BA vouchers and options

[Hokulea]

All,

Late last year I flew from LA to LHR. One of my legs was canceled due to technical problems and I had no IFE on the return flight. The outcome is I have 275 pounds of BA vouchers to use by the end of the year. The problem is I live on the other side of the planet.

So, I'm trying to figure out how to use the vouchers. BA doesn't fly to where I live so that isn't an option. Given the pandemic and the possibility of a vaccine in the next few months, I really hope I can fly back to the UK around May 2021. If so, I wouldn't mind a quick trip over to Dublin or Belfast. My questions are:

1) Can I use vouchers to book flexible tickets?

2) If I book a flexible ticket, can I cancel and rebook later? In other words, can I extend my voucher's life by booking a flexible ticket?

Thanks for your thoughts and opinions.

[Johnny F@rt Pants]

BA are part of OneWorld, is there a OneWorld airline that does operate where you are? If so you should be able to use your credit voucher to fund something closer to home.

[PAXboy]

They list 13 airlines on the one World site. (https://www.oneworld.com/members)

[MAC 40612]

Have you actually contacted BA, as there must be a lot of passengers who have taken vouchers for all manner of reasons over the last year or so who cannot use them, so you may find they issue an extension for them?

[pax britanica]

I would also contact BA as suggested and make the point you have had very limited opportunity to sue them in this dreadful year when whole swathes of commercial airline operation completely disappeared from months on end

[Hokulea]

Thanks, everyone. I have emailed BA and asked for an extension and explained the situation. It is a little complicated. The flights were booked with American and the BA flights were codeshare. Since then, I did have a trip booked to the LA and then LHR through American with BA codeshare flights in April but I canceled them due to the pandemic. American let me cancel those flights and let me rebook through Sep 2021, but I have to book through AA. The vouchers have to be used through BA.

Once I get an email back from BA I'll see what my options are. I appreciate your help and suggestions!

[S.o.S.]

Thank Hokulea. It may take some time to resolve but please do report back to help others.

[Hokulea]

Will do S.o.S. So far I've had a response saying my email has been sent to the customer relations dept. As soon as I learn more, I'll pass it on.

[Hokulea]

I just received a reply from BA. So far, surprisingly good! They acknowledged I inquired about two vouchers and responded about one of them, the 75-pound voucher for not having a working IFE.

Quick background - the flight was business class from LHR to LA as part of a round trip from Hawaii to LHR. I planned to sleep so wasn't concerned about the lack of IFE but the flight attendant said it was a matter of principle and would put in a claim for me. Definitely good service!

Anyway, BA has increased the value of the voucher to 97-pounds and extended it to the beginning of December 2021, and acknowledged that the pandemic had made using the voucher virtually impossible to use. I thought I had a good chance of extending the voucher but didn't expect them to increase its amount. I was pleasantly surprised. I still don't know if I'll be able to use it, but I can't fault BA, this was a nice surprise. No news on the 200-pound voucher at this point.

[Hokulea]

And I just got a reply about the second voucher. They've extended it to early December 2021 and increased its value to 267-pounds. I'm pretty impressed.