Last edit by: corporate-wage-slave
BA Covid-19 Rebooking / Cancellation / Refund Help & Advice
If your flight is cancelled by BA:
Commercial booking: Your options are: cash refund OR Future Travel Voucher (FTV) OR rebooking OR Avios credit
Redemption booking: Your options are: full refund of cash and Avios OR FTV OR rebooking.
BA Holidays booking: You should be given a refund pro-actively.
If your flight is cancelled by BA - any flight in the PNR - you can get a full refund so long as you booked directly with BA. You can only get a refund by telephoning BA. Refunds are taking between a few hours to a few weeks to be repaid, depending on the sort of booking made. If you don't wish to travel you can opt for an FTV or eVoucher valid for travel until 30 April 2022, though flights more than 355 days away are not currently bookable - flights are enabled at 355 days before departure. Vouchers such as 2-4-1 are also thereby extended. You can do this even if the flight is operating. The best advice we can give is to delay opting for an eVoucher options until the last moment, since if BA cancel your flight you have more options. BA have also adjusted the Standard Customer Guidelines so that if BA cancel the flight you can be rebooked to anytime in 12 months after you originally bought the ticket, so long as there is space in the cabin - there is no need to have a fare bucket available or Avios availability. If you choose the Avios credit you will get between 108 to 126 Avios per GBP of your fare. Note older posts in this thread may now be inaccuarate since the current policy has been amended several times.
===
If your flight is not cancelled but you don't wish to travel
Commercial booking: If you are eligible for Buy with Confidence, you can have an FTV valid until April 2022. Rebooking may lead to a fare recalculation but no change fee.
Redemption booking: Your can do the normal Avios refund, with the redeposit fee capped at GBP 35 per person. Alternatively for the same fee you can rebook to new dates subject to availability. Alternatively you can have an FTV.
BA Holidays booking: You may be get a refund proactively, otherwise you are looking at an FTV for at least the flight component of your trip, maybe for all components.
If all of the flights in your booking are still scheduled and you don't wish to travel then you best wait until a few days before departure in case there is a cancellation. As you can see above, a cancellation gives you better options. You are in scope with Buy with Confidence if you are flying between now and completing travel before 31 August 2021, also if you bought your ticket after 3 March and due to complete all flights before September 2021. The BA web page on this is:
ba.com/confidence
===
Below are some of the options / workarounds being suggested in order to obtain a refund as opposed to a Future Travel Voucher, but they probably no longer work:
Refund of Cancelled Flights:
Paid Seating Refund:
Bookings made using Lloyds Upgrade Voucher
You should expect to receive:
Lloyds Upgrade Voucher Notes
If your flight is cancelled by BA:
Commercial booking: Your options are: cash refund OR Future Travel Voucher (FTV) OR rebooking OR Avios credit
Redemption booking: Your options are: full refund of cash and Avios OR FTV OR rebooking.
BA Holidays booking: You should be given a refund pro-actively.
If your flight is cancelled by BA - any flight in the PNR - you can get a full refund so long as you booked directly with BA. You can only get a refund by telephoning BA. Refunds are taking between a few hours to a few weeks to be repaid, depending on the sort of booking made. If you don't wish to travel you can opt for an FTV or eVoucher valid for travel until 30 April 2022, though flights more than 355 days away are not currently bookable - flights are enabled at 355 days before departure. Vouchers such as 2-4-1 are also thereby extended. You can do this even if the flight is operating. The best advice we can give is to delay opting for an eVoucher options until the last moment, since if BA cancel your flight you have more options. BA have also adjusted the Standard Customer Guidelines so that if BA cancel the flight you can be rebooked to anytime in 12 months after you originally bought the ticket, so long as there is space in the cabin - there is no need to have a fare bucket available or Avios availability. If you choose the Avios credit you will get between 108 to 126 Avios per GBP of your fare. Note older posts in this thread may now be inaccuarate since the current policy has been amended several times.
===
If your flight is not cancelled but you don't wish to travel
Commercial booking: If you are eligible for Buy with Confidence, you can have an FTV valid until April 2022. Rebooking may lead to a fare recalculation but no change fee.
Redemption booking: Your can do the normal Avios refund, with the redeposit fee capped at GBP 35 per person. Alternatively for the same fee you can rebook to new dates subject to availability. Alternatively you can have an FTV.
BA Holidays booking: You may be get a refund proactively, otherwise you are looking at an FTV for at least the flight component of your trip, maybe for all components.
If all of the flights in your booking are still scheduled and you don't wish to travel then you best wait until a few days before departure in case there is a cancellation. As you can see above, a cancellation gives you better options. You are in scope with Buy with Confidence if you are flying between now and completing travel before 31 August 2021, also if you bought your ticket after 3 March and due to complete all flights before September 2021. The BA web page on this is:
ba.com/confidence
===
Below are some of the options / workarounds being suggested in order to obtain a refund as opposed to a Future Travel Voucher, but they probably no longer work:
Refund of Cancelled Flights:
- Call BA (no longer a requirement to be travelling in the next 72 hours, you may need to make repeated calls to get through). Telephone numbers are in this thread, but you can also find them on BA.com at the bottom left of the website, under Help and Contacts.
- Online forms (Post #435 - corporate-wage-slave) - manual process which may take many weeks
Paid Seating Refund:
- https://www.britishairways.com/trave...ing_claim_form (Post #765 - travelhappypair)
Bookings made using Lloyds Upgrade Voucher
You should expect to receive:
- Full refund of Avios and money paid
- A new voucher issued, which has validity for 6 months (from the date of issue, i.e. when you request the 'refund')
Lloyds Upgrade Voucher Notes
- Flights can be used within 12 months, so it will be good for travel up until the end 6 months plus 12 months if you book just before the new expiry
- It's been advised to take the voucher instead of rebooking as it gives me more flexibility.
- The original expiry date of the voucher was irrelevant because the booking was cancelled.
- You must book within 6 months of the voucher being issued and the ticket has 12 months validity so you can change flights after, provided the new flights are within the 12 month window.
- You won't receive any email, only the refund and the miles.
- Use the Qantas website and look back to your original PNR. Step by step guide in post 954
Covid-19 BA Rebooking/Cancellation/Refund HELP & ADVICE *No Speculation etc*
#1711
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: BA Gold, SK *G
Posts: 42
Hi all, I've got a June booking with BA holidays which I have so far put just the minimum deposit down on. I believe I am required to pay the balance over the next few days in order to retain the booking (the flights are still scheduled and have not been cancelled...yet). I assume there is minimal probability of my being able to take this trip given border closures and in any case the official advice is clearly not to travel unless necessary. I obviously wouldn't mind my deposit back but do you think the only way to get wholly refunded is to fully pay for the holiday now and claim later?

#1712
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 41,187
Hi all, I've got a June booking with BA holidays which I have so far put just the minimum deposit down on. I believe I am required to pay the balance over the next few days in order to retain the booking (the flights are still scheduled and have not been cancelled...yet). I assume there is minimal probability of my being able to take this trip given border closures and in any case the official advice is clearly not to travel unless necessary. I obviously wouldn't mind my deposit back but do you think the only way to get wholly refunded is to fully pay for the holiday now and claim later?
The final balance due dates seem to be delayed so that should help.

#1713
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 3
Because there was a wadge of cancellations made yesterday, there was a spike in calls. That message will go away once the queues go down a bit, I am seeing plenty of posts from other FTers who must have spoken to an agent in the last few hours. So keep trying, at some point it will work. Some reports have suggested that queues are shortest at the start and end of the UK working hours.
.
.

#1714
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: BA Gold, SK *G
Posts: 42
Hi. There was a similar query yesterday which may help BA Holiday advice please: how can I get deposit back when final balance is almost due
The final balance due dates seem to be delayed so that should help.
The final balance due dates seem to be delayed so that should help.

#1715
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 94

BA has cancelled (2) of my outbound flights for 30/31 May 2020. My (2) return flights for 17/18 June 2020 have not been cancelled yet (I know it's weeks away)
My question is - If the outbound flights have been cancelled how does it work for the two return flights - do they ALL have to be cancelled by BA to get a refund for the tickets?? And if BA goes ahead with my return flights can I ask for a refund for the two that were cancelled? I don't want a travel voucher as it doesn't fit with the timeline set by BA.
Hope this makes sense!
My question is - If the outbound flights have been cancelled how does it work for the two return flights - do they ALL have to be cancelled by BA to get a refund for the tickets?? And if BA goes ahead with my return flights can I ask for a refund for the two that were cancelled? I don't want a travel voucher as it doesn't fit with the timeline set by BA.
Hope this makes sense!

