How do I use my travel voucher?

Travel gift vouchers are a great present for someone’s birthday or to contribute to a honeymoon but whether you’re buying or receiving one, make sure you check the terms and conditions. Expiration dates, balance limits and restrictions on what you can buy can turn a thoughtful gift into a hassle and a potential waste of money.

Flight Vouchers

These are the gift cards with the most strings attached. Expiration dates are usually between 6 - 24 months, which can be different for physical and online vouchers. In addition to this, some airlines print the name of the recipient on the voucher and state that this cannot be amended, meaning that they will be non-transferable.

The other type of voucher offered is as compensation for a delayed or cancelled flight. Airlines don’t stipulate this practice in their terms and conditions but there have been several companies called out by customers who had been offered a flight voucher instead of a cash refund. Flight vouchers often have stricter regulations than gift cards and cannot be sold to someone else. Also, by accepting one, you are often forgoing your rights to full refunds and other compensation like accommodation, transport and refreshments. If you want to know more about your refund options, check out our blog post on flight cancellation rights.

For more information, head over to our flight voucher policy blog post.

Hotel Vouchers

If you buy directly from the hotel, then your card is unlikely to have an expiration date. The same hotels which offer their own vouchers will often have a system you can register your card on so if it gets lost, stolen or damaged, you can get a replacement without losing the value. These tend to be more upmarket or luxurious, like Hilton or Four Seasons, whereas the budget-friendly hotels like Premier Inn don’t have vouchers specific to their company. Generic hotel gift cards like Hotelgift and Hotels.com encompass a wider range of locations but they come with their own policies.

For more information, head over to our hotel voucher policy blog post.

Package Holiday Vouchers

Gift cards for package holidays are rare in comparison to separate flight and hotel vouchers, in fact, only travel providers who also sell flights individually will offer a gift voucher. If you’ve been given one, you’ll want to read the terms of use because some vouchers can only be spent on certain types of package, such as specific destinations. The likes of Lastminute.com require you to select whether it’s a package deal or a separate flight + hotel booking when you buy a gift card, so make sure you know which one your voucher is eligible for. You can find more information on package holiday vouchers in our blog post.

Rail Vouchers

If you’ve received a gift voucher for a rail company, you might be wondering how to redeem it and whether or not you have a limited time period to use it in. Where you can use it is the biggest issue with rail vouchers, as some cards are only valid in the station. When it comes to booking your journey, make sure you know what you can do with your gift card. Most companies don’t offer a train gift certificate but Via Rail, LNER, Rail Europe and Amtrak are keen to promote the gift of train travel:

Via Rail in Canada offers gift cards of $25 or $100 which don’t expire. They can only be redeemed in the station, though.
LNER in the UK has to be used on their website and they expire after 12 months.
Rail Europe also need to be redeemed online although they don’t expire.
Amtrak in the US is more flexible as they have no expiration date and can be redeemed online, in their app, by phone, or in a station.

Each company will have its own policy so it’s worth checking with their customer service team when and how to spend your card.

Cruise Vouchers

If you’ve received a cruise gift voucher, the first thing you need to find out is which company it is with, and which ships it can be used on. Some will specify the exact route or type of trip you can take, whilst others will allow you to use it flexibly. Individual cruise lines will often offer their own gift cards so if you’ve received one, the terms of use will differ for each company.

However, one thing that most cruise vouchers have in common is that they can usually be used as onboard credit as well as towards the booking itself. Your gift card balance will be used to pay for drinks, dinner and activities when you’re onboard, which is great if you’re trying to budget. Bear in mind, you might have to register the card before you board the ship to make sure it’s valid. We have all the details for Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, P&O Cruises, Carnival, and Disney Cruises on our blog post about cruise voucher policies.

Festival Vouchers

Although you’re unlikely to find a festival which sells a gift card, you might have been given one through Festicket, which is a platform to buy accommodation and transport on top of the ticket itself. Their 2018 vouchers have sold out and if you have been given one, you have until 31 December 2018 before it expires. Leeds and Reading Festival offer a “gift certificate” to send to someone but you still have to purchase a ticket in the same way anyone would. Other than that, there are no music festivals which have a gift card. Most tickets are purchased through a payment platform like Ticketmaster, which does have its own voucher, but this can’t be sold on TransferTravel.com.

Do you have a gift voucher that you can’t use? Why not make some money back on it with TransferTravel.com, where you can sell it to someone who might be able to use it for their next holiday. For all you need to know, check out our post on how to sell an unwanted travel voucher.