket)

you need to call British Airways to rebook

British Airways was failing to tell people how much their voucher was for – or what vouchers, Avios, seat selection or baggage fees were rolled up in it – and it was not possible to find out online. You needed to call the overstretched call centre to find out exactly what you had got, and when it expired.

BA stopped issuing FTV’s for cash tickets

Late last year, British Airways changed its policy. All refund requests for cash tickets, which did not qualify for a pure cash refund, started to arrive as an eVoucher.

The eVoucher could be used online and was not tied to a particular person, making it easier to spend.

British Airways also started the long process of automatically turning Future Travel Vouchers for cash tickets into eVouchers.

I understand that any Future Travel Voucher with an Avios element will remain as a Future Travel Voucher. In terms of expiry it makes no difference as both types of voucher have been extended to 30th September 2023.

‘Book With Confidence’ has also been extended

British Airways has also extended its ‘Book With Confidence’ guarantee.

This means that, for any flights you book for travel by 31st August 2022, you can change the date for any reason without paying any fees. Any fare difference will still be due.

This represents a four month extension to the previous travel deadline of 30th April 2022.

Will anything happen to British Airways American Express 241 vouchers?

I feel that we are now due a further announcement on extensions to unused British Airways American Express 241 vouchers, given that there is little sign of long haul markets opening.

Remember that, in any event, you can artificially extend your unused 241 vouchers to 30th September 2023.

All you need to do is book a simple return flight from, say, London to Manchester for two people using your companion voucher. Once booked, cancel it and take the Future Travel Voucher option.

When you want to use your 241 voucher, you simply ring up British Airways and pay whatever extra Avios and cash are required to change your Future Travel Voucher into the redemption you want. You cannot change the passenger names. Travel must be completed by 30th September 2023.

That said, I strongly recommend that you do NOT do this until the very last minute before your 241 voucher is about to expire. I expect British Airways to extend them anyway, and your 241 voucher is far more flexible when it is completely under your control.

Conclusion

Extending outstanding vouchers to 30th September 2023 is a sensible move by British Airways. Even if short haul travel opens up fully this Autumn, many favourite long haul routes are likely to remain closed for longer.

You can see the new rules pertaining to eVouchers on this page of ba.com.

The updated rules regarding Future Travel Vouchers can be found on this page of ba.com.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

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

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

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

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

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

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

British Airways and Avios

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

Emma says:

4 Aug4 August 05:15

No reason why not to extend status if BA feel that there’s a need to extend the expiry date of FTV’s and e-vouchers.
Simon Cross says:

4 Aug4 August 05:21

Rob. What about Lloyds upgrade vouchers and existing bookings made with them.

1) I have one booking made with a Lloyds upgrade voucher for travel to the USA in November 2021.

2) I have a second Lloyds upgrade voucher which expires at the end of October 2021 – i.e. I have to book by that date but can travel anytime up to a year after I book.
- Mikeact says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 07:01
  
  I’m in the same position with my two. I think I might call for an update before the October deadline.
- pauldb says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 07:41
  
  Must understanding is that, in the absence of a BWC Guarantee, avios.com will refund any booking for free and if there’s a voucher involved, re-issue it with 3 months validity.
  
  You might want to call about options for your first booking and if I’m right, think about making a dummy booking to extend your second voucher.
Chris Cannon says:

4 Aug4 August 05:50

Can a voucher be used as part payment on an existing balance? That is to say if the voucher is worth more than the balance do you get change?
- TimM says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 06:44
  
  My understanding is the ‘change’ comes back as an e-voucher.
  - John says:
    
    4 Aug4 August 07:28
    
    If it’s a small amount it may get refunded (not sure what counts as small)
    - ChrisC says:
      
      4 Aug4 August 11:39
      
      Not any more.
      
      Couple of weeks ago they wouldn’t refund £5.31 so had another e-voucher.
- Kevin B says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 08:40
  
  Yes I used an e-voucher worth more than the booking and received a new e-voucher for the difference straight away.
Dawn says:

4 Aug4 August 06:20

I have a 2-4-1 flight booked for 4 Sept LHR – Las Vegas, returning 3 October. We’re not allowed into USA at the moment so I’m hanging on until either this rule changes (unlikely) or BA cancel the flight. How likely is it that they’ll cancel the flight and if I cancel it last minute as we can’t get visas, will I lose £70 pp? Or have I got it all wrong?!
- Alan T says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 06:55
  
  According to Flyertalk, they have cancelled LAS flights up to 5th Sept today so you’d should be hearing soon, and get it all back, cash, Avios and 2-4-1.
  
