BT's Wi-Fi voucher strangeness

BT has announced a new roaming voucher for its business traveller customers, based largely on a tie-in with the soon-to-go-live iBahn network of hotel hotspots.

It may offer relatively cheap surfing minutes (especially when compared with data roaming charges over the 3G networks) but I have to confess I find it roughly as straightforward as a John Prescott speech. You pay a fixed voucher price, although that differs based on whether you're travelling to the US (£28) or Europe (£40). Both vouchers give you 500 minutes, but the US one has to be used up within 7 days of first log-in, while the European one gives you 2 weeks to play around.

If you don't use up all your minutes, you get to use them back in the UK or on another trip - although there's no indication of whether you could use minutes bought for your recent trip to Berlin if you're subsequently jetting off to Dallas.

And all this is the result of a deal with one Wi-Fi aggregator, covering international hotel chains that span both Europe and the US. According to BT Openzone general manager Chris Bruce, "the international travel voucher makes business travel simple, convenient and hassle-free". I'm not quite sure all of that rings true.