Originally Posted by
Rusty Shackleford
Typically book reward flights with BA but have been looking at cash booking. BA offer flex and fully flex fare that has significant difference in cost. One difference being flex online only and other being fully refundable before departure (flex) or fully refundable at any time(fully flex). Not sure what the difference between before departure and anytime is? Assume both would need to cancel at least a day before the flight. I may have to change days slightly so flex fine for me but was not sure of difference.
I would need details of the precise fare to give accurate information. But as a general point, historically there has been a fully flexible fare which has always been offered on BA.com, though on the old version of the website there was a particular flag that had to be toggled (and toggled back...). That fare in many circumstances is refundable even for a no-show, which BA markets with the specific wording "cancel at any time". BA then introduced with the NX website the "online only" semi flex fares, which allow a refund for a £25-£40 fee, or a flex to another date etc without a change fee. Sometime there is an "online flex" which gives the refund without the fee. In both cases, though, they do not include "no shows". You don't need to cancel 24 hours before travel but before you are deemed a no-show. So I will say 70 minutes before travel, though the actual deadline is after that point. This restriction also applies to Select and Select Pro fares, which are fares typically offered by travel agencies and BA trade partners.
The Semi flex fee, online only, is often very good value, the supplement is quite modest, particularly if the Plus fare is expensive.