#1716
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Juneau, Alaska.
Programs: AS 75K;BA Silver;AA G;HH Dia;HY Glob
Posts: 15,326
BA has cancelled (2) of my outbound flights for 30/31 May 2020. My (2) return flights for 17/18 June 2020 have not been cancelled yet (I know it's weeks away)
My question is - If the outbound flights have been cancelled how does it work for the two return flights - do they ALL have to be cancelled by BA to get a refund for the tickets?? And if BA goes ahead with my return flights can I ask for a refund for the two that were cancelled? I don't want a travel voucher as it doesn't fit with the timeline set by BA.
Hope this makes sense!
My question is - If the outbound flights have been cancelled how does it work for the two return flights - do they ALL have to be cancelled by BA to get a refund for the tickets?? And if BA goes ahead with my return flights can I ask for a refund for the two that were cancelled? I don't want a travel voucher as it doesn't fit with the timeline set by BA.
Hope this makes sense!

#1717
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Phoenix, Arizona
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 94
Thank you Jerry - I was hoping that was the answer. If I couldn't get to my destination how could I possibly fly back home. Yes, I know I will have to make a call to BA - maybe I'll be lucky on my first call


#1718
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: London
Programs: Executive Club - Gold, HH - Gold, Marriott - Gold
Posts: 365
Are the vouchers for exactly the cost of your flight that was cancelled? Or you decided not to take?

#1719
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 41,187

#1720
Join Date: Apr 2020
Programs: Exec Club
Posts: 16
So random one here - BA have proactively contacted me through MMB to offer a travel voucher for my upcoming holiday to NYC. I'm due out on 29th June and back 6th July (the booking was made in November last year so isn't currently covered by the policy)
I'm routed NCL-LHR-JFK + 5 nights in the Hyatt. We also plumped for seat selection fee both ways (having lost my status since work forced us on to Flybe and trains).
BA have said the travel voucher will include the flights and seat selection fee but not the hotel (it's a non refundable rate) which seems a bit strange! It seems I'm best waiting until part of the trip is cancelled (I can't see domestic flights resuming) but I don't understand why BA are trying to give me a voucher now?
I'm routed NCL-LHR-JFK + 5 nights in the Hyatt. We also plumped for seat selection fee both ways (having lost my status since work forced us on to Flybe and trains).
BA have said the travel voucher will include the flights and seat selection fee but not the hotel (it's a non refundable rate) which seems a bit strange! It seems I'm best waiting until part of the trip is cancelled (I can't see domestic flights resuming) but I don't understand why BA are trying to give me a voucher now?

#1721
Join Date: Oct 2018
Programs: BAEC Gold, IHG Platinum, ALL Gold, Bonvoy Gold Elite, HHonors Gold
Posts: 380
I had a LHR-HND-LHR get cancelled yesterday, and I tried to rebook for early April 2021, but any date I try for the outbound, it comes back with "there is no availability". If I go to make a dummy booking, there are still flights for those dates being sold. I'm guessing there has to be availability in some special bucket to get rebooked? The original tickets were booked in WT, but POUG'd to CW outbound and WT+ inbound, if that makes a difference. Is there any way to find out when I can fly other than just brute force trying every date from now until next year?

