Why does my gift cost £50 more than booking direct?

Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder

A flight to Brussels from London can be more expensive using vouchers (Getty/iStock)

Q I have been given a voucher issued by a company called flightgiftcard.com, but I am unable to find any flights that are not significantly more expensive than booking direct with the airline. For example, I can buy a Heathrow-Brussels flight on British Airways for £97 but the same trip through flightgiftcard.com costs £156. How do I get the money back for the people who bought the gift?

Nick D

A The idea of a voucher for travel as a gift has plenty of appeal. But whether they are bought direct from an airline or from this interesting Dutch company, flightgiftcard.com, the recipient is handed something that is usually worth a lot less than the donor would wish.

On airline-specific vouchers, recipients are restricted to that single carrier. The idea of flightgiftcard.com is that you can choose from a wide range of flights, but there are deep flaws in the system. The main problem is that users may end up paying far more than if they bought direct from the airline or through a travel agent. Information on flight times is sometimes alarmingly inaccurate. And the extent of consumer protection in the case of the company failing is unclear.

The research I carried out at the time the concept was launched in 2018 found an average markup of more than 20 per cent. This appears to have increased drastically. I have just checked a Glasgow-London trip on British Airways and the £32 fare jumps to £53 on flightgiftcard.com – a margin of 65 per cent.

All I can suggest is that you use the voucher on a forthcoming trip, thank the donor for the gift, but warn everyone else you know to avoid this disappointing gift scheme.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder