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Covid-19 BA Rebooking/Cancellation/Refund HELP & ADVICE *No Speculation etc*

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Old Mar 14, 2020, 4:58 pm
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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:
  • 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.

Paid Seating Refund:
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.
How to find out the status of your voucher and the amount it contains Future Travel Vouchers versus eVouchers
  • See posts 3052 and 3151 to understand the difference. FTVs cannot be used online (and are not really vouchers), whereas eVouchers, issued for simple bookings, can be used online.
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Covid-19 BA Rebooking/Cancellation/Refund HELP & ADVICE *No Speculation etc*

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Old Apr 27, 2020, 10:17 am
  #1801  
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
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Originally Posted by mec72
I haven't seen this scenario addressed above. I have used the Lloyds Upgrade Voucher just before the end of its validity and have taken the outbound flight to the East Coast. My flight back next week is cancelled (which is fine - I'm not in any rush to go to the UK). I assume my options are as follows:

1. Cancel and get a refund of Avios and cash (I assume this will mean I will lose the benefit of the return portion of the voucher as there is no way to retain just that half after the outbound has been flown?).

2. Change the booking to some date in the future. Can be an option, I'm not planning any trips to the UK in the immediate future but will definitely go there later this year/early next year. The only problem is that I assume the ticket will become non-changeable after I make this change (since I have already flown the outbound), so there's limited flexibility which is not great given the lack of visibility with Covid 19.

3. If I take the voucher, is it for a flight in the same cabin on the same route (that would be the best option), or just for the amount of Avios and 'taxes' paid for my flight?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
On 3, I assume you mean the future travel voucher? They aren't available for part flown bookings as far as I have seen.
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Old Apr 27, 2020, 10:43 am
  #1802  
 
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Just wondering if this is a scenario that might work; I have a cancelled 2-4-1 booking for early May 2020. Voucher now shows as used but expiry date of March 2020. If I leave this and do nothing, can I ring up say in June and get my cancelled rebooked for May 2021? Or will the system now the voucher I am using has a expiry date?
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Old Apr 27, 2020, 11:30 am
  #1803  
 
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I have a flight to Helsinki on Saturday I can’t take due to their quarantine rules and I already changed the flight from BA to Finnair a month ago so I can’t cancel it.

I would happily take a voucher in this case but I only have the option to change the date on manage my booking.

I have tried calling BA but every time it says to call back later... any suggestions?
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Old Apr 27, 2020, 2:41 pm
  #1804  
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Originally Posted by Sprodo
Just wondering if this is a scenario that might work; I have a cancelled 2-4-1 booking for early May 2020. Voucher now shows as used but expiry date of March 2020. If I leave this and do nothing, can I ring up say in June and get my cancelled rebooked for May 2021? Or will the system now the voucher I am using has a expiry date?
If you go for the eVoucher then as I understand it the 2-4-1 is protected for up to 1 year from the date of travel. If BA has cancelled your flight then you can get a refund instead, and again I think my understanding is that the 2-4-1 would be returned to your account, but would have a 6 month added extension (though I also think there are some reports of people getting 12 months). If you are sure you can complete a new trip on an alternative service within 12 months from the departure date of the old trip then certainly the eVoucher should work, subject to Avios availability. A refund gives more flexibility but I'm not certain you can get a full year on the 2-4-1.
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Old Apr 27, 2020, 2:44 pm
  #1805  
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Originally Posted by Spinstorm
I have a flight to Helsinki on Saturday I can’t take due to their quarantine rules and I already changed the flight from BA to Finnair a month ago so I can’t cancel it.

I would happily take a voucher in this case but I only have the option to change the date on manage my booking.

I have tried calling BA but every time it says to call back later... any suggestions?
If this is a 125 ticket then I would have thought the eVoucher would be offered. Just use the USA number via Skype this evening UK time, or the UK number before 08:00 hrs tomorrow. People are getting through but you will need to redial a few times.
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Old Apr 27, 2020, 2:48 pm
  #1806  
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Originally Posted by Spinstorm
I have a flight to Helsinki on Saturday I can’t take due to their quarantine rules and I already changed the flight from BA to Finnair a month ago so I can’t cancel it.

I would happily take a voucher in this case but I only have the option to change the date on manage my booking.

I have tried calling BA but every time it says to call back later... any suggestions?
As an alternative to calling you could also just fill out the form here https://www.britishairways.com/trave...1&wfpId=covidn

You don't need to click through from MMB.
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Old Apr 27, 2020, 4:57 pm
  #1807  
 
