Voucher restrictions - help!

[MatF]

Hi All,

Hoping to draw on the combined wisdom ...

I have a voucher for around $300 from a cancelled WGA-SYD-WGA Qantaslink trip last year. It expires 1/4/11.

I understand that it's not transferrable, so no name changes. Herein lies my problem.

The vast majority of my domestic flights are paid for (and booked) through work, so while I'll still be flying a bit between now and 1/4 (16 QF sectors I suspect), I can't use the voucher for any of the work flights (nor would I want to!). I do however have a trip to SYD for a weekend in early March with Mrs MatF.

The weekend in SYD will just be part of my trip to Brisbane as per usual, so work will pay for my flights - I will just continue to BNE on the Monday morning, while Mrs MatF returns to WGA.

Obviously it would be good if I could use my voucher to pay for Mrs MatF's flights, but I can't change the name on the voucher. Nor can I have my work book her flights and pay for my own with the voucher (I wouldn't feel comfortable doing this, it feels a bit dodgy).

We are both very busy between now and 1/4, so I can't see any opportunity for any other trips away.

Are there any options, or am doomed to both lose the voucher and have to pay for her flights as well?


Cheers,
Mat.

 

[thewinchester]

From reading your scenairo MatF, I think you're going to have to chalk up a loss on this one.

I'm going to assume the original ticket was either a Red-e/Super saver fare.

Our usual corporate trick with this is to fax Qantas stating the owner of the voucher no longer has a need to travel within the expiry period/no longer with company, and request a change of name. They'll do this for nix, and it's harder for them to prove/track this is ever the case.

This is the only way I know of to effect a name change in these kind of scenairos.

However, as a personal flyer you likely booked the ticket and linked it to your QFF before cancellation. Trying to pull this trick will cause you to be found out and kicked up the backside inside five seconds.

If anyone else knows a trick to make this happen, I'd love to hear it - but I suspect you'll need to take a loss unless you have a spare few hours to take either a Sat or Sun short return flight from SYD to use it before expiry. It might be worth it depending on when your qualification year ends and if you'll hit WP re-qual.

 

[simongr]

OK - my view is that if one of my guys said "boss I have a voucher for travel that I have to use by 1/4 but as you have me flying so much I cant use it would you mind paying for mrsworkslave to fly with me on a business trip and I will use my voucher? All at zero cost to the business" I would say fine go for it.

There is no cost to the business so why should it be a problem?

Similarly if it was a totally lost cause (i.e. mrsworkslave couldnt travel at all) - I would actually use the voucher for work purposes. In fact I am doing just that tomorrow. I had a compensation voucher for a travel delay that we tried to use but couldnt so I am using it to fly in J down to MEL. My budget saves $400 and I get 60 extra SCs.

The $400 budget saving means one of my guys can then go to MEL for a couple of days for planing meetings rather than doing it by phone - everyone wins.

 

[JohnK]

You haven't got any time to fly somewhere for an afternoon and return? I would do it just so that I don't feel the voucher has been wasted.

OK - my view is that if one of my guys said "boss I have a voucher for travel that I have to use by 1/4 but as you have me flying so much I cant use it would you mind paying for mrsworkslave to fly with me on a business trip and I will use my voucher? All at zero cost to the business" I would say fine go for it.

There is no cost to the business so why should it be a problem?

That sounds like an excellent trade-off.

 

[Aus ATC]

I have used these vouchers before (after cancelling/deferring a trip). The expiry date relates to the voucher itself. You can use it towards any one way or return booking you can see (up to 11 1/2 months in advance) - but once this second flight is booked, I don't think you can change it again without loss - the value of the voucher seems to disappear.

So provided you go into "manage your bookings" before 1/4 and "change" the voucher into new flights , you should still get something worthwhile - for yourself at least - to use at a time of your choice.

Worth a phone call to QFA to confirm this info though.

 

[JohnK]

The expiry date relates to the voucher itself. You can use it towards any one way or return booking you can see (up to 11 1/2 months in advance) - but once this second flight is booked, I don't think you can change it again without loss - the value of the voucher seems to disappear.

I have been able to change a booking numerous times. Just the standard service fee and change in airfare.

Take note though that the expiry date is not the 12 months from the date of the first flight but 12 months from time of booking. I found this out the hard way when I booked in February 2010 a return flight to SIN for travel in October 2010. When I got sick in September 2010 Qantas was quite happy to change the booking (for a fee of course) but travel had to be completed by February 2011.

 

[munitalP]

The expiry date of the voucher is when you must use the voucher by.. Also, I have never had a problem using the voucher for Mrs munitalP, in fact, she's off to ADL on a voucher this weekend...

As an afterthought, you don't mean credit do you?

 

[MatF]

It's definitely a voucher - from a cancelled flight from last year.

I just tried a dummy booking, and I can't see any way I can book in any other name but mine - it doesn't allow me to change the passenger name (and automatically puts my name in the booking).

I did also try a dummy booking using the voucher for after 1/4, and it seemed happy enough, so booking something for later in the year might be the best solution.

Having work book Mrs MatF's flights and using the voucher myself does seem like the ideal solution, but I work for a large multinational (read inflexible) company, and all bookings are made through corporate travel, and I'm not sure it would fly (npi). Worth asking the question I guess.