British Airways extends voucher validity for trips disrupted by Covid-19 until September 2024 - here's what you need to know

If your flight's been delayed or cancelled, see our Flight delays and cancellations guide for full details on your compensation and refund rights.

All existing British Airways vouchers have been extended until 30 September 2024

During the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, British Airways customers who had flights or holidays delayed or cancelled were able to swap their payment of their trip for a voucher to redeem with the firm at a later date. 

British Airways previously said its vouchers had to be used on journeys which were completed by 30 April 2022. It later extended this to 30 April 2023, and then again to 30 September 2023. But it's now extended this deadline again by a year to 30 September 2024. You need to ensure you have booked your new flight and flown - both departed and returned - by this date.

This extension is automatic and you don't need to do anything to qualify, though if you've only used part of a voucher and still have some credit remaining, this will be issued as a new voucher with the expiry of 30 September 2024. 

The airline wouldn't tell us how many vouchers are yet to be redeemed or how much in total this equates to. In March 2022, we reported that the airline had issued 3.3 million vouchers for flights cancelled due to Covid-19. 

According to BA's parent company IAG's 2022 annual accounts, it had €911 million in unredeemed vouchers as at 31 December 2022 (down from €1.4billion as at 31 December 2021). But this figure covers all vouchers across all of IAG's airlines; not just BA's vouchers.

If you were due to travel between 9 March 2020 and 19 November 2020, you may be able to swap your voucher for a cash refund

Passengers who made flight-only bookings with BA, and who were due to travel between 9 March 2020 and 19 November 2020 on a flight that was then cancelled, can swap their voucher for a refund so long as the voucher was accepted AFTER the flight had been cancelled. This follows a U-turn by the airline last year, and includes where Avios were used as a partial payment. You can claim your refund via BA's online refund form.

If you were due to travel between these dates but chose to accept a voucher BEFORE your flight was cancelled, you won't be able to claim a cash refund. Instead, you'll need to redeem your voucher and complete your trip by 30 September 2024.

This option to swap vouchers for cash refunds doesn't apply to passengers whose flights were cancelled after 19 November 2020, as BA says these customers were offered the choice of a cash refund or voucher at the time. 

If you're a British Airways Holidays customer, you should have been refunded automatically. However, if you think you're due a refund but haven't received one, you can contact BA Holidays.

Booked with BA via a travel agent or tour operator? You'll need to contact them directly for a refund.