Originally Posted by
RealHJ
Good to know, but still the voucher is a voucher, and unlike Avios has an expiry date, does it not? And then trying to get a refund on a flight booked with voucher may be even more difficult in the future.. I mean I see why they want to force cancellations to go on vouchers, it's a way to surely expire a bunch of Avios that otherwise would have stayed on the books, as customers either forget they have a voucher or can't redeem it in time.
Avios do have an expiry date if you don't have any account activity!
The current terms of all FTVs is pretty generous, anyway. They can be used on any new booking for travel that is completed by 30 September 2023. So that still gives you a lot of leeway, and rather undermines the conspiracy theory about trying to increase the breakage rate of Avios.
In addition, once you have an FTV from an Avios booking, you can later call to cancel the FTV for a full refund. If you do that, then the standard cancellation fee is applied at that time and the rest (Avios and cash) is refunded to you. This can be useful if you are in a tight spot because the burden on call centres fluctuates, and there are times when it's easier to get through than it is at present. So that is another option that you have open to you.