Join Date: Apr 2020
Posts: 1
Confirmation sought

Hello. Apologies, I have been unable to get the answer elsewhere so hoping you can confirm. OUTBOUND British Airways flight has been cancelled by BA. The inbound flight home however has not been officially cancelled, even though we're obviously expecting this too. The outward date is before 31 May, the return is after. I'm prepared for a lengthy phone call to BA to claim a refund, however as the cancellation just concerns the outbound flight at the moment, as policy is for flights up to 31 May, am I able to get the entire journey refunded of outward and return legs or would BA argue that it's not (yet) cancelled? I'm not going to be on any inbound flight if it actually is going ahead as I won't have flown out in the first place. The flights were booked direct with BA and as a return package in one transaction. I appreciate any answers. As said, not been able to get a definitive answer before
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Old Apr 27, 2020, 5:01 pm
  #1808  
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Originally Posted by LockdownLarry
Hello. Apologies, I have been unable to get the answer elsewhere so hoping you can confirm. OUTBOUND British Airways flight has been cancelled by BA. The inbound flight home however has not been officially cancelled, even though we're obviously expecting this too. The outward date is before 31 May, the return is after. I'm prepared for a lengthy phone call to BA to claim a refund, however as the cancellation just concerns the outbound flight at the moment, as policy is for flights up to 31 May, am I able to get the entire journey refunded of outward and return legs or would BA argue that it's not (yet) cancelled? I'm not going to be on any inbound flight if it actually is going ahead as I won't have flown out in the first place. The flights were booked direct with BA and as a return package in one transaction. I appreciate any answers. As said, not been able to get a definitive answer before
Assuming that both legs ( outbound and inbound ) are on the same ticket, you are entitled to a full refund in cash, regardless of your flight dates.
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Old Apr 27, 2020, 5:01 pm
  #1809  
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Originally Posted by LockdownLarry
Hello. Apologies, I have been unable to get the answer elsewhere so hoping you can confirm. OUTBOUND British Airways flight has been cancelled by BA. The inbound flight home however has not been officially cancelled, even though we're obviously expecting this too. The outward date is before 31 May, the return is after. I'm prepared for a lengthy phone call to BA to claim a refund, however as the cancellation just concerns the outbound flight at the moment, as policy is for flights up to 31 May, am I able to get the entire journey refunded of outward and return legs or would BA argue that it's not (yet) cancelled? I'm not going to be on any inbound flight if it actually is going ahead as I won't have flown out in the first place. The flights were booked direct with BA and as a return package in one transaction. I appreciate any answers. As said, not been able to get a definitive answer before
yes this is actually straightforward and a full refund is due for the whole booking. I don’t think you need to expect a lengthy phone call - when you speak to an agent it should be simple and they will action the cancellation and refund. Atm you can only request this by phone, it isn’t possible to do it online.
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Old Apr 28, 2020, 2:09 am
  #1810  
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Just an update for anyone with a booking that's had their flight cancelled by BA and looking at rebooking a new travel date.

a new policy update has just come in where you can be rebooked on a BA service at any time during your ticket validity. Unlike the policy in conditions of carriage where if you are changing to over 14 days from original flight departure date and need the same fare bucket available, this no longer applies you can be booked into any available fare bucket in your cabin of travel

If anyone is using this and gets and agent unsure of this policy quote them principal corona virus guidelines update 3
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Old Apr 28, 2020, 2:12 am
  #1811  
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Originally Posted by Hawk777
Just an update for anyone with a booking that's had their flight cancelled by BA and looking at rebooking a new travel date.

a new policy update has just come in where you can be rebooked on a BA service at any time during your ticket validity. Unlike the policy in conditions of carriage where if you are changing to over 14 days from original flight departure date and need the same fare bucket available, this no longer applies you can be booked into any available fare bucket in your cabin of travel
Is that for commercial bookings only? Or does it include redemptions? [This is seriously good news, since for many it makes it easy to avoid the difficulties of eVoucher fare recalculations, which is presumably why they did it].
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Old Apr 28, 2020, 2:13 am
  #1812  
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
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Originally Posted by Hawk777
Just an update for anyone with a booking that's had their flight cancelled by BA and looking at rebooking a new travel date.

a new policy update has just come in where you can be rebooked on a BA service at any time during your ticket validity. Unlike the policy in conditions of carriage where if you are changing to over 14 days from original flight departure date and need the same fare bucket available, this no longer applies you can be booked into any available fare bucket in your cabin of travel

If anyone is using this and gets and agent unsure of this policy quote them principal corona virus guidelines update 3
thanks for the update. Would this apply to redemptions too, so no reward availability required on BA services?

EDIT: I am too slow replying this morning!
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Old Apr 28, 2020, 2:15 am
  #1813  
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Is that for commercial bookings only? Or does it include redemptions? [This is seriously good news, since for many it makes it easy to avoid the difficulties of eVoucher fare recalculations, which is presumably why they did it].
yes redemptions included
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Old Apr 28, 2020, 2:59 am
  #1814  
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It's update day it seems 😂

book with confidence vouchers

Now available for people flying up to 31 July no matter when booked.

vouchers valdity now extended to 30 April 2022 all travel must be completed by this date
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Old Apr 28, 2020, 3:34 am
  #1815  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
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Positive BA experience, been calling the refund BA number (+442032500145) for the past three weeks with no luck. Decided to try the BA call centre in Bremen today +494215575767 for a refund on a cancelled flight, it took 7 minutes and received confirmation email as well
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