'British Airways owes me ￡8,500 – and its vouchers are perplexing'

Neil Record writes

Last year I had more than 20 return flights booked with British Airways for myself, my family and friends. BA cancelled some of these flights and I received cash refunds. The remainder I was forced to cancel at short notice due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

For almost all of these, BA has offered me “future travel vouchers” (FTVs) which are difficult to use in that you must phone and speak to a BA agent. For other flights I have been issued with “eVouchers”, which can be used online and are not restricted to the person named on the ticket.

Why the difference? I have written to the airline asking for an explanation but unfortunately have received no response. As I have held Gold Executive Club status for many years, I did expect a reply. At the moment the airline owes me about ￡8,500. Can you help?

Gill Charlton, consumer correspondent, replies

I asked British Airways to look at Mr Record’s reservations, which are complex as they include cancellations of rebooked flights. It has yet to resolve some of his issues but this much we have gleaned.

To encourage people to book flights in this uncertain world, British Airways introduced a Book with Confidence promotion last summer. Any ticket booked before Aug 31 2021 (for travel before April 2022) can be cancelled up to close of check-in and a future travel voucher issued for the full amount. (Use the “claim voucher” tab and not the “cancel flight” function in the booking manager to do this.)

The confusion arises because BA has issued two different kinds of voucher. If the airline cancels a flight, it issues eVouchers (if you do not phone to ask for a cash refund) which can be used to make a booking on behalf of someone else.

If the passenger cancels the flight under the Book with Confidence scheme, an FTV is issued. However, these can only be used towards a flight in the name of the person on the original ticket.

Most FTVs can be used online – you enter the ticket number at the payment stage – but there are some exceptions. Where a customer has used Avios points in part-payment (as Mr Record often did) they need to phone BA to use the voucher. This is because the points are not recredited to the Avios account (as they are if BA cancels) but turned into a cash sum and added to the value of the FTV. This is a manual process at present.

Another exception is that vouchers issued by BA for cancelled flights at the start of the pandemic – before it set up the online eVoucher system in July – do require passengers to phone the airline either to use them or to have them converted into eVouchers, which can then be used online. The dedicated phone lines for each Executive Club level have now reopened and the numbers can be found on the back of your club card.