Check your Experience Day Expiry Dates

An interesting discussion has emerged on the Moneys Saving Expert website about experience day voucher expiry dates.

In a nutshell, someone who received an experience day gift voucher from their husband was quite upset when they went to reclaim it eight months later, only to discover that it had expired the month before and was now out of date. If you are interested in having a read (it's rather a long discussion thread) then it's available here. We've chipped in our tupence-worth in an attempt to explain why there have to be expiry dates on the vouchers (basically pre-booking of experience days and scheduling issues) but do have a read if you are interested.

Probably the key lesson to learn is that, just like any other event you book (train and airline travel, appointment with the dentist etc.) while the experience day companies are as flexible as they can be in terms of changing bookings, if you simply forget about it then you won't be able to just phone up a year later and demand a free alternative.

Generally the voucher expiry date is printed clearly on the voucher itself and this doesn't necessarily refer to when you need to go on the experience day, but the date by which you need to book it.

We've just checked the terms and conditions of some of our suppliers are can tell you that Red Letter Days gift experience vouchers bought from June of this year remain valid for at least 10 months, and Activity Superstore experience day vouchers are valid for a minimum of nine months and they also note that as long as you contact them within this time, they will usually be happy to extend this period for a further six months.

Of course the above may not apply to special promotions which may have different conditions attached, and everything we've said above is potentially subject to change at any time by the merchants so please don't rely on us, do check the terms and conditions of the merchant and MOST IMPORTANTLY make a note of the date printed on your experience day voucher and make sure, unlike the unfortunate woman who started the discussion, that you don't leave it too late!

Friday October 02, 2009 | The Blogging Team | Advice