Airline gift certificates seem like a great idea for gift-giving time. But where can you buy WestJet or Air Canada gift certificates? It doesn’t seem you can. (Update: You can buy Air Canada gift cards)

It seems odd to me. I’ve received travel vouchers worth a dollar amount after being bumped from flights before, so I asked @WestJet on Twitter why I can’t buy WestJet Gift Certificates.

@buzzbishop Disappointed @westjet doesn’t offer gift cards. Would love to get grandparents vouchers to visit us in Calgary for Christmas. AC is out too.

These are the direct messages I received back.

@buzzbishop: But I can use save on foods points to get vouchers. Why not buy gc’s?! I want to give you money. Let me!
@WestJet: We would like your money too It has to do with Travel Banks
@WestJet: Previously gift certificates were like a reservation with no itinerary. Pay money, and deduct money, only able to be used by calling us
@WestJet: now TravelBanks are housed within a guest profile, which is unique to one person, and able to be used online. It’s a plus, but we need to..
@WestJet: organize a ‘legal’ way to be able to credit someone else’s travel bank without overstepping privacy act regulations, etc.
@WestJet: I hope that makes sense. 140 characters is too short sometimes.

That said, there is a workaround.

Have 42 000 Save On More points? You can cash them in for a $100 WestJet voucher, but you can’t buy that same voucher with your cash. Heck, you can even cash in 10 000 Save On More points and get $25 off a $100 WestJet voucher.

Other tweeps suggested getting Visa gift cards or buying them the tickets outright for specific travel dates.

DEC 2015 UPDATE:

Each year this post gets a lot of traffic at Christmas. Each year I ask Westjet if it’s possible for people to buy Westjet gift certificates. Each year they say “soon” or “we’re working on it.”

Here’s the 2015 response:

@buzzbishop No gift certificates at this time but we do get asked a lot, so maybe something we will get back in the future.

— WestJet (@WestJet) December 11, 2015

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