Avios Cancellation Charge - is this really right?

Did the online chat on the avios site to ask a question regarding cancellation -the chat copied here:

[Ricky] Hello, my name is Ricky, how may I help you?

[Visitor] hi ricky

[Visitor] can u let me know if I book a business class return lhr-jfk, i know its 80000 avios + £466 (£187 tax + £279 fuel surcharge).

[Visitor] i just want to confirm that if I need to cancel my booking, it's only a £25 charge - and I get my £466 refunded and the 80000 avios put back into my account

[Ricky] Thanks for your query. You will receive a refund, less the non-refundable fuel surcharges. If you wish to find out the fuel surcharges you would need to ring into our contact centre on 0844 49 333 49.

[Visitor] hold on

[Visitor] the Fuel surcharge is NOT REFUNDABLE ???????????

[Ricky] Sorry to keep you waiting, I have enquired about this further for you, the fuel surcharges are non-refundable.


I was also told that if you book a return ticket, once the outward journey is completed, you cannot amend the return trip.

I then thought it would be better then to book 2 one way trips, so the return could be changed, if needed. However, instead of the overall charges being £466, 2 OW awards worked out at £520 ish.

I was just wondering if anyone had come across the "non refundable" fuel surcharge aspect of Avios bookings.

I presume you are talking about the Avios site rather than ba.com?

If you book with your BA Avios on ba.com, and then cancel, your taxes, fees and surcharges are refunded.

I am not sure about former-Airmiles Avios.

Got all my taxes refunded when I cancelled a JFK reward recently, as long as you book/cancel on BA.com I think you've been misadvised there.

I cancelled a booking on Air Miles (pre-avios) a while back and was told that the Fuel Surcharges would not be refunded, so I guess this is the policy for Avios. It was a simple LHR-WAW one way and the YQ was not much so I just ignored it.

I guess the simple rule is, book with BA not with Avios?

Was this Pre-Avios (16 Nov) or after 16 Nov?

If after 16 Nov, was your original booking also made after 16 Nov.

I have tried to call BA, but got tired of waiting - but I have my concerns about this - and want to be 100% clear about this.

This is after the 16th November, refunded the whole thing less £15 per passenger within a couple of days, miles and voucher back within 15 minutes.

Just spoke with BA customer services - and the rep checked with his supervisor. Award bookings made on BA.COM you get back all taxes and all fuel surcharges, less a £25 fee.

Award bookings made on AVIOS.COM - the Fuel Surcharge is NON REFUNDABLE.

I dont know how this can be made into a sticky - but I believe this is a VERY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE between avios and ba - and as switching miles between the 2 is very easy - all bookings should be made on ba.com only.

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all at FT.

Forextrader - thanks. Wow, simply wow

Would second the Ops suggestion that various Stickies be amended to reflect this cautionary tale.
Now off to micro-examine the T&C .... "single currency" my foot.

Forextrader - Be very interesting to have "the supervisor" quote the para from Avios.com T&C they think they invoking.

From Part M of the Avios T&C (relating to Reward Flight Saver).

" Para 12.
12.Changes to RFS bookings are subject to the change rules contained in the Avios Terms and Conditions. Date and time changes for RFS bookings are permitted for a fee, as stated on avios.com, but name changes are not permitted. Where the RFS flight is cancelled by the Regular Collector more than 24 hours prior to outbound departure, the RFS Cash Price and the Avios Points (or, in the case of Avios & Money bookings, the RFS Cash Price, the Avios Points & the cash) are refundable, for a fee, as stated on avios.com. The actual taxes, fees and charges applicable to a RFS booking are not refundable to the Regular Collector, unless the Regular Collector paid the actual taxes, fees and charges. No refunds are available for cancellations within 24 hours of the departure time."

My bolding. I am suspicious that the bolded bit is what is being mis-read and mis-applied. But these terms strongly suggest taxes, fees and charges are refundable!!

I'm sorry but IF this is the case, there is some question, this it is perfectly 100% compatible with a single currency.

Or are you going to tell me that, never mind every country, but every SHOP that uses the Euro has the same T&C on each of their products?

I think you might be thinking "single scheme", nobody ever said it would be a single scheme. Each of the 3 (so far) have their own T&C, their own rules and their own differences.

This looks like an ambiguity which avios.com ought to sort out.

In the main part of the T&C dealing with award bookings, there is:-It looks like someone has failed to write in to the T&C any statement about whether or not the cash element for TFC is refundable, and avios.com staff may now be interpreting that to mean that the TFC are not. But littlefish's find in Part M suggests to me that the intention was that the TFC should be refundable in a non-RFS booking - ie the same as in BAEC.

Well until avios can clear up any ambiguity or interpretation of T+C - I will be doing all my bookings on BA.com

Good to know.

To be honest I didn't even know you could book a flight on Avios.com.

I'm intrigued. What did you think you could do with them then?

I think that the operator has made a mistake.

If the passenger doenst travel then BA dont have to pay the government amy tax.

Now surely even BA woudn't be that bad to try and profit from this. Would they?