JDiver

The agent was incorrect; you have one year to use the voucher.

Now that we've merged your query into the lengthy active thread, you can see the answer provided by AA in the wiki. /Moderator

buckeyefanflyer

Last year I had cancelled a AA flight and after taking the $200 fee AA sends a travel voucher in the mail for the balance. Can't use on line must call in but if you do not book in advance can't even do that must go to a AA ticket counter.
AA had a good fare for my return from FLL for today, I left Saturday on WN. The found the flights I wanted which were US airways flights via CLT. I went to the AA ticket Saturday morning and gave the agent the flights I wanted to book using the voucher but 2 of the agents I saw said since they were US Airways flights I would have to go to them to book it. I did not think that was correct since the fares and flights were priced on the AA site and all US Airways flights FLL-CLE on their site were priced more then $300.00 more.
Both counters were jammed so I gave up and just booked the flight on line on the AA site and paid for the ticket.

JDiver

According to AA policies, you can use AA transportation vouchers to buy US prime flights, as indicated in the current Vouchers thread here as well as here on aa.com. (We'll merge this query into the existing thread soon.)

buckeyefanflyer

Called reservations today and explained the scenario as I was think about doing this for the weekend. Agent says she was willing to put in the reservation on 24 hold and I just go to the AA ticket counter and buy the ticket with the voucher. Not a issue since it would cancelled anyway if not paid. Very nice agent.

travelingaround

I made an AA reservation by phone on the last day of my paper voucher's validity. The operator asked me when the voucher had been issued, and I indicated that it had been issued exactly a year earlier. She said that was fine and just to be sure that the voucher was mailed in with a postmark by X date (13 days after the reservation date). When confirming the mail-in address online, I came across a thread that said the voucher may not be honored because its postmark will be after the expiry date. Can anyone confirm (or hopefully put my mind at ease that this is not the case)? Thank you in advance!

mikelat

Well, I can't put your mind at ease as I don't know the authoritative answer.

But, since it's already happened and not much to do now, might as well photocopy the voucher and mail it in to see what happens. Please do post back with results.

Edit to add :if today is the expiration and you have time and want to be sure, drive to your local airport and have AA ticket counter process the voucher immediately.

travelingaround

Thank you for your reply, mikelat. The expiration (and reservation) date was a couple of days ago, otherwise I would have tried to get to an AA ticket counter. I'll report back what happens.

RogerD408

Good luck on getting the voucher processed (sincerely). AAgents have been giving bad advice on voucher processing and rarely are any two the same. Trying to get someone to discuss the issue is very problematic and no one will stand behind what has been said. Trying to reach someone about this but there appears to be no ownership.

JDiver

Hi,

As you can see from the thread we've merged your query into, there's a large knowledge base to tap here on FlyerTalk. In this thread, expand the wiki at the top of each rendered page to see an extensive FAQS. They indicate you must use (encumber) the voucher within one calendar year of issue, but that allows you to use the voucher to buy a ticket as long as a year out.

We try to keep information on important topics like this one in a main thread (and archive off older posts to linked threads that can still bevread) to prevent information fragmentation.

To find these, use Advanced Search. In this instance, search for thread titles only, reveal results as threads only, keyword voucher reveals this master thread. For assistance on learning how to use Search, see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...ve-thread.html.

/Moderator

Mr Pancks

In case my experience is of interest: thanks to this thread, when I wanted to use my $500 paper AA voucher, I decided that it would be best to 1) save an itinerary on AA.com, then 2) head straight to the nearest AA ATO, and not reserve by phone then mail my voucher to Florida. I'm lucky in that where I work & live, I can get on a train and run out to ORD.

As a result of all the research I'd done, I had my key phrase all prepared: "I understand that DV vouchers are tax-exempt." And I did need to use it. That had the effect of increasing the number of agents helping me from two to three. (I was also lucky that I went to ORD on a quiet Monday evening, and had no wait for an agent, and no crowds waiting to be helped.)

They understood what I wanted, figured out how to do it, and got me ticketed and handed me my itinerary and my "residual" transportation voucher (good for a year from today, as expected, not a year from the date of the original voucher), all within about 15 minutes. The three AA ticket agents at ORD who helped me were competent and professional. Even though each of the first two agents only knew how to do part of what I needed, they worked as a team, sought assistance from a colleague, and figured it out.

Of course, as others have noted, all this would be much easier if all vouchers were e-vouchers. But there was a fun aspect to being well-prepared, and then having it work out as expected.

Thanks again to all who've shared their experiences.

RogerD408

Yeah, it's a shame the TAs can't seem to figure out how to do this from the online documentation that is supposed to exist. Every time I've complained about issues getting TAs to process the DVs I'm told it's all online.

Congrats getting it done. I've had AAgents deny being able to process these MANY times. Even AC AAngels have tried sending me to a TA saying they process them much more often. I guess once or twice a year is more than never.

todd-r

Congrat's. One quick question - did you get charged the ATO Ticketing Fee?

Mr Pancks

No. Only the base fare and an XF charge of $9.

IverTheCat

I am trying to book a flight from London to LA and want to use a voucher I got from AA for it.

From what I understand, I should make and hold the reservation on the AA site, then call up AA to give them the voucher code number.

They are supposed to recalculate the taxes...right? Or am I wrong? Because when I asked the agent to, she simply had no idea what I was talking about, and when she went to speak to her supervisor, she was none the wiser....

Is there something about the taxes needing to be calculated because the voucher is tax exempt? Or am I missing something here?

3Cforme

IIRC, there are voluntary denied boarding and involuntary denied boarding vouchers that are exempt from certain U.S. taxes for domestic travel. If you're discussing a straight-off, $xxx voucher, no, one pays the full taxes & fees.