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Transportation e- and paper Voucher / vouchers / "MCO" FAQ and master thread

Old Jun 13, 2013, 6:55 am
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Last edit by: Prospero
Transportation Voucher, "MCO" FAQ

Transportation eVouchers
Link to aa.com eVouchers Terms and Conditions page
Link to aa.com eVoucher page

General Information
Glossary: MCO - Miscellaneous Charges Order

AA issues e-vouchers to those in US 50 states, US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico as of 28 Nov 2019. Printed green vouchers are still used for those residing elsewhere at this time.

Transportation vouchers issued by American Airlines or American Eagle are valid for travel on American Airlines, American Eagle and American Airlines codeshare flights (AA*).

These vouchers are also valid for travel on oneworld itineraries (including oneworld affiliates that must be booked as a codeshare flight marketed by a oneworld carrier) where American Airlines or American Airlines codeshare flights (AA*) is the international carrier.

Note: For oneworld itineraries, international flights are defined as transatlantic, transpacific and flights to and from South America. Flights to and from Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, or Central America are not included.

Travel agents may accept American Airlines vouchers (042/043) for full or partial payment for a ticket as an "exchange" document/ticket. If the voucher is less than the ticket the additional monies are collected. If the voucher exceeds the ticket cost an MCO will be issued for the difference as a residual indicating non-refundable and for American Airlines transportation only. Valid one year from date of issue ((you must encumber the voucher before one year has expired since issuance*). There is no change fee / ASC associated with using a voucher. Updated 18 Feb 2015.)

The original post, provided by member IceTrojan, has been placed here so members can edit and update as necessary. Information below has not necessarily been updated; be aware.

FAQ: AA Vouchers

Q. How do vouchers work on AA?

They are treated just like cash towards valid purchases.

Q. What can I use the vouchers on?
  • Airfare on American Airlines (inc. American Eagle), codeshares, and oneworld itineraries where AA is the international/"governing" carrier.
  • 500-mile domestic upgrade stickers (at the airport only).
  • Co-payments for upgrades or reduced mileage awards.
  • Excess baggage fees.
  • Special handling fees (e.g. checked pets), with a traveling passenger (i.e. not cargo).
  • Change fees, provided an additional collection of the fare is also being made.
There are special considerations if you are located in the following countries (may not be up to date):
  • In the UK, Belgium, Germany and France, vouchers are accepted for Net fares.
  • In Switzerland, vouchers are accepted on Q and L class Net fares only.
  • In Ireland, vouchers are accepted in Q, O and L class Net fares only.
Q. Can I use American Airlines travel vouchers to purchase a vacation package from AAVacations?

Yes, travel vouchers can be used toward the American Airlines and American Eagle flight portion of your trip, but may not be used to purchase any of the non-flight components of your trip such as hotels, rental cars, transfers, activities or insurance. Travel vouchers are not currently accepted online, but may be redeemed by calling AAVacations at 1-800-489-4810.

Q. Can I use the vouchers for ANYTHING else?

No.

Q. Really?

Yes, really.

Q. Are there restrictions on purchasing airfare?

Unlike other airlines that place restrictions on certain fares/dates/times/routes, AA vouchers are just like cash, so you can use them to buy all fares that are available for purchase.

Q. How long do I have to use the vouchers?

One (1) year from date of issuance.

Q. I can't use my voucher in time. How can I extend the expiration date?
AA automatically extended the expiration of some vouchers in 2021. If your expiration date was between January 1, 2021 and May 31, 2021, the new expiration is March 31, 2022.

If you still need to extend the expiration, spend at least part it on any of its valid uses listed above. For example, pay for a cheap throwaway ticket, a speculative ticket, or a 500-mile upgrade certificate. Any unused amount will be sent to you as a new voucher with a new 1-year expiration date.

Q. What if I lose a voucher?

Sorry, you're out of luck. Treat your vouchers like cash.

Q. Can I use the vouchers to buy tickets for someone else?

While vouchers are non-transferable, you may buy a ticket in someone else's name, so long as you are the one presenting the voucher (either by phone or personally at a ticket counter/office). If someone else presents the voucher, the ticket MUST be issued in the name of that on the voucher.

Q. Is there a fee for using the vouchers?

It appears that ticketing at an airport ticket office is still subject to a charge of $30, unless you are EXP.

