British Airways has issued an urgent message to customers who are booking flights after September this year.

Customers who had flights or holidays disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic and accepted vouchers from the airline as a result now face a looming deadline, as these vouchers are due to expire in just a few months. British Airways was forced to cancel thousands of bookings during the pandemic due to mass travel restrictions and allowed passengers who were unable to travel to cancel their bookings in exchange for vouchers that could instead be spent with the airline at a later date.

Customers who accepted these vouchers initially had to take their flights by April 30, 2022, but the deadline was later pushed back four times. The final date to use these vouchers before they expire is now September 30, 2025, after which they cannot be used.

Customers are required to fly and return by the deadline date in order to not lose out, so it’s important that people who still have these vouchers to spend use book a trip before the end of September.

In a message to customers on its website, British Airways says: “Our eVouchers offer a quick and simple way of paying for flights online. You can use either the full value of an eVoucher or some of it to pay for a less expensive booking. If you don’t use all of it, we’ll simply send another eVoucher covering the difference.

“The voucher expires on 30 September 2025. You can use an eVoucher to pay or part-pay for a new booking. Any trip booked using your eVoucher must conclude – departure and return – by 30 September 2025.”

British Airways explains that the voucher value includes the cost of any extras, such as seating, baggage and meal purchases, and customers can apply up to four vouchers per booking.

If the cost of flights is cheaper than the value of the voucher then British Airways will issue a new voucher covering the difference, but this new voucher will also only be valid for travel that is completed by the deadline of September 30, 2025 – it will not have a new extended expiry date. If bookings exceed the value of the vouch then customers will have to pay the difference.

The airline adds: “An eVoucher is valid until the expiry date shown and cannot be renewed or exchanged for cash. All flights booked using eVouchers issued following an application must conclude by 30 September 2025.

“If you cancel a booking made using an eVoucher you applied for, any refund will be issued in accordance with our Conditions of Carriage and the relevant fare rules.

“Where you cancel the booking and a refund is due, the amount paid for using the eVoucher will be issued under a new eVoucher. If we cancel your flight, you will be entitled to a full refund of your booking.”