Haven’t already cashed in your Covid travel credit? Time is running out, so here’s what you need to do.
With travellers holding some $400m of cancelled Qantas tickets for flights scrapped due to Covid restrictions, the countdown clock is now ticking towards the use-by date for Qantas’ Covid travel credits.
The airline has set December 31, 2023 as the final day when domestic and international Qantas and Jetstar flights can be booked using outstanding Qantas travel credit, although those flights themselves can be as far away as December 31, 2024.
But if January 2024 rolls around and you haven’t made a booking with your Qantas’ Covid travel credit, your credit will vanish entirely.
So what are your options from here?
1. Find how much Qantas travel credit you hold
Following the waves of lockdowns, border closures and false starts across 2020-2021, it’s no surprise that many would-be travellers have simply lost track of their original booking details and travel credits.
“We know the credits system has been challenging because of the sheer complexity of putting millions of bookings in a holding pattern for up to three years,” Svensson explains.
Then came the conversion of held bookings into credits into one of four confusing brands: Qantas Flight Credits, Qantas Pass, Qantas TravelPass and Qantas Credit.
The airline claims the new Find My Credit tool on the Qantas website will simplify the process of helping passengers find how much Qantas travel credit they’re owed by using their original flight booking reference up to three years old.
It can also help customers who made bookings through travel agents by allowing them to check their up to date ticket number and travel agent details.
Qantas’ Covid travel credit will remain active until the end of 2024, but you still need to book your flights by the end of this year.
2. Request a refund
Most Qantas and Jetstar flights cancelled under Covid are fully refundable – Qantas pegs the figure at around 80% – but many have found the process to get your money back has proved frustrating and overly complicated.
“We’d obviously like customers to use their Covid credit to fly with us, but if they’d prefer a refund, we’re putting additional processes in place to help with that,” explains Qantas Group Chief Customer Officer Markus Svensson.
“The majority of the Covid credits we hold can be converted into refunds, but we can’t do it automatically as the credit cards used for the purchase as far back as 2019 may have expired.”
Svensson says for bookings made directly with Qantas, would-be travellers can call the Travel Credit Concierge Team on 1300 171 505 to request a refund.
“If a booking was made through a travel agent, customers should contact the agent directly to request a refund.”
As previously reported by Executive Traveller, some people calling to request a refund of their travel credit have instead been offered incentives such as an additional 10-20% of the value of their booking, or the ability to earn twice as many frequent flyer points or status credits, if they opt to retain the credit.
But what about those 20% who for various reasons are not counted as eligible for a refund?
“Customers with Covid credits who do not have the option of a refund but whose circumstances have changed and who are no longer able to use their credit, are also encouraged to contact Qantas to discuss a refund,” Svensson suggests.
3. Make a new booking
As mentioned earlier, December 31 2023 is your ‘use it or lose it’ date for turning outstanding Qantas or Jetstar travel credit into a new booking – although that flight can be any time in 2024, so travellers will have to plan well ahead.
This should also help travellers take advantage of steadily dropping international airfares as international capacity slowly returns to pre-pandemic levels.
Qantas flights can be booked up to a maximum of 353 days in advance, so by December 31 2023 you’ll be able to book flights up to mid-December 2024.
To spur those bookings, Qantas is now offering a double serve of frequent flyer points for Covid travel credit booking made through to July 31 2023, for travel from August 1 onwards.
Travellers need to first register at a special promotions page on the Qantas website, and the offer its valid only for domestic and international flights holding a QF flight number (which includes codeshare flights on partner airlines from the Oneworld group as well as Emirates).
However, Qantas appears to be keeping in place a rule that travellers who booked a flight after September 30 2021 but then cancelled that trip due to uncertainty or health concerns can use their credit only against airfares at the same price or higher than their original ticket.
On fares below the credited amount, passengers must still buy a new ticket rather than retain the balance in credit or even choose to forego a small difference.
