Using a voucher for someone else
 

Hi,
I have a KLM voucher issued on 13 March 2020, which is about to expire. This is from the first wave of waivers and the flight was not cancelled, so I believe the voucher is not refundable.

I would like to use the voucher for a possible future trip, however, I would like to use it to book the trip for a person other than the person on the original booking. The website doesn't let me do it.

Is there any workaround, e.g. would call centre be able to make the booking for me, or is the policy that voucher must be used for the person whose name is on the voucher?

Thank you.

I can't comment on using vouchers for someone else, but if you'd like to use it for someone else because you're not able to book a flight for yourself before the voucher expires, you can always book any flight for yourself for later this year, cancel the flight and you'll get a new voucher which is valid for 1 year from the date you cancel.

Your voucher does not expire until the end of the year.

Go to the My Vouchers page on the KLM website.

If the voucher is issued due to Corona, yes. If it is a compensation for delay or other irregularities in most of the cases also, but that might differ. I called last week to check the validity of a regular EMD and the platinum service line comfirmed that the expiration date stayed the original date, March 2nd.

In view of the fact that the voucher was issued in "the first wave of waivers", and that the voucher was issued due to the OP choosing to cancel their ticket on a flight that was not cancelled, then it can only be a Covid voucher.

Actually, it seems that all vouchers issued between March 2019 (i.e. one year prior to the Corona outbreak) & December 2020 have had their validity extended to the end of 2021; so it doesn't matter what reasons a voucher was issued for, or what expiry date or conditions were associated with any voucher issued between 1 March 2019 and 31 December 2020 inclusive - all such vouchers are now valid until 31 December 2021.

https://www.klm.nl/en/information/fa...ravel-vouchers

Thank you. I was indeed able to book a new flight under the original pax name. Hopefully by the end of the year, the situation will improve enough for him to fly again as well and I will then rebook him on a flight he actually wants to take :)

I also wonder what happens if I cancel a ticket booked with non-refundable voucher. Would I be issued refundable or non-refundable voucher? If the former, that would actually be a great option too.

Unfortunately you won't be able to parlay a non-refundable voucher into a refundable voucher in that manner.

Also, be very careful with your proposed scheme; there is a danger that, at the time you come to cancel this flight, there will no longer be any waivers in place and you will immediately lose the value of the booking.

It's not recommendable to book travel for a date well in the future for which you have no intention of travelling - at least book a date that, if push comes to shove, you may actually be able to travel on (if only because the alternative is to lose all value of the ticket) - particularly as the original voucher did not need to be used for another almost 9 months!

[QUOTE=irishguy28;33099143]
Also, be very careful with your proposed scheme; there is a danger that, at the time you come to cancel this flight, there will no longer be any waivers in place and you will immediately lose the value of the booking./QUOTE]

Well, I suppose what matters is the policy that's in place at the time of booking and not at the time of cancellation.

Oops - double post

To a certain extent; note that tickets currently being booked for travel in 2022 have no such cancellation possibilities, so neither the policy at the time of booking, nor the policy at the time you may decide to cancel, may be of any help.

When we all cancelled tickets starting from this time last year, under the terms in place at the time those tickets were booked, there would have been no refunds.

It is a bad idea to a) "redeem" a voucher 9 months before it expires, and b) to use it to book a flight that you have little or no intention of using.

In the above, I'm assuming the OP redeemed a flight for early 2022, as there seems little point to booking a flight for 2021 when the voucher was already valid to the end of the year.

I booked a ticket for November 2021. KLM's site makes it seem like any booking for 2021 can be cancelled towards the voucher.

Indeed I could have just kept the voucher but I was curious to see whether it's still valid :)