Note that if you are EXP, these "booking" fees are waived (and any Agent that tells you otherwise is wrong). (thanks SquareDanceGuy)

Note that if you have booked the ticket online and go to the airport to apply a voucher, there are no fees either, regardless of status. (thanks RogerD408)

Q. What happens to the taxes?

This depends on the type of voucher. The following voucher codes are exempt from some of the taxes: Basically, if you use these vouchers to pay for the whole cost of your fare, you will lower the overall costs as some of the taxes do not apply. (thanks uncle wiggly) If you make a partial payment with vouchers, then the associated taxes will likewise be reduced by the same proportional amount. (thanks marshall)

OU is the only voucher taxable, as it's issued against the unused portion of a ticket that has been exchanged (amongst other things). (thanks hillrider)

Q. What if the value of my vouchers exceed the value of my fare? Do I lose it? (thanks ffay005)

Unlike some* other airlines, you do NOT lose the residual value of your vouchers. If the residual value is more than $5, AA will mail you another voucher back as change, and this voucher is valid for one (1) year after its issuance. (thanks whynotfly) *golfmad added the word "some" based on post #440.

Q. How many vouchers can I use at one time?

According to one AAgent, nine (9) was the maximum number of vouchers accepted by the system.

Q. I bought AA tickets from a 3rd party (e.g., travel agent, internet travel site, Priceline/Hotwire). Can I use the vouchers retroactively?

No.
Q. How long does it take to process the vouchers?

After they receive the vouchers, AA will process them within 1-3 days, so it's really dependent on how long it takes the mail to arrive to Florida. AA reservations will accept the vouchers for a phone booking, if the reservation made is at least 12 days prior to departure. It's recommended that if you need to ticket within 2 weeks that you go directly to an Airport Ticket Office, which can process your voucher/s immediately.

Q. How do I apply vouchers to a reservation I have on hold on AA.com?
  1. Call Web Services at 1-800-222-2377 or 1-918-832-1384 (6:00 AM - 2:00 AM CT, 7 days a week). In the UK, call 08-45-601-0619 (8:30 AM - 5:00 PM UK time, Monday-Friday).
  2. Give them the PNR and tell them you would like to apply vouchers.
  3. They will give you instructions on how to send the vouchers in.
  4. Pay any balance with a credit card.
Q. What's the address where I send my vouchers to?
US: up-to-date in March 2021, UK: up-to-date in January 2022

American Airlines
M.D. 8A701
Fort Worth, TX 76155
USA

The return address for those in the UK and the rest of Europe, who have agreed to send their voucher(s) to AA in the UK, is:

American Airlines
100 Old Hall Street
The Plaza, 7th floor
Liverpool L3 9QJ
United Kingdom

On the envelope under the return address, write:
<Date of first flight, in DD Month format (e.g. 01 Jan)>

Attach a sticky note to the vouchers with the following details:
<First flight number, e.g. AA1234>
<Last name>
<Booking record locator, AKA booking reference>

(Notice: vouchers are not processed sequentially based on date of the voucher/s being received by AA, but rather on flight dates. Flights may show as "Ticket Pending" once the voucher has been applied, and at some time prior to flight (two weeks is usual) it will show "Ticketed" and you should be able to see your ticket number, beginning with "001", in your receipt from your itinerary at aa.com or in your e-Ticket. Also notice that you should photocopy your voucher/s prior to mailing them.)

Q. What if I entered a Business Extra number?

You will have to contact Business Extra to apply the vouchers. Their number is 1-800-433-1790, and they are available 5:00 AM - 12:00 PM, CT, 7 days a week.

Q. What if I live outside the United States and I want to use vouchers?

As the vouchers are in US Dollars, it's probably most convenient to call the US reservations number for a new booking denoted in US Dollars, thus avoiding any currency conversion, except any associated with your credit card. You can call your local reservations number or visit a local Airport Ticket Office (ATO). Beware that there's not a large network of ATOs.

In all likelihood, you will be asked to mail your voucher(s) to AA, so if time is of the essence, you should consider going directly to an ATO, who can process it/them immediately.

Obsolete posts from 2014-2015 have been archived to: ARCHIVE: Transportation Voucher / vouchers / "MCO" FAQ and master thread.
Older obsolete posts from 2013 and before, can be read in: ARCHIVE: Transportation Voucher / vouchers / "MCO" FAQ and master thread (consol.).
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Transportation e- and paper Voucher / vouchers / "MCO" FAQ and master thread

Old Apr 18, 2019, 4:53 pm
  #631  
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Dallas, TX
Programs: AAdvantage Lifetime Gold/Some Years Platinum
Posts: 995
Originally Posted by platbrownguy
You intentionally planned a 2+ hour trip to DFW (& presumably paid for parking) just to use a $109 voucher in person?
Well, the 2+ hours is the overall total wasted time, not the one-way driving time. Heck, it takes 30 minutes to get ANYWHERE in this town. Add in the time futzing around at the airport for the voucher/dealing with AA on the phone, and the rush hour penalty, and you easily reach 2 hours. Oh, and there was a stop at the Starbucks over by the rental cars.

Had things gone as planned, the timing would have been 1 hour for $109 savings, which seemed reasonable at the time.

Thanks for reading.

Last edited by Gregory Nelson; Apr 18, 2019 at 4:59 pm
Gregory Nelson is offline  
Old Apr 19, 2019, 6:10 pm
  #632  
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 28
Originally Posted by Bonaventure
An update on how ridiculous this process is:

Booked a flight with these paper vouchers over the phone after being hot-potato'd between EXP agents (none of whom wanted to deal with these).

Did not need to talk specifically to Business Extra Team, despite putting my BE# on res (or so I hope).

Agent charges the full price of the ticket to your credit card, you give agent voucher information over the phone and send the paper vouchers in, AND THEN a few days before your flight date AA will process the paper vouchers sent in as a credit to the payment method (as they said they do it in priority of upcoming flight dates, and Dec/Jan is a busy time).

That is, if you book months in advance you will have to wait months to know if your vouchers were even correctly accepted for a credit to your payment method.

Horrible, horrible process.
Probably a stupid question, but did your get the typical record locator/receipt showing that the charge went to the credit card online as well? And then close to the actual trip date, you got a refund on the card for the voucher amount (or trip amount if the voucher covered it all)?

Trying to figure out the process of using these and it sure is a pain.
zogster is offline  
Old Apr 20, 2019, 2:42 am
  #633  
 
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Andover, MA, 01810
Posts: 1,965
Originally Posted by CabinCaptive
How long did it actually take them to get you the eVoucher? I'm still waiting for a residual voucher from a February paper voucher purchase.

I suspect that they legally have to address the tax concerns the same way, regardless of the voucher type, as the issuance was a tax-restricted issue. Of course, I do not know for certain - interested to hear what comes of this.
They sent the eVoucher pretty quickly, I don't remember how quickly, but definitely not more than 2 days. And AA did eventually agree to send the paper vouchers that I wanted.
UserMark is offline  
Old Apr 20, 2019, 8:50 am
  #634  
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: DCA/IAD/WAS
Programs: MAR AMB, WOH Explorist, AA EXP, UA 2P
Posts: 2,133
Originally Posted by Gregory Nelson
Well, the 2+ hours is the overall total wasted time, not the one-way driving time. Heck, it takes 30 minutes to get ANYWHERE in this town. Add in the time futzing around at the airport for the voucher/dealing with AA on the phone, and the rush hour penalty, and you easily reach 2 hours. Oh, and there was a stop at the Starbucks over by the rental cars.

Had things gone as planned, the timing would have been 1 hour for $109 savings, which seemed reasonable at the time.

Thanks for reading.
Your business is yours, but why didn't you just mail it in? I've never had a problem.
platbrownguy likes this.
iadisgreat is offline  
Old Apr 21, 2019, 2:55 am
  #635  
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: PWM/KBXM/BGR; Work: DCA/DFW/Everywhere; Play: LAS/MUC/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, mlife Noir, LEYE Gold
Posts: 6,631
Originally Posted by Gregory Nelson
... the timing would have been 1 hour for $109 savings, which seemed reasonable at the time.
Originally Posted by iadisgreat
Your business is yours, but why didn't you just mail it in? I've never had a problem.
Yeah that was the heart of my question -- I can understand stopping by the desk while you're already at an airport in order to save a $7 priority mail fee (assuming you'd mail it that way for the tracking)... but you're saving the $109 regardless so the drive out to the airport seems like a big investment!
platbrownguy is offline  
Old Apr 21, 2019, 3:24 am
  #636  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 289
I am trying to use a voucher on a one way international trip and I having the hardest time trying to get an agent to redeem it. All of my travel is on the Oneworld Alliance but I cant put the reservation on hold since some of the flights are not on AA. Any suggestions?
ilkhats44 is offline  
Old Apr 21, 2019, 11:56 am
  #637  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 255
Originally Posted by ilkhats44
I am trying to use a voucher on a one way international trip and I having the hardest time trying to get an agent to redeem it. All of my travel is on the Oneworld Alliance but I cant put the reservation on hold since some of the flights are not on AA. Any suggestions?
Does the itinerary originate in the US? If so, why not call reservations and explain the situation?
rumboj is offline  
Old Apr 21, 2019, 8:29 pm
  #638  
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 289
Originally Posted by rumboj


Does the itinerary originate in the US? If so, why not call reservations and explain the situation?
No! I was calling the reservation desk and was getting the round-around that I couldnt use it since all of my travel was not on AA but I was able to get someone that knew the policy and was able to place the reservation on hold. I was able to redeem the voucher at the airport.

Basically, you should be able to use the voucher as long as all travel on the PNR are apart of the Oneworld Alliance. I just wish all AA Reservation Agents know the policy.
ilkhats44 is offline  
Old Apr 28, 2019, 7:39 pm
  #639  
 
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Phoenix, AZ, USA
Programs: DL, HH, Bonvoy
Posts: 204
Is it possible to combine a paper voucher and a points booking on one reservation?

Essentially I need to fly with one other person who rarely flies and has no status or interest in accruing miles via an AAdvantage account. From a pure rewards perspective it makes more sense to book their flight using points (since I won't get EQM/EQS/EQD for their travel anyway) and mine with funds available on a paper voucher (since my understanding is that I will get EQM/EQS/EQD for the paper voucher). I just want to ensure we're both on the same reservation in case of IRROPS and for the possibility of using 500-mile upgrades and MCE seating upgrades.
Zeromus-X is offline  
Old May 5, 2019, 12:08 pm
  #640  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHI
Posts: 501
Originally Posted by UserMark
They sent the eVoucher pretty quickly, I don't remember how quickly, but definitely not more than 2 days. And AA did eventually agree to send the paper vouchers that I wanted.
What did you have to do to get paper vouchers? We received e-vouchers, which are much more restrictive that the initial paper vouchers. You can't get a handful of things with them, and I think you have to pay taxes.
CabinCaptive is offline  
Old May 18, 2019, 8:39 pm
  #641  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: PHX
Programs: HH Diamond - Marriott Titanium- AA EP
Posts: 64
Best practice on how to redeem AA paper voucher?

Hi FT community,

Original flight was oversold and volunteered to take a later flight as plans were flexible. In doing so, received a $700 PAPER voucher and the GA said the only way to use these was either at a ticket office or mail in it someplace?

Ive received evouchers before that can easily be applied on AA.com but this is the first Ive heard of that it has to be mailed in or used at ticket office/desk?

With all that we can do online/mobile today I like to assume that mailing the voucher in process no longer applies? The GA seem pretty confident about this process for paper vouchers so Id thought I threw it out here for comments.

Thoughts?
A651346 is offline  
Old May 18, 2019, 8:47 pm
  #642  
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA ExPlat, Delta GM, Hilton Honors Diamond, Marriott Titanium Elite, Hertz President's Circle
Posts: 140
There is no way to redeem the voucher online, unfortunately.

Mailing the voucher is indeed one of the ways to redeem it. The agents at the counter in any airport could probably help you redeem it as well.

I usually use the AAngels in the Admiral's Club, though.
dantheflyingman is offline  
Old May 18, 2019, 8:50 pm
  #643  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 23
What I typically do is reserve a flight online, and then walk into my local airport and talk to the desk agent onsite and have them apply the vouchers on the held reservation, and get the balance on a new paper voucher and walk out. They've treated me really well with it, and they know how to take off the various taxes and fees. If you're not near an airport, then you can do the same process, just call after the hold and explain you'll pay with vouchers and they'll extend the hold so you can mail it in.
MrGoalie is offline  
Old May 18, 2019, 10:11 pm
  #644  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Nat'l Exec Elite, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 16,247
Yeah no way to fully complete a booking online, but it’s really not as bad as it sounds. I’ve always just called to book the flights, then mailed it in. Definitely scan a copy of it first just in case.
javabytes is offline  
Old May 18, 2019, 10:13 pm
  #645  
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EXP; Avis PC; Hertz PC; Marriott LT Gold; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,122
Originally Posted by MrGoalie
What I typically do is reserve a flight online, and then walk into my local airport and talk to the desk agent onsite and have them apply the vouchers on the held reservation, and get the balance on a new paper voucher and walk out. They've treated me really well with it, and they know how to take off the various taxes and fees. If you're not near an airport, then you can do the same process, just call after the hold and explain you'll pay with vouchers and they'll extend the hold so you can mail it in.
This. The best part is that when partially using the voucher, the expiration date of the new voucher for the balance is one year from the date it is issued, so you can continue to extend the use of a big voucher.

Here’s the master thread on the topic which will answer your questions: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html


HofstraJet is offline  

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