Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Airlines and Mileage Programs > British Airways | Executive Club
Reload this Page >

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

Old Mar 14, 20, 4:58 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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.
Print Wikipost

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

Old May 19, 20, 6:29 pm
  #2371  
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: SYD, GOT
Programs: BA GGL; SK EBG; Hilton Diamond, A-Club Platinum, Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,208
Thanks CWS. I get it and you share my frustration, the trouble is that it is not the agent. It is the Amex fares team, inc the senior manager and also the Sydney BA office and fares support which keep on pushing it back to BWC and to collect a fare difference. The trouble with being out in the colonies, and god knows how many decisions are being adversely affected by either a lack of alignment, or a local decision to quietly prefer the option of vouchers or open dated tckets?

The agent even phoned BA sales support in the UK, who agreed with no fare colection, but refused to provide any further clarification in writing and could not see what the issue was...

KF
Koru Flyer is offline  
Old May 19, 20, 8:46 pm
  #2372  
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club; FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 12,135
Originally Posted by Koru Flyer
So questions;
1. Sorry to be a pendant...
Sorry to be a pedant but it's pedant not pendant. Oh the irony.
golfmad is offline  
Old May 19, 20, 8:59 pm
  #2373  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Hong Kong
Programs: FB AF Silver, BA Gold
Posts: 14,814
In December 2019, I bought a NCE-HKG-CDG (via LHR) in J. NCE and CDG had the same pricing. I upgraded to F with OnBusiness points due to expire at year end (2019)
I flew the outbound in March. Return was supposed to be on 3 June and the LHR-CDG was cancelled and I was notified that I could change or get refund for the who ticket.
I now wish to fly back to NCE (Not CDG) early July.

Before I try to call, I wish to be prepared and wonder:
1. Would the change to NCE rather than CDG be difficult/costly?
2. Would my OB upgrade be kept (there are avios award F seats available).

Many thanks.
brunos is offline  
Old May 19, 20, 9:39 pm
  #2374  
 
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: SYD, GOT
Programs: BA GGL; SK EBG; Hilton Diamond, A-Club Platinum, Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,208
Originally Posted by golfmad
Sorry to be a pedant but it's pedant not pendant. Oh the irony.
Maybe I wanted to be be a pendant, bright, shiny and drawing attention to myself ;-)
IMH and golfmad like this.
Koru Flyer is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 1:36 am
  #2375  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: London(ish)
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 546
Just another thankful shoutout to BA Helper person thing/hero!

BA on the phone - 4/8 weeks to get refund
BA on here - 48 hours

Epic thinking so thank you very much!
eugegall is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 2:38 am
  #2376  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 148
Quick update for anyone interested! Was on the call this morning for about 25mins (15 mins waiting) and a very nice agent moved this whole trip wholesale without any extra fees/Avios, including allowing us to move the destination to Atlanta with no fuss. We had to extend the trip by a couple of days to find Avios availability but that's fine. The booking is now changed in MMB but I was told it may take a while for a new ticket email to be issued.

Overall very happy and fingers crossed things will be back to normal-ish by next April.

Thanks again for all the excellent advice from forum members.
greenchicken is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 2:56 am
  #2377  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Posts: 148
My next question is about which seats to choose in Club World! Is there already a thread somewhere for these queries?
greenchicken is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 3:05 am
  #2378  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Newcastle UK
Posts: 1,081
Originally Posted by greenchicken
My next question is about which seats to choose in Club World! Is there already a thread somewhere for these queries?
There are seating guides on this forum based on aircraft type, not cabin/class. If you Google "seating guide 777 flyertalk BA" for example you'll see what I mean.
northeastflyer is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 3:29 am
  #2379  
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: 59,342
Originally Posted by greenchicken
My next question is about which seats to choose in Club World! Is there already a thread somewhere for these queries?
Originally Posted by northeastflyer
There are seating guides on this forum based on aircraft type, not cabin/class. If you Google "seating guide 777 flyertalk BA" for example you'll see what I mean.
And the BA Forum Dashboard has a section on this, both for the class of travel (CW) and for specific aircraft types. Also look at thebasource but not seatguru since the latter is inaccurate.
greenchicken likes this.
corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 3:35 am
  #2380  
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: 59,342
Originally Posted by brunos
In December 2019, I bought a NCE-HKG-CDG (via LHR) in J. NCE and CDG had the same pricing. I upgraded to F with OnBusiness points due to expire at year end (2019)
I flew the outbound in March. Return was supposed to be on 3 June and the LHR-CDG was cancelled and I was notified that I could change or get refund for the who ticket.
I now wish to fly back to NCE (Not CDG) early July.

