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*
#3346
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: 63,776
- Presumably a partial refund of Avios, taxes and YQ, but how would this be calculated?
- Rebooking on the same routing (LAX-JFK-LHR) in any cabin, including First, regardless of Z availability? Would BA call AA to release space on the transcontinental flights (I'd take AS too)?
- Rebooking non-stop LAX-LHR in Y only? Or would they allow Z/U (or even revenue) classes as it's an involuntary change?
- Rebooking on the same routing (LAX-JFK-LHR) in any cabin, including First, regardless of Z availability? Would BA call AA to release space on the transcontinental flights (I'd take AS too)?
- Rebooking non-stop LAX-LHR in Y only? Or would they allow Z/U (or even revenue) classes as it's an involuntary change?
Alternatively you can rebook, if there is availability, on AA / AS, and subject to any Avios difference; or they should release space on BA operated services in the same class you were originally booked. If you go for First then it should be recalculated as a normal change, so you would need availability and pay the differences.
You still need to be within 1 year of initial ticketing, and I doubt the USA will be open to aliens until after the November election or even later.
#3347
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: 63,776
Plenty of people have been able to take advantage of Update 7. Did any of the agents explain why Update 7 did not apply to your booking?
#3348
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 447
I had to agree with him that the update doesn't say I didn't have to pay the difference... But I don't know how to read these things!
#3349
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: 63,776
The most recent agent said that he was doing what the update tells him ("Rebook into the same class as the original flight or lowest available in the same cabin"), but he was still wanting me to pay the fare difference to that lowest class available.
I had to agree with him that the update doesn't say I didn't have to pay the difference... But I don't know how to read these things!
I had to agree with him that the update doesn't say I didn't have to pay the difference... But I don't know how to read these things!
#3350
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 5,655
I suspect I'll leave it in a cancelled state for a while then until the travel situation is clearer with entry to the US.
#3351
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 447
That wording is common to dozens of guidelines, and simply means rebooking free of charge, but go for the lowest available bucket for allocation purposes, not fare purposes. The Standard Customer Guidelines say the same thing, as do all the guidelines for places like PLS. If there was an upfare it would say so there. Note that redemptions are in Update 7, how could you upfare a redemption? So something isn't right here. Just out of interest, are redemptions available on your new service? In which case this may be the pragmatic way out of the impasse, refund (and you can get the refund as Avios) and redeem.
Guess I'll just keep trying, hopefully someone will give in eventually. I'll keep you posted!
#3352
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 3
How likely am I to be able to reach someone regarding rebooking with a voucher over the phone tomorrow?
I am flying on Tuesday, and the flight is going ahead just fine. They cancelled my return trip, and wouldn't let me view my entire booking at all until I selected "voucher" as an option for the cancelled flight (there was NO option on the site to change the dates). The voucher ended up cancelling my entire booking and now I'm stuck with two vouchers and no idea if I'm even on the flight Tuesday. The call centre isn't even open until tomorrow morning but I am fretting that I won't be able to get in touch with anyone on the phone and I will be stranded in the airport or something. It doesn't help that they've reduced the call centre times and you can only use vouchers over the telephone???? Has anyone had this experience?
ETA: For anyone else wondering, it was hard to get through. I called the moment it opened and the call kept disconnecting on the automated side saying that they were going to put me through to the sales team. It took about ten times calling back before the call finally connected. Was on hold about an hour and a half before speaking to someone, fearful it was gonna disconnect! It got sorted but that was another issue.... But getting through that was what I experienced.
I am flying on Tuesday, and the flight is going ahead just fine. They cancelled my return trip, and wouldn't let me view my entire booking at all until I selected "voucher" as an option for the cancelled flight (there was NO option on the site to change the dates). The voucher ended up cancelling my entire booking and now I'm stuck with two vouchers and no idea if I'm even on the flight Tuesday. The call centre isn't even open until tomorrow morning but I am fretting that I won't be able to get in touch with anyone on the phone and I will be stranded in the airport or something. It doesn't help that they've reduced the call centre times and you can only use vouchers over the telephone???? Has anyone had this experience?
