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British Airways passenger? Check if you've got an old Covid voucher as millions of pounds' worth must be used for travel by 30 September

A British Airways plane in the air.
Molly Greeves
Molly Greeves
News & Investigations Reporter
28 February 2025

If you had a British Airways (BA) flight or holiday disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, check if you've got an old voucher as millions of pounds' worth are still unclaimed. You'll need to use it to travel before the end of September 2025 – or risk losing it. Below we explain how to search for unused vouchers and how to use them.

BA's parent company, IAG, had at least €100 million in unredeemed vouchers for cancelled and disrupted Covid flights as of the end of 2024, it revealed on Friday 28 February. While that figure covers all of IAG's airlines, BA is by far the biggest (the others being Aer Lingus, Iberia, Level and Vueling).

IAG has also reported holding €487 million in other vouchers, which includes its 'Book with Confidence' policy that allowed passengers to cancel their own flights during Covid, as well as gift vouchers and other types of voucher.

During the Covid-19 restrictions, BA allowed passengers to cancel their bookings in exchange for a voucher to spend with the firm at a later date.

Passengers whose flights were cancelled by the airline during this period were also given this option, though those with flights up to April 2022 were previously able to swap their vouchers for a cash refund. However, this option has since closed.

Check if you have a British Airways voucher

Vouchers were sent by email, so the first step is to have a search of your email folders. If you can't find anything, try entering your email address on BA website. If you've got any vouchers, you should get an email with the subject 'Your eVouchers with British Airways' within a couple of hours. This will include your voucher number(s) and how much you've got to spend.

As a last resort, you can contact BA via its online form or by calling 0344 493 0787 (lines open 6am to 8pm, Monday to Sunday).

You need to complete your trip by the end of September 2025

BA previously said that customers with vouchers would need to take their flights by 30 April 2022. Since then, the deadline has been extended four times. There's a chance it could be pushed back again, but the safest option is to redeem your voucher in good time to ensure you don't lose out.

To use your voucher, you must book AND take any flights or package holidays – both departure and return – by 11.59pm on 30 September 2025. Here's how:

  • Flights: Use your voucher to pay or part-pay for flights when you book on the BA website. The exact journey you need to follow depends on whether you are logged in to the BA account associated with the voucher, but you'll be asked to enter your email address, last name and voucher code. You can add up to four vouchers per booking.

    You won't be able to spend your voucher on extras, such as baggage or seat reservations, so if you want these – or if your voucher doesn't cover the whole cost of your flights – you'll need to pay the difference another way.

  • Holidays: If you want to spend your voucher on a package trip with British Airways Holidays, you'll need to call 0344 493 0787 (lines open 6am to 8pm, Monday to Sunday).

If your booking is cheaper than the value of your voucher, you'll be issued a new one to cover the difference. However, it's worth noting that flights or holidays booked with this new voucher will also have to be taken by 30 September 2025.

For further info on your rights when your journey is disrupted, see our Flight cancellation rights and Flight delay compensation guides.

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