Before I try to call, I wish to be prepared and wonder:
1. Would the change to NCE rather than CDG be difficult/costly?
2. Would my OB upgrade be kept (there are avios award F seats available).
I'm not sure of any OnBusiness factors, that's all a black box to me. But apart from that, I think you are simply ok for Guideline 1 (Coronovirus Update 3) to simply move everything over in the current cabins. In fact you could only be a few days over the standard Customer Guidelines in normal times. If there are flights to NCE / LYS / MRS / TRN then changes to that should be ok. Under standard guidelines you're only allowed 350 miles, Nice is 430 miles from Paris but that gateway change should currently be allowed and it's a marginal case anyway.
corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 3:49 am
  #2381  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 709
Hi all,

I have a cancelled booking which I've successfully (I think) re-booked online. I have a confirmation email with the new flight details anyway. However, when I try to Manage My Booking on BA.com I'm taken to the 'Sorry your flight has been cancelled' page which shows both the cancelled and replacement flights, but I can do nothing from there. I can see the new flights on the app, but clicking for example 'choose your seat' throws up a technical error. Is there a problem, or is this normal behavior on a re-booking?
volar is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 3:58 am
  #2382  
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Sussex by the Sea
Programs: Would quite like the freedom to fly and regain some status, please
Posts: 542
Seeking some advice in relation to the LAX/SFO routes, where there are still limited flights operating.

I have CW flights into LAX and out of SFO booked for July, which I clearly dont plan to take. The outbound to LAX is not the daily 9.30 flight that seems to operate at present. Assuming my flight is cancelled in a few weeks time, will I be auto-moved onto the earlier operating flight (hence negating my right to a refund as opposed to vouchers)?

Clearly I would rather have a ££ refund, but unsure what my rights are given some flights are still operating?

Thanks in advance
Professor Yaffle is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 5:45 am
  #2383  
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: 59,342
Originally Posted by volar
Hi all,

I have a cancelled booking which I've successfully (I think) re-booked online. I have a confirmation email with the new flight details anyway. However, when I try to Manage My Booking on BA.com I'm taken to the 'Sorry your flight has been cancelled' page which shows both the cancelled and replacement flights, but I can do nothing from there. I can see the new flights on the app, but clicking for example 'choose your seat' throws up a technical error. Is there a problem, or is this normal behavior on a re-booking?
That's probably just a data glitch. Maybe look at the more verbose versions of Amadeus on Qantas or Royal Jordanian to see if that is clearer. I would expect the system to show some incorrect data for a while, and if you have an e-ticket email, that would mean you were safe. If you haven't had the e-ticket then it's probably in a queue somewhere.
volar likes this.
corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 5:47 am
  #2384  
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: 59,342
Originally Posted by Professor Yaffle
Clearly I would rather have a ££ refund, but unsure what my rights are given some flights are still operating?
If any leg on the flight is cancelled you can ask for a full refund. It's quite possible that BA will reaccommodate you on alternative services, but you don't have to accept that, and can insist on cash, or the FTV, as you prefer.
Professor Yaffle likes this.
corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old May 20, 20, 6:35 am
  #2385  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 709
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
That's probably just a data glitch. Maybe look at the more verbose versions of Amadeus on Qantas or Royal Jordanian to see if that is clearer. I would expect the system to show some incorrect data for a while, and if you have an e-ticket email, that would mean you were safe. If you haven't had the e-ticket then it's probably in a queue somewhere.
Thanks CWS - the email I received (which was from British Airways Bookings) says 'you will receive a separate email e-ticket receipt for this booking' and I don't have that yet, so I guess it's in a queue somewhere as you say. It's some time off yet so I'll wait a few weeks and see what happens.
volar is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread