Editor’s Note: The following Post is Guest written by Matt from Miles Earn and Burn. Special thanks to Matt for putting this resource together.
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In Episode 48 of the Milenomics No-Annual Fee Edition Podcast, Robert and Sam talked about the perils involved in holding funds in airline travel banks or certificates. To summarize this excellent discussion, each airline has different expiry rules, travel banks are held and redeemed in different ways, and sometimes you can extend the validity of the funds, but sometimes not. Of course these funds are still useful in travel hacking, especially for cashing out certain types of travel credits from premium credit cards.
Perhaps it goes without saying, but if you have the choice between a full cash-out and a travel bank, always take the full cash out. Travel banks aren’t the same as cash and shouldn’t be treated as such. Cash, for example doesn’t expire, cash can be used to buy seat-upgrades and pay change fees, cash doesn’t tie you to a particular airline, cash can be invested to earn a return. Cash is fungible, travel bank funds are not. For those times when cash isn’t an option, here are the basic rules for the major US airlines in order of my perceived ease of use:
United Travel Bank
United’s Travel Bank is arguably the most straight forward to use and keep active. It unfortunately can’t be used on non-United or United Express flights, and as of January 14, 2021 it doesn’t seem to work as a way to cash out American Express Platinum airline credit.
| Earning | Load your travel bank at this link |
| Usable on | United and United Express flights only |
| Usable for | Airfare and airfare taxes for any passenger |
| Redeeming | Apply funds during checkout at united.com |
| Expiration | 18 months of inactivity (total travel bank) 5 years (individual loads) |
| Reset expiration | Add more cash or redeem Travel Bank funds for a flight |
| Refunds | Available back to Travel Bank, subject to normal ticket refund rules |
| Full T&C | Link |
Note: United’s Travel Bank Terms and Conditions only mention an expiration at 18 months, but they show a different expiration date next to each load at this link. It’s unclear whether either or both apply. To be safe, I’d assume both.
JetBlue Travel Bank
JetBlue’s Travel Bank is managed by Sabre, not JetBlue itself, a fact which is painfully obvious when you try and interact with it and see how disconnected from JetBlue’s website it truly is.
| Earning | Cancel a Blue or a Blue Extra flight more than 24 hours after purchasing |
| Usable on | JetBlue flights and the airfare portion of JetBlue Vacations |
| Usable for | Airfare and airfare taxes, change fees, and cancellation fees for any passenger |
| Redeeming | Apply funds during checkout at jetblue.com |
| Expiration | 12 months after issue, or 24 months after issue for certain tickets purchased in 2020 |
| Reset expiration | No published method, but you may have luck if you’re an elite, call reservations, and ask nicely |
| Refunds | Cancelling a ticket booked with JetBlue’s Travel Bank will result in a voucher with the original expiration date intact |
| Full T&C | Link |
Alaska Airlines Credit Certificates
Alaska doesn’t have a travel bank, but they have a wallet which lets you combine certificates into something that looks like a bank. You can see your wallet funds at this link. During the height of the travel downturn caused by the COVID pandemic Alaska let you convert certificates into miles, however that offer has expired and I don’t expect it to come back.
| Earning | Cancel a non-refundable Main or First Class ticket more than 24 hours after booking |
| Usable on | Alaska operated flights |
| Usable for | Airfare and airfare taxes for any passenger |
| Redeeming | Apply funds during checkout or call reservations |
| Expiration | 12 months after original ticket booking |
| Reset expiration | Twitter agents have been known to issue new certificates in certain circumstances, but there’s no formal method |
| Refunds | Cancelling a ticket booked with certificates will result in new certificates with the original expiration dates intact |
| Full T&C | Link |
Southwest Airlines Travel Funds
Southwest travel funds are easy to see and manage, but there’s a huge caveat with them: if you book airfare using multiple funds, the earliest expiration date applies to the new booking — you must complete travel before expiration and if you cancel the newly booked ticket, you’ll get a new travel fund certificate that expires on the date of the earliest expiration original funds.
| Earning | Cancel a ticket and choose “Hold for future use” during cancellation |
| Usable on | Southwest operated flights |
| Usable for | Airfare and airfare taxes for the fund holder only |
| Redeeming | Apply funds during checkout or call reservations |
| Expiration | 12 months after original ticket booking (travel must be completed by the expiry of the earliest travel fund certificate used during booking) |
| Reset expiration | None, but you can convert combined expired funds to a LUV voucher usable by anyone, minus a $100 processing fee |
| Refunds | Cancelling a ticket booked with certificates will result a new certificate with an expiration date matching earliest travel fund expiration used during booking |
| Full T&C | Link |
Delta Air Lines eCredits
Delta has no formal travel bank program, but they do have eCredits for non-refundable fares cancelled more than 24 hours after booking. You can use up to three of them per ticket, but the eCredit must be booked in the name of the certificate holder. If everything is working with Delta’s IT, you should be able to see them at this link. (Note: This never works for me, but I’ve seen it work for others. I have to call reservations to find out what I’ve got.)
| Earning | Cancel a non-refundable Main Cabin, Comfort+, or First Class ticket more than 24 hours after booking |
| Usable on | Delta marketed flights |
| Usable for | Airfare and airfare taxes for the eCredit holder only |
| Redeeming | Visit delta.com/redeem or call reservations. |
| Expiration | 12 months after original ticket booking, or 24 months after booking for certain tickets purchased in 2020 |
| Reset expiration | None |
| Refunds | Cancelling a ticket booked with eCredits will result in new eCredits with the original expiration dates intact |
| Full T&C | Link |
Note that unlike most other airlines, Delta’s eCredits just require that you book by expiration, even if your flight is months after the expiry of the eCredit, it can still be used to pay for airfare.
American Airlines Vouchers
American doesn’t have a full travel bank like some other airlines, but they do have eVouchers, Travel Vouchers, and Trip Credits, all of which are largely similar.
| Earning | Cancelled flights, fare difference refunds, compensation |
| Usable on | AA marketed flights and oneworld flights originating in the US, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands |
| Usable for | Airfare and airfare taxes for the voucher holder only |
| Redeeming | For eVouchers and Travel Vouchers, aa.com or via phone; For trip credits, only via phone |
| Expiration | One year from issue date (travel must start by expiry) |
| Reset expiration | None |
| Refunds | Cancelled flights can generate new vouchers, but the rules aren’t well documented |
| Full T&C | Link for eVouchers and Travel Vouchers; For Trip Credits, they’ll be included with the issuing document (usually email) |
Matt is the creator of Miles Earn And Burn, a travel hacking short-post blog that posts once per day, Monday through Friday.
Helpful overview, thanks for the work Matt
Thank you Mike and Maria!