Originally Posted by
DominicB
I almost always book direct with BA. Please do not waste bandwidth on this thread telling me I shouldn't have used an agency. In this instance I did. But what do I do now? I regard BA at fault in that by the time they responded to my friend asking for a voucher, we were days past the date of outbound travel. I regard Amex Travel as being at fault for not knowing how to handle this or alerting me to the cancelled return leg.
I certainly agree that BA and Amex were both tardy about the issue, and should have communicated with you straightaway, but I think it is reasonable to point out that you and the traveller share at least some responsibility. You are on Flyertalk and a regular participant here, and it has been pointed out fairly frequently in this thread and several other threads how Travel Agency bookings have to handled via the TA. Using a TA isn't necessarily a bad idea, but the rules on handling TA cancellations and repayments have not changed in over 50 years, this didn't start with the pandemic. Moreover it is very clearly stated on the eVoucher page that it only applies to direct bookings, that was there from day one.
Now Amex has offered the credit anyway, and I think to be honest the realistic option is to either accept that, which will allow you to replace the flights hopefully in full; or to get an involuntary cancellation refund - this may end up as around 40% of the original expenditure as a very, very rough guide. I can't see the case in having both, not least because I think there is some responsibility on you to know - or to find out - how TA tickets are cancelled.
A perhaps critical factor is finding out whether the return was cancelled before the outbound. I suspect it wasn't, since most cancellations seem to have happened on short horizons. But if it was before the departure then that does give some credibility to the argument that the TA should have informed you. If Amex think there is there is some merit in your arguments they may be able to persuade BA to give a a more generous, but I have to say it's not looking that likely based on what you have said in your post. Personally I'd accept the voucher, it seems a reasonable solution to me.