ETA: For anyone else wondering, it was hard to get through. I called the moment it opened and the call kept disconnecting on the automated side saying that they were going to put me through to the sales team. It took about ten times calling back before the call finally connected. Was on hold about an hour and a half before speaking to someone, fearful it was gonna disconnect! It got sorted but that was another issue.... But getting through that was what I experienced.
Last edited by mlombardi; Aug 6, 2020 at 3:31 am
#3353
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Munich / London
Programs: BAEC Gold, M&M Frequent Flyer
Posts: 156
Apologies if this has been asked before: I have a longhaul flights-only booking made on BA.com departure date mid-September. BA has cancelled the flights. I'm not sure yet whether I want to rebook for next year or take a refund. What's the latest point I have to take action? Can I just leave the cancelled booking there for a couple of months before I decide? Thanks
#3354
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
Correct, I'd do it before 24 hours from departure but really you could wait up till 1-2 hours prior to departure.
#3355
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Munich / London
Programs: BAEC Gold, M&M Frequent Flyer
Posts: 156
#3356
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: London
Programs: BAEC GGL/GFL
Posts: 48
What happens if you leave a booking with cancelled flights, past the flight date?
Does the booking still stay live and let you choose alternative dates in the future and voucher and call for refund?
Does the booking still stay live and let you choose alternative dates in the future and voucher and call for refund?
#3358
Join Date: Aug 2020
Posts: 4
FTV Cabin Class
Hi
I have BA flights to SJC cancelled for Sept. Booked using Amex 241 and Avios. First out and Business return. What I can’t find anywhere is whether or not the FTV would be for the same cabin or whether it is just a points based voucher......i.e do I just get circa 150k points allowance and 241 voucher or do I get an allowance for x2 First seats out and Business back.
Also, I’m assuming as I’d want to look at Sept next year it would be based on Avios availability rather than cabin availability.
Thanks for any help in answering as it may depend on which refund option I take.
I have BA flights to SJC cancelled for Sept. Booked using Amex 241 and Avios. First out and Business return. What I can’t find anywhere is whether or not the FTV would be for the same cabin or whether it is just a points based voucher......i.e do I just get circa 150k points allowance and 241 voucher or do I get an allowance for x2 First seats out and Business back.
Also, I’m assuming as I’d want to look at Sept next year it would be based on Avios availability rather than cabin availability.
Thanks for any help in answering as it may depend on which refund option I take.
#3359
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,943
Hi
I have BA flights to SJC cancelled for Sept. Booked using Amex 241 and Avios. First out and Business return. What I can’t find anywhere is whether or not the FTV would be for the same cabin or whether it is just a points based voucher......i.e do I just get circa 150k points allowance and 241 voucher or do I get an allowance for x2 First seats out and Business back.
Also, I’m assuming as I’d want to look at Sept next year it would be based on Avios availability rather than cabin availability.
Thanks for any help in answering as it may depend on which refund option I take.
I have BA flights to SJC cancelled for Sept. Booked using Amex 241 and Avios. First out and Business return. What I can’t find anywhere is whether or not the FTV would be for the same cabin or whether it is just a points based voucher......i.e do I just get circa 150k points allowance and 241 voucher or do I get an allowance for x2 First seats out and Business back.
Also, I’m assuming as I’d want to look at Sept next year it would be based on Avios availability rather than cabin availability.
Thanks for any help in answering as it may depend on which refund option I take.
EDIT: oh and welcome to FT Kevh3835
#3360
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: 63,776
I have BA flights to SJC cancelled for Sept. Booked using Amex 241 and Avios. First out and Business return. What I can’t find anywhere is whether or not the FTV would be for the same cabin or whether it is just a points based voucher......i.e do I just get circa 150k points allowance and 241 voucher or do I get an allowance for x2 First seats out and Business back.
Also, I’m assuming as I’d want to look at Sept next year it would be based on Avios availability rather than cabin availability.
Also, I’m assuming as I’d want to look at Sept next year it would be based on Avios availability rather than cabin availability.