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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
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.
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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
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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 Nov 1, 2020, 2:38 pm
  #4396  
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: 63,821
Originally Posted by skyscan
thanks for the help. With the book with confidence policy, am I correct that we can use this multiple times if needed? (apologies if this has already been asked)
Yes, you can currently repeat the FTV process multiple times. However be aware that BA's policies may change and I would caution against "maybe" bookings.
corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2020, 3:36 pm
  #4397  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Newcastle UK
Posts: 1,114
Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Yes, you can currently repeat the FTV process multiple times. However be aware that BA's policies may change and I would caution against "maybe" bookings.
I booked within the last couple of weeks for travel early Dec. What's the latest date I can rebook for 2021? Thanks.

​​​​​​
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Old Nov 1, 2020, 3:39 pm
  #4398  
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
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Originally Posted by northeastflyer
I booked within the last couple of weeks for travel early Dec. What's the latest date I can rebook for 2021? Thanks.
​​​​​
That depends on when you bought your ticket and whether your flight is cancelled by BA. But if you want to be on a specific flight, the last day for rebooking is 355 days ahead.
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Old Nov 1, 2020, 3:40 pm
  #4399  
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
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Originally Posted by northeastflyer
I booked within the last couple of weeks for travel early Dec. What's the latest date I can rebook for 2021? Thanks.
Doing a voluntary change under BWC/FTV I think you can go as late as you like in to 2021 - or at least up to 355 days when BA release flights. You are liable for any fare difference of course.
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Old Nov 1, 2020, 3:49 pm
  #4400  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Newcastle UK
Posts: 1,114
Originally Posted by KARFA
Doing a voluntary change under BWC/FTV I think you can go as late as you like in to 2021 - or at least up to 355 days when BA release flights. You are liable for any fare difference of course.
Thanks. That's what I'd hoped. I did have a booking a while ago under the policy where the agent didn't allow the option of that.
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Old Nov 1, 2020, 4:13 pm
  #4401  
 
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: UK. West Sussex
Programs: BAEC. Gold
Posts: 786
Have a flight booked LHR to INV on Friday morning 6th.
And a return on Monday 9th

​​​​​So as we are going into Lockdown and non essential travel is illegal, although the flight will probably go ahead, I would not be technically allowed to travel.

To avoid phoning up...
I can apply for a Future Travel Voucher online through MMB.

When I purchased the flight, I used a few Avios to reduce the cost.

Will the FTV be for the full cost of the flight or just the amount of ££ that I actually paid.

If its the latter, do I get the Avios (3000) returned to my account?
Fatdickie is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2020, 4:33 pm
  #4402  
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
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Posts: 63,821
Originally Posted by Fatdickie
Will the FTV be for the full cost of the flight or just the amount of ££ that I actually paid.

If its the latter, do I get the Avios (3000) returned to my account?
Ah, you appear to have missed all my warnings on this: if you use Avios to reduce the cost then you may well end up with an eVoucher (which is good news) but for the cash amount prior to the Avios being used. So you won't get any Avios back, but you will get a higher cash amount. Unless there is a deal on, it's a poor use of Avios. If you get an FTV instead, then in theory the FTV holds the cash and Avios together, but then you will have to use it in the same format going forward. Reports suggest the chance of an eVoucher is high if it's a point to point transaction made fully online.

You may be better off waiting until about 36 hours to departure just to see if BA do in fact cancel the service, in which case you can get back exactly what you paid. Or rebook to alternative dates without extra cost.
jerry a. laska and Fatdickie like this.
corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2020, 6:37 pm
  #4403  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 1,736
Used a FTV to book a flight that was then cancelled. Just received a cash refund- is that the way it always works?
Barnaby100 is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2020, 6:57 pm
  #4404  
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,595
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Last edited by 1Aturnleft; Nov 1, 2020 at 7:15 pm
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Old Nov 1, 2020, 10:35 pm
  #4405  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 547
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u01sss3 is offline  
Old Nov 1, 2020, 10:35 pm
  #4406  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Edinburgh
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 547
Originally Posted by Barnaby100
Used a FTV to book a flight that was then cancelled. Just received a cash refund- is that the way it always works?
Did you ask specifically for one?
u01sss3 is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2020, 1:29 am
  #4407  
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: 63,821
Originally Posted by Barnaby100
Used a FTV to book a flight that was then cancelled. Just received a cash refund- is that the way it always works?
Yes, if you got an FTV previously by you choosing this option on flight A AND you use it on a new flight B AND the flight B is cancelled by BA, then you get a cash refund (or indeed redemption refund) relating to Flight A. I don't think it's automatic, I think you have to ask for it, after all you may prefer the Avios option instead. And if there are vouchers involved with early deadlines you may want a new FTV.
adrianlondon likes this.
corporate-wage-slave is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2020, 4:09 am
  #4408  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 1,736
No, I just called up when the flight was cancelled and expected to get another voucher issued but a cash amount has come back to my card. I paid a small amount on the card, the rest was a voucher. It was only £80.44 in total.
Barnaby100 is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2020, 7:19 am
  #4409  
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Hamburg
Posts: 484
Originally Posted by rosenkavalier
I read that link regarding rebooking onto LH, in the 5th (latest) update from 27th October, it says ‘tickets issued by 1 May 2020’...does that mean these guidelines are not applicable for any ticket issued after that date? Seems kind of silly?
I can confirm, that BA has rebooked onto LH for a ticket booked on 30 October 2020 within 5 min once I got an agent on the phone.

the ticket is for departure in mid November
want2fly4less is offline  
Old Nov 2, 2020, 9:21 am
  #4410  
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,021
More than likely I will be cancelling an upcoming trip. There is a very good chance the return flight could be cancelled, enabling me to have a refund, but to avoid being a "no show" I need to cancel for a FTV before the outbound. Is there any way around this?
bluemoon68 is offline  


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