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24 hour Cancel and Rebook for cheaper fare? Allowed?

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Old Jun 5, 2018, 10:31 am
  #1  
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24 hour Cancel and Rebook for cheaper fare? Allowed?
So I booked flights last night.
They have reduced in cost by 70 quid now.
Can I just cancel and rebook?

Do BA have any issue with this?
I don't want to jeopardise my status with them.

Cheers!
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 10:34 am
  #2  
 
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Originally Posted by Newbtravelle
So I booked flights last night.
They have reduced in cost by 70 quid now.
Can I just cancel and rebook?

Do BA have any issue with this?
I don't want to jeopardise my status with them.

Cheers!
Wont be a problem. You can cancel for a full refund within 24 hours for whatever reason. Although, I would book that fare and then immediately call to cancel the other one, rather than cancel and then book... in case something happens with fare buckets while cancelling
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 10:35 am
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Originally Posted by LondonCanuck


Wont be a problem. You can cancel for a full refund within 24 hours for whatever reason. Although, I would book that fare and then immediately call to cancel the other one, rather than cancel and then book... in case something happens with fare buckets while cancelling
Will that work? Can you have two bookings for the same person on the same flight for a while before you cancel the unwanted booking?
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 10:42 am
  #4  
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Originally Posted by LondonCanuck


Wont be a problem. You can cancel for a full refund within 24 hours for whatever reason. Although, I would book that fare and then immediately call to cancel the other one, rather than cancel and then book... in case something happens with fare buckets while cancelling
Thanks! But I didnt mention I booked through expedia and it says so on the BA website, so refund looks unlikely. Lesson learned I guess!
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 10:42 am
  #5  
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Originally Posted by fruitcage
Will that work? Can you have two bookings for the same person on the same flight for a while before you cancel the unwanted booking?
For a brief period, it's no problem.
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 10:48 am
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So, one could create a rolling 24-hour cancellation by buying a new flight and cancelling the old one every day until the price of the one you're about to buy goes up
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 10:50 am
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Originally Posted by Newbtravelle
Thanks! But I didnt mention I booked through expedia and it says so on the BA website, so refund looks unlikely. Lesson learned I guess!
Expedia allows cancellations by midnight on the same day of purchase.

If it's within 24 hours, you could just try and see what they say. Often they will follow the airline's policy rather than their own.
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 11:04 am
  #8  
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Originally Posted by LondonCanuck


Wont be a problem. You can cancel for a full refund within 24 hours for whatever reason. Although, I would book that fare and then immediately call to cancel the other one, rather than cancel and then book... in case something happens with fare buckets while cancelling
Absolutely critical. Fares available at one moment may be gone by the time one hits the "SEND" button. Then one is stuck with having to purchase new tickets at a perhaps vastly higher price.

While BA's COC prohibit impossible tickets, that is part of an ongoing "sweep" process which may take days or weeks. Here, this will all be accomplished in a minute or two.
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 11:24 am
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Originally Posted by adrianlondon
So, one could create a rolling 24-hour cancellation by buying a new flight and cancelling the old one every day until the price of the one you're about to buy goes up
Hmmm.... Maybe..... but maybe such an unusual usage pattern would trigger some anti-fraud measure of which one would not want to be on the receiving end!
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 12:48 pm
  #10  
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Originally Posted by Virazuno
Expedia allows cancellations by midnight on the same day of purchase.

If it's within 24 hours, you could just try and see what they say. Often they will follow the airline's policy rather than their own.
Tried to cancel with Expedia. Agent insists its a non refundable fare?! I argued regardless that BA has no fees within 24hrs of booking.

I suppose I could phone again to get another agent...but they charge a £25 change fee anyway so...meh

Thanks all!!
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 12:53 pm
  #11  
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Last edited by Newbtravelle; Jun 5, 2018 at 12:54 pm Reason: Duplicate
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 12:54 pm
  #12  
 
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Originally Posted by Newbtravelle
Tried to cancel with Expedia. Agent insists its a non refundable fare?! I argued regardless that BA has no fees within 24hrs of booking.

I suppose I could phone again to get another agent...but they charge a £25 change fee anyway so...meh

Thanks all!!
Are you sure you can't just cancel it online when you view your reservation on expedia.com (did that a couple of times in the 24-hour window). Think it explicitly says whether you can still cancel for free or not.
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 1:18 pm
  #13  
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Originally Posted by gnargel
Are you sure you can't just cancel it online when you view your reservation on expedia.com (did that a couple of times in the 24-hour window). Think it explicitly says whether you can still cancel for free or not.
Hmm really? I've used expedia for ages and never seen this. Just had a proper search and saw no cancel option.
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 1:23 pm
  #14  
 
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Originally Posted by Newbtravelle
Hmm really? I've used expedia for ages and never seen this. Just had a proper search and saw no cancel option.
Don't have an active Expedia booking right now, let alone one I booked within the past 24 hours, so I cannot check. Maybe that only works with expedia.com though (not sure if you used the .com version)?
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Old Jun 5, 2018, 1:27 pm
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Originally Posted by gnargel
Are you sure you can't just cancel it online when you view your reservation on expedia.com (did that a couple of times in the 24-hour window). Think it explicitly says whether you can still cancel for free or not.
I think that's the US website only (expedia.com). Expedia.co.uk (assuming this is the site OP has used) doesn't say it, BUT the same cancellation policy does apply.

OP, I would HUACA. I've cancelled expedia UK bookings within 24 hours (usually on the same calendar day, though) without any issue. Push them on it!

Edit: And tell them it's nothing to do with the fare rules.
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