Airline Covid credits: What you need to know and when they expire

With Covid restrictions a distant memory, many are scrambling to use their travel credits – because they don’t get better with age.

So what do you need to know?

We’ve gathered up the Covid credit policies from some of the big airlines to give you the key points:

Air New Zealand extended their expiry for credits last year, and they can now be used to book any seat on any flight, as long as that seat is booked by December 31, 2023 and travel by December 31, 2024.

You can gift the credits to someone else if you are unable to use them yourself.

They also have a Covid-19 compassionate refund policy, which allows you to request a refund if you can no longer fly due to on-going ill health, or are suffering financial hardship as a result of Covid.

Air New Zealand’s Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says 81% of the airline’s credits have been used but the airline would “love for the rest of our customers to use the credits that belong to them before they expire”.

Qantas updated its Covid credit policy on August 31 to allow customers to request a cash refund on credits.

They can be used to book travel until the end of the year, when they were previously due to expire, but after December 31 2023 credits can only be refunded.

If your credits are from bookings made on or before September 30 2021 they can be used to make multiple bookings.

Qantas flight credits are not transferable to another person, so be prepared to make a booking yourself.

Jetstar, part of the Qantas Group, also updated their Covid credits policy at the end of August.

It has removed expiry dates for credits, which previously had to be used by December 31.

The voucher can be extended after it expires by getting in touch with the contact centre, which means that it can be used to book flights indefinitely.

Credits can also be used across multiple bookings if you are planning more than one trip.

Not only that, but credits can be used on hotels booked via Jetstar.

And you can use your credit to book for someone else, as long as your details are added as the ‘booking contact’.

Virgin Australia credits must be booked and used by December 31, 2023.

Only limited seats are made available on flights to be booked with Future Flight credits.

If you have Virgin credits that you are struggling to use before they expire, Virgin encourages customers to get in touch via their contact centre. The phone number is 0800 670 000.

Credits were not the only option given to customers when flights were grounded by Covid, with some airlines offering refunds to those impacted.

Emirates allows refunds on bookings affected by Covid, even if the flight hasn’t been cancelled.

It will refund the flight fare, but not the service fees or taxes.

For those who want to use their ticket, a 36-month extension from the date of the original booking has been applied to tickets issued prior to 31 March, 2021 with a travel date on or before 31 August 2022.

That ticket will be accepted for any flight to the same destination or within the same region in the same travel class with no extra fees during the validity period.

Emirates previously issued travel vouchers, and these can be refunded too, as long as you request that refund within two years of the date the voucher was issued.

By September 2020 Emirates had already completed more than 1.4 million refund requests.

Singapore Airlines offered refunds to eligible customers from April 2020.

That same year it introduced a policy which provided customers with unlimited complimentary rebooking for tickets issued on or before 31 July 2022.

That policy has now ended, but eligible tickets issued have been offered one additional waiver of rebooking fees.

You don’t automatically have the right to a refund if you no longer want to travel at all. The Commerce Commission says it depends on the conditions of the ticket that you purchased at the time.

Its general advice to all your questions is check the terms and conditions of your ticket.

The commission is clear that airlines cannot mislead you about your rights to a refund or keeping your money, so make sure to know your rights before giving them a call.

More on this topic

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Why Kiwis with Virgin Covid credits struggle to get a seat

A travel agent gave Fair Go the inside scoop on why thousands of Kiwis are missing out on Virgin flight credits - limited seats, and, only out of one airport.

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If you are having any trouble with using up credits get in touch with the airline sooner rather than later.

If your travel credits have an expiry date coming up but you aren't sure when you are travelling, it could worth booking a flight before cut off and seeing if you can amend it later.