#1722
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: North East
Posts: 207
Multi-partner award ticket
Hi- I have a multi-partner award ticket booked using avios, using F with BA/Qatar/Qantas, to Auckland and back, with a few stop offs... it is not until towards the end of the summer... does anyone know how these will be treated please?
Firstly:
-if any of the routes are cancelled
-if any of the legs are changed from a service offering F/ie downgraded to J or other
Under both of these situations would I be able to effectively move the trip to a later date, so as to specifically maintain the original booked classes/flights, irrespective of any future award seat availability? [my rationale = surely the airlines have to ensure you are re-booked according to the class you booked, at a date/time that works, not leave it to the customer to search for potential future award availability which may well never appear]
and secondly, should I simply choose not to travel, as per any avios booking, am I correct that I will at any point up until T-24hours, be able to cancel for a full refund of all taxes and all avios paid? (I have zero interest in a travel voucher)
[note, the trip was booked in Dec 2019 if that adds anything]
Many thanks
Hi- I have a multi-partner award ticket booked using avios, using F with BA/Qatar/Qantas, to Auckland and back, with a few stop offs... it is not until towards the end of the summer... does anyone know how these will be treated please?
Firstly:
-if any of the routes are cancelled
-if any of the legs are changed from a service offering F/ie downgraded to J or other
Under both of these situations would I be able to effectively move the trip to a later date, so as to specifically maintain the original booked classes/flights, irrespective of any future award seat availability? [my rationale = surely the airlines have to ensure you are re-booked according to the class you booked, at a date/time that works, not leave it to the customer to search for potential future award availability which may well never appear]
and secondly, should I simply choose not to travel, as per any avios booking, am I correct that I will at any point up until T-24hours, be able to cancel for a full refund of all taxes and all avios paid? (I have zero interest in a travel voucher)
[note, the trip was booked in Dec 2019 if that adds anything]
Many thanks

#1723
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 61,233
BA have said the travel voucher will include the flights and seat selection fee but not the hotel (it's a non refundable rate) which seems a bit strange! It seems I'm best waiting until part of the trip is cancelled (I can't see domestic flights resuming) but I don't understand why BA are trying to give me a voucher now?

#1724
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 61,233
I had a LHR-HND-LHR get cancelled yesterday, and I tried to rebook for early April 2021, but any date I try for the outbound, it comes back with "there is no availability". If I go to make a dummy booking, there are still flights for those dates being sold. I'm guessing there has to be availability in some special bucket to get rebooked? The original tickets were booked in WT, but POUG'd to CW outbound and WT+ inbound, if that makes a difference. Is there any way to find out when I can fly other than just brute force trying every date from now until next year?

#1725
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 41,187
Multi-partner award ticket
Hi- I have a multi-partner award ticket booked using avios, using F with BA/Qatar/Qantas, to Auckland and back, with a few stop offs... it is not until towards the end of the summer... does anyone know how these will be treated please?
Firstly:
-if any of the routes are cancelled
-if any of the legs are changed from a service offering F/ie downgraded to J or other
Under both of these situations would I be able to effectively move the trip to a later date, so as to specifically maintain the original booked classes/flights, irrespective of any future award seat availability? [my rationale = surely the airlines have to ensure you are re-booked according to the class you booked, at a date/time that works, not leave it to the customer to search for potential future award availability which may well never appear]
and secondly, should I simply choose not to travel, as per any avios booking, am I correct that I will at any point up until T-24hours, be able to cancel for a full refund of all taxes and all avios paid? (I have zero interest in a travel voucher)
[note, the trip was booked in Dec 2019 if that adds anything]
Many thanks
Hi- I have a multi-partner award ticket booked using avios, using F with BA/Qatar/Qantas, to Auckland and back, with a few stop offs... it is not until towards the end of the summer... does anyone know how these will be treated please?
Firstly:
-if any of the routes are cancelled
-if any of the legs are changed from a service offering F/ie downgraded to J or other
Under both of these situations would I be able to effectively move the trip to a later date, so as to specifically maintain the original booked classes/flights, irrespective of any future award seat availability? [my rationale = surely the airlines have to ensure you are re-booked according to the class you booked, at a date/time that works, not leave it to the customer to search for potential future award availability which may well never appear]
and secondly, should I simply choose not to travel, as per any avios booking, am I correct that I will at any point up until T-24hours, be able to cancel for a full refund of all taxes and all avios paid? (I have zero interest in a travel voucher)
[note, the trip was booked in Dec 2019 if that adds anything]
Many thanks
Essentially when it comes to rebooking for cancelled flights:
- if it is a BA flight they can rebook -3/+14 days either side as long as there is space in the cabin on an alternative BA flight, or beyond that time period you need reward availability.
- if it is a partner flight then you need reward space on whatever partner flight you are trying to move to. It is possible after a request from BA via the oneworld help desk the partner may release a reward seat for a rebooking, but this is very unlikely. For downgrades you will have a refund if any is due, but again if you want to move to an alternate partner flight to get back in F you will need to find an F reward seat.
As will all reward bookings, you can cancel up to 24 hours before the first flight and get a refund of all avios, and all taxes/fees/charges minus a 35 per person cancellation fee.