  Btw. You don’t need a Visa for the US if a UK citizen in general, ESTA to get on the plane and entry granted via VWP, neither of those are a Visa. And you can get an ESTA at present, but you need to circumnavigate the 14 day issue caused by the Proclamation, realistically a no-no for most leisure travellers, not to mention travel insurance etc.
  - John says:
    
    4 Aug4 August 07:30
    
    ESTAs are visas in all but name
    - ChrisC says:
      
      4 Aug4 August 10:06
      
      ESTA replaced the Visa Waiver Scheme so no they aren’t visas.
- geoff says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 08:06
  
  If you ‘cancel’ it, which you can always do for an avios ticket, you will get a normal refund minus £35pp and your 241 will be returned with its extant expiry date.
  If you elect to turn it into a Future Travel Voucher it all stays in ‘credit’ for next time, with no £35pp fee and the 241 voucher will be preserved within the FTV until Sept 23 (you can elect to cancel the FTV later if you need to, at which point you lose the £35pp fee and the 241 will retain its expiry date).
  If BA cancel the flight, you can get a full refund (no fee) or put it into a FTV.
- Matt C says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 09:20
  
  If BA have cancelled the flight you can always rebook up to a year later from the date of travel without the need for reward seat availability. My August US flights have been cancelled and I am now waiting for flights to be loaded for August 2022 before rebooking.
  - Dawn says:
    
    6 Aug6 August 08:58
    
    @Matt C BA have just cancelled my outbound so I will cancel the whole trip – I’m offered a refund or a voucher. If I take the voucher with the 2-4-1 in it, does this mean I can re-book as you say, without the need for reward flight availability? I noted a comment from someone else a few posts down saying that wasn’t possible?
Alex Sm says:

4 Aug4 August 06:22

It’s handy that Book w/Confidence has been extended to cover summer 2022
Sergio says:

4 Aug4 August 06:50

So, just to clarify. If I make a 241 booking and immediately cancel it the FTV that is issued will effectively become my ‘new’ 241 voucher that BA will honour as a 241 until (currently) September 2023?
- Rob says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 08:32
  
  Yes
Josh says:

4 Aug4 August 06:53

Surely this is now a formal confirmation that the world is not getting back to normal in time for those with Jan Status renewals to possibly hit 75% or their required flights. Come on BA do the right thing. Any sign our HFP experts?
- ChrisW says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 06:58
  
  Do you even need status in the next 12 months?
  - Josh says:
    
    4 Aug4 August 07:16
    
    Yes – there’s a heck of a fall from GGL / CCR and 5000 TP+ to Silver. As soon as we can travel I will for work and I’m still travelling for leisure.
  - AJA says:
    
    4 Aug4 August 08:41
    
    It’s a moot point if you’re not travelling but in my case I pay for all my flights so I value my hard-earned Silver status. To have it lapse because I can’t travel anywhere due to government restrictions around the world would be very annoying. It doesn’t cost BA anything to extend status if I’m not flying as I’m not using any of the facilities but it earns a lot of goodwill and makes me much more likely to fly BA when I do restart flying.
    - Dawn says:
      
      4 Aug4 August 09:12
      
      @AJA – exactly the same for me. Every 2 years I pay for a trip to Australia to get myself up to Silver status and this I did at the start of Covid. Despite just travelling to Turkey and Malta, no lounges were open so I couldn’t get any benefit. Losing my Silver status is a big deal for me.
      - Doug M says:
        
        4 Aug4 August 09:30
        
        Surely way cheaper option to silver than a flight to Aus.
      - Polly says:
        
        5 Aug5 August 06:21
        
        Yep, agree. It’s why we also do the odd QR sale J to Asia, esp in their sales, oh we miss those flights. That kept our silver, which we do value greatly, esp travelling inter Asia, and to Dublin frequently. DAA lounges in Dublin since the upgrade definitely worth visiting.
- Jonathan says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 08:55
  
  What’s in it for BA to announce a blanket extension now?
  
  If you’re not travelling it at the moment then your status makes no difference either way.
  
  If you are travelling it keeps you loyal to BA due to current status benefits & a wish to maintain them.
  
  Who knows what will happen in 3-6 months time? It may be that the USA opens up, business travel bounces back & BA feel that’s good enough.
  
  It makes more sense for them to make the decision on extensions in November/December as extending now only encourages people to flirt with the opposition in the short term.
Ols says:

4 Aug4 August 07:32

Does there still need to be Avios availability to rebook using a future travel voucher with Avios and 241 tied up in it?
- pauldb says:
  
  4 Aug4 August 07:39
